Find Gov Docs in the Library Catalog
Go to the McNeese Library homepage.
Under "Research Tools", click on "Find Books, etc. in the Library". Or click on "Government Information" to learn more about government documents and how to find them online too!
Enter your topic in the search box and press search or to limit to Government Documents only, use the drop box next to "Library" to select "Documents Library--4th Floor".
View results. Any result that has "Documents Library" or "4th Floor in Documents Department" in it means it's in the Government Documents Department.
Select the title you wish to review by clicking on the "Details" button.
Under "Holdings" you will be albe to determine the SuDoc (Superindentent of Documents Classification) number. It is like the call number for a book, but in a different format. SuDoc numbers begin with a letter(s) and must include a period and a colon, and some may have letters and numbers and slashes and dashes before and after the colon. (i.e. EX:A 1.101/2-3:A 24-2/2004).
Write this SuDoc call number down or print it out and bring it to the 4th floor Gov Doc Reference Desk and give it to the employee on duty at the time, who will locate the document for you.
Gov Docs are in a variety of formats: paper, electronic online access, CD, DVD, microfiche, video, posters, and maps. Monograph government documents circulate and those that don't circulate can be copied or scanned.
Did you know over 90% of government documents are now "born digital" on the web? These online documents are cataloged in our library catalog so you can find them (click on "URL" in the catalog record), but you can also do a Google search for their titles and get them that way too!
Find Gov Docs or Gov Info in Databases
Government Periodicals
List of free government journals online.
McNeese library databases also contain government documents:
Under "Research Tools", click on " Find Journal Articles, use Electronic Databases, etc.". Click on "Alphabetical List" to see the list of databases and click on a title to open the database and begin your search.
LexisNexis Congressional
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 our library catalog or visit the 4th floor to see if we own a print copy!)
Agricola
Agricola (AGRICultural OnLine Access) contains bibliographic records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library. Coverage dates back to the 16th century and includes more than 2.5 million citations. The citations are comprised of journal articles, monographs, theses, patents, software, audiovisual materials, and technical reports related to agriculture.
Academic Search Complete
Provides full text for more than 5,300 scholarly publications, including full text for many government documents. Coverage spans virtually every area of academic study and offers information dating as far back as 1865.
ERIC (EBSCOhost database)
ERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center from the U.S. Department of Education, contains more than 2,200 digests along with some full-text articles and references for additional information and citations and abstracts from over 980 educational and education-related journals.
ERIC (Free Government Database)
The ERIC (Educational Resource Information Center) online system provides the public with a centralized ERIC Web site for searching the ERIC bibliographic database of more than 1.1 million citations and some full-text articles and reports going back to 1966.
Homeland Security Digital Library
The Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) is the nation's premier collection of full-text documents and citations related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management.
The following library databases are sponsored by or affilliated with the government and may or may not contain documents published by the government. Some are not affilliated with the government but contain information of interest for those researching on government and political science topics.
CINAHL
CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) is a valuable resource for nursing and allied health professionals, students, educators and researchers. This database contains more than 170 full text journals with PDF coverage back as far as 1973 including 120 peer-reviewed publications.It is affilliated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute of Health, and the National Library of Medicine.
CQ Researcher
The CQ Researcher is your complete source for in-depth, analytical reporting on the most current and controversial issues of the day. Published by Congressional Quarterly, with its tradition of nonpartisan reporting and analysis, each report presents a balanced account of an issue on the public agenda. The CQ Researcher web site offers online access to issues dating back to October 25, 1991. PDF files are available for full issues dating back to January 1996.
International Political Science Abstracts
International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA), produced by the International Political Science Association, includes current indexing and abstracts of the world's leading journals in political science. This database covers nearly 900 journals published from 1989 to the present.
LexisNexis Academic
Legal Research
Click on the "Legal" tab to get to this portion of the database. Here you can get cases, statutes, federal and state codes, federal regulations, etc.
