FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY

CIVIL RIGHTS AND ELECTIONS

• Civil Rights Commission
  Established by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, reestablished by the Civil Rights Act of 1983.

• Federal Election Commission
  

CONGRESS

• Congress.Org
  Includes Elected Officials, Issues & Legislation, and Guide to the Media.

• House of Representatives
  

• Senate
  

• Congressional Bibliographies
  Compiled and maintained by NCSU Libraries, this archive enumerates and describes meetings held by Congressional committees since 1985, those for which printed transcripts are issued, and those that remain unprinted. Its sources are the Congressional Record's "Daily Digest" and bibliographic information supplied by the U.S. Senate Library. Its primary goal is to be an authoritative, exhaustive reference source of meetings held and documents released by House and Senate committees.

• Congressional Research Service Reports
  CRS is the public policy research arm of Congress. This legislative branch agency works exclusively for Members of Congress, their committees and their staffs. For more information, visit the CRS Web site at http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) does not provide direct public access to its reports, requiring citizens to request them from their Member of Congress. Some Members, as well as several non-profit groups, have posted the reports on their Web sites. This site aims to provide integrated, searchable access to many of the full-text CRS reports that have been available at a variety of different Web sites since 1990.

DEFENSE AND SECURITY

• Arms Control and Disarmament Agency Records
  Created by an act of Congress in 1961; responsible for studying and advising policy formation. While the Agency site is currently inactive (http://www.acda.gov/), its records are available through NARA.

• Central Intelligence Agency
  Created in 1947; an executive agency charged with coordinating the intelligence activities of departments and agencies in the interest of national security.

• Defense Department
  The War Department became the Department of Defense in 1949; provides for the security of the United States.

• Air Force Department
  Includes:

• Air Force Academy
  

• Air Force Historical Research Agency
  

• Army Department
  Includes:

• Corps of Engineers
  Robert E. Lee served in this Corps, which has provided comprehensive engineering, management, and technical support for over two centuries.

• Army Heritage and Education Center
  

• Military Academy West Point
  

• Marine Corps
  

• Navy Department
  Includes:

• Dates in American Naval History
  "Are you interested in learning what happened in naval history on a particular date? Check the listings ... for important or interesting events and milestones of naval history arranged by month and day."

• Naval Academy
  

• Naval Historical Center
  

• Naval Observatory
  

• Naval War College, Newport
  

• Selective Service System
  Created in 1940 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the nation's first peacetime draft; since then, has been suspended and resurrected several times, the latest being in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter.

• Veterans Affairs Department
  The nation's second largest department, responsible for a nationwide system of health care services, benefits programs, and national cemeteries for veterans and dependents.

• National Center for PTSD
  The web site explains: The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was created within the Department of Veterans Affairs in 1989, in response to a Congressional mandate to address the needs of veterans with military-related PTSD. Its mission was, and remains: To advance the clinical care and social welfare of America's veterans through research, education, and training in the science, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and stress-related disorders. This website is provided as an educational resource concerning PTSD and other enduring consequences of traumatic stress, for a variety of audiences.

• Homeland Security Department
  In response to the attack of September 11, 2001, the Department of Homeland Security was created and would have a clear and efficient organizational structure with four divisions: Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Countermeasures, and Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection. The site covers policies, news, speeches, and appointments. The site also illustrates the colors for the various risk levels.

• Coast Guard
  

• Citizenship and Immigration Services
  On March 1, 2003, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred the service and benefit functions of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

EDUCATION, GOVERNMENT INFORMATION, AND ARTS

EDUCATION

• Education Department
  Created in 1867; originally called the Office of Education; administers over 200 programs.

• National Center for Education Statistics
  Collects and reports statistics and information showing conditions and progress of education in the United States and other nations.

• Education Statistics at a Glance
  Allows access to the NCES' major reference tools, including Condition of Education, Digest of Education Statistics, Projections of Education Statistics, and Education Indicators. Also includes International and Youth Indicators. Browse topics of do a full-text search of current or past editions.

• Educational Resources Information Center
  More familiarly known as ERIC, this site is under construction by a new contractor. It includes: ERIC Database Search, used to find education-related journal articles, research reports, and more; ERIC Clearinghouses, used to find brief and in-depth educational publications; and ERIC Resources, containing over 2,400 digests of current topics.

