Government Databases   Tags: data, databases, government  

This system (FDSys) is designed to allow the Government Printing Office to manage information from all three branches of government in a comprehensive manner.

The system is committed to permanent public access, and contains a growing group of government databases. Access is through a sophisticated search engine, or, if a particular document is needed, through easy-to-drill-down menus.

The American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) provides this valuable listing of links to databases providing by state governments:

The Government Accountability Office generates hundreds of reports each year on a multitude of topics related to government action in many fields. The Library has a limited collection of these reports in printed form (classification number is GA 1.13: ); find the specific numbers (as well as links to online versions when available) in the Catalog.

Here are two primary services which make the full text of many of these reports available online and searchable:

The databases linked on these pages are only a selected subset of U.S. and Texas government databases freely available on the Web. For other sources of data, and other listings of databases, see the box at the left on this page: "Other sources of government data."

The Government Printing Office's Federal Digital System (FDSys) is a major database of online government information. See the box at the left for more information.

Databases are included on these pages only if they are substantial research sources; almost all have some kind of search capability. Consult links on our main Government Information portal for additional sources of electronic government information.

Mouse over the tab titles above for a brief description of the types of databases covered in each area.

In boxes below are some resources that can be used to search multiple databases simultaneously, services known as "aggregated" or "federated" searching, and links to Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports. These documents provide valuable background information on a variety of important issues.

These research reports by the staff of the Congressional Research Service cover all subject areas and are excellent overviews. Unfortunately there is not an official government site which offers access to the entire collection. 

James Jacobs at freegovinfo.info harvests the reports from several different sites and makes them available here. You can search his archive directly from the box below:

In addition, the Blume Library catalogs many CRS reports when we find out about them. Look in the Online Catalog for links to these Reports.

Here are four major institutions working to make these valuable resources available:

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Louis J. Blume Library
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX 78228 USA

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This organization is, according to their website, "a national network of public data producers, disseminators, and users. The organization provides a mechanism to share news and concerns and advocate on behalf of public data users."

Some of their free resources, available to non-members, include conference proceedings and webcasts on subjects of interest to users of public data.