Medline (EBSCOhost database)
Sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, index contains citations and abstracts to biomedical literature from approximately 3,700 journals. Coverage (via EBSCOhost) is 1993 to present.
Military & Government Collection
Designed to offer current news pertaining to all branches of the military and government, this database offers a thorough collection of periodicals, academic journals, and other content.
PubMed
PubMed Central (PMC) is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's digital archive of life sciences journal literature in full text. Access is free and unrestricted.
Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
Search 1.7 million records, with links to over 140,000 images, videos, and sound files from dozens of Smithsonian libraries, archives, and museums. Access is free and unrestricted.
Westlaw Paralegal
For paralegal students only - password required. Ask at the first floor Reference Desk!
The following government databases are freely available on the web:
Cancer Literature from NCI
Formerly known as CANCERLIT, this web page provides resources for publications from the National Cancer Institute, links to searches for cancer literature in PubMed, Cancer Topic Searches (also via PubMed), and other related resources.
DOE Information Bridge
Sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) and GPO, the Information Bridge provides bibliographic records and the full text of DOE sponsored scientific and technical information from January 1995. This includes information from DOE, its laboratories, energy centers, and contractors. The site provides numerous search and display options. For additional related resources see the Energy Files Web site. Earlier information may be found in the printed bibliography, Energy Research Abstracts, and in selected depository libraries.
Energy Citations Database (ECD)
Developed by the DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), Energy Citations contains bibliographic records for energy and energy-related scientific and technical information from the DOE and its predecessor agencies, the Energy Research & Development Administration (ERDA) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The Database provides access to DOE publicly available citations from 1948 through the present. ECD includes bibliographic records of literature in disciplines of interest to DOE such as chemistry, physics, materials, environmental science, geology, engineering, mathematics, climatology, oceanography, computer science and related disciplines. It includes citations to report literature, conference papers, journal articles, books, dissertations, and patents.
Energy Information Administration Library/Archives
The Energy Information Administration (EIA), created by Congress in 1977, is a statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Energy. EIA provides policy-independent data, forecasts, and analyses to promote sound policy making, efficient markets, and public understanding regarding energy and its interaction with the economy and the environment. The EIA Library/Archives provides access to EIA publications, directories, and feature articles.
Federal R&D Project Summaries
The Federal R&D Project Summaries Web site is a portal to information about Federal research projects, complete with full-text single-query searching across databases residing at different agencies, developed by the Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI).
NCJRS: National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts Database
Produced by the U.S. National Institute of Justice, this online database indexes and abstracts journals, reports, and documents from all levels of government and the private sector relating to criminal justice and law enforcement. Topics such as victims of crime, death penalty, child abuse, youth gangs, and statistics are included. Time period coverage is 1972 to the present.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
The NASA Technical Report Server is a service that allows users to simultaneously search the many abstract and technical report servers maintained by various NASA centers and programs. NTRS is both a superset of the of the various servers, and a canonical listing of the servers.
PubMed
This service is the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) search service to access the 9 million citations in MEDLINE and Pre-MEDLINE (with links to participating on-line journals), and other related databases. MEDLINE covers the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and the preclinical sciences. The database contains bibliographic citations and author abstracts from over 3,800 current biomedical journals published in the United States and 70 foreign countries. The file contains over 8.6 million records dating back to 1966 with more added daily.
Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR)
STAR provides abstracts of aerospace-related reports from Government agencies, research institutions and industry worldwide, including reports on aeronautics, space, and supporting disciplines. This site provides .pdf files of of the index issues. Electronic access began in 1996. For prior years consult the printed index available at some depository libraries.
More free government databases can be found at McNeese Gov Doc Dept.'s growing list of bookmarked government databases and search engines on the web.
Find Gov Info on the Web
GPO Access is a U.S. Government information portal service offered by the Government Printing Office (GPO) and includes full-text searching of databases, including Congressional Reports & Bills, Laws, U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Presidential materials, Judicial resources, Catalog of Government Publications, and more.