  Education Reports from ERIC
  An index to reports on federally funded education research topics from the U.S. Department of Education's Educational Resources Information Center. Reports on GPO Access begin with those received in October 2002. Prior reports are available from select Federal depository libraries nationwide in microfiche. A larger selection of ERIC reports is available from the ERIC program. Files are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) only.

  GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

• Government Printing Office
  Administers government printing following the Printing Acts of 1860 and 1865. Remains an anomaly in the federal administrative system. One of the largest printers in the world (think of all those income tax forms!) Includes:

• U.S. Government Bookstore
  Find products for sale by GPO.

• Core Documents of U.S. Democracy
  "To provide American citizens direct online access to the basic Federal Government documents that define our democratic society, a core group of current and historical Government publications is being made available for free, permanent, public access via the GPO Access service."

• Cyber Cemetery
  The University of North Texas Libraries and the U.S. Government Printing Office, as part of the Federal Depository Library Program, created a partnership to provide permanent public access to the electronic Web sites and publications of defunct U.S. government agencies and commissions. This collection was named the "CyberCemetery" by early users of the site. Sites are organized both alphabetically and by category. Use the buttons in the left-side navigation bar to browse the archive.

• Federal Depository Library Program
  The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government's information. Since 1813, depository libraries have safeguarded the public's right to know by collecting, organizing, maintaining, preserving, and assisting users with information from the Federal Government. The FDLP provides Government information at no cost to designated depository libraries throughout the country and territories. These depository libraries, in turn, provide local, no-fee access to Government information in an impartial environment with professional assistance.

• Grants.Gov
  Provides a simple, unified electronic storefront for interaction between grant applicants and 26 Federal grant-making agencies overseeing 900 individual grant programs that award over $350 billion in grants each year.

• Internet Archive Wayback Machine
  A comprehensive library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form, which provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public. Contains over 10 billion pages. Can't find the previous administrations' papers? Check here.

• Library of Congress
  LC was born in 1800 when a law passed appropriating $5,000 for the purchase of books for the use of Congress. Two years later, a librarian was authorized to take charge. From these humble beginnings, LC has expanded into a huge operation. Many of their sites are divided according to the Reading Rooms housed at LC.

• Online Catalog
  Enables you to search the catalog of one of the largest libraries in the world.

• American Folklife Center
  The electronic counterpart of the Archive of Folk Culture, which includes material from all 50 states.

• Children's Literature Center
  

• Copyright Office
  

• Geography and Map Division
  

• Hispanic Division
  

• Local History & Genealogy, Humanities and Social Sciences Division
  

• Manuscript Division
  

• National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
  

• Prints and Photographs Division
  

• National Archives and Records Administration
  Performs functions relating to management, preservation, and disposition of government records. Includes online exhibits such as the Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

• Access to Archival Databases (AAD)
  This site allows the public to search for free through 85 million documents in 475 files amassed by more than 30 federal agencies.

  ARTS

• National Endowment
  The National Endowments are responsible for awarding grants, preserving cultural heritage, and emphasizing art, history, literature, and philosophy education.

• Museum and Library Services Institute
  

• National Endowment for the Arts
  

• National Endowment for the Humanities
  

• Smithsonian Institution
  Created in 1846, under the terms of the will of James Smithson of London, who bequeathed his fortune to a country he had never visited to found an establishment for the diffusion of knowledge among men. The Institution performs research, explores, preserves for study over 60 million samples; it remains a federally chartered, non-profit corporation. This fine site includes the National Gallery of Art, National Air and Space Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery, among other museum sites.

ENVIRONMENT, AGRICULTURE, ENERGY, AND NATURAL DISASTERS

ENVIRONMENT

• Environmental Protection Agency
  Established as an independent agency in 1970; created to permit coordinated government action to preserve the environment, and abate and control pollution.

• Indian Affairs Bureau
  Responsibilities include enhancement of quality of life, promotion of economic opportunities, protection and improvement of trust assets of American Indians, Indian tribes, and Alaska natives.

• Interior Department
  Since 1849 this Department's duties have changed from that of general housekeeper to the federal government to custodian of natural resources.

• Geological Survey
  Established in 1879; minimizes loss of life and property from natural disasters, manages water, biological, energy, and mineral resources.

