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J202 Finding Government Documents

The University of Oregon Libraries have many publications from the governments of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, the State of Oregon, and cities and counties in Oregon, as well as official records of international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union. In addition, a vast amount of government information is available on the Internet, either directly from government agency web sites or through commercial databases to which the library subscribes.

Here are some suggested approaches to locating government publications on your topic.

1. Search the UO Libraries online catalog. Do a keyword or subject search on your topic, click on the Modify Search button, and then limit by Location: Documents.
2. The Google search engine can limit its results to web sites from government agencies. Use Google Advanced Search. Enter your topic's keywords and then, in the Domain box, type .gov.
3. The Documents Center's Government Information is a very useful list of electronic sources for government information.
4. Consult the Public Policy Research with Government Documents checklist. Working through this list will ensure that you have not overlooked significant categories of government documents.
5. Consult with the staff at the central research desk. The Documents department has two librarians who are specialists in government information, Tom Stave and Ted Smith. You may ask for them at the central research desk,or use their e-mail reference service.