[Note: The information on GPO Access is in the process of being migrated to GPO's gpo.gov website and the Federal Digital System (FDsys), a process that will be complete in mid-2009. The information on GPO Access will remain current and continue to be available until migration is complete.]
Many resources on this site are available in print and/or older editions are on the 4th floor.
Do a title search in the library catalog to check holdings.
FDsys (Federal Digital System) database provides public access to government information submitted by Congress and Federal agencies. The migration of information from GPO Access into FDsys will be complete in late-2009. Some congressional collections currently available on FDsys include:
- Budget of the United States Government (FY 2010)
- Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993 - Present)
- Congressional Bills (103rd Congress - Present)
- Congressional Calendars (104th Congress - Present)
- Congressional Committee Prints (105th Congress -Present)
- Congressional Directory (105th Congress - Present)
- Congressional Documents (104th Congress - Present)
- Congressional Hearings (105th Congress - Present)
- Congressional Record (Bound) (1999 - 2001)
- Congressional Record (Daily) (1994 - Present)
- Congressional Record Index (Daily) (1983 - Present)
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- Congressional Reports (104th Congress - Present)
- Economic Indicators (1995 - Present)
- Economic Report of the President (1995 - Present)
- Federal Register (1994 - Present)
- GAO Reports & Comptroller General Decisions (1994 - 2008)
- Government Manual (1995 - Present)
- History of Bills (1983 - Present)
- List of CFR Sections Affected (1997 - Present)
- Public and Private Laws (104th Congress - Present)
- Statutes at Large (2003 - 2006)
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Many resources on this site are available in print and/or older editions are on the 4th floor.
Do a title search in the library catalog to check holdings.
Google’s U.S. Government Search
Search engine for just government websites.
USA.gov & USASearch.gov
Government information portal and search engine for just government websites that groups results into sub-topics or government agencies.
Browse Topics: Your Pathway to Federal Web sites
Browse government websites by categories, such as The Arts, Environment, Health, History, etc.
OpenCongress.org
Fun way to search for and learn about federal legislation. Search or browse popular bills and topics, download the Facebook application, widgets for your blog, and more.Subscribe to RSS feeds and email updates to keep up with the latest activity in Congress. Links to full text of legislation at GPOaccess.gov and THOMAS.loc.gov.
GovTrack.us
Follow the status of federal legislation by subscribing to RSS feeds and email updates to keep up with the latest activity in Congress. Links to full text of legislation at GPOaccess.gov and THOMAS.loc.gov.
U.S. Government Publications Digitization Projects
Access digital Government Documents online on a variety of topics, both historical and modern.
McNeese Gov Doc Dept.'s Bookmarked 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).
Federal Legal Resources
REMINDER: ***For historical or older government and legal information, the print sources may help you more than the online sources!***
Court Cases
Lower Federal Courts:
Online Database: Go to the library homepage, click on "Find Journal Articles", find and click on LexisNexis Academic and then click on the "Legal" taband click on "Federal & State Cases". The drop down menu next to "Sources" gives you more choices to search from, including by individual state. Enter your keywords or case name, etc. and hit the search button to see your results.
Print Source: Federal Reporter on the 2nd floor stacks (KF105 .F4)
Supreme Court:
Internet Site: Supreme Court cases from 1893 to the present can be found at: www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
Online Database: Go to the library homepage, click on "Find Journal Articles", find and click on LexisNexis Academic and then click on the "Legal" tab and click on "Federal & State Cases". The drop down menu next to "Sources" gives you more choices to search from, including just searching "U.S. Supreme Court Cases...". Enter your keywords or case name, etc. and hit the search button to see your results.
Print Source: United States Reports in the Reference stacks (Ref KF101 .A15)
Laws (Statutes)
Internet Sites: The U.S. Code http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode is the codification of federal law. For information on bills currently in Congress, as well as historical information on bills, committees, and roll call votes, see THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov.