• GEODE
  This GEO-Data Explorer site provides over 67 maps of varying complexity from locations around the world, including demographics, environmental, energy, and mineral resource data, some cultural features, meteorology, and natural hazards, among other topics. Two formats, HTML and JAVA, are offered, plus a number of useful help screens.

• National Atlas of the United States of America
  An exciting update of the 1970 paper edition, "the National Atlas of the United States includes five distinct products and services. In addition to providing high-quality, small-scale maps, the Atlas includes authoritative national geospatial and geostatistical data sets. Examples of digital geospatial data include soils, county boundaries, volcanoes, and watersheds. Crime patterns, population distribution, and incidence of disease are examples of geostatistical data. This information is tied to specific geographic areas and is categorized and indexed using different methods, such as county, State, and zip code boundaries or geographic coordinates like latitude and longitude. These data are collected and integrated to a consistent set of standards for reliability." Includes Atlas News, Atlas FAQ, and About the Atlas.

• National Park Service
  Since 1916, administers areas under its jurisdiction so the environment is protected and citizens' enjoyment and education are enhanced. You can use Visit Your Parks or Parknet to search for parks by name, theme, and state, with detailed maps and general information.

• Fish and Wildlife Service
  Conserves, protects, and enhances fish, wildlife, and their habitats.

• Land Management Bureau
  Manages over 264 million acres, that is, 1/8 of land in the United States.

• Reclamation Bureau
  Manages, develops, and protects water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner.

  AGRICULTURE

• Agriculture Department
  Created by an act of Congress in 1862.

• AGRICOLA
  AGRICultural OnLine Access, this database in an online catalog of books and journals available at the National Agricultural Library.

• Forest Service
  Promotes conservation of the nation's forest lands.

• National Agricultural Library
  Produces helpful bibliographies on various agriculture, crop, and animal husbandry topics.

• Natural Resources Conservation Service
  Co-publishes Soil Survey Reports for all states.

• National Agricultural Statistics Service
  

• Food and Nutrition Service
  Ensures access to nutritious, healthful diets for all Americans. Through food assistance and nutrition education for consumers, FNCS encourages consumers to make healthful food choices.

• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
  

• Food Safety and Inspection Service
  

  ENERGY

• Energy Department
  

• Energy Information Administration
  

• Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to regulate civilian use of nuclear materials. NRC is headed by a five-member Commission. The NRC's regulatory mission covers three main areas: Reactors - Commercial reactors for generating electric power and research and test reactors used for research, testing, and training; Materials - Uses of nuclear materials in medical, industrial, and academic settings and facilities that produce nuclear fuel; Waste - Transportation, storage, and disposal of nuclear materials and waste, and decommissioning of nuclear facilities from service.

• Smart Communities Network
  Focuses on the success in sustainable development achieved by some communities. Allows access to breaking news, coming events, important Web sites, and funding opportunities. Side tabs lead to green buildings and development, land use planning, disaster planning, among other topics.

• Southwestern Power Administration
  

  NATURAL DISASTERS

• Federal Emergency Management Agency
  An independent federal agency; awarded Cabinet status in 1996. Advises on building codes, flood plain management, emergency preparedness, and disaster preparedness and assistance. Includes:

• FEMA Fugitive Documents
  A full-text searchable database of FEMA documents that have 'disappeared' from their official sites, but that have been captured by depository librarians.

• Fire Administration
  

• Global Volcanism Program
  Studies volcanic activity and integrates the data with historical and geological records. Be sure and look through the FAQs to learn more than you wanted to know about volcanoes.

• National Flood Insurance Program
  

• Multi-Hazard Mapping Initiative
  The vision of FEMA's Mutihazard Mapping Initiative is to maintain a living atlas of hazards data and map services for advisory purposes supplied from a network of hazard and base map providers. The initiative is an implementation of Section 203(k) of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000, which calls for the creation of Multihazard Advisory Maps, or maps "on which hazard data concerning each type of natural disaster is identified simultaneously for the purpose of showing areas of hazard overlap."

• USGS National Earthquake Information Center
  Supplies information on the location and size of worldwide earthquakes. Extremely well organized with international links to current earthquake information, including a near real-time earthquake list.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• State Department
  The oldest executive body, reconstituted in 1789, with Thomas Jefferson serving as the first Secretary of State.

