The Bluebook
Chicago Manual of Style looks to The Bluebook when it needs detailed government document citations. Not sure if you need this, or how to use it? Ask for help!
The bluebook : a uniform system of citationCall Number: Ready Ref KF245 .B58 2015ISBN: 9780692400197Publication Date: 2015Availability and more information from Catalyst...
This is the style guide used for law and legal studies. You can typically use Chicago for law, but the Bluebook has myriad examples of particular legal sources, including statutes, court cases, and IGO documents. Quick Style Guide and Table 2 (Foreign Jurisdictions) is available online.
ALL TYPES OF DOCS
- HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
HathiTrust is a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural record is preserved and digitally accessible. A major source of digitized books and other documents. Some of the collection if available for free to all, and additional content is available to Carleton faculty, staff, and students.
- HathiTrust : U.S. Federal Documents CollectionsHathiTrust offers many digital collections of federal government documents, including from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A very good place to discover the full text of government documents.
- Internet archiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access to current and historical web content.
- National Archives SearchSearches across digitized and undigitized collection material from the US National Archives.
- Readex AllSearch This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Search across all of Carleton's Readex collections at once. Includes historical newspapers, government documents, books, ephemera, and the like.
Declassified documents/FOIA
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
A comprehensive set of declassified government documents, 1942-current.
- State Department FOIA Reading Room (declassified)Declassified and digitized documents from the State Department.
- CIA FOIA Reading Room (declassified)Declassified FOIA Requests posted on the CIA web site. Contains curated historical collections.
- FBI FOIA Reading Room (declassified)Assorted documents that the FBI has declassified and scanned.
- EPA National Online FOIA LibraryFind frequently requested files, including for Regional Online FOIA Libraries. For instance, select " Region 5" for Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan documents.
- CDC FOIA Reading RoomDeclassified and digitized documents from the CDC.
- Internet Archive: National Security Internet Archive**NOTE: This is not an official government source! Includes declassified documents from various sources and archives.
- Muckrock**NOTE: This is not an official government source! A public website that helps users place FOIA requests, and then hosts the requested documents.
- FOIAonlineA centralized FOIA record collection for participating agencies. Use a keyword search or use an advanced search for a specific agency. Includes FOIA requests in process and completed. Check "Participating agencies" from home page for names of agencies in library.
Presidential papers (Executive)
- The American Presidency ProjectThis archive from UCSB contains public papers of the presidents dating back to 1789.
- National Archives SearchSearches across digitized and undigitized collection material from the US National Archives.
- US Presidential Libraries (National Archives)Contains information about and links to all Presidential Libraries, from Hoover to Obama. Most Libraries are actively digitizing and archiving personal papers and government documents from their respective administration.
- Presidential Recordings Program (Miller Center, UVa)Secret White House tapes (Roosevelt to Nixon), presented with transcripts and analysis from Miller Center presidential scholars.
- American Founding Era Collection This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Contains digital editions of the collected papers of George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James and Dolley Madison, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, John Jay, John Marshall, Eliza Lucas Pinckney and Harriott Pinckney-Horry, the Revolutionary-Era Pinckney Statesmen, Gouverneur Morris, as well as documents pertaining to the ratification of the Constitution and biographical information on over 25,000 people of the Founding Era. - ProQuest History Vault This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Fully searchable, digitized archival collections having to do with American history. Carleton has collections available in these topic areas: American Indians and the American West; American Politics and Society; Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle; International Relations and Military Conflicts; Latinx History; Revolutionary War and Early America; Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War; and Women's Studies. Browse full contents.
- Compilation of Presidential DocumentsThe daily and weekly compilations of official presidential materials released by the White House Press Secretary from 1993 - present.
- American State Papers, 1789-1838 This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Search through legislative and executive documents, many originating from the important period between 1789 and the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817. - U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
One of the core U.S. government publications, with Congressional records from 1817-1994. Also *the* primary source for executive branch reports, treaties, statements, maps and more from the 1800s. - HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowTraditional legal materials (reported cases, statutes, government regulations, academic law reviews, commercially produced law journals and magazines, and classic treatises), historical, governmental, and political documents, legislative debates, legislative and executive branch reports, world constitutions, international treaties, and reports and other documents of international organizations.
