ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


Ja n u a ry 1 9 9 4 /1 9

Internet sources of 
government information

By Blake G um precht

From the weather to NAFTA, it’s 
on the Net

T he Internet, the global com puter network 
that is becom ing an increasingly valuable 

source of information on a wide variety of sub­
jects, has proven an especially rich resource 
for governm ent information, in part because 
works produced by the U.S. government are 
not eligible for copyright protection.

While governm ent agencies have been criti­
cized for not making more information avail­
able online, enterprising librarians, professors, 
business people, and w atchdog groups have 
themselves made a wealth of information avail­
able via the network. Internet users can now  
access hundreds of sources of current govern­
ment information—census data, Supreme Court 
decisions, w eather forecasts, the Federal Reg­
ister, daily White House press briefings, Bu­
reau of Commerce reports, and much more.

More and m ore governm ent agencies too 
are beginning to establish systems that can be 
accessed remotely. You can now  e-mail the 
President, and passage of the Government Print­
ing Office (GPO) Electronic Information Access 
Improvement Act o f 1993 assures GPO’s role 
in distributing information electronically will 
increase. A variety of other proposals suggest 
that in the future, an ever-increasing volume of 
governm ent information will be available on­
line, sometimes exclusively.

In many cases, there are significant advan­
tages to the sources accessible online over what 
can b e found in the library or via other means. 
Internet resources are often more up-to-date 
than their paper counterparts. Frequently they

can be searched by keyword. Sometimes they 
provide inform ation simply n ot available in 
m ore traditional formats. A w ord o f warning is 
necessary, though. Internet resources are con­
stantly changing. What is available one minute 
may not be available the next. Source and file 
names are often changed without notice.

This article presents a sample o f Internet 
sources of governm ent information and was 
culled from a longer list created for users at 
Temple University. The sources listed are in­
tended to provide the simplest route to the in­
formation described. The preferred source is 
often a gopher source because of the ease of 
using the go p h er software. Often, however, 
there are several sources for the same informa­
tion. When the source listed is a gopher source, 
the instructions assume users can escape the 
local gopher m enu structure to connect directly 
to a remote gopher. This can normally be done 
by issuing the gopher com m and in combina­
tion with a remote system address from your 
system’s ready prompt.

The longer version of the guide can be re­
trieved electronically from the University of 
Michigan’s Clearinghouse of Subject-Oriented 
In te rn e t R esource G uides (source: g o p h e r 
gopher.lib.um ich.edu /  general reference re­
sources /  clearinghouse . . . /  guides on the 
social scien ces /  g o v ern m en t . . .) o r the 
N o rth W e s tN e t ftp  a r c h iv e  (so u rc e : ftp  
ftp.nw net.net /  u seran o n y m o u s /  password: 
ident /  cd user-docs /  cd governm ent /  get 
gum precht-guide. txt).

In the list that follows, the “source” is the 
“address” of the remote com puter w here the 
information can be found, along with the “path” 
a user must take to locate the directory or file 
that contains the information. Slashes in the

Blake G umprecht is docum ents librarian a t Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia; 
e-mail: gumpbw@ vm.temple.edu or gumpbw@templevm

gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu
ftp://ftp.nwnet.net
mailto:gumpbw@vm.temple.edu


2 0  /  C&RL News

source separate commands, steps, or levels in 
a menu or file hierarchy.

G eneral resources
•  Catalog o f Federal Domestic Assistance: 

Provides information about more than 1,000 
U.S. government assistance programs. Search­
a b le  by k e y w o r d . Sou rce: g o p h e r  
marvel.loc.gov /  federal governm ent informa­
tion /  federal information resources /  informa­
tion by agency /  general information resources.

•  Copyright Information: Library o f Con­
gress system allows users to search informa­
tion about works registered in the U.S. Copy­
r ig h t O ffic e  s in c e  1978. S ource: te l n e t  
locis.loc.gov.

•  Federal Information Exchange: Provides 
information about federal education and re­
search program s, scholarships, fellow ships, 
grants, programs for minorities, procurem ent 
o p p o rtu n itie s , a n d  m o re. Source: g o p h e r 
fedix.fie.com.