• Background Notes
  Background notes cover just about every country, with such valuable information as official name, geography, people, history, political conditions, economy, foreign relations, US relations, and travel/business information. Updated every couple of years.

• Foreign Consular Offices in the United States
  Listing which enables foreign nationals and US citizens to contact foreign governments through consular offices located throughout the US.

• Travel.State.Gov
  Invaluable information about travel warnings abroad, passport and visa information, and information on international adoption. The site was formerly known as the Consular Affairs Bureau, so stuffy.

• USINFO.State.Gov
  Formerly known as the United States Information Agency and the International Information Programs Office, this Office "is the principal international strategic communications service for the foreign affairs community. IIP designs, develops, and implements a variety of information initiatives and strategic communications programs, including Internet and print publications, traveling and electronically transmitted speaker programs, and information resource services. These reach--and are created strictly for--key international audiences, such as the media, government officials, opinion leaders, and the general public in more than 140 countries around the world."

• Holocaust Memorial Museum
  Established in 1980; documents, studies, and interprets Holocaust history, serving as a memorial to millions of people murdered in the Holocaust.

• Institute of Peace
  Created in 1984 by Congress, an independent, nonpartisan institution devoted to promoting peaceful resolution of international conflicts.

• Nations of the World
  Part of the Library of Congress Law Library's Global Legal Information Network, this site provides links to each nation's constitution, executive, judicial, and legislative bodies, plus links to Country Study, Background Notes, Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members, and the World Factbook.

• Portals to the World
  Contains selective links providing authoritative, in-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world. They are arranged by country or area with the links for each sorted into a wide range of broad categories. The links were selected by Area Specialists and other Library staff using Library of Congress selection criteria. When completed, the project will include all the nations of the world.

• VOANews.Com
  International news from the independent agency, the Voice of America broadcast service. Offers an abundance of news from abroad, along with coverage of people, institutions, and events in the US. Gives a glimpse of how the US presents itself to the world, and the editorials convey the policies and ideologies of the US government. The agency was established in 1942.

GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND BUDGET

• Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
  The ACIR was established in 1959 to study relationships among local, state, and national levels of government. Although it closed in 1996, this site provides permanent access to its electronic publications.

• Congressional Budget Office
  Established in 1974, provides Congress with objective, timely, and nonpartisan analyses needed for economic and budgetary decisions.

• FedStats
  An invaluable resource that gathers statistics from more than 70 agencies.

• Government Accountability Office
  The General Accounting Office was established in 1921 to oversee expenditures in the executive branch; its audit authority extends to all departments and agencies of the federal government. Often called the watchdog of Congress. Effective July 7, 2004, the GAO's legal name became the Government Accountability Office.

• General Services Administration
  Created in 1949; manages federal property and buildings. Includes Federal Supply Service and Public Buildings Service.

• Management and Budget Office
  First created in 1921; creates the budget, which is not merely a mass of figures but a blueprint of public policy. This site is devoted to current and past Budgets of the United States.

• Personnel Management Office
  Serves as the government's human resources agency, while managing the federal retirement system and the government's health insurance program.

• FedWorld
  Guide to federal jobs.

• USA Jobs
  

HEALTH

• Health and Human Service Department
  Continues many of the duties of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. This huge department is involved in the lives of more Americans than any other federal agency, advising, regulating, and involving citizens from the womb to the tomb.

  Helpful search engines:
  

• Healthfinder
  

• National Mental Health Information Center
  

• National Network of Libraries of Medicine
  The mission of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) is to advance the progress of medicine and improve the public health by: 1) providing all U.S. health professionals with equal access to biomedical information; and, 2) improving the public's access to information to enable them to make informed decisions about their health. The Program is coordinated by the National Library of Medicine and carried out through a nationwide network of health science libraries and information centers.

• Nutrition.Gov
  A new (2002) federal resource, provides easy access to all online federal government information on nutrition. This national resource makes obtaining government information on nutrition, healthy eating, physical activity, and food safety, easily accessible in one place for many Americans. Providing accurate scientific information on nutrition and dietary guidance is critical to the public's ability to make the right choices in the effort to curb obesity and other food related diseases in launching this new website.

• Pubmed
  PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides access to over 11 million citations from MEDLINE and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources.

