Tutorials,
Guides, & How-to's

INTERNET ACCESS to GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

Old Dominion University's Perry Library is a selective federal depository collecting approximately 67% of materials distributed by the Government Printing Office (GPO). Increasingly, information from the federal government is released via the Internet, and some materials, may only be available in electronic format.

The Library has created online guides to help you find the information you need. This guide will introduce you to the library's government information portal. You will be able to locate Internet publications, find federal agency Web sites, search federal databases, retrieve statistical data, and view, print or download full text electronic publications:

START HERE: http://www.lib.odu.edu

* Under the heading "Resources"
* SELECT "Government Resources" (this links you to the library's portal for government information)

HOW TO FIND FEDERAL PUBLICATIONS:

Use the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications to search for materials by title, author, keyword, SuDoc number and more. You can also limit searches to find "Internet only" publications, journals, serials, maps, books, DVDs and visual materials. There are more than 500,000 records from 1976 to the present. Records are added daily.

From 1990 to the present, federal documents are also listed in the Library's online catalog. Internet versions of full text federal materials are "hotlinked" for easy viewing and printing.

HOW TO FIND FEDERAL AGENCY WEB SITES:

Federal Agency Internet Sites
This site is a partnership between GPO and Louisiana State University. You can browse or search for agencies by name. You can also explore the hierarchy of federal agencies on this site.

FirstGov
This federal government gateway provides "portals" for citizens, businesses and government. Click on Agencies A to Z on the left of the page to connect to thousands of federal web sites. Then select the first letter of an agency's name, e.g. "C" for Census Bureau. You can also sign up for email agency updates.

HOW TO FIND LEGISLATION ( bills, laws and regulations):

LexisNexis Congressional (available to ODU faculty and students)
This VIVA resource provides search engines and many full text publications concerning bills, laws, regulations, the Congressional Record, Federal Register, etc. It also contains newspaper articles on "hot topics" and articles from Roll Call, the Hill, and sections of the Washington Post section A.

GPO Access
Numerous databases provide free permanent public access to full-text for bills, public laws, U.S. Code, Federal Register, the Congressional Record, and the Code of Federal Regulations. (Advanced searching for some sites)

Thomas
The Library of Congress web site provides access to bills, laws, the Congressional Record and more. It also lists information on House and Senate committees. Site uses form-based searching with multiple access points.

HOW TO FIND JUDICIAL SITES (cases):

LexisNexis Academic (Available to ODU faculty and students)
SELECT: (Legal Research)
Research legal news, law reviews, federal and state cases and more.

Findlaw
Divided into sections for the public and for legal professionals. Provides access to Supreme Court Decisions from 1893 - to the present. Also lists Court of Appeals Decisions 1st - 10th Circuit, DC Circuit, and Federal Circuit decisions.

HOW TO FIND STATISTICAL DATA:

Library's Portal to Selected Government Web sites Hosting Statistics (one-stop shopping for data)

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Key economic and workforce time series, e.g. Consumer Price Index, unemployment figures and more.

Census (main page)
Use American FactFinder to search for 2000 & 1990 Decennial Census data, the Economic Census and the American Community Survey.

Centers for Disease Control
Use the data and statistics link to enter the data warehouse. Locate statistics on HIV-Aids related cases, other communicable diseases, natality/mortality figures and the Healthy People publications.

FEDSTATS
Locate statistics from more than 100 agencies covering a variety of topics including health, education, demographics, criminal justice, the economy, trade, poverty, employment and the environment. Access includes alphabetical listings by agency or subject. Provides "One-stop shopping" for statistical information.

Guide to State Statistical Abstracts
Links to online versions of statistical abstracts for each of the 50 states (when available) and provides contact information for print copies.

National Center of Education Statistics
Statistics on a variety of educational topics including degrees conferred, salaries, dropout rates, areas of study, etc.

National Center for Health Statistics
Contains "canned tables" and links to interactive database sites where you can customize your data sets.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
An online version of the well-known print source; this is sometimes referred to as the "Bible" of statistics. Contains thousands of tables on a variety of topics with references to the primary source. Current edition also has links to Excel spreadsheets. There is a link to earlier editions PDF only. (Requires Adobe Acrobat)

STAT-USA (Available to ODU faculty and students)
Contains over 300,000 statistical reports concerning economics and trade. Features the State of the Nation (U.S. economic data) and GLOBUS & NTDB, aka: National Trade Databank (foreign trade).

NOTE: Many excellent resources are available on the Internet. Use the Library's homepage on the Web at
http://www.lib.odu.edu as a gateway.