Welcome to the Government Resources guide. This guide will help you understand what government resources are, why they are useful, and how to find them.
Governments create and share information with the public. This information helps inform policy while also informing citizens. Government information can be published online or in print by a government agency. Government agencies on local, state, national, and international levels create information. While laws and codes are clear examples government resources, other important government resources include:
research reports
maps and national park pamphlets
presidential speeches and statements
fact sheets on numerous topics related to the public good including health information, public utilities, education, etc...
statistical data (such as the Census)
Government resources provide a wealth of information. They are very useful for local or state specific information. Statistical data created by governments often offer unique and highly valuable.
Government websites can sometimes be frustrating to use. It can be easier to find government information by using a search engine such as Google. Google advanced search allows you to search by URL domain or by a specific government site.
The tricks below used in addition keywords to describe your topic and/or type of resource you are looking for can help you find the information you are looking for.
Limiting by URL Domain: site:gov
With this, you can limit your search to websites that end in "gov," which are typically U.S. (federal, state, and city) government websites. You can also limit by other domains such as .edu (educational institutions) or .org (associations or organizations).
Limiting by Filetype: filetype:pdf
Many government publications are in PDF format and this allows you to limit to PDFs. You can also limit by other filetypes such as .ppt (PowerPoints), .xls (Excel), and .doc (Word documents).
Example Search: site:gov filetype:pdf education statistics
Auraria Library is a member of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), which means the library provides and promotes access to U.S. federal documents directly through our website and physical space to the campus community and public for no cost.
We hold some government documents in print, including maps, but most government documents are now available online. You can use any search engine to find government documents, but it can be difficult to find specific items. Using the advice and links in this guide can help.
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