  HHS' agencies include:
  

• Administration on Aging
  Established 1965; focal point and advocate agency for older persons, helping them to remain in their own homes by providing supportive services, and helps to enhance their health.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  

• BAM! Body and Mind
  The CDC brings BAM! which was created to answer kids' questions on health issues and recommend ways to make their bodies and minds healthier, stronger, and safer. BAM! also serves as an aid to teachers, providing them with interactive activities to support their health and science curriculums that are educational and fun.

• National Center for Health Statistics
  

• Sexually Transmitted Diseases
  

• Travelers' Health
  Learn about reemerging diseases, plus accurate information about precautions and vaccinations. Includes "Destinations" and "Health Topics A to Z" pages.

• Children's Bureau
  

• Food and Drug Administration
  

• Drugs@FDA
  Authoritative information on prescription and over-the-counter drugs, including approval history, and label and consumer information.

• GlobalHealth.Gov
  The Office of Global Health Affairs' site provides links to international health-related news and hot topics. The Frequently Asked Questions defines the concept of global health. Data Resources supply Country Information and World Health Statistics. Fact Sheets from the HHS and the World Health Organization on topics such as global tobacco use, sleeping sickness programs, and world epilepsy programs. Anyone doing health statistics research concerning partner countries will find this site invaluable.

• Health Resources and Services Administration
  

• Maternal and Child Health Bureau
  

• Indian Health Service
  Provides health service to approximately 1.5 million American Indians and Alaska natives belonging to 557 tribes in 34 states.

• National Institutes of Health
  Began as a one-room Laboratory of Hygiene in 1887, today is one of the foremost biomedical research centers; helps prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability.

• ClinicalTrials.gov
  ClinicalTrials.gov provides regularly updated information about federally and privately supported clinical research in human volunteers. ClinicalTrials.gov gives you information about a trial's purpose, who may participate, locations, and phone numbers for more details.

• National Cancer Institute
  Links to types of cancer, treatment options, support groups, literature, and coping with cancer.

• National Eye Institute
  

• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  

• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
  

• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
  

• National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  

• National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
  

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
  

• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
  

• National Institute of General Medical Sciences
  

• National Institute of Mental Health
  

• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  

• National Institute of Nursing Research
  Includes basic information about NINR, research funding and programs, news and information, and links to nursing organizations and databases. A valuable site for nurses as a significant resource for funding along with necessary application requirements and procedures.

• National Institute on Aging
  

• National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  

• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
  

• National Institute on Drug Abuse
  

• National Library of Medicine
  Includes Medline Plus.

• WomensHealth.gov
  Sponsored by the National Women's Health Information Center, a service of the Office on Women's Health. The OWH was established in 1991 within the US Department of Health and Human Services. OWH coordinates the efforts of all the HHS agencies and office involved in women's health. OWH works to improve the health and well-being of women and girls in the United States.

• President's Council on Bioethics
  Established on November 28, 2001 by President George W. Bush to investigate issues relating to human bioethics. A well-designed site that is limited so far to cloning. The site includes transcripts of council meetings, related articles for inspection and down-loading, plus many excellent links.

• Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
  The mission of the Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps is to provide highly-trained and mobile health professionals who carry out programs to promote the health of the Nation, understand and prevent disease and injury, assure safe and effective drugs and medical devices, deliver health services to Federal beneficiaries, and furnish health expertise in time of war or other national or international emergencies. One of the seven uniformed services of the United States.

• Surgeon General's Office
  Since 1871, the Surgeon General of the United States has been the nation's leading spokesman on matters of public health. Seventeen men and women have served in this important position. Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S., was sworn in as Surgeon General on August 5, 2002. Read on for more about public health work.

• Reports of the Surgeon General
  The Reports of the Surgeon General contains official reports, conference and workshop reports, and proceedings from the Office of the Surgeon General. The National Library of Medicine has digitized and made available over the World Wide Web the Reports of the Surgeon General for use by the public.

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  Comprised of three centers: Center for Mental Health Services, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, and Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.

HOUSING, CONSUMER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SECURITY

• Housing and Urban Development Administration
  Created in 1965, provides for development of the nation's communities and metropolitan areas.

• Consumer.Gov
  A gateway to over 40 federal agencies who participate in providing authoritative consumer information ranging from health issues to product safety; includes Scam Alerts throughout the ten main categories.

