Research Guides: Government Resources: Resources by Subject

Introduction

This page contains examples of government resources that might be of interest for particular subject areas or disciplines. If you don't see your area of study on this list, it doesn't mean that there is not a wealth of useful information - there probably is information available.

Consider your research question and then ask yourself, "What government agency would be interested in this question/issue?"

Economics, Trade, and Commerce

Government agencies track a variety of information related to the economy, trade, and commerce. The government is required to release information about how it spends tax dollars. It also keeps track of filings for U.S. companies and all of the U.S. patents that have been issued since 1790.

EDGAR (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
Full-text SEC filings, including 10-k's, from the Securities and Exchange Commission home page.
USAspending
USAspending.gov is a searchable website mandated by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 to give the American public access to information on how their tax dollars are spent.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Check patent rules, guidelines for submitting patents, and the U.S. Patent Bibliographic Database (a free searchable database of U.S. patents issued from 1/1/76 to the present; all U.S. patents issued from 1976 to the most recent are full text), and the AIDS Patent Database (a free database of the full text and images of AIDS-related patents issued by the U.S., Japanese and European patent offices).

Education

Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government
Learning tools for K-12 students, parents, and teachers about how our government works, our civic responsibilities and how to use primary source materials available from the United States government departments, research institutes, and agencies.

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) This link opens in a new window
Statistics and data from the federal government on education in the United States.

Environmental Studies

National Geologic Map Database This link opens in a new window
The National Geologic Map Database contains digital copies of recent and historic geologic maps of the United States and its territories. Features include an advanced search, an index of geologic terms, information about current geologic mapping projects, and MapView, a map-based visual browsing interface.

NASA (U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
Databases, educational sites, photos and schedules.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere.
SciTech Connect
Free access to full text and bibliographic records of Department of Energy (DOE) research and development reports in physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, and other topics.
Science.gov
Science.gov searches over 55 databases and over 2100 selected websites from 13 federal agencies, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S government science information including research and development results

Health

Government health databases generally have a specific focus on public health, which focuses on the health of communities and interactions between the environment and human health, rather than individual health.

ClinicalTrials.gov
ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry and results database of publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants conducted around the world.
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Program Share
TRI is a resource for learning about toxic chemical releases and pollution prevention activities reported by industrial and federal facilities. TRI data support informed decision-making by communities, government agencies, companies, and others.

Legislative

Legislative resources are documents produced by the U.S. legislature or tied to a particular piece of legislation. They largely consist of congressional histories, which includes bills, congressional records, reports, hearings, committee prints, U.S. Code, and other documents that are outcomes of legislation.

Legislative Research - Federal
by Auraria Library Last Updated Jan 6, 2025 52 views this year
Legislative Research - Colorado
by Auraria Library Last Updated Jan 6, 2025 18 views this year

National Security, Defense, and Justice

These databases have a wide scope, covering everything from foreign affairs and the military, to criminal justice and intelligence programs.

Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) This link opens in a new window
Contains over 100,000 U.S. Government documents with information on critical world events, foreign relations, and U.S. policy writings from 1945 through the 21st century. Includes presidential directives, memos, briefing papers, and many previously classified documents.