•  Federal Jobs: Lists thousands of U.S. gov­
ernm ent job openings taken from a variety of 
federal com puter bulletin boards. Source, go­
pher dartcm sl.dartm outh.edu /  job openings 
in the federal government.

•  FedWorld: National Technical Informa­
tion Service system provides access to more 
than 100 U.S. governm ent com puter bulletin 
boards. Also includes full text of select govern­
ment publications, statistical files, federal job 
lists, and more. Source: telnet fedw orld.gov.

•  G eographic Names Database: Provides 
latitude and longitude, county and state loca­
tion, elevation, and m ore for th o u san d s of 
places in the U.S. Searchable by place name or 
zip  c o d e . Source: g o p h e r  g o p h e r.m ic ro . 
um n.edu /  libraries /  reference w orks /  u.s. 
geographic names database.

•  Library o f Congress Information System: 
Provides access to the library’s online catalog, 
copyright files, databases containing informa­
tion on federal legislation and foreign law, and 
more. Source: telnet locis.loc.gov.

•  Library o f Congress Marvel: O ne-stop 
source for a multitude of governm ent mate­
rial— Congressional information, census data, 
White House docum ents, State Departm ent re­
ports, and more. Source: gopher marvel.loc.gov.

•  National W eather Service Forecasts: Pro­
vides forecasts, current conditions, information 
on earthquakes, and m ore for the 50 states and 
Canada. Source: go p h er ashpool.m icro.umn. 
edu /  weather.

•  State D epartm ent Travel Advisories: An 
archive o f State Department travel information 
and advisories arranged by country. Files in­
clude country descriptions, current conditions, 
entry requirements, em bassy locations, infor­
mation about medical facilities, drug penalties 
and more. Source: gopher gopher.stolaf.edu /  
internet resources.

•  World Factbook (1990-1992): Full text of 
the CIA-produced annual which provides in­
formation about the geography, people, gov­
ernment, and econom y of countries around the 
world. Source: gopher wiretap.spies.com /  elec­
tronic books /  cia world factbook.

Political science, la w , and government
•  Budget of the United States Government: 

Full text of the proposed budget for the 1994 
fiscal year; can be searched by keyword. Source: 
gopher sunsite.unc.edu /  worlds o f sunsite /  
us and world politics /  proposed budget.

•  Campaign ’92 and Election Results: Full 
text of key position papers, speeches, press 
releases, and more from major candidates in 
the 1992 presidential election. Source: gopher 
tam uts.tam u.edu /  browse information by sub­
ject /  political science.

•  Code of Federal Regulations: Commer­
cial system allows users to brow se the code or 
search it by keyword. Access to the complete 
CFR is not yet available. System places limits 
on  the am ount o f information nonsubscribers 
can retrieve. Source: gopher gopher.netsys.com 
/  counterpoint publishing.

•  Congressional Directories: Library of Con­
gress system provides access to a variety of 
directories. Source: gopher m arvel.loc.gov/ u.s. 
congress.

•  Congressional Information: Provides ac­
cess to directories, committee rosters, NAFTA 
documents, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 
and more. Source: gopher gopher.lib.umich.edu 
/  social sciences resources /  governm ent and 
politics /  u.s. governm ent resources: legislative 
branch.

•  Congressional Legislation: Library of Con­
gress system allows users to search files that 
describe and track legislation introduced in 
Congress from 1973 to present. Source: telnet 
locis.loc.gov /  federal legislation.

•  Executive Branch Resources: Provides ac­
cess to executive branch directories, W hite 
H ouse information, NAFTA docum ents, and 
more. Source: gopher gopher.lib.um ich.edu /  
social sciences resources /  governm ent and

marvel.loc.gov
locis.loc.gov
fedix.fie.com
dartcmsl.dartmouth.edu
fedworld.gov
umn.edu
locis.loc.gov
marvel.loc.gov
gopher://gopher.stolaf.edu
wiretap.spies.com
sunsite.unc.edu
tamuts.tamu.edu
gopher://gopher.netsys.com
marvel.loc.gov/
gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu
locis.loc.gov
gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu


Ja n u a ry 1 9 9 4 /2 1

politics /  u.s. governm ent resources: executive 
branch.

