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University Library

LibGuides

United States Government

A Government Information Services guide providing suggested resources and other information for beginning research on the United States federal government.

General Information

This guide contains resources for research on the U.S. federal government. The national government provides a variety of publications and websites with information about the three branches of federal government (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative) as well as federal agencies. UIUC users may also access additional resources through our online subscription databases and our physical collection.

General U.S. Government Resources

Try these resources for federal government information, or click on the tabs in the left column for complete lists divided by government branch.

Collection Information

The University Library has been a United States Federal Depository Library since 1907 and has the largest and most comprehensive collection of federal government information in the area. The collection also includes a substantial collection of 19th century U.S. government documents. The University Library receives 98 percent of the U.S. government publications available through the Depository Library Program and selects further research materials for purchase.  

Strengths of the collection include:

  • Major statistical series on population, housing, transportation, health, business, education, agriculture, and crime.
  • Congressional bills, documents, hearings, and reports.
  • United States Code, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations.
  • National Technical Information Service reports.
  • U.S. Census information, the National Trade Data Bank (NTDB), and the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS).

All United States government documents can be found in the Library Catalog:

  • Search by author: United States
  • To find specific types of documents, use the Advanced Search and include United States in the author field text box and keywords or titles in another text box.