LibGuides: United States History: Government Information

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BGSU Libraries Catalog
Start by searching this catalog to see if BGSU owns the document. All of the documents in our Canadian, Ohio, and Bowling Green documents collections have been cataloged. However, not all U.S. government documents have been cataloged. You will also find links to online government information in the catalog.
OhioLINK Central Catalog
If BGSU doesn't own the document, try the OhioLINK Central Catalog. It contains the holdings of the libraries at more than 80 colleges and universities throughout Ohio, many of which have government documents collections. You will also find links to online government information in the catalog.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
Descriptions of publications issued by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government and links to those that are available online.
ProQuest Congressional
ProQuest Congressional is a comprehensive database that searches across current and historical documents of the United States Congress, many of which are included in full text. It includes the U.S. Serial Set (the published working papers of Congress), Congressional Hearings, the Congressional Record (through 1997) and hundreds of thousands of House and Senate reports, State of the Union messages, Congressional journals, hearings, high-resolution maps, and more.
Access has recently been expanded to include ProQuest Congressional Hearings Digital Collection Historical Archive Parts B and C (1980-2010), ProQuest Congressional Record Permanent Digital Collection, and ProQuest U.S. Serial Set 2 Parts G, H, and I.

Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals (AULIMP)
Citations to significant articles, news items, and editorials published in English-language military and aeronautical periodicals since 1988.
American State Papers, 1789-1838
Important executive and legislative documents issued between 1789 and 1838, including every legislative and executive document of the first fourteen U.S. Congresses.
Coverage: 1789-1838

Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909
Checklist is arranged by classification number and is useful for examining the scope of a particular agency's publishing from the time it was established through 1909.
Congressional Record (Bound Edition) 1873-2001, 2005-2009
This is a freely available edition of the bound Congressional Record. The BGSU Libraries also have access to the Congressional Record in the ProQuest Congressional database.
govinfo (formerly FDSYS)
govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO) which provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.

HeinOnline U.S. Statutes at Large
Full-text searchable images of every page of the Statutes at Large in PDF format, beginning in 1789. Also includes earlier Federal Codes, Compilations of Statutes, and other related documents.
Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL)
Thousands of U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents related to homeland security, as well as specialized resources from universities, organizations, and local and state agencies.

HouseResource.org's YouTube channel of Congressional hearing videos
This collection of Congressional videos includes hearings as early as 1993, but it much less comprehensive than the video collection at CSPAN.

LLMC Digital Law Library
Historical legal titles and government documents from around the world, with a focus on U.S. federal and state material.

The BGSU Libraries house collections of United States, Ohio, Bowling Green, and Canadian government documents. For more information, see:

Government Information
by Rebecca Stanwick Last Updated Mar 26, 2024 71 views this year

These are just a few of the many web sites that include or index historical United States government documents:

To find laws of the thirteen colonies, see:

Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publicationis 1900-1971
MAIN GOV DOCS INDEXES Z 1223 .A 1973x v.1-15

Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents 1789-1976
MAIN GOV DOCS INDEXES Z 1223 .Z7L47J83 v.1-16

Index to U.S. Government Periodicals, 1975 - 1987
GOV DOCS REF Z 1233 .Z915

Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1895 - 1976
MAIN GOV DOCS INDEXES GP 3.8: