GOVERNMENT INFORMATION GUIDES, INDEXES & DIRECTORIES

GUIDES TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES

U. S. Government Manual  -  http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara001.html

U. S. Government Manual -  http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/browse-gm.html  (browseable)
Published by the Government Printing Office, this digital publication of the U.S. Government Manual provides a comprehensive directory of information on the agencies and officials of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.  Each agency and activity is described.  The Manual also includes information on quasi-official agencies; international organizations in which the U. S. participates; and boards, commissions, and committees.  For each agency the Manual provides a list of principal officials, statement of the agency's purpose and role, brief history and legislative/executive authority of the agency, a description of its programs and activities, and a "Sources of Information" section. The "Sources of Information" section provides information on consumer activities, contracts and grants, employment, and publications The Manual is searchable by keyword.  Word roots (truncation) and boolean terms can be used during the search structure.    This resource is available at a number of sites on the Internet, but there is inconsistency in the currency of the publication.

Federal Web Locator at the Villanova Center for Information Law and Policy  -  http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Agency/fedwebloc.html

A project of the Villanova University Center for Information Law and Policy, it has been designed to serve as a "Grand Central Station" for federal government Web and gopher sites. This is the most comprehensive Internet index to United States Federal Government Web Sites.  The site is organized to match the structure found in the U. S. Government Manual.  The Locator can be searched by two methods - using a boolean keyword expression or a Perl regular expression.

U. S. Federal Government Agencies - LSU Libraries - World-Wide Web Virtual Library - http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html

This site provides a list of federal agencies on the Internet organized according to the branches of government.  The executive branch agencies are divided according to executive; independent; boards, commissions, and committees; and quasi-official agencies.

White House Citizens' Guide - Executive Branch - Executive Office of the President - Welcome To The White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/

The President's Cabinet  -  http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Cabinet/html/cabinet_links.html
Independent Federal Agencies and Commissions  -  http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Independent_Agencies/html/independent_links.html
White House Offices and Agencies - Executive Office of the President
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/html/EOP_org.html
Map of Washington D.C. Government Buildings   - http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Tours/map.html
 The White House Citizen's Guide provides a number of ways to use this service to look for government information.  Federal government departments, independent agencies, or commissions can be identified by selecting a government agency from graphics representing each one on the "The President's Cabinet," "White House Offices and Agencies," and "Independent Federal Agencies and Commissions" pages.  The hypertext linked graphic buttons depict the seal of each office,  department, agency, and commission.  The site also maintains the "Map of Washington D.C. Government Buildings" page which provides a hypertext map of Washington, D.C. divided into six sections.  A list of the government buildings located in each section is also linked to the web sites for each agency or department.

DocLaw WWW - Washburn University School of Law  -  http://www.washlaw.edu/doclaw/doclawnew.html

U. S. Government Organizational Charts - http://www.washlaw.edu/

A component of WashLaw, DocLaw is a gateway to Federal Government internet resources and other government related material.  The gateway is organized by subject and by hypertext linked agency organizational charts.  Direct links to primary law sources are identified for administrative law, federal and state case law, statutory law, and to GPO Access databases.  Links are also provided to government research guides, other judicial branch sources, administrative decisions, and quick reference sources.

Gateway - Federal Hotlist  -  http://www.fcw.com/ref/fedgov.htm

 This directory lists the agencies and departments of the government, and provides links to their servers.

Federal Government Web Servers -  Research Resources - Government Information - University of Southern California Government Documents Department  -  http://www.usc.edu/Library/GovDocs/federal.html

The Federal Government Web Servers page provides a list containing links to federal government Web pages. It is organized simply by the name of the agency. The federal sites page lists government sites in alphabetical order by the name of the department or agency.

Federal Information By Agency  - Duke University Public Documents and Maps Department of Perkins Library  - Federal Information Official Government Agencies  - http://www.lib.duke.edu/pdmt/federal/official/index.htm

Federal Information - Major Legislative, Judicial, and Executive Branch Sites
http://www.lib.duke.edu/pdmt/federal/branches/index.htm
The "Federal Information - By Agency" list is alphabetically organized according to the structure of the Federal Government as outlined in the U.S. Government Manual. Access is provided to all the major bodies in the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive branches on one page.

Government Information Xchange - Federal Directory - Executive Branch  -  http://www.info.gov/Info/html/executive.htm

This page from the Government Information Xchange Federal Directory provides direct links to the White House offices, the departments of the President's cabinet, independent agencies and commissions, and other government offices.

Official Federal Government Web Sites - Executive Branch - Library of Congress  -  http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html

A Library of Congress Internet Resource Page, this site provides a hypertext alphabetical list of the executive branch departments, agencies, and commissions is maintained by the Library of Congress.  The list of executive departments also identifies and provides links to the specific offices of each department.