• Consumer Product Safety Commission
  

• Social Security Online
  This site contains one of the largest and most extensive collections of history-related materials in the federal government. Look under History of Social Security for both the institutional history of the Social Security Administration and the history of the Social Security program itself. Also available forms and publications, news, and the future of SSA.

JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT

• Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Bureau
  A Treasury Department agency dedicated to reducing violent crime, collecting revenue, and protecting the public by enforcing federal laws and regulations relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and arson. Possessed of a long and interesting history detailed on this web site, ranging from oleomargarine fraud, Prohibition, and nationwide arson investigations.

• Attorney General Office
  

• Drug Enforcement Administration
  

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
  

• Federal Judicial Center
  Established in 1967; conducts research and study pertaining to operations of the courts.

• Findlaw
  The Judicial Branch consists of administrative agencies and, of course, the federal courts. Most of the courts do not have separate sites, but the cases can be found through Findlaw.

• Justice Department
  Created in 1870; enforces federal laws and construes laws under which other departments operate.

• Justice Statistics Bureau
  

• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
  Essentially the same source both in format and content as the paper edition. Internet searching is done by browsing the topic lists or using keyword searches. The What's New section points out data sources on the Web.

• Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Office
  

• Marshals Service
  

• National Institute of Corrections
  

• National Institute of Justice
  Research agency for the Department; created in 1968, authorized to support research, evaluation, and demonstration programs, as well as development of technology, and national and international information dissemination.

• Prisons Bureau
  

• Supreme Court
  Read court decisions the same day they are released, plus the Court's argument calendar, rules, schedules, bar admission forms, and visitor guides.

• Supreme Court Decisions, 1937-1975
  Contains the full text of decisions issued during this time period, fully searchable.

• U.S. Courts
  From 1939 this agency has managed all federal courts except for the Supreme Court.

• Violence Against Women Office
  

LAWS AND REGULATIONS

• THOMAS
  Legislative Information on the Internet; Library of Congress's invaluable search engine for Major Legislation, bills, public laws, voting records, committee reports, and the current Congressional Record.

• Legislative Handles
  Legislative Handles are a new persistent URL service for creating links to legislative documents from the THOMAS web site, making it easy to type in legislative links to bibliographies, reference guides, emails, blogs, or web pages, and to cite legislation.

• Federal Register
  Publishes administrative rules having the force of law; contains all executive orders, proclamations, Presidential edicts, all rules and regulations of executive departments, agencies, and independent establishments; also publishes grant information.

• Regulations.Gov
  On this site, you can find, review, and submit comments on Federal documents that are open for comment and published in the Federal Register, the Government's legal newspaper. As a member of the public, you can submit comments about these regulations, and have the Government take your views into account. To find Federal Register documents currently open for comment, please use the GO buttons on the top of every page. Then, you may use the "Submit a Comment on this Regulation" link to express your opinion on a specific document. Alternatively, you may submit a comment directly to the agency through the PDF or HTML version.

• Code of Federal Regulations
  Codification of all regulations still in force by executive agencies; composed of titles, many of which correspond to those in the United States Code.

• United States Code
  The Office of Law Revision Counsel prepares and publishes the United States Code, a consolidation and codification by subject of general and permanent laws of the United States.

POSTAL

• United States Postal Service
  Dates back to 1775 when Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General; established as an independent establishment in 1970.

PRESIDENTIAL

• President of the United States
  Several Executive agencies are scattered throughout the various categories on this list.

• Codification of Presidential Proclamations and Executive Orders
  Covers April 13, 1945 through January 20, 1989, spanning the administrations of Harry S. Truman through Ronald Reagan.

• Executive Orders Disposition Tables
  Lists the status of Executive Orders from January 8, 1937 - November 19, 2007 and are arranged according to Presidential administration and year of signature. The tables are compiled and maintained by the Office of the Federal Register editors.

• First Lady Office
  

• Vice President of the United States
  

• White House
  

SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TRANSPORTATION

SCIENCE

• Commerce Department
  Created by an act of Congress in 1913; fosters, serves, and promotes economic development and technological advancement. Check under BUSINESS AND COMMUNICATION for other Commerce agencies.

• National Institute of Standards and Technology
  NIST promotes works with industry to develop and apply technology measurements and standards.

• National Technical Information Service
  NTIS is the central source for the public sale of government sponsored research, development, and engineering reports; the database can be searched back to 1990.