•  Federal Register: Commercially produced 
system allows users to brow se or search the 
daily Federal Register. System places limits on 
the am ount o f information nonsubscribers can 
retrieve. Source: gopher gopher.netsys.com  /  
counterpoint publishing.

•  National Performance Review: Full text 
of the report of Vice-President A1 G ore’s task 
force on reinventing government. Source: go­
pher sunsite.unc.edu /  worlds of sunsite /  us 
and world politics.

•  Presidential Documents from the Federal 
Register: Full text of presidential proclamations, 
executive orders, and other documents. Source: 
gopher gopher.netsys.com  /  counterpoint p u b ­
lishing /  federal register /  selected agencies.

•  Supreme Court Decisions: Full text of d e­
cisions issu e d  sin ce 1989. Source: g o p h e r 
info.umd.edu /  educational resources /  united 
states.

•  Treaties and International Covenants: Full 
te x t o f  m a jo r t r e a t i e s . S ource: g o p h e r  
fatty.law.cornell.edu /  foreign and international 
law /  multilateral treaties.

•  United Nations: Full text o f U.N. press 
releases, U.N. Conference on Environment and 
D evelopm ent reports, United Nations Devel­
opm ent Programme docum ents, telephone di­
rectories, and more. Source: gopher nyw orkl. 
un d p .o rg .

•  W hite H ouse Information: Full text of 
policy statements, press briefings, speeches, the 
president’s daily schedule, and more. Source: 
gopher tam uts.tam u.edu /  brow se information 
by subject /  political science /  information from 
th e  w h ite  h o u se . Source: g o p h e r su n site. 
unc.edu /  worlds of sunsite /  us and world 
politics /  sunsite political science archives /  
w hitehouse-papers.

•  World Constitutions: Full text o f consti­
tutions o f countries worldwide. Source: gopher 
wiretap.spies.com  /  governm ent docs. Other 
constitutions can be accessed by conducting a 
gopher Veronica search, using “constitution” as 
the keyword.

Social sciences an d  hum anities
•  AskERIC: Archive of education informa­

tion compiled by an Internet question-answ er­
ing service for educators at Syracuse Univer­
sity. Source: gopher ericir.syr.edu.

•  Bureau of Justice Statistics Documents: 
Full text o f select Bureau publications. Source:

gopher uacsc2.albany.edu /  united nations jus­
tice network.

•  Census of Population and Housing: 1990 
Census data available for U.S. cities, counties, 
metropolitan areas, states, and the nation, with 
c o m p a ris o n s  fro m  1980. Source: g o p h e r  
bigcat.missouri.edu /  reference center.

•  Criminal Justice Country Profiles: Full text 
o f a series o f U.N. reports on crime and crimi­
nal justice in 123 countries. Source: gopher 
uacsc2.albany.edu /  united nations justice net­
w ork /  u.n. criminal justice country profiles.

•  Economic Bulletin Board: Department of 
Commerce system provides access to thousands 
of files containing information about current 
eco n o m ic conditions, econom ic indicators, 
employment, trade, and more in 20 general sub­
ject areas. Source: gopher gopher.lib.umich.edu 
/  social sciences research /  economics. Source: 
telnet ebb.stat-usa.gov.

•  Educational Resources Information Cen­
ter (ERIC): Provides keyword access to abstracts 
o f articles and publications about education. 
Source: gopher spc.syr.edu /  local resources.

•  Gross State Product Tables: Provides ac­
cess to U.S. Bureau o f Economic Analysis tables 
estimating the value of goods and services for 
61 in d u stries in 50 states. Source: g o p h e r 
gopher.lib.um ich.edu /  social sciences research 
/  economics.

•  North American Free Trade Agreement: 
Full text o f NAFTA and related docum ents. 
Source: gopher cyfer.esusda.gov /  americans 
communicating electronically.

•  Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Research 
Institute Daily Report: Full text o f a daily di­
gest of developm ents in Russia, Transcaucasia 
and Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe. 
Source: gopher gopher.lib.um ich.edu /  news 
services.