Government Information Xchange (GIX)  -  General Services Administration  -  http://www.info.gov

Federal Directory  -  http://www.info.gov/Info/html/fed_directory.shtml
Federal Yellow Pages  -  http://www.info.gov/Info/html/fed_yellow_pgs.htm

Federal Information Exchange - Government Sites  -  http://www.fie.com/www/us_gov.htm

Government Information Locator Service (GILS)  -  http://info.er.usgs.gov/gils/index.html
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/gils/gils.html

Government Printing Office Pathway Services - http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/pathbrws.html

Great American Web Site - A Citizen's Guide to the Treasures of the U. S. Government on the World Wide Web  -  http://www.uncle-sam.com/
http://www.uncle-sam.com/guide.html

The Guide is organized according to the U.S. Government Manual and provides access to the three Branches of Government and the Independent Agencies and Commissions.

Infomine Government Resources  -  http://lib-www.ucr.edu/govpub/

InfoMine - Government Information - http://lib-www.ucr.edu/search/ucr_govsearch.html

U. S. Government: Executive Branch  -  http://www.lcweb.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html

http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/executive/fed.html

Federal Government Agencies - Louisiana State University Virtual Library - A List of Federal Agencies on the Internet
http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html

The structure of this site is organized according to the government organizational structure that is reflected in the U. S. Government Manual.  The directory listing is divided according to the government organizational chart with links to the various departments and agencies.

World Wide Web Virtual Library - U. S. Government Information   -  http://www.nttc.edu/gov_res.html
http://iridium.nttc.edu/gov_res.html

Maintained by the National Technology Transfer Center (NTTC), this index to government information has divided the government sites according to these divisions:  Executive Branches, Executive Departments, Independent Agencies, and Other Government sites.  There is a searchable index to all government departments and agencies.

Yahoo/Government/Executive Branch/Departments and Agencies - http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Executive_Branch/Departments_and_Agencies/

Yahoo/Government/Agencies  -  http://www.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Agencies/

EVALUATE THE GUIDES AND INDEXES

1. All students shoud subscribe to the following listserve:   GOVDOC-L Discussion of Government Document Issues and Resources
   Subscribe by sending message to: LISTSERV@LISTS.PSU.EDU
   Text of Message: The command:      SUB GOVDOC-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname
   This message  will add your name to the GOVDOC-L mailing list.
   For information on GOVDOC-L go to the GOVDOC-L User Guide http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~raeann/govdoc-l.html
   
   
   
   

2. A number of other Guides to information on government are available from the Argus Associates Clearinghouse for Internet Subject Oriented Guides.  Can you find any other  government related guides of interest to you on the Clearinghouse?  What is the name of the guide and the URL?
   
   http://www.clearinghouse.net/  
   
   
   

3. Go to the University of Michigan Internet Public Library and look at the government information resources that are available via the WWW.  What is the URL for a resource of interest to you.
   
   http://www.ipl.org/
   
   
   

4. Use GovBot to find the following  government information resources.  Can executive orders issued by the President be found at the White House website?  What is the URL?  Search for an executive order concerning the crisis in Kosovo?  When was it written and what did the President order?
   
   http://ciir2.cs.umass.edu/Govbot/
   
   http://www.business.gov/Search_Online.html
   
   
   

5. Look at the Agency Organizational Chart that is available at WASHlaw Web/DocLaw or at the White House Virtual Library or at the Federal Web Locator.. What are the URLs for the following agencies.
   
   Federal Web Locator at Villanova University Law School - http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Agency/fedwebloc.html
   
   U. S. Federal Government Agencies - LSU Libraries http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html
   
   The President's Cabinet http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Cabinet/html/cabinet_links.html
   White House Offices and Agencies - Executive Office of the President http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/EOP/html/EOP_org.html
   Independent Federal Agencies and Commissions - http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Independent_Agencies/html/independent_links.html
   
   DocLaw WWW - Washburn University School of Law - http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/washlaw/doclaw/orgchart/orgchart2.html
   
   a.    National Archives and Records Administration
   
   
   
   b.    U.S. Trade Representative
   
   

6. Look at the map of Washington.  Find the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  How much is the cost of admission to the Bureau?
   
   http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/
   
   
   

7. Use the U. S. Government Manual or one of the digital versions to find information about your groups department or agency.
   
   U. S. Government Manual - http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara001.html
   U. S. Government Manual - http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/browse-gm.html (browseable)
   
   Federal Web Locator at the Villanova Center for Information Law and Policy -
   http://www.law.vill.edu/Fed-Agency/fedwebloc.html
   
   Federal Government Agencies - Louisiana State University Virtual Library - A List of Federal Agencies on the Internet - http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/fedgov.html
   
   Great American Web Site - A Citizen's Guide to the Treasures of the U. S. Government on the World
   Wide Web -  http://www.uncle-sam.com/guide.html
   
   DocLaw-  http://www.washlaw.edu/doclaw/doclawnew.html
   
   
   
   

8. Use GovBot to find the web address for the "Government Auditing Standards."  What is the URL?  What agency creates these standards?   What is the common name for this publication? 
   
   http://www.business.gov/Search_Online.html
   http://ciir2.cs.umass.edu/Govbot/
   
   
   
   Search for information on  the agency selected by your group.
   
   

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