Congress (Legislative)
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
The record of Congressional activities, current and past. Includes legislation, hearings, research reports, and more. - ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Maps out the Congressional debates and documents that go into enactment of all U.S. Public Laws 1789-2022, in full text, and including all hearings and reports. - U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
One of the core U.S. government publications, with Congressional records from 1817-1994. Also *the* primary source for executive branch reports, treaties, statements, maps and more from the 1800s. - HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowTraditional legal materials (reported cases, statutes, government regulations, academic law reviews, commercially produced law journals and magazines, and classic treatises), historical, governmental, and political documents, legislative debates, legislative and executive branch reports, world constitutions, international treaties, and reports and other documents of international organizations.
- American State Papers, 1789-1838 This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Search through legislative and executive documents, many originating from the important period between 1789 and the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817.
- Avalon ProjectContains documents relating to law, economics, history, and diplomacy. Collection is browsable by topic and time period and searchable by keyword.
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
A comprehensive set of declassified government documents, 1942-current. - House and Senate Journals, Series I, 1789-1817 This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text) Journals of the House of Representatives and Senate from 1789 to 1817, covering the first fourteen Congresses of the United States.
- Senate Executive Journals, 1789-1980 This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text) Journals of the executive proceedings of the United States Senate 1789 to 1980, covering the first Congress through the 96th Congress. Covers the confirmation of presidential nominees, the ratification of treaties, the careers of military officers, and more.
Justice Department (Judicial)
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowTraditional legal materials (reported cases, statutes, government regulations, academic law reviews, commercially produced law journals and magazines, and classic treatises), historical, governmental, and political documents, legislative debates, legislative and executive branch reports, world constitutions, international treaties, and reports and other documents of international organizations.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Access to the full text of newspapers (foreign and domestic), as well as business, legal, medical, and reference publications.
- Nexis Uni - Supreme Court decisions since 1790This link takes you directly to searching Supreme Court Cases in Nexis Uni.
- Reporter of the Decisions of the Supreme CourtClear list of Supreme Court Reporter abbreviations.
- Landmark briefs and arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States: constitutional law (1793-)For selected cases, contains transcripts of briefs and oral arguments.
- Material authored by the US Supreme Court (Hathi Trust)Includes court digests, court reports, and reports of specific cases that were argued in front of the US Supreme Court.
- Supreme Court @ National Archives (Record Group 267)Search within original copies/scans of Supreme Court documents. Note that NexisUni may have cleaner presentation of the text. Index of the collection.
- U.S. Supreme Court Reports - online1991 to present are available here.
- Material authored by any Supreme Court - US, State, and some International (Hathi Trust)Includes court reports, decisions, etc. This search can be narrowed by adding a specific state into the Author search (i.e. Author = Connecticut "Supreme Court").
Supreme Court Yearbook by Case summaries, term overviews, and key case analyses of the U.S. Supreme Court. Covers 1989 - current.
NOTE: You can also search across all of the CQ Political Reference Suite titles.
- U.S. CourtsOfficial directory of U.S.federal courts and their websites.
- U.S. Courts OpinionsA pilot project to provide digital records for select Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy courts. 2004-present.
- Caselaw Access ProjectAccess to the cases (including state-level cases) and their associated metadata. They currently offer five ways to access the data: API, bulk downloads, search, browse, and a historical trends viewer.
- American Prison Newspapers 1800-2020 This link opens in a new windowHundreds of periodicals from across the country into one collection that will represent penal institutions of all kinds, with special attention paid to women's-only institutions.
FBI & CIA (Executive)
- ProQuest History Vault This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Fully searchable, digitized archival collections having to do with American history. Carleton has collections available in these topic areas: American Indians and the American West; American Politics and Society; Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle; International Relations and Military Conflicts; Latinx History; Revolutionary War and Early America; Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War; and Women's Studies. Browse full contents. - Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new windowFor material released by...
- FBI, search by ORIGIN (Au) = "United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation."
