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What is a government document?
A Government document is a work published by any government agency. That includes anything from your local government to state, federal, and other countries.
Why would you want government documents?
Government documents are much more than simple records of what happens in legislation, they can be detailed reports on subjects of interest such as renewable energy, they can be brief public service documents or instructional manuals such as a Know what to do about the flu or a drivers manual, they can be patents of inventions new and old, and much more. The legislative documents describing what happens in congress including speeches, and voting records are also quite interesting.
How do I find one?
If you are unsure of what type of document that you would like, but know you want to find government information try USA.gov. This search will narrow down your documents to things published by the US. A new search provided by the government printing office is GPO Metalib. This search will narrow your results to federal documents only while still allowing you to search multiple agencies.
The rest of this page lists some government resources that you may find useful. If you have a government site that you would like to see added to this page please let us know.
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Oregon State Resources
If you are interested in documents from other states try this directory to find the website appropriate for you.
Oregon.gov - The state homepage
Administrative Rules
Department of Education
Employment opportunities for the state
Public Health Division - includes instructions on obtaining vital documents such as birth certificates
Revised Statutes
State Agencies - an alphabetical list of Oregon state agencies
State Archives
State Library
Department of Transportation
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1909 Checklist an approximately complete checklist of all public documents issued by the United States Government during the first century and a quarter of its history."
American Fact Finder - Demographics on the US people put together by the Census
Easy Stats - also put together by the US Census.
Department of Energy
ERIC, also try our subscription to ERIC, an electronic resource on education.
Government Information Online: Ask a Librarian - chat live with a specialist in finding government information
Federal Digital System
IRS - get tax forms and answers to some questions
National Library of Medicine
- PubMed - Also try our subscription to MedLine
Occupational Outlook Handbook - find information on occupations from starting salaries to educational requirements and working conditions
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Patent and Trademark Office - find patents back to the beginning of the program in 1790.
State Education Data Profiles
Statistical Abstract of the US - searchable charts and statistics
Thomas - Congressional documents in including recent bills and current legislation
University of Michigan Documents Center
The White House
USA.gov - The governments "Official web portal"
Yale University's U.S. Government Information
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International Documents
BBC Country Profiles - profiles on countries around the world compiled by the BBC
CIA World Fact Book - information on countries across the world compiled by the CIA.
Constitution Finder
National Parliaments on the Web
Official Government Websites by Country
United Nations - search documents and reports by the UN
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