Research Guides: *Primary Sources: A Guide: Government Documents

Working with Government Documents

A governing institution both collects and generates information in order to function. For historians, government documents may be one of the only option for studying people and events that didn't leave behind their own records. Government-created documents can also be challenging given the very specific ways in which they described or affected the lives of the people they record.

When considering how to use government documents, consider the following?

Who wrote this?
Does the government purpose for creating this document change how we think about its subject? (e.g. judicial records assume a crime or transgression)
Was this document created for the public, or was it only meant to be used privately by an individual or office?
Whose perspective is missing from this publication?

Collections of Government Documents

Congressional Publications (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Congressional Publications provides a comprehensive view of congressional action and the behind-the-scenes activity involved in crafting U.S. legislation. It includes the Congressional Research Digital Collection (CRDC), Committee Prints and CRS Reports (1824–Present), Statutes at Large (1789–present), and the Serial Set (1789–1969), and Hearings (1824-1979, 1980-2003). Includes the Federal Register & Political News. Note that not all hearings have full-text transcripts.
Tutorials:
ProQuest Congressional Publications LibGuide

Abbreviation: conguni
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1789–Current
Subjects: History, Law, Political Science, Public Administration and Policy, Public Safety and Security
Type: Government Publications

American Presidency Project
An archives containing over 86,464 documents related to the study of the Presidency.

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
HeinOnline provides a searchable format and full-image access to a large and growing collection of legal journals from the time of their inception to a few years before present.
Tutorials:
Training Videos
Training Guides
User Guide (pdf)

Abbreviation: hein
Vendor: HeinOnline
Subjects: Business Legal Studies, History, International Affairs, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Law, Middle Eastern Studies, Russian & Eastern European Studies
Type: E-Journal Collections, Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources
U.S. Declassified Documents Online This link opens in a new window
U.S. Declassified Documents Online's greatest value lies in the wealth of facts and insights that it provides in connection with the political, economic, and social conditions of the United States and other countries. Materials as diverse as State Department political analyses, White House confidential file materials, National Security Council policy statements, CIA intelligence memoranda, and much more offer unique insights into the inner workings of the US government and world events in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

A significant resource for researchers in almost every discipline, this collection makes it possible for researchers to easily and quickly access and review selected previously classified government documents online.
U.S. Declassified Documents Online provides users with:
- actual documents that were used to develop and implement domestic and foreign policies
- provides the “real” story behind events and crises
- encourages critical reevaluation of previously published memoirs and other subjective writings
U.S. Declassified Documents Online enables users to examine documents originating from sources including:
- Atomic Energy Commission
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Department of Defense
- Department of Justice
- Department of State
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- National Security Council
- Presedential Libraries
- White House
- Other executive agencies
Materials available for review include:
- Cabinet meeting minutes
- CIA intelligence studies and reports
- Correspondence
- Diary entries
- FBI surveillance and intelligence correspondence and memoranda
- Full texts of letters, instructions, and cables sent and received by U.S. diplomatic personnel
- Joint Chiefs papers
- National Security Council policy statements
- Presidential conferences
- State Department political analyses
- Technical studies
- Trade treaties, studies and analyses
- U.S. briefing materials for meetings with foreign heads of state and government officials
- White House Confidential File materials
- And much more
Abbreviation: declassdoc
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1941–1997
Subjects: African-American Studies, Economics, History, International Affairs, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Law, Middle Eastern Studies, Political Science, Public Administration and Policy, Public Safety and Security
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Images, Standards
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Includes collections related to Federal Surveillance of radicals in the 1960s, of African Americans throughout the twentieth century, President JFK's foreign affairs, and documents relating to the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.
Abbreviation: au
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1920–1984
Subjects: African-American Studies, History
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires

Foreign Relations of the United States Series
The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity from 1861. The most recent published volumes are from the Carter administration, with later documents continually being researched and reviewed for publication.
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Contains documents from Presidential libraries, Departments of State and Defense, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency, Agency for International Development, and other foreign affairs agencies as well as the private papers of individuals involved in formulating U.S. foreign policy.