- CIA, search by ORIGIN (Au) = "United States. Central Intelligence Agency."
Protip: Also try searching both those terms as Company/organization to find material ABOUT them from other organizations.
- FBI FOIA Reading Room (declassified)Assorted documents that the FBI has declassified and scanned.
- FBI @ National Archives (Record Group 65)A custom search within NARA-ID 394: Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1896 - 2008. Some content will be digitized, some will not be. Index of the collection.
- CIA FOIA Reading Room (declassified)Declassified FOIA Requests posted on the CIA web site. Contains curated historical collections.
- CIA @ National Archives (Record Group 263)Search within the CIA records in the National Archives. Many things have not been declassified/digitized. Index to the collection.
- Internet Archive: National Security Internet Archive**NOTE: This is not an official government source! Includes declassified documents from various sources and archives.
State Department (Executive)
- Foreign Relations of the United States (State.gov)From the State Dept. Historian, documents from Lincoln through Bill Clinton (1861-2001).
- Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Collections cover a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. Particular strengths include U.S. foreign policy; U.S. civil rights; global affairs and colonial studies; and modern history.
- State Department FOIA Reading Room (declassified)Declassified and digitized documents from the State Department.
- State @ National Archives (Record Group 59)Search within "General Records of the Department of State" in the National Archives. Some material will be digitized, some will not. Index of the collection.
- ProQuest History Vault This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Fully searchable, digitized archival collections having to do with American history. Carleton has collections available in these topic areas: American Indians and the American West; American Politics and Society; Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle; International Relations and Military Conflicts; Latinx History; Revolutionary War and Early America; Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War; and Women's Studies. Browse full contents. - Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
A comprehensive set of declassified government documents, 1942-current.
- Internet Archive: National Security Internet Archive**NOTE: This is not an official government source! Includes declassified documents from various sources and archives.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) / National Park Service (Executive) / Forest Service (USDA)
- EPA Web ArchiveSnapshots of epa.gov going back to 1997 through the Wayback Machine.
- EPA DataLists various means to access EPA data.
- EPA EnvirofactsData from across EPA including air, water, waste and other data.
- EPA @ National Archives (Record Group 412)Search within the records of the EPA in the National Archives (RG 412). Index of the collection.
- NPSHistory.comAn independent website of curated primary and secondary sources about the National Park Service. Compiled by two former NPS employees. As always, use with discretion.
- NPS @ National Archives (Record Group 79)Canned search for material that has been digitized from RG 79 (National Park Service archives). Index of the collection.
- National Forest Service LibraryFind current publications from the U.S. Forest Service and browse Digital Collections of historical photos and reports, including plans and impact statements.
- EPA National Online FOIA LibraryFind frequently requested files, including for Regional Online FOIA Libraries. For instance, select " Region 5" for Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan documents.
Bureau of Land Management
- Bureau of Land ManagementThe BLM deals with mining and national parks, among other things. There's not a lot of information here, but they do have some federal land records and legislation that deals with public lands.
- Bureau of Land Management Library (Internet Archive)The BLM Library collection includes a full range of land and natural resource management publications including wildlife, vegetation, soil, air, water, geology, minerals, archaeology, energy, landscape ecology, rangeland, and others.
- NPSHistory.comAn independent website of curated primary and secondary sources about the National Park Service. Compiled by two former NPS employees. As always, use with discretion. Contains publications from the Bureau of Land Management.
Indigenous Legal Histories & Treaties
- National Indian Law Library CatalogFrom the national non-profit Native American Rights fund, publications and other resources relevant to federal Indian and tribal law. Advanced Search Hint: narrow by "Type" options for: Tribal Compact, Tribal Codes, Constitutions, court cases and more.
- Indian Claims Insight This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Includes historical claims presented to Congress or brought before the Court of Claims. Also includes records of the Indian Claims Commission including briefs, docket books, decisions, expert testimony, oral transcripts, and more. - HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowTraditional legal materials (reported cases, statutes, government regulations, academic law reviews, commercially produced law journals and magazines, and classic treatises), historical, governmental, and political documents, legislative debates, legislative and executive branch reports, world constitutions, international treaties, and reports and other documents of international organizations.
- Territorial Papers of the United States, 1764-1953 This link opens in a new windowDigital collection of pre-statehood documents including Native American negotiations and treaties, official correspondence with the federal government, military records, judicial proceedings, population data, financial statistics, land records, and more.
- American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899From the University of Oklahoma College of Law, a curated collection of digitized materials from the U.S. Serial Set, a compilation of congressional publications, offering "detailed contemporaneous documentation of political, military, and governmental activities related to indigenous peoples of the continental United States and Alaskan territory during the 19th century. "
- Annual report of the Board of Indian Commissioners to the Secretary of the Interior. (HathiTrust)Letters and reports concerning the Board's implementation of U.S. Policy, including allotments. Published [1870]-1933.
- Indigenous Digital Archive: Treaties ExplorerThe US National Archives holds 374 of the treaties, where they are known as the Ratified Indian Treaties. Here you can view them for the first time with key historic works that provide context to the agreements made and the histories of our shared lands.
- Native LandAn Indigenous-led project to outline the boundaries of Indigenous ancestral territories, languages, and Cessions in North America.
Encyclopedia of United States Indian Policy and Law by Call Number: ONLINE & CC Ref KF8205 .E525 2009ISBN: 9781933116983Publication Date: 2008-12-23Availability and more information from Catalyst...
Center for Disease Control (CDC)
- CDC Publication ArchivesCDC Stacks is a free, digital archive of scientific research and literature produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Contains current CDC research and literature, and historical publications, such as the first 30 volumes of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
- CDC @ National Archives (Record Group 442)Search within the records of the CDC in the National Archives (RG 442). Index of the collection.
- CDC FOIA Reading RoomDeclassified and digitized documents from the CDC.
- CDC @ HathiTrustPublicly available full text publications by and about the CDC.
- CDC PublicationsLinks to collections of current publications put out by the CDC.
- CDC - LGBT HealthResources and statistics.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Internet Archive]A collection of public health material, podcasts, and information for children published by the CDC.
Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- The Living New DealA free website with primary resources about the Works Progress Administration, from a non-profit "building a national database of information, documents, photographs, and personal stories about the public works made possible by the New Deal." Search by state or city, or by WPA program, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) or Federal Writers’ Project.
- WPA: Primary Sources, Archives & Records (Minnesota History Center)An overview of primary resources from the WPA available from the Minnesota History Center. Most of these collections are housed at the Center, but many photographs are available online.
- Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938Contains digitized versions of images and narratives collected as part of the Federal Writers' Project.
- American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936 to 1940This collection of life histories consists of approximately 2,900 documents, compiled and transcribed by more than 300 writers from 24 states, working on the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program that was part of the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936 to 1940.
- The Louisiana Works Progress Administration (LWPA) Slave Narrative collection [1940s, Southern University]The Louisiana Works Progress Administration (LWPA): Slave Narratives collection consists of 50 first-person accounts of originals and some reproductions of Ex-slaves Interviews. These narratives were collected and dated in the 1940s as part of the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed Works Projects Administration (WPA). This collection of narratives is exclusively from the State of Louisiana.
Historical Statistics
- Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
Gathers census statistics that were gathered in the United states from colonial times to the present. - Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new window(Searches through citations and the full text)
A comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Covers 1878 - present. - Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowGet quick and easy access to current and historical U.S. census data and demographic information. Covers 1790 - 2010.
NOTE: You will need to register with your Carleton email address to begin fully using this database. - PolicyMap This link opens in a new windowA U.S. national data and mapping tool for research related to social sciences, public health, urban studies, real estate and housing analysis, community and economic developments, public administration, policy and political science, education, business, economics, statistics, geography, and more. Find thousands of U.S. indicators to perform demographic and socioeconomic analysis, from a neighborhood census block group in many cases, up to a national level, as well as create custom regions. Data sets are approximately 10-15 years old, and custom reports and data can be downloaded.
Public Comment on Policy
- Regulations.govA site from the U.S. government that lets you search for regulations from multiple agencies with a single search. A great source for original public comments on proposed policies and rules.
