Social Science electronic resources: National Governments
Except where stated, titles listed here are only available within the Library - access from outside the Library is not available for licensing reasons.
If you do not find the resource you are looking for, see the Library's complete listing of electronic resources in the British Library London Reading Rooms.
United Kingdom | United States Federal Government | Other Governments
United Kingdom |
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Gateways and Portals |
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Brief description |
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| DirectGov | This citizen's portal offers access to government information and services online. Information is organised around life episodes such as Having a Baby, Dealing with Crime, Going Away or Moving Home. Quick Find offers a route to sources of government information online through an alphabetical list of agencies and the UltraSeek search engine. It also provides links to consultation documents, Parliamentary papers, departmental publications, press releases and government statistics. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Epolitix | A UK political news service supplied by Parliamentary Communications Ltd. It provides to recent news from the House of Commons and House of Lords, including a section on Bills in progress. Also offers access to the full text of the weekly House Magazine which provides details of current Parliamentary activity and political commentary. Through its Forum it also gives access to companies', charities and voluntary sector organisations' government/public affairs microsites. Each microsite contains policy statements, manifestos, contact details and links. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Scottish Executive | The official web site of the devolved government of Scotland. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Welsh Government | Links to websites of the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Assembly Government. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| What Do They Know? | Users can make Freedom of Information requests through this site, and search for information others have requested. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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Historical Materials |
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| Title |
Brief description |
Format |
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| British History Online | British History Online is a digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Site includes digitised versions of the Commons and Lords Journals, produced by the History of Parliament Trust, some pre-Hansard Parliamentary debates and Victoria county histories. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| The Cecil Papers | The Cecil Papers are a privately held archive, consisting principally of the correspondence of William Cecil, Lord Burghley (1520-1598) and his son, Robert, the 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563-1612). These two men dominated the administration of government during the reign of Elizabeth I. The database offers full-colour images digitised directly from the original Cecil Papers manuscripts at Hatfield House Archives and a digitised version of the Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess of Salisbury. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading rooms. |
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| Griffith’s Valuation | The first full scale valuation of property in Ireland, published between 1847 and 1864, is one of the most important surviving genealogical resources. Search by family and place name. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| History of Parliament | History of Parliament 1386-1820, including biographies of members and overviews of general elections. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| HISTPOP | This collection provides online access to the complete British population reports for Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1937. These 200,000 pages of census and registration material for the British Isles are supported by numerous ancillary documents from The National Archives, critical essays and transcriptions of important legislation which provide an aid to understanding the context, content and creation of the collection. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Northern Ireland: a Divided Community, 1921-1972: Cabinet Papers of the Stormont Administration | The Stormont Administration ran Northern Ireland as a province of the UK from 1921-72. This digital resource offers full-text searching of facsimile images of the complete record of Stormont from the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, along with new interpretative essays and resources. "CAB 4" represents a unique record of "how government actually works" through turbulent and often violent times. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Parliament Rolls of Medieval England | The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament
from the reign of Edward I (1272 – 1307) until the reign of Henry VII (1485 – 1509),
after which they were superseded by the journals of the Lords and, somewhat later, of the Commons.
The rolls, which amount in total to over four million words, were first edited in the eighteenth
century and published in 1783 in six folio volumes entitled Rotuli Parliamentorum ( RP)
under the general editorship of the Reverend John Strachey. This new edition reproduces the rolls
edited in RP in their entirety, plus those subsequently published by Cole, Maitland,
and Richardson and Sayles as well as a substantial amount of material never previously published,
together with a full translation of all the texts from the three languages used by the medieval
clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). It also includes an introduction to every
parliament known to have been held by an English king (or in his name) between 1275 and 1504,
whether or not the roll for that parliament survives. Where appropriate, appendices of
supplementary material are also provided, including information about the parliament in question
derived from sources other than the roll. Much of this supplementary material consists of petitions to parliament. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 | This site provides free access to a searchable database containing the full text of all minutes and proceedings of Scottish Parliaments from 1235-1707. Other features of the site include a glossary of terms, history of parliaments in Scotland and the union between England and Scotland and a bibliography of further readings on Scottish political and parliamentary history. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| State Papers Online. Part I: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic | A collection of English government documents originating from the sixteenth
century – when the King or Queen acted as Prime Minister as well as Monarch.
The papers feature the office archives and correspondence of the secretaries of state serving
the Monarch as facsimile manuscript documents accessed directly or via the fully searchable
Calendar entries (abstracts or transcriptions). This collection contains information on every
facet of English government, including social and economic affairs, law and order, religious
policy, crown possessions and intelligence gathering. Offers the ability to cross search
the Calendars and access the documents directly from their individual Calendar entries.
