Federal Legislative Sources
State Legislative Sources
Regulatory Sources
Program Evaluation
Worldwide Social Policy
Statistics
U.S. Government Search Engines
Ask a Librarian

Federal Legislative Sources

Web sites/Databases:

• LexisNexis Congressional  UIUC
  Provides bill histories, histories of public laws, full-text congressional publications, and information on members of Congress.
• Thomas 
  Facilitates access to congressional documents, including bills, committee reports, and the Congressional Record.  Use Boolean operators.
• GPO Access
  Provides full-text documents of executive agencies, the courts, and Congress, including hearings (with appendices), since 1995.  Use Boolean operators.
• U.S. House of Representatives / U.S. Senate
  These include links to the web sites of committees and individual senators and representatives.

Analytical aids:

• CQ Weekly  UIUC
  328.7305Coqa1  1998-  GDL, MAIN STACKS
  Summarizes and interprets legislative activity in concise, authoritative articles.  Also available in print.
• Congressional Quarterly Almanac
  328.7305 Coq  1945-  GDL, MAIN STACKS
  No source provides a better overview of Congressional activity in various spheres during a given year than this synthesis of the CQ Weekly.
• Congress and the Nation: A Review of Government and Politics  
  320.973 C76  GDL
  This summary of the Congressional Quarterly Almanac covers five-year periods dating from 1945 to 1996.
• Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report  
  328.7305 Coqa  1965-1998  MAIN STACKS
  This title preceded the CQ Weekly.

Handbooks and Guides:

• How a Bill Becomes a Law
  For detailed information, click on the part of the graphic that you need.
• Tying It All Together  
  This brief guide written by House Information Resources outlines the legislative process of the U.S. government.
• Congress A to Z, 3rd ed.  
  328.73003 C76 1999  GDL
  Explains congressional processes in accessible prose.
• How Congress Works, 3rd ed.  
  328.73 H83 1998  GDL
  This is another excellent introduction to congressional processes.

State Legislative Sources

Web Sites/Databases

• LexisNexis State Capitol  UIUC
  Find the legislation, laws, and regulations of all fifty states. It also includes information on policy formation from the National Conference of State Legislatures, State Net legislative journals, and state newspapers of record.
• Sources of State Information
  This guide consists of links to general state government resources, legal and regulatory sources, and statistics published by state governments.

Regulatory Sources

Note:  When searching for regulations, first identify their source.

Federal Register:

• GPO Access
• Lexis-Nexis Congressional  Click on Regulations in the side bar.

The Federal Register contains proposed rules and final rules; the latter are incorporated in the Code of Federal Regulations. Each issue is arranged roughly by executive body. A citation consists of the volume number, "FR," page number, and year, as in 46 FR 3566 (1981).

Code of Federal Regulations:

• GPO Access
• Lexis-Nexis Congressional  Click on Regulations in the side bar.

The CFR contains regulations currently in force that have been printed as final rules in the Federal Register. It is published annually, and rules printed in the Federal Register do not appear immediately in either the online or print versions of the CFR. The volume of the regulations currently in force is triple that of the laws in effect. CFR references consist of a title number, "CFR," section number, and year, as in 40 CFR 211.10 (1978).

Program Evaluation

• General Accounting Office/Government Accountability Office
  The GAO carries out audits and evaluations of government programs and activities.  While some GAO reviews are required by law, the majority are undertaken at the request of a Congressional committee.  The site includes a search by broad subject area (see Reports and Testimony).  Almost all GAO reports may be accessed through the UIUC online catalog.
• Green Book (Background Material and Data on Major Programs within the Jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means)
  A standard reference book on social policy, the Green Book consists of detailed program descriptions and statistical appendices.  Also available in print at the Government Documents Library.
  DOC.Y4.W36:10-4/  GDL
• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 
  The Catalog is a compendium of information on federal programs, projects, services, and activities which provide assistance or benefits to individuals.  
  DOC.PREX2.20:  GDL
• Congressional Budget Office
  Calculates the cost of every bill.
• Congressional Research Services Index (CD-ROM)  GDL
  This index includes bibliographic records for CRS studies made available as part of the Major Studies & Issue Briefs of the Congressional Research Service microfiche set, which is located in a Government Documents Library cabinet labeled UPA.  In response to requests from Congress, the CRS issues publications that include background studies, pro and con arguments, in-depth policy and legislative analysis, and legislative histories on every conceivable topic of interest to Congress.

Worldwide Social Policy

Human Rights Treaty Body Documents
Each of the UN's human rights treaty bodies has as its sole purpose the implementation of a particular human rights agreement.  Each of these bodies reviews the reports of signatories and helps respective governments to establish the legal and institutional mechanisms that make compliance possible.  Reports to these bodies, which are available for most countries, deal extensively with issues related to the quality of life.  Use the Treaty Body Document Search in the right-hand sidebar to access the text of these documents in the language you prefer.  This is usually a four-step process:

• Identify the convention (i.e., treaty) that is related to your area of interest.  If the focus of your research is child welfare, select the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).  If your concern is poverty, you might choose the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).
• Specify the country of interest.
• Indicate the type of document you are seeking (the key document is ordinarily the "state party report") and begin your search.
• Choose the report in the language you prefer.  Countries usually submit the required "state party reports" every two to five years.

Statistics

• Statistical Abstract of the United States  
  DOC.C3.134:  GDL
  If you are looking for national or state data, start here.  Note that the index refers you to table numbers, not page numbers.
• U.S. Bureau of the Census
  The Census Bureau is the main source of demographic and socioeconomic data for the United States.  For 1990 and 2000 Census data, search the Bureau's American FactFinder.
• Human Development Reports
  The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works to enhance the quality of life in developing countries.  Its Human Development Report--one of the most frequently cited government documents in the social sciences--provides statistics on relevant variables for all countries.  The UNDP also issues human development reports for particular countries.  These can be identified and accessed via the search interface in the right-hand sidebar of the HDR page.  
• United Nations Statistics Division
  Two links in the left sidebar lead the user to lists of national statistical agencies and intergovernmental organizations that publish statistics.  The amount and quality of data provided by different countries vary significantly.
• Demographic and Health Surveys
  Through this page, the U.S. Agency for International Development provides country data on health, nutrition, family structure, income, and many other variables
• LexisNexis Statistical  UIUC
  The statistical module of LN indexes and abstracts tables published in a wide array of governmental and private sources.
• Statistical Resources on the Web
  The links on this site lead to data in every field.

U.S. Government Search Engines

USA.gov
This is the U.S. Government's portal for local, state, and U.S. government information.
Google U.S. Government Search
Search for content located on either U.S. federal, state, or local government websites.

Ask a Librarian

Contact us anytime via our UIUC Government Documents Library E-mail Reference service.

Reference assistance is available in person Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.  Stop by or call us at (217) 244-6445.