Can't find what you need in the library's online catalog? It may not be in there yet. There is a reason for that. Not all historical material can be found in the online catalog because it is lurking within the pages of the Congressional Record, the U.S. Serial Set, and other various volumes that contain a vast amount of information that can't possibly all be listed in the catalog records (i.e. the Congressional Record is listed in our library catalog but not the contents within each volume. If we did that, it would take years and the record would be thousands of pages long!)

 

But you can use databases or print indexes to find the information these historical documents contain within their pages! This guide will tell you how.

---

Digitized Online Historical Government Documents

 

Library Databases:

 

If you searched the library catalog and could not find any historical gov docs relevant to your topic, try this database: LexisNexis Congressional, which contains full-text and/or citations of historical and current government legislation from a variety of government resources. (Take note of any citations you find that do not include the full text of the document and search the library catalog or visit the 4th floor to see if we own a print copy!)

 

Websites/Free Archives & Databases Online:

 

Library of Congress

Search their collections or visit these other useful Library of Congress pages for primary sources and/or government documents:

American Memory Digital Archives

Primary Documents in American History 

THOMAS Historical and Current Congressional Documents

Century of Lawmaking: Historical Legislation from 1774-1875 (not a complete digitized set, but still contains a vast about of information. If you can't find what you need, check the print indexes on the 4th floor!)

 

U.S. Government Publications Digitization Projects

Access digital Government Documents online! The Registry of U.S. Government Publication Digitization Projects provides the ability to:

• Browse digitization projects by category or alphabetically by title.
• Search the entire Registry or filter searches by category or fields.
• Utilize RSS feeds to keep informed of new and updated projects.

 

McNeese Gov Doc Dept.'s Bookmarked Historical Government Information Websites

Click on one of the topic "tags" and you'll get a list of website results that I have bookmarked for you. On the right side column, look at "Related Tags", "All Tags", or "Top 10 Tags" to explore other websites on a topic. (Keyword or title searching does not work - you can only search by the tags that are listed on the right sidebar).

 

Historic Government Documents Websites

Compiled by the University of Michigan Library.

 

Historical Census Browser

Historical census information from 1790 onward.

 

Avalon Project at Yale

Full text of historical primary source documents, treaties, laws, etc.

 

Core Documents of Democracy

 

Also, check out: "Our Documents"- 100 Digitized Milestone Documents in American History & Government

 

Foreign Relations of the United States

Published from 1861-1960, this series is the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication. The complete collection is digitized online.

4^th Floor print editions, various volumes (1931-1960) Call No. S 1.1:

 

Historical Gov Docs in Google Books

Yes, it's true. You can find historical full-text books (pre-copyright law!) on your topic and some historical government documents are here too. The trick to finding the government documents, is how you search. First, go to Google Book's advanced search and select "Full View Only" to view and download the completely full-text books.

Then try out these tips for searching:

• For finding Federal docs, type in your keyword search terms and in the Publisher field, type in GOVT, GPO, "Government Printing Office" or "gov.print.off." You can also search by agency (i.e. "Department of the Interior") by typing the name of the agency in the Author field. Also try a search for "United States" OR U.S. in the author field.
• For finding State docs, type in your keyword search terms, the name of the state, and where it says "Try at least one of these words", plug is the terms state department agency. Or you could simply enter the name of the state agency in the Author field (i.e. "Louisiana Supreme Court").

Or check out what I've bookmarked at the McNeese Gov Doc Dept.'s Google Book Library (most of which I am in the process of putting in our library catalog!)

 

Internet Archive 

You can find historical full-text books on your topic and some historical government documents too. There are two great collections to search for government documents: USA Government Documents collection and the American Libraries collection.

Or check out what I've bookmarked (most of which I am in the process of putting in our library catalog!)

 

For more tutorials and tips on searching for historical documents in free digital repositories, view my presentation and handouts for the Depository Library Conference.

---

Historical Government Documents in Print format

 

Coming soon...working on explaining how to search our print indexes for material found within our print and microfiche U.S. Serial Sets. Congressional Record, U.S. Statutes at Large, historical series such as the American State Papers, War of the Rebellion series, etc. that are scattered about the library on various floors. For now, come see me and I'll help you out!

 

If you need to look for really old Louisiana Acts of the Legislature since 1813, they can be found in the Archives & Special Collections Department on the 1st floor (Call No. KFL 15 .A22). They also have Louisiana Civil Codes since 1825 and Louisiana Constitutions since 1812!