U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
U.K. Parliamentary Papers are vital to the historical record of Britain, its former colonies, and the wider world. The records are among the richest and most detailed primary sources for history of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The collection currently includes:
- Bills and Acts 1695–1900 (House of Commons drafts of legislation, to be reviewed through various parliamentary stages.)
- Command Papers 1833–1900 (House of Commons government papers conveying information or decisions the Government wishes to draw to attention of the House, presented by Command of Her Majesty.)
- House of Commons Papers 1715–1900 (Documents resulting from the work of the House of Commons.)
- House of Commons Hansard, 1803–2005 (Transcription of debates)
- House of Lords Hansard, 1803–2005 (Transcription of debates)
Abbreviation: hcpp
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1695–2005
Subjects: History, International Affairs, Law, Political Science
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources

British Documents on Foreign Affairs - Reports & Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print
Call Number: FSU STROZIER, Documents General Collection Ground Floor
Organized by time period and by geopolitical region:
Part I, From the mid-nineteenth century to the first world war.
Part II, From the first to the second world war.
Part III, From 1940-1945.
Call number ranges include:
D 621 .G7
DK 266.A3
DS 63.2 G7
JX 632 .B76
JX 1975.5 .G7
JZ 632 .B76

Every country has its own rules and guidelines for making government documents available to the public, either online or in local archives and libraries. When searching for government documents, consider:

Have other historians identified them in citations and bibliographies?
Are they published in print or online?
- If in print, are they at FSU, or can I request them via InterLibrary Loan?
What language(s) will I need to read the documents?

United Nations iLibrary This link opens in a new window
The United Nations iLibrary is the comprehensive global search, discovery, and viewing source for digital content created by the United Nations. It provides librarians, information specialists, scholars, students, policy makers, influencers and the general public with a single digital destination for seamlessly accessing publications, journals, data, and series published by the United Nations Secretariat, and its funds and programs.
Abbreviation: unilib
Vendor: OECD
Subjects: Demography and Population Studies, Economics, Geography, International Affairs, Law, Political Science, Public Health, Statistics, Women's and Gender Studies
Type: E-Book Collections, Government Publications, Reports

Statistics

Historical statistics are a special type of government document. They provide demographic, economic, and other numerical data collected by state agents. Statistics also reveal what these historical actors thought was important to collect and know about their populations, and what categories they used to organize people and knowledge.

Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition This link opens in a new window
Contains more than 37,000 annual time series of quantitative historical information covering virtually every quantifiable dimension of American history: population, work and welfare, economic structure and performance, governance, and international relations, all from the earliest times to the present. A compendium of statistics from over 1000 sources last updated in 1990, HSUS has been expanded to include data series and topics such as slavery, American Indians, health, crime, migration, poverty, and the Confederate States of America are each placed in historical context.
Abbreviation: hsus
Vendor: Cambridge University Press
Subjects: Criminology and Criminal Justice, History, Urban and Regional Planning
Type: Datasets / Statistics, Historical / Primary Sources
International Historical Statistics This link opens in a new window
International Historical Statistics; 1750–2010 3-volume set is the latest edition of the most authoritative collection of statistics available. Updated to 2010 wherever possible, it provides key economic and social indicators for the last 260 years, serving as an essential reference source.
Subject areas:
Business & Management
Economics & Finance
Education
History
Language & Linguistics
Literature
Media & Culture
Political Science Collection
International Relations & Development
Religion & Philosophy
Social Sciences
Theatre & Performance

Abbreviation: ihst
Vendor: Palgrave Macmillan
Coverage: 1750–2010
Subjects: Economics, History, Statistics
Type: Datasets / Statistics, Historical / Primary Sources
Social Explorer (1 concurrent user limit) This link opens in a new window
Note: Only 1 simultaneous user is allowed. Contains historical decennial census data for the United States from 1790 to the latest census, the American Community Survey, the American Religious Bodies (ASARB), and InfoGroup for latest religion data. Able to create reports and download data in convenient formats quickly and easily. Engagement between society and science.
Tutorials:
Social Explorer LibGuide

Abbreviation: socex
Vendor: Center for Research Libraries
Subjects: Anthropology, Communication, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Demography and Population Studies, Economics, Geography, Human Development & Family Science, Information Studies, International Affairs, Law, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration and Policy, Public Health, Social Work, Urban and Regional Planning
Type: Datasets / Statistics, Directories, Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Maps