Online Database: Go to the library homepage, click on "Find Journal Articles", find and click on LexisNexis Academic and then click on the "Legal" tab and click on "Federal & State Codes". The drop down menu next to "Sources" allows you to select different titles of the U.S. Code or State Codes to search from as well. Enter your keywords and hit the search button to see your results.
Print Source: U.S. Code is also available in print in the Reference stacks (Ref KF62). It is arranged by subject and published every 6 years and is updated by the U.S. Code Annotated (Ref KF62). The United States Statutes At Large (Ref KF50 .A15) is the chronological arrangement of federal law published at the end of each session of Congress. Indexes by subject and by Popular Name are shelved with these sources.
Regulations (Administrative Law)
Internet Sites: Code of Federal Regulations http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html is the codification of federal agency regulations. The Federal Register www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html is the chronological publication of federal regulations issued every business day.
Online Database: Go to the library homepage, click on "Find Journal Articles", find and click on LexisNexis Academic and then click on the "Legal" tab and click on "Federal & State Codes". Go to the drop-down menu next to "Sources" and select either "CFR - Code of Federal Regulations" or "FR - Federal Register". Enter your keywords and hit the search button to see your results.
Print Source: Code of Federal Regulations is also available in print in the Government Documents Department on the 4th floor, and is arranged by issuing agency and subject. The Federal Register is also available in print in the Government Documents Department on the 4th floor. Ask for assistance!
Louisiana Legal Resources
REMINDER: ***For historical or older government and legal information, the print sources may help you more than the online sources!***
Court Cases
Internet Site: http://www.findlaw.com/11stategov/la/courts.html or for Louisiana Supreme Court Case opinion decisions, go to http://www.lasc.org/opinion_search.asp
For historical Louisiana Supreme Court materials, see the Historical Archives of the Supreme Court of Louisiana digital collection.
Online Database: Go to the library homepage, click on "Find Journal Articles", find and click on LexisNexis Academic and then click on the "Legal" tab and click on "Federal & State Cases". Go to the drop-down menu next to "Sources" and select "LA Federal & State Cases Combined". Enter your keywords or case name, etc. and hit the search button to see your results.
Print Source: Louisiana Cases (Ref KFL47 .A34) has opinions of appellate courts and the Louisiana Supreme Court. It updates the Southern Reporter, 2d Series (Ref KF135 .S8 S612 and Ref KFL47 .A34) and is shelved with it. Louisiana Digest 2d (Ref KFL57 .L67) has cases arranged by topic and is useful for finding citations for cases in Louisiana Cases and in Southern Reporter.
Laws (Statutes)
Internet Site: Web Portal to the Louisiana State Legislature http://www.legis.state.la.us has Louisiana Law (Constitution, Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure, Revised Statutes, etc.) Click on “Louisiana Laws” on the left side.
Online Database: Go to the library homepage, click on "Find Journal Articles", find and click on LexisNexis Academic and then click on the "Legal" tab and click on "Federal & State Codes". Go to the drop-down menu next to "Sources" and select "LA - Louisiana Statutes, Constitution, Court Rul...". Enter your keywords or case name, etc. and hit the search button to see your results.
Print Source: Louisiana Statutes Annotated, located in the Reference area of the 1st floor, (Ref KFL30.5 .W4) contains the same information as the internet site listed above. To find a particular statute, use the subject indexes shelved at the end of this set. Older statutes can be found in Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 (Ref KFL30.5 .W4 A2 1950). State of Louisiana: Acts of the Legislature (Ref KFL15 .A22) is a chronological arrangement of the laws passed by each session of the legislature, and it is updated by Louisiana Session Law Service (Ref KFL25 .W4). Louisiana Acts of the Legislature from 1950 to the present can also be found in the 4th floor Louisiana Government Stacks (Y 1.1/:). Older Louisiana Acts of the Legislature since 1812 can be found in the Archives & Special Collections Department on the 1st floor (KFL 15 .A22).