•  Statistics Canada Daily Reports: Full text 
o f daily statistical releases, lists of publications, 
and more from Canada’s primary compiler of 
statistics. Source: telnet info.carleton.ca /  ter­
minal type:decvtlOO.

Physical sciences, health , and 
medicine

•  AIDS Information: Provides AIDS statis­
tics, daily sum m aries of n ew sp ap er articles 
about AIDS, full text of AIDS Treatment News, 
reports from the National Commission on AIDS, 
and more. Source: gopher gopher.niaid.nih.gov.

•  CancerNet: Full text o f National Cancer 
Institute fact sheets, publications, patient diag­

gopher://gopher.netsys.com
sunsite.unc.edu
gopher://gopher.netsys.com
info.umd.edu
fatty.law.cornell.edu
undp.org
tamuts.tamu.edu
unc.edu
wiretap.spies.com
ericir.syr.edu
uacsc2.albany.edu
bigcat.missouri.edu
uacsc2.albany.edu
gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu
usa.gov
spc.syr.edu
gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu
cyfer.esusda.gov
gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu
gopher://gopher.niaid.nih.gov


2 2  /  C&RL News

nosis statem ents, and more. Source: gopher 
helix.nih.gov /  health and clinical information.

•  Chemical Substance Fact Sheets: Full text 
of EPA fact sheets about hundreds of chemi­
cals. Can be brow sed or searched by keyword. 
Source: gopher ecosys.drdr.virginia.edu /  edu­
cation /  environmental fact sheets.

•  Cooperative Extension System: Depart­
ment of Agriculture system provides access to 
extension service reports, directories, nutritional 
data, and more. Source: gopher esusda.gov.

• Earthquake Information: Provides data 
about recent earthquakes worldwide. Source: 
gopher gopher.stolaf.edu /  internet resources 
/  w eather and geography.

• F o o d  a n d  D rug A d m in istratio n  B ul­
letin Board System: Full text of FDA new s 
releases, enforcem ent reports, im port alerts, 
drug and product approval lists, Federal Regis­
ter summaries, articles from FDA Consumer, 
a n d  m ore. Source: te ln e t fdab b s.fd a.g o v  /  
login:bbs.

•  H ealth Security Act: Full text o f the 
Clinton administration’s health plan and related 
docum ents. Act can be brow sed or searched 
by keyword. Source: gopher sunsite.unc.edu /  
worlds o f sunsite /  us and world politics /  na­
tional health security plan.

•  Morbidity a n d  Mortality Weekly Report: 
Full text of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention weekly publication. Source: gopher 
gopher.niaid.nih.gov/ aids related information.

•  National Institutes of Health: Provides ac­
cess to NIH phone books, calendars, library 
catalogs, m olecular biology databases, NIH 
G uide f o r  Grants a n d  Contracts, and more. 
Source: gopher gopher.nih.gov.

•  National Science Foundation: Provides ac­
cess to grant information, NSF directories, press 
releases, full text of foundation publications, 
and more. Source: gopher stis.nsf.gov.

•  PENpages: Pennsylvania State University 
system provides the full text of thousands of 
docum ents about agriculture, food and nutri­
tion, family issues, and more. Source: telnet 
psupen.psu.edu /  usernam e:penpages.

•  Spacelink: NASA system provides access 
to shuttle status reports, mission summaries, 
NASA news releases, and other files with cur­
rent and historical information about NASA. 
Source: te ln e t s p a c e lin k .m s fc .n a s a .g o v  /  
usernam em ew user /  passwordmewuser.

• World Health Organization: Provides ac­
cess to world health statistics, full text of se­
lected WHO publications, and more. Source: 
gopher gopher.who.ch. ■

helix.nih.gov
ecosys.drdr.virginia.edu
esusda.gov
gopher://gopher.stolaf.edu
fdabbs.fda.gov
sunsite.unc.edu
gopher://gopher.niaid.nih.gov/
gopher://gopher.nih.gov
stis.nsf.gov
psupen.psu.edu
spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov