ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 764 / C&RL N ews ■ N ovem ber 1998 I NT E R N E T R E S O UR C E S Government information A guide to governments here and abroad by Sandra da Conturbia and Xiaodong Li Governm ent docum ents include a wide va­riety o f publications by and about gov­ ernm ental agencies o n the local, state, n a­ tional, an d international level. The U.S. Gov­ ernm ent Printing Office (GPO) is by itself the largest publisher w orldw ide. In recent years, the Web has m ade it m uch easier to obtain timely inform ation in any dom ain, b u t the proliferation of Internet resources m akes it m ore and m ore difficult to choose am ong electronic pages that provide similar an d of­ ten overlapping information. This bibliogra­ phy contains a selective list o f useful Internet sites, electronic journals, and mail lists that represent the authors’ preferences. In addi­ tion to com prehensive governm ent sites, ad­ ditional sources with m ore specific federal, state, an d local, an d international inform a­ tion w ere selected. Com prehensive governm ent sites • InfoSpace: G o v ern m en t Guide. S described as the “ultimate g u id e” to govern­ ment information, this W eb site organizes gov­ ernm ent resources by four levels: federal, state, county, an d local. For governm ent sites at the federal an d state level, links are di­ vided into th ree governm ent branches. For county an d local entries, an organizational listing o f each county or city governm ent is presented. Users can also search for inform a­ tion about governm ent officials at different levels by nam e or title, o r brow se an alpha­ betical list o f foreign em bassies in W ashing­ ton, D.C. for p h o n e and fax num bers, URLs, elf­ a n d m a ilin g a d d r e s s e s . A ccess: h t t p : / / 206.129.166.101/ categ /b lu efed . htm l. • G o v e r n m e n ts o n t h e W orld W ide Web: A com prehensive list of sites from some 200 countries m aintained by G unnar Anzinger in G erm an an d English. It includes parlia­ ments, ministries, offices, law courts, em bas­ sies, an d city councils. Access: h ttp ://w w w . gksoft.com / govt/. • GOVBOT. D eveloped by The Center for Intelligent Inform ation Retrieval o f the Uni­ versity o f Massachussetts, Amherst, this p o w ­ erful search tool indexes over 840,000 W eb p ag es from U.S. g o v ern m en t an d military Internet sites with some state and foreign sites. It supports b oth straight keyw ord searching an d field searching by title an d URL. Access: http ://ed en .cs.u m ass.ed u /G o v b o t/. • R eso u rc es o f U se to G o v e rn m e n t D o c u m e n ts Librarians (GODORT). D evel­ o p ed by the University o f California at Ber­ keley Library and the G overnment Documents Round Table, this page provides a variety of useful resources for governm ent docum ents librarians. In addition to information from and about GODORT, this site also includes links to depository administration tools and Internet resources via GPO; fact sheets; laws an d leg­ islation; mail lists, e-journals, and professional associations. Access: http://library.berkeley. edu/GODORT/. Federal information • GPO A ccess. GPO Access, the Superi ten d en t o f D ocum ents’ hom epage, is the pri- n­ About the authors Sandra da Conturbia is the assistant head o f documents/maps/microtext at Texas A&M University General Libraries, e-mail: sdaconturbia @tamu. edu; Xiaodong Li is federal documents/electronic resources librarian at Texas A&M University General Libraries, e-mail: xli@tamu. edu http://www http://eden.cs.umass.edu/Govbot/ http://library.berkeley C&RL N ews ■ N ovem b er 1998 I 765 GPO Access amry source for federal information. Links are provided to the Online Databases, N ew /N otew orthy Products from GPO, the Federal Bulletin Board Files, the Products for Sale by GPO, the Directory of D epository Libraries, an d the Federal D eposi­ tory Library Program Administration. Access: h ttp ://w w w . access. g p o . gov/su_docs/. • GPO P athw ay Services. B row se T ic s arranges governm ent inform ation by d e­ tailed subject topic in alphabetical order. It is b ased on The Subject B ib li­ o g ra p h y I n ­ d e x . E v e n th o u g h th ere is n o search option, this list covers a rem arkable n u m b er o f governm ent agencies. Entries in the list are well-annotated. Access: h ttp://w w w .access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ d p o s/p a th b rw s. htm l. • GPO P athw ay In dexer. This Intern search engine uses th e Harvest softw are to search