LibGuides: Government Resources: Federal Government

Federal Depository Library Program

The Federal Depository Library Program makes U.S. Federal Government information available for FREE public use in Federal depository libraries. These libraries are located throughout the United States and its territories. ANYONE can visit Federal depository libraries and access the collections.

The University of Iowa is a Regional Depository Library. Selective depository libraries in Iowa include:

State Library of Iowa
Iowa State University
University of Northern Iowa
Upper Iowa University
Drake University
Graceland University
Grinnell College
Loras College
Des Moines Public Library
Davenport Public Library
Sioux City Public Library

Databases and General Online Government Document Resources

govinfo
"govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch. govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government," (GPO, 2019).

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
CGP is a finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online.
MetaLib GPO
MetaLib is a federated search engine that searches multiple U.S. Federal government databases, retrieving reports, articles, and citations while providing direct links to selected resources available online.
USA.gov
As the U.S. government's official web portal, USA.gov makes it easy for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the web. USA.gov also serves as the catalyst for a growing electronic government.

USA Government

Search Tip

Sometimes finding a government document is like looking for a needle in the haystack! What to do? If you do a Google search and include site:.gov at the end of your search, Google will limit the results to government websites only. How nifty is that?!

How Do I Know Where to Look?

Our federal government provides a large number of resources for you to access.

A great place to look for hearings, laws, executive orders, judicial cases and much more is govinfo.

If you are looking for statistics, try FEDSTATS. The U.S. government is one of the largest collectors of statistics in the world.

DATA.gov provides a large number of datasets that can be used with a variety of statistical packages.

Various agencies of the government can provide in-depth information on a variety of topics as well. Go to USA.gov for more information on the agencies and the resources they provide.

Thank You

This LibGuide has been adapted from the Government Information LibGuide from UNI. The HJF Library Staff would like to thank UNI for the use of their resources.