This document provides an overview of finding government information on the web. It begins by outlining some basic finding tools like usa.gov for federal information and az.gov for Arizona-specific information. It then discusses specific agency websites and portals for finding federal and Arizona data. Next, it covers guides and directories for locating information at the local, tribal and subject levels. The document concludes by listing several Arizona libraries with government information librarians who can provide assistance on searches.
1. It’s everywhere, it’s everything –
and you need it
GladysAnn Wells, Arizona State Librarian
Jim Drake, Assistant Arizona Secretary of State
Janet Fisher, Director, Law and Research Library,
Arizona State Library and Archives
AzLA Annual Conference, November 16, 2010
6. Selected agency sites
UNITED STATES:
Patent and Trademark Office
Census Bureau (American FactFinder)
Government Printing Office (catalog and MetaLib)
ARIZONA:
Arizona Memory Project
Arizona Legislative Information Service
Arizona Secretary of State
7. Local Government and Tribal Links
Usa.gov and AZ.gov
Arizona League of Cities and Towns Directory
Local Government Directory
Arizona Association of Counties
County Supervisors Association of Arizona
Inter Tribal Council of Arizona
8. Subject Guides
Government Information in the 21st Century -
www.webjunction.org/gi21
Links to federal and some state sources in 22 modules
Guidance in selecting and using the sources
PowerPoints, guides and games that you can copy and use
for your uses
Project materials periodically updated
Other Guides:
Tools for Tough Times - http://www.lib.az.us/about/helpinfo.aspx
Native American Water Rights -
http://govdocs.library.arizona.edu/nativewaterhome.html
13. Arizona State University
•http://lib.asu.edu/govdocs
ASU, Ross-Blakley Law Library
•http://www.law.asu.edu/library/RossBlakleyLawLibrary/
ResearchNow.aspx
Arizona Western College LibGuide
•http://libguides.azwestern.edu/gov_info
17. Arizona Libraries with
Government Information Librarians
Apache Junction Public Library
Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records
Arizona State University Library
Arizona State University, Ross-Blakley Law Library
Arizona Western College
Central Arizona College
Mesa Public Library
Northern Arizona University
Northland Pioneer College
Phoenix Public Library
Pima County Public Library
University of Arizona
University of Arizona, John J. Rogers Law Library
Yavapai College
How a bill becomes a law:
The federal site will take you to sources from the Library of Congress that tell you how a bill becomes a law.
The legislative site will take you to Arizona bill (Arizona’s version of how a bill becomes a law
URLs for websites have become more predictable
try the state library at azlibrary.gov
try the secretary of state at azsos.gov
Here are some selected pages that contain a lot of information for federal and state government.
There are sites like Google that have moved into the e-government area, with Google Uncle Sam and Google Patents. These sites can be useful.
Remember, sometimes what you are looking for is not obvious. Looking at an agency site or government-created site may give you an opportunity to unearth the information or related information more easily (or give you the assurance that you looked at everything the agency made available.
Locate those sites where you can find information easily.
WHY should you recreate s page if someone else has done it?
Borrow from them, OR link to them
2 ways to get to the:
State information
Federal information
To locate boards and commissions for the state, go to the Arizona Secretary of State’s site for the semiannual index to the Administrative Register:
BOARDS & COMMISSIONS DIRECTORY - A list of Governor's Appointments of State Officials and Boards and Members of Boards and Commissions. It includes contact information and addresses. (http://www.azsos.gov/public_services/Publications/Semi_Annual_Index/)
You can also go to pages on quasi-governmental agencies from a link to the U.S. Government Manual