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Get Started with Library Research

As a Federal Depository Library, the public has free access to any government publication in Trexler Library. Most government documents are discoverable in the Library’s online catalog.

Depository documents are shelved in open stacks on Library level "A" and are available during the Library’s normal service hours.

For more information about access policies, see the Library's Government Documents Access Policy.

To start researching using Government Documents, see the "Find Government Information" guide below.

United States Federal Government information

Note: The terms "Free" and "Subscription" in this guide are used to identify access differences for the resources below. 

  • Free: These resources are freely available to all courtesy of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and Muhlenberg College. See our Access Policy.
  • Subscription: Online access to these electronic resources is paid for by Muhlenberg College. Access may be available to non-Muhlenberg library "walk-in" visitors but in some cases the vendor's license terms restrict access to Muhlenberg students, faculty, and staff only.

Find a U.S. government website or publication

  • FDLP Basic Collection (Free)
    Quick list of key U.S. Government documents and resources with links for direct online access.  This Google Sheet includes notation if print is available at Trexler Library.
  • Encompass Search (Free)
    Search here for government publications located in Trexler Library and selected online publications. Covers pre-1976 to present.
  • GovInfo (Free)
    GovInfo provides free access to more than a million official publications recording activity, decisions, and information from the federal legislature, administration, and courts. The website has search tips and tutorials as well as links to other government resources.
  • Hathi Trust Digital Library (Free)
    A repository of digitized print collections from major research institutions and libraries.  Includes 300,000+ government documents.

U.S. Legislators, Legislation, and Laws

  • U.S. Senate (Free) - members, committees, schedules, votes, procedures, history, and more
  • CONGRESS.GOV (Free)
    Current and past legislative activity in the U.S. Congress, including daily reports, text of bills (93rd Congress, 1973-1974 to present), bill summary and status reports (93rd Congress/1973-1974 to present), treaties, committee reports, and more. Search full text of bills across multiple congressional years.
  • ProQuest Congressional  (Muhlenberg Subscription)
    Search information across multiple years. Check the Content Coverage Chart to find out what years are available for each publication type:
    • Congressional publications: includes bills, laws, and legislative histories
    • Political news & social media: Roll Call, CQ Political news transcripts, Washington Post, government social media
    • Congressional members & committees: biographies, committee assignments, voting records, and financial disclosure data
    • Regulations: Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register
  • Congressional Research Service Reports (Free)
    Online, searchable access to CRS reports is maintained on this website by the Library of Congress. All new or updated reports are added to the website as they are made available to Congress. This website is new in 2018 and older reports are still being added. More information about the reports here. Older CRS reports may be available from links on this U. of North Texas webpage.

U.S. Judicial Branch

  • Federal court system (Free)
    Explains the court system, provides information about judges and includes pathways to search court records, statistics, and rules.

U.S. Executive Branch

  • The White House (Free)
    Current information from the President - briefings, issues, staff.
  • Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) - (Free)
    Browse and search all Titles of the Code of Federal Regulations. Includes historical regulatory changes back to January 2017. To find proposed regulations, look in the Federal Register.

The Federal Register is published every business day by the National Archives and Records Administration. It is "the daily journal of the Federal government" and contains: Federal agency regulations; Proposed Rules and Notices of interest to the public; Executive orders; Proclamations; Other Presidential documents

  • Compilation of Presidential Documents (Free)
    Daily documents issued by the Office of the President, including newly approved Acts, checklist of Press Releases, White House Announcements, and nominations sent to the Senate. (1992 to present)

U.S. Statistics and Economic Data

  • Statistical Abstract of the U.S. (1878-2011) (Free)
    Summary tables of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States and published by various government agencies. Includes guides to other statistical publications and sources. Data tables available in Excel & PDF format. (New data no longer added after 10/1/2011. Go to the originating government agency for current statistics.)
     
  • export.gov - Market Intelligence (Free)
    Country commercial guides, industry reports, trade events, trade data and more from the International Trade Administration.

Other Frequently Used Information

  • Homeland Security Digital Library (Free)
    Non-classified Presidential directives, policy and national strategy documents, as well as specialized resources related to Homeland Security.

 

U.S. States and Territories

Pennsylvania

New Jersey

  • New Jersey 
    Official website for state government information.
     
  • NJ State Data Center 
    State data from the U.S. Census. Data from the state and sub-state demographic and economic data prepared by the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development are also available through the NJSDC.
     
  • NJ Department of the Treasury 
    State tax and business information.

Other Regional States

Get Help

Trexler Library Government Documents Access Policy

Need more help finding Government Information?