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  Created in 1970. Includes: National Weather Service, National Meteorological Center, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, National Climatic Data Center, and National Ocean Service.

• Climate Analysis Branch
  One of the best sites on climate and weather in general, with information geared to both researchers and scientists to climate-curious surfers.

• National Science Foundation
  Established in 1950, its purposes are to increase the base of scientific knowledge and to develop science education programs; polar research is also included.

• Science Inventory
  A searchable Agency-wide catalog of science activities and scientific and technical work products (for example, risk assessments, technical studies and guidance, and research.) Use a keyword search or pick one of nine topics by region or throughout the inventory: aging initiative, contaminated sediments, ecological assessment tools, genomics, tribal science, children's health, cumulative risk, environmental justice and non-indigenous species.

  SPACE

• National Aeronautics and Space Administraton
  Established in 1958 in order to conduct research for the solution of flight problems in and outside the earth's atmosphere, and to develop, test, and operate space vehicles. Contains thrilling pictures of planets!

• Astrobiology
  Astrobiologists searches for organisms that exist only in theory by studying the possibility of life on other planets, as well as postulating the existence of life forms never found on Earth. This site links to every aspect of astrobiology available, including latest news and related links.

  TRANSPORTATION

• Transportation Department
  Created in 1966, one year after HUD; develops transportation policies and programs conducive to fast, safe, and convenient transportation at low cost.

• Transportation Statistics Bureau
  Includes data on airline information, international transportation, motor carrier information, along with a link to:

• Transtats
  Provides one-stop data shopping through access of more than 100 transportation-related databases. Explore by Mode, Subject, or Agency.

• Federal Aviation Administration
  

• Federal Highway Administration
  

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
  

• National Transportation Safety Board
  

STATISTICS

• American Factfinder
  Your source for Census 2000 reports covering population, housing, economic, and geographic data, as well as site tours and tutorials.

• EconomicIndicators.Gov
  Our mission is to provide timely access to the daily releases of key economic indicators from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. Includes the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

• Education Statistics at a Glance
  Allows access to the NCES' major reference tools, including Condition of Education, Digest of Education Statistics, Projections of Education Statistics, and Education Indicators. Also includes International and Youth Indicators. Browse topics of do a full-text search of current or past editions.

• FedStats
  An invaluable resource that gathers statistics from more than 70 agencies.

• International Data Base (IDB)
  Statistical tables of demographic and socioeconomic data for 227 countries and areas of the world, from 1950 to the present and projections to 2050. The most readily available statistics concern population, infant mortality, and life expectancy. Other data sets cover fertility, migration, family planning, and literacy.

• Justice Statistics Bureau
  

• Labor Statistics Bureau
  A major producer of economic and general purpose statistics, especially in the field of labor and commerce.

• National Agricultural Statistics Service
  

• National Center for Education Statistics
  Collects and reports statistics and information showing conditions and progress of education in the United States and other nations.

• National Center for Health Statistics
  

• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
  Essentially the same source both in format and content as the paper edition. Internet searching is done by browsing the topic lists or using keyword searches. The What's New section points out data sources on the Web.

• State & County Quick Facts
  Comparable data for 33 categories divided into People, Business, and Geography. Can link to summary data by state from 1993 on.

• Statistical Abstract
  Statistical Abstract data present here ranges from our most recent census to the historical abstracts compiled throughout the decades. Some of the data were scanned as an effort to make historical abstract information available to the public. Currently available: Colonial times to 2001.

• Transportation Statistics Bureau
  Includes data on airline information, international transportation, motor carrier information, along with a link to:

• Transtats
  Provides one-stop data shopping through access of more than 100 transportation-related databases. Explore by Mode, Subject, or Agency.

VOLUNTEERS

• Corporation for National & Community Service
  Includes AmeriCorps, Learn and Service America, and Senior Corps.

• Peace Corps
  President John F. Kennedy proposed this international volunteer organization in 1960. Since then, more than 150,000 Americans have served.

  BACKGROUND ON THIS WEB SITE

  Information describing the various agencies has been derived from the agency web sites, and from the invaluable Joe Morehead's Introduction to United States Public Documents. Any misinformation is the author's fault, because she is tired, very tired.

  Adobe offers the following method for visually impaired users to convert Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files for use with screen reading programs:

• Adobe Acrobat PDF
  

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF AGENCIES OR TITLES