Federal Information Sources for State Employees

 Contact the Alaska State Library for more information and assistance

 

State Agency Wikis

DEC

 

New items at the Library

New General Library Items - Items added to the general and reference collections of the Alaska State Library.

New Federal Depository Items - Newly added items to our Federal Depository Library collection.

 

Legislation and Regulations

Alerts provided by the Alaska State Library

Thomas.gov - Federal legislative information, congressional activity, treaties, presidential nominations, and other government resources.

Regulations.gov - From the website: "Regulations.gov is a U.S. Federal government system that contains proposed regulations, other actions (e.g., notices, announcements, final rules), and additional related information for all Federal Departments and Agencies."

Federal Register on GPO- (1994-present)

Federal Register in the Alaska State Library – (1936-1997)

Code of Federal Regulations on GPO -(1996-present)

Code of Federal Regulations in the Alaska State Library-(1977-present)

 

Congressional Research

CIS in the AK Library (coming)

OpenCRS - Nonprofit archive of reports produced by the Congressional Research Service on various subjects, including pending legislation before Congress, energy issues, foreign relations.

General Accountability Office Reports - Reports on spending and efficiency of various Federal programs and on state level implementations of federal programs.

 

Databases, Publications, Regulations, and Legislation by Topic

Science, Environmental Management, Health, Commerce, Law, Agriculture, Education, and Other Topics

 

Clean Water Act

EPA approved methods for analysis for both the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.  

Most recent requirements, Federal Register: March 12, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 47)

 

Gateways to Multiple and Various Databases 

USA.gov--Government Employees - Good general starting point: portal to federal agency websites and digitized information, agency RSS feeds, contact information, state and local community information and provides several search aides: A-Z index, search box, categories and sub-categories.

Government Printing Office (GPO): Government clearing house for documents, regulations. Browse Topics or Agency Locator.

GPO from the Alaska State Library- Convenient way to search for documents in our library or to request them through inter-library loan.

Science.gov - From the website: "a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by 12 U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results. Science.gov brings together, through one interface, reliable resources selected by the respective agencies as important science information. Easy access options are provided through a search feature, a deep Web search feature for more detailed information, and a browse feature. Science.gov is the official FirstGov for Science Cross-Agency Portal."

Grants.gov - From the website: "a central storehouse for information on over 1,000 grant programs and access to approximately $400 billion in annual awards. By registering once on this site, your organization can apply for grants from the 26 federal grant-making agencies."

Catalog of Federal Assistance  - From the website: "access to a database of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally -recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.

AmericanFactfinder - Primary resource of population and demographic characteristics of the 50 states.

Fedstats-Links to statistics and statistical agencies. Search across states and agencies.

FOIA Requests-DOJ's directory of agency FOIA forms, instructions, and guidelines.

Business.gov - Compliance guides, Regulations and laws (Davis-Bacon Act for example), training materials, forms and agency contacts.

Electronic Research Collections- From the website introduction: "The Electronic Research Collection (ERC) is a partnership between the United States Department of State and the Federal Depository Library at the Richard J. Daley Library, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)..."

 

Sources of Information About the Government

GovSearch

Federal, state, and coummunity directory (Alaska State Library subscribes to this service-available on state office computers only)

USA.gov-Search agencies A-Z, Federal, State and Local government statistics and offices, wide range of topics and navigation tools--similar to an online gov. encyclopedia

Government Accountability Office

Reports, legal decisions, search by topic or agency for current reports on agency programs. From the web site: "GAO supports congressional oversight by:evaluating how well government policies and programs are working;auditing agency operations to determine whether federal funds are being spent efficiently, effectively, and appropriately;investigating allegations of illegal and improper activities; and issuing legal decisions and opinions."

Government Sourcebook - Governing.com's information by state

 

Historical and Geographic

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

From the site: "...information about physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and associated areas, both current and historical (not including roads and highways). The database holds the Federally recognized name of each feature and defines the location of the feature by state, county, USGS topographic map, and geographic coordinates."

Library of Congress

A rich source of historical and current government information in digital text, visual imagery, audial formats.

National Archives - Guide to Federal Records

 

Public Communication Tools

Media Training

Public Agenda - From the website: "Public Agenda's two-fold mission is to help: [1.] American leaders better understand the public's point of view. [2.] Citizens know more about critical policy issues so they can make thoughtful, informed decisions. 

Usability.gov

 

In the News

Governing Magazine -National, state, and local news, and topical news.

Information Homestead-AK Government Information blog that promotes public awareness of federal and state news, comment periods, and forums.