for governm ent inform ation on “over 1,350 official U.S. federal agency an d military Internet sites.” Users can conduct simple key­ w o rd searches o r perform advanced searches by customizing either search o r result display options. Access: http://gather.access.gpo.gov/ H arvest/brokers/Pathw ay/query.htm l. • POTUS: P r e sid e n ts o f th e U n ite d States. Compiled by the Internet Public Li­ brary, POTUS provides biographical infor­ m ation o n all 43 P residents o f th e U nited States. It also includes election results, cabi­ n et m em bers, notable events, inaugural ad ­ dresses, an d som e points o f interest o n each of the presidents. Access: http://w w w .ipl.org/ ref/POTUS/. • Thom as: Legislative In fo rm a tio n o n th e In tern et. H osted by the Library o f Con­ gress, this is an excellent starting point to search legislative an d legal docum ents, such as bills, public laws, an d the Congressional Record. Both full-text bills an d th e Congres­ sional Record go back to 1989 a n d are search­ able o r brow sable by keyw ord, bill num ber, or type (for bills). Thom as also has a collec­ tion of public laws by law num ber from 1973 to the present. Access: http://thom as.loc.gov/. o e • CAPWEB: T h e In tern et Guide to t U n ited States C o n g ress. As o n e o f the best, most com prehensive directories for Congress, this site provides easy access to th e inform a­ tion o n each m em ber o f Congress by nam e, state, com mittee, an d party. The record for each senator o r h o u se representative covers detailed inform ation including W ashington p­ an d district contacts, URL, party affiliation, picture, personal information, com m ittee as­ signm ents, ratings, an d staff members. A c­ cess: h ttp ://w w w .capw eb.net/classic/index, m orph. • F ederal Judiciary. M aintained by the Administrative Office o f the U.S. courts, this page is designed to “function as a clearing­ t h o u se for inform ation from an d ab o u t the Judicial Branch o f the U.S. governm ent.” In addition to general sections, this W eb site also features a clickable Map o f Circuits, which allows users to reach the ho m ep ag e o f the federal courts. Users can also search the co n ­ tents o f all the publicly available online docu­ m ents at this site via an interactive search form o n the front page. Access: h ttp ://w w w . uscourts.gov/. • M igrating G o v ern m en t Publications. D esigned by th e University o f Memphis Li­ brary, this site lists the federal governm ent publications that have been converted to elec­ tronic format. Each publication is listed by S uperintendent o f D ocum ents n u m ber and by title, an d the service also indicates if the print form at is still available. The site is well- o rganized an d frequently updated. Access: h ttp ://w w w .lib.m em phis.edu/gpo/m ig.htm . • U.S. D e p o s it o r y L ib ra ries WWW H o m e P ages (GPO a n d P atent an d Trade­ m ark O ffice). Com piled an d m aintained by Lily Wai at th e University o f Idaho Library, this site includes links to all the D epository Libraries hom epages. Libraries are listed in alphabetical ord er by state. Access: h ttp :// d rs e u s s .lib .u id a h o .e d u /g o v d o c /o th e rd e p . html. State and local information • State an d Local G o v ern m en t o n th e N et. This is the m ost com prehensive, well- h e http://www http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ http://gather.access.gpo.gov/ http://www.ipl.org/ http://thomas.loc.gov/ http://www http://www http://www.lib.memphis.edu/gpo/mig.htm 766 / C&RL N ew s ■ N ovem ber 1998 organized, and up-to-date guide to state an d local governm ent information o n the Internet. It provides an extensive listing o f governm ent Web sites for states and territories of the United States. U nder each state o r territory, links are categorized into ten sections: state hom e page, statew ide offices, legislative branch, judicial branch, executive branch, boards an d com ­ missions, regional, counties, cities, and other. Links are also provided to multi-state sites, federal resources, an d national organizations. A ccess: h ttp ://w w w .p ip e r in f o .c o m /s ta te / states.html. • StateLaw. Organized by state as the Sta an d Local G overnm ent o n the Net, this site em phasizes legislative an d legal information. Within each state, resources are listed u n d er the headings h om e page; legislative informa­ tion; courts; s t a t u t e s ; state a g e n ­ cies; congressional delegation; miscellaneous; a n d h isto ric al d o c u m e n ts . Access: h ttp :// lawlib.wuacc.edu/washlaw/uslaw/statelaw.html. • State an d Local G o v ern m en ts. A r source o f the Library o f Congress, this W eb page contains basically tw o sections: “Meta- Indexes for State an d Local G overnm ent In­ form ation” an d “State G overnm ent Informa­ tion.” The first section is an index to indexes an d is o f use to those w ho w an t to ex p an d their search using different resources. The sec­ o n d section classifies th e inform ation o f each state into categories, such as state govern­ ment, local governm ent resources, an d city government. Access: http://w w w .loc.gov/glo­ b al/sta te/ stategov.html. • StateSearch. Unlike the above thr sites, this W eb page arranges Internet state governm ent inform ation first by subject cat­ eg o ry a n d th e n by state. D e­ signed an d m aintained by the National Association o f State In­ form ation Resource Executives, it covers m ore than 2,100 entries in 23 categories, such as audi­ tors, criminal justice, education, em ployment, energy, executive branch, judicial, governor’s offices, inform ation resource m anagem ent, state hom epages, state legislature, an d tour­ ism. For users conducting a topical research o n state information, this site is an excellent finding aid an d a g o o d place to start. Access: h ttp ://w w w .n asire.o rg /ss/. te e­ ee International information • W orld Fact B o o k 1997. Prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency, th e W eb ver­ sion o f the World Fact B ook provides the best an d m ost com prehensive coverage o f w orld­ w ide country information. Using a frame struc­ ture, this site places th e alphabetical index in th e left w in d o w an d th e contents o f each country in the right w indow . For each entry, detailed inform ation o n geography, people, g o v e rn m e n t, ec o n o m y , co m m u n ic atio n s, transportation, military, an d transnational is­ sues is provided. Access: h ttp ://w w w .o d ci. gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.htm l. • In te rn a tio n a l O rg a n iza tio n s. Main­ tained by the International D ocum ents Task Force o f GODORT and N orthwestern Univer­ sity Library, this W eb site features an ex ten ­ sive list o f links to W eb pages o f m ore than 100 international organizations in alphabeti­ cal order. For som e major organizations, such as the European Union an d the United Na­ tions, subdivisions are also listed in hierar­ chical ord er u n d er the main headings. The list is also m ade available in ASCII format for e a s y d o w n lo a d in g . Access: h ttp ://w w w . lib rary.nw u.edu/govpub/idtf/igo.htm l. • W orld C o n stitu tio n s a n d In te rn a ­ tio n a l Treaties. While constitutions m ay also b e available in the governm ent hom epages o f som e countries, this site d ev elo p ed by the Texas A&M University G eneral Libraries in­ cludes easy alphabetical access to th e consti­ tutions o f som e 137 countries w ith links to o th er Web sites that also index w orld consti­ tutions. The seco n d part o f the site includes a subject list o f international treaty resources available o n the Internet. Entries in this sec­ tion are categorized into th e following to p ­ ics: general sources, historical treaties, arms control an d rules o f warfare, cultural p ro tec­ tion an d intellectual property, h u m an rights, trade an d com mercial relations, environm en­ tal an d wildlife protection, an d biological di­ v ersity . Access: h ttp : //li b r a r y .ta m u .e d u / g o v d o cs/w o rk sh o p /index.htm l. • F o reig n G o v e rn m e n t R eso u rces th e Web. D ev elo p ed by the University o f o n http://www.piperinfo.com/state/ http://www.loc.gov/glo%c2%ac%e2%80%a8bal/state/ http://www.loc.gov/glo%c2%ac%e2%80%a8bal/state/ http://www.nasire.org/ss/ http://www.odci http://www http://library.tamu.edu/ C&RL N ew s ■ N o vem b er 1998 / 767 Michigan Library, this site includes a rich col­ lection o f links to foreign governm ent infor­ m ation o n the Web. Countries are organized b y g eo g ra p h ic area w ith a vast array o f Internet resources including country b ack ­ g ro u n d ; b io g ra p h ie s o f officials; fo reig n policy; h u m an rights; national symbols; co n ­ stitutions, laws, an d treaties; em bassies; for­ eign new s sources; an d statistics o n d em o ­ graphic, econom ic, health, an d military. A c­ cess: h ttp ://w w w .lib .u m ic h .e d u /lib h o m e / D ocum ents. ce n te r/foreign. htm l. • A ddress D irecto ry fo r th e P olitician o f th e W orld. W