Regulations (Administrative Law)
Internet Site: Louisiana Administrative Code http://doa.louisiana.gov/osr/lac/lactitle.htm are the regulations adopted or amended by Louisiana state agencies.
Louisiana Register http://www.doa.louisiana.gov/osr/reg/register.htm are state agency rules and regulations as they go through the formal rulemaking process.
Print Source: Louisiana Administrative Code and Louisiana Register are also available in print in the Government Documents Department on the 4th floor. Ask for assistance!
How do I compile a Louisiana legislative history?
Legistlative History: The record of all legislative actions occurring in order to pass a bill (to make a bill become an "Act", aka a "Law").
The steps taken in this procedure include: bill introduction, committee hearings, floor debate, amendments (committee and floor) to the bill, enrollment, action taken by the governor (veto, enactment, without action, or approval), and the assignment of an act number.
In order to obtain the legislative history of a section from the Louisiana Revised Statutes, an article from a particular code (Children's Code, Civil Code, etc.), or an act, you must know the original bill number and sesion of the legislature in which it was enacted.
Statutes and codes are available in print and online via the Louisiana Legislature's website. Locate the statute or code article and check the end notes at the bottom of the section paragraphs. An act number will be listed after most sections of the law (i.e. Acts 1986, No. 697).
Searching Online:
1. To find a statute or code article online, go to www.legis.state.la.us and find the maroon navigation bar at the top of the screen. Click on "Search". This will take you to a screen where statutes and codes can be retrieved by number (i.e. R.S. 17:222, CCP 3939, etc.) or by keyword.
2. To follow the legislative history online, begin again at www.legis.state.la.us and look for "Session Info" on the navigation menu at the top of the screen.
3. After clicking on "Session Info," select the legislative session in which the act was passed (1997-present).
4. Under the title "Bill Search for the (year) Session" bar, click on the first pull-down box (which has the letters "HB" as default) and select the word "Act." Put in the act number you wish to research and then click on the box marked "View" next to "View a Specific Instrument."
5. The next screen will show a one line description of the act, the original House or Senate Bill number, the final status of the instrument, and a menu below. Click on the word "History" on the blue hypertext menu below. The History is a line by line record of the bill, from last action to first.
6. The History show dates of action, the Journal pages where action is recorded, whether the instrument was amended in committee or on the floor, a vote tally, the act number, and the effective date.
7. The screen with the blue hypertext menu also has an "Amendments" link as well. This selection will have the text of every adopted committee amendment for the instrument as well as every proposed floor amendment, whether it passed or failed.
Searching the Print Sourcess:
1. To follow the legislative history using printed sources, begin with the statute or code article notes at the end of a section that lists the act number and year of the legislative session in which it was enacted.
2. Consult the corresponding year's Resume (4th Floor, LL 1.8a:1957-present). The Resume numerically lists each act that passed in a given legislative session, along with a digest and the original House or Senate bill number.
3. With the original House or Senate number from the Resume, consult that year's Legislative Calendar (4th Floor, House Calendar Y 1.7c: or Senate Calendar Y 20.7e:). The Legislative Calendar provides a chronological history of each instrument. One can find dates of action, Journal pages where actions are recorded, whether the instrument was amended in committee or on the floor, a vote tally, the act number, and the effective date.
4. The House and Senate each keep their own separate Journals (4th Floor, House Journal Y 10.7: or Senate Journal Y 20.7: and holdings vary, 1920s-present). The Journals are arranged chronologically by the days in which the legislature met while in session. The information contained in the Journal is arranged in the order in which action was taken on the House or Senate floor. If the action was the adoption of an amendment, the entry will provide the text of that amendment. If a vote on the floor of either house was a record vote, the entry will provide a roll call list with the vote of each member. Votes on final passage on the floor of each house are record votes. Committee votes are not record votes. The reports of legislative committees are noted in the Journals, but the vote on reporting each instrument is noted only by the number of votes for and against, and not by roll call.
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