Guide for Junior
Statesmen for Government Publications at NUL
Contact us by phone or email (we'd love to hear from
you)
Use our web site (it's full of links to great resources)
- http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/
Come see us during these hours (we love the company)
- Monday - Thursday: 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.,
Saturday: 1 p.m.-5 p.m., Sunday: Closed
Using Government Publications -- Generally
To identify many of the items in Gov Pubs, (but not all of our
items are listed in the catalog, especially materials dated before
1976.)
1) Search Nucat/Voyager the library's online catalog and Congressional
Universe (described below) for books, reports, journals, and Congressional
hearings.
2) Print out NUcat records or make a list of call numbers.
3) Bring us your list of the MAIN Government Pub. call numbers,
as well as any SuDocs numbers you find in Congressional Universe.
Our stacks are generally closed to the public, and we will page
the materials for you.
4) Although government publications may not leave the department,
they may be used on site and photocopied--be sure to bring either
cash or a copy card.
The Government Publications Department collects reference tools
and print series for accessing federal, agency, legislative, and
Congressional information (e.g. bills, laws, legislative histories,
agency publications, presidential papers, Supreme Court reports).
Many of these tools cover various time periods, and some even go
back to publications from 1789.
The NUL Place to Start for Electronic Government Resources
-- Quick Link to Databases and Resources http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resource/federal/data.html
The Legislative Branch
Congressional
Universe -- Provides access to information by and about Congress.
Find the full text of bills here as well as their legislative histories,
or biographies and voting records of Congressional members. Hearings
and reports, not in full text online, are in the Government Publications
department. Check out the Hot Topics section
CQ Library
-- CQ Library contains two resources: CQ Weekly contains nonpartisan
legislative news and analysis, with full text provided here from
1983 to the present. CQ Researcher gives detailed portraits of controversial
issues in American politics and is an excellent starting point for
getting background on your topics.
THOMAS: Legislative Information
on the Internet (http://thomas.loc.gov) This Library of Congress
site tracks legislation and committee activities. Allows searching
of the Congressional Record.
Don't forget the House (http://www.house.gov)
and Senate (http://www.senate.gov)
home pages for sources of legislative information and information
about Congressional members.
The Judicial Branch
Supreme Court of the United
States (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/). Provides access opinions,
dockets, and rules of the Supreme Court among other types of public
information.
Oyez Oyez Oyez
-- (http://oyez.northwestern.edu/) This resource indexes the Supreme Court
cases over the years that have dealt with Constitutional law, and
allows you to hear select oral arguments. Even if you do not have
access to a computer with RealAudio software capabilities, the Oyez
Project is useful for searching for Constitutional law cases by
subject. A citation, abstract, and list of justices is provided
for each case. For cases decided after 1893, there are links to
the full text.
Academic
Universe -- aka LEXIS-NEXIS, Offers full text access to law
reviews, federal case law, the U.S. Code, the Constitution, court
rules, and the major legal tools of every state. This also provides
access to newspapers and news services from this country and abroad.
The Executive Branch
The White House -- Visit
our President and his friends virtually at the White House home
page. Check out the Briefing Room for current press releases, the
Saturday Radio Address, and topical briefings by the President's
advisors. See the Virtual Library (particularly the Archive of All
White House Documents) where you can access executive orders, speeches,
remarks, declarations, and other public papers going back to 1993.
Weekly Compilation
of Presidential Documents -- The official collection of presidential
papers is now available online from 1993 to the present. Search
by keyword and year to find more materials similar to those on the
White House home page.
Public
Papers of the Presidents -- This database provides full text
access to the letters, addresses, speeches, proclamations, executive
orders, and some other publicly-issued materials of most of the
Presidents of the United States. (Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge
are not included, nor are any documents published after December
1993.) Please visit the Government Publications Department should
you need a search guide to this database, or if you are having printing
problems.
Agencies
Check out the Agency
List (http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resource/federal/agency.html)
on our web site. Quite often, the appropriate unit of government
will have press releases, statements, and news about the areas of
policy for which it is responsible. If you are uncertain as to which
agency is responsible for a policy area, please see us and we will
help you figure this out.
Elections, Political Parties, & Interest Groups
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
-- This is the official government source for information regarding
electoral law, campaign contributions, voter registration and turnout,
and political action committees (PACs).
Center for
Responsive Politics -- Center for Responsive Politics' Opensecrets
(http://www.opensecrets.org/home/index.asp)This source highlights
the ties between money and politics, and it delivers data on contributions,
the finances of representatives, individual states, PACs, soft money,
the 2000 presidential race, and lobbyist spending.
Politics1.com -- Politics1.com
(http://www.politics1.com) This site has described itself as "a
nonpartisan public service to promote fully informed decision-making
by the American electorate." Links to information about and by various
parties and interest groups. State-level campaign and candidate
information is also linked.
Remember: you are more than welcome to come and talk to
the Government Publications staff and Reference staff should you
need any assistance. We hope to see you!
John Milton Hendricks July 2, 1999
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govpubs@northwestern.edu
