Although there are many web sites for government information, it still is not always easy to find exactly the information you need. The Government Documents and Information Center at Mudd Library has created a homepage designed to provide information about the Center's collections and to link, where possible, to full text and/or numeric data from the United States and Canadian Federal governments, state and local government agencies, foreign and international intergovernmental organizations, and other government related sites. The URL is:
http://www.library.yale.edu/govdocs/gdchome.htmlThis site has recently been rated among the top 5% of all sites on the Internet by Point Survey.
From the initial page it is possible to link to detailed collection descriptions for United States Federal, Canadian Federal, United Nations, and European Union materials and to obtain information on the Center's location, hours, and services. If you want to send a reference question to one of the CenterŐs staff, there is a link to a reference inquiry form. If you want to obtain the latest consumer price index, per diem travel rates, or exchange rates , connect to "Frequently Asked Questions." For more detailed information and links, use "Finding Government Information." With few exceptions the Center has created links only to official government agency sites.
"Finding Government Information" is organized by provenance - United States government, Foreign and International, State, Local, and Related Government Sites. Foreign and International is subdivided into Canadian, European Union, Food and Agriculture Organization and United Nations which links directly to the United Nations Scholars' Workstation
Most state and many local governments have created home pages. These vary considerably in content but many contain directories of government officials and legislative and statutory documents. A recent addition to the state page are links to some states' income tax forms.
The United States government page is organized so that the user can select an agency, a subject, or a type of information, i.e., administrative rules and regulations, treaties, patents, standards and specifications, declassified documents, census, statistical, legis-lative, maps, directories, court decisions, technical reports, and reference sources. Many of the "types of information" pages include descriptions of government processes, the Center's collections, as well as links to full text or numeric data sources.
Links to the full text of many reference sources, such as Digest of Education Statistics, Congressional Directory, U.S. Government Manual, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, Diplomatic List, Economic Report of the President, Standard Industrial Classification Codes, Budget of the United States Government, World Factbook, and Zip Codes, are provided.
In addition to official government sites, the Center's homepage links to government related sites, Americans Communicating Electronically, Commerce Clearing House, Congressional Quarterly, Legi-Slate, Government Publications Network (Bernan/Kraus), Readex/Newsbank, Project Vote Smart, Voice of America, Democratic National Committee, Republican National Committee, Electronic Embassy, and C-Span.
So for the latest links to government information or to ask a question regarding Yale's government information collections, set a bookmark for the Center's homepage
Suggestions and/or comments regarding the home page may be forwarded to jtipton@yalevm.cis.yale.edu.
Sandy Peterson (PETERSS@yalevm.cis.yale.edu) is a Documents Librarian at the Government Documents Center, Seeley Mudd Library.
Back to March 1996