ant to contact directly the h ea d o f state o f a specific country? This is w h ere you can find the mailing addresses, p h o n e an d fax num bers, e-mail an d URL ad­ dresses (if available) o f every n atio n ’s lead­ ers and most provincial governors. The site also contains a LobbyistTools/Linx Page and an address directory o f Environm ent Minis­ tries w orldw ide. Check out the pointer View Visitors Comments to see h ow users like this u n iq u e a n d ex c ellen t site. Access: h ttp :// w w w .trytel.com /~aberdeen/. Electronic journals Two electronic journals Federal Times (Access: http://www.federaltimes.com/), and G ovE xec. co m : A S ervice o f G o v e rn m e n t E xecu tive M a g a z in e (A ccess: h ttp ://w w w .g o v e x e c . com ) are geared to w ard federal em ployees and contain information relating to their w ork an d life. s As for the Jo u r n a l o f G overnm ent Infor­ m a tio n a n d G overnm ent In fo rm a tio n Q u a r­ terly, the tw o leading journals o f governm ent librarianship, only the table of contents is pres­ ently available o n th e Internet. Access is pro­ vided through A uburn University at: h ttp :// w w w . l i b . a u b u r n . e d u / m a d d / d o c s / g i q / title.htm l an d h ttp ://w w w .lib .a u b u rn .e d u / m ad d /d o cs/jg i/co n ten ts. htm l. Mail lists • GOVDOC-L is a discussion forum abo governm ent inform ation an d the Federal D e­ pository Library program. Most subscribers are librarians, b u t m any private an d public infor­ m ation producers, including the staff o f GPO are represented as well. GOVDOC-L utilizes the com puting facilities o f Pennsylvania State University an d is m oderated b y a gro u p of librarians from institutions all over the United States. Access: h ttp ://w w w .s ta ff.u iu c .e d u / -raean n /w h at.h tm l. • Law-Lib. Unlikely GOVDOC-L, the La lib list is unm oderated, but you d o have to b e a subscriber to p o st m essages to the list. Most o f the subscribers are law librarians and the topics o f discussion include legal refer­ ence questions, interlibrary loan requests, job announcem ents, and policy discussions. A c­ cess: h ttp ://h o m e .o le m is s .e d u /~ n o e /llf a q . html. Ed. N o te : An ex p an d ed version o f this ar­ ticle w ith lin k s m ay b e fo u n d at h ttp : // w w w .ala.org/acrl/c& rlnew 2.htm l. ■ ut w- Statem ent of ow nership and m anagem ent College & Research Libraries News is published 11 times a year (monthly, combining July/August) by the American Library Association, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. American Library Association, owner; Mary Ellen K. Davis, editor-in-chief. Second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. Printed in the U.S.A. As a nonprofit organization authorized to mail at special rates (DMM Section 423.12), the purposes, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes, have not changed during the preceding 12 months. E xten t and n ature o f circulation. (“Average” figures denote the number of copies printed each issue during the preceding twelve months; “Actual” figures denote the number of copies of single issues published nearest to filing date.) Total n u m b er o f copies p r in te d (n et press run): Average, 12,369; Actual, 12,322. Sales through dealers a n d carriers, street vendors, a n d co u n ter sales: not applicable. P a id or requested m a il subscriptions: Average, 11,851; Actual, 11,570. Total p a id a n d /o r requested circulation: Average, 11,851: Actual, 11,570. Free distribution by mail: Average 133; Actual, 134. Free distribution outside the mail: Average, 0; Actual, 0. Total fr e e distribution: Average, 133; Actual, 134. Total distribution: Average, 11,984: Actual, 11,704. Copies n o t distrib­ uted: Office use, leftover, spoiled: Average, 385; Actual, 618. R eturns fr o m news agents: not applicable. Total (sum of previous entries): Average, 12,369; Actual, 12,322. P ercent p a id a n d /o r requested circulation: Average: 98.89%; Actual: 99-85%. Statement o f ow nership, m anagem ent, and circu lation (PS Form 3526, October 1998) for 1998 filed with the United States Postal Service, Postmaster in Chicago, Illinois, October 6, 1998. http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/ http://www.trytel.com/~aberdeen/ http://www.federaltimes.com/ http://www.govexec http://www.lib.auburn.edu/madd/docs/giq/ http://www.lib.auburn.edu/ http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/ http://home.olemiss.edu/~noe/llfaq http://www.ala.org/acrl/c&rlnew2.html