Federal Agency Information
The executive branch oversees hundreds of small and large agencies, far too many to provide much detail on here. This page provides links to core sources and information on major agencies and the military. Some executive branch information is published formally through the Government Publishing Office (GPO) but often, the agencies themselves are the primary disseminators through their websites.
Using Google to Find Agency Documents
Advanced Google searching is one of the best ways to turn up agency documents. This involves using the part of the site domain combined with search terms for your topic. For example, type into the Google search box:
- emissions data site:epa.gov
- "Gulf of Tonkin" site:cia.gov
- pediatric health site:cdc.gov
You can also:
- include operators like filetype:pdf to bring back reports
- use inurl:gov if you're not sure of the agency you're targeting
- use ellipses to focus on specific dates, e.g. 2012..2017
Major Executive Branch Sources
- ProQuest Regulatory Insight This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and some full text)
Find all the notices and the proposed and enacted rules associated with specific U.S. Public Laws and Executive Orders for 1936-2022.
- Federal RegisterNew site for Federal Register, much easier to search by topic, with help documents AND the current daily issue.
- Federal Register - GPODaily publication for rules, proposed rules, notices of federal agencies, and presidential documents. This is the officially published version.
- Regulations.gov
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A 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.
State Department
- State DepartmentMostly current topics and news from the State Department, including current country information.
- State Department FOIA searchSearch across documents requested and released via Freedom of Information Act.
- State Department - Office of HistorianBibliographies on various foreign affairs topics as well as some of the Foreign Relations of the U.S. Series (more of which can be found via FDsys and the Serial Set).
- Treaties and Trade - Research GuideGould Library guide to treaties and international trade.
- Treaties in ForceTreaties in Force is published annually by the Department of State to provide information on treaties and other international agreements to which the United States is presently a party.
- NARA: General Records of the Department of StateIndex to historical records of the State Dept. from late 1700s to 1993, held at the National Archives. Some of these will be available through digital projects or other libraries; some require a visit to NARA.
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations and the full text)
A comprehensive set of declassified government documents, 1942-current.
- Foreign Relations of the United States [FRUS] (State.gov)From the State Dept. Historian, documents from Lincoln through Bill Clinton (1861-2001).
- Foreign Relations of the United States (UW Digitization Project)Official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified. Provides context, editorial apparatus. University of Wisconsin digital collection.
EPA
- EPA: Environmental Protection AgencyHome page for the agency.
- National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)Search for EPA publications in print or online. (Note that the library also has many publications findable through Catalyst and available online or on our shelves on 1st.)
Treasury
- Treasury LibraryInformation on the history of the department and links to core resources.
- FRASERArchive of documents and data related to federal economic programs, particularly the Federal Reserve but many other datasets as well.
Department of Defense
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive set of declassified government documents focused on military and foreign policy, 1942-current. - U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994 This link opens in a new window
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The Serial Set is the source for many historical defense related documents pre-1900.
- US Army War College Library - BibliographiesSuggested resources on a variety of military topics.
CIA
- CIA FOIA Reading Room (declassified)Declassified FOIA Requests posted on the CIA web site. Contains curated historical collections.
- CIA World Factbook This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations and the full text)
Information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.
Health and Human Services
- CDC Wonder
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A single point of access to a wide variety of public health reports and data systems, both local and external, categorized here by topic - National Library of MedicineIncludes links to major HHS databases like Medline, PubMed, TOXNET, etc.
- PubMed This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
The US National Institutes of Health provide this free index of biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. If full text is not linked to or provided for a particular citation, search our Journals List to see if we have alternate access to the journal publishing that article. - MEDLINE This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and some abstracts)
The definitive place to find literature on all aspects of medical research, including clinical practice, administration, and policy. Covers 1950 - current.
Education
- NCES: National Center for Education Statistics This link opens in a new window
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Statistics from the education department. - ERIC: Education Resources Information Center This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
The key database for educational-related literature. You may also search ERIC through the free U.S. Department of Education website. 1907 - current. An ELM Database.
Energy
- Energy.govIncludes reports and open data.
- National Library of EnergySearch technical reports and more specifically about energy-related topics.