By overcoming the difficulty of matching an individual Calendar entry to the original
facsimile document, State Papers Online, 1509–1714 marks a huge advance for
historians in all disciplines, both as a research tool and as a teaching resource. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| State Papers Online. Part II, The Tudors, 1509-1603: State papers foreign | The office archives & correspondence of secretaries of state relating to foreign affairs from 1509-1714 as facsimile manuscript documents accessed directly or via the fully searchable Calendar entries (abstracts or transcriptions). This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| State Papers Online. Part III. The Stuarts and Commonwealth, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic | Documenting one of the most compelling and turbulent eras in Britain’s social, political and religious history, the era’s internal struggles come to life through a wealth of primary source documents including royal and diplomatic correspondence, reports and parliamentary drafts from civil servants and provincial administrators. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| State Papers Online. Part IV: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, 1603-1714: State Papers Foreign, Ireland; and Registers of the Privy Council | Contains volumes of State Papers from, to and about all the countries of Europe. Charts international affairs through the 17th century – one of the most turbulent periods of transition and unrest in British and European history. All the great international themes of the 17th century play out in document after document: marriage alliances, revolutions, wars and treaties, trade and commerce and, crucially, religion. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Stormont Papers | This website offers access to the Parliamentary Debates of the devolved government of Northern Ireland from June 7th 1921 to the dissolution of Parliament on March 28th 1972. There is a keyword search facility and a browseable index by topic, person, Bill and role. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| UK Central Government Web Archive | The Archive is a selective collection of UK government web sites archived from August 2003. A subset of 80 sites out of approximately 2,500 have been chosen as a representative sample of the entire UK Government web domain, and have been selected in accordance with criteria designed to reflect the overall functions of government. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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Inquiries |
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| Title |
Brief description |
Format |
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| Hutton Inquiry | Official web site of the inquiry into the curcumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly, the Ministry of Defence scientist who was the source of BBC reports that the UK government "sexed up" claims that Saddam Hussein and Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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Legislatures |
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Brief description |
Format |
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| Hansard - HC Debates 1988-1995 1996-1997 1998-1999 2000 2000-2001 2001-2002 |
Full text of the Parliamentary debates of the House of Commons from the definitive bound edition of Hansard, containing debates, answers to oral and written questions and division lists. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, 1688- | Searchable full text of Bills, Reports of Committees, Reports of Commissioners, and Accounts and Papers, with supplementary material for 1688-1834. For the long C18, includes private and local Bills and Acts, House of Lords papers, Commons and Lords Journals and Debates. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| National Assembly for Wales | This site provides access to Assembly debates, votes and proceedings, committee proceedings and reports, details of current Assembly business, members' biographies, etc.. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Northern Ireland Assembly | Currently suspended This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Parliament Rolls of Medieval England | The rolls of parliament were the official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I (1272 – 1307)
until the reign of Henry VII (1485 – 1509), after which they were superseded by the journals
of the Lords and, somewhat later, of the Commons. The rolls, which amount in total to over four million
words, were first edited in the eighteenth century and published in 1783 in six folio volumes entitled
Rotuli Parliamentorum (RP) under the general editorship of the Reverend John Strachey.
This new edition reproduces the rolls edited in RP in their entirety, plus those subsequently
published by Cole, Maitland, and Richardson and Sayles as well as a substantial amount of material
never previously published, together with a full translation of all the texts from the three languages
used by the medieval clerks (Latin, Anglo-Norman and Middle English). It also includes an introduction
to every parliament known to have been held by an English king (or in his name) between 1275 and 1504,
whether or not the roll for that parliament survives. Where appropriate, appendices of supplementary
material are also provided, including information about the parliament in question derived from
sources other than the roll. Much of this supplementary material consists of petitions to parliament. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Public Information Online | A one-stop-shop for access to full-text of UK Parliament papers from 2006/07 and Hansard from 2008/08; Scottish Parliament papers, minutes and debates from May 2007; Scottish Government papers from 2009; and Northern Ireland Assembly papers and debates from 2008. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 | This site provides free access to a searchable database containing the full text of all minutes and proceedings of Scottish Parliaments from 1235-1707. Other features of the site include a glossary of terms, history of parliaments in Scotland and the union between England and Scotland and a bibliography of further readings on Scottish political and parliamentary history. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Scottish Parliament | Includes Chamber and Committee debates, Bills in progress, Committee reports, and the Minutes and Journal, together with details of current business. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Stormont Papers | This website offers access to the Parliamentary Debates of the devolved government of Northern Ireland from June 7th 1921 to the dissolution of Parliament on March 28th 1972. There is a keyword search facility and a browseable index by topic, person, Bill and role. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| UK Parliament | Includes full text of the Official Report (Hansard). Bills before the Parliament, selected House of Commons papers, an Early Day Motions database, House of Commons Library research papers, vote bundle, Weekly Information Bulletin, and Sessional Information Digest. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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Main DepartmentsAll UK government websites should include: background information about the department and contact details, news releases, consultation and other policy documents, current regulatory and guidance material, and statistical data. |
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| Title |
Brief description |
Format |
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| Cabinet Office | The UK Cabinet Office is the central government department that supports the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and oversees the management of the Civil Service This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Communities and Local Government | The Department covers building regulations, housing, homelessness, planning, sustainable communities, urban and regional policy, fire and resilience, and local government This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Department for Business, Innovation and Skills | The Department covers business law, consumer rights, employment matters, productivity, business relations, competition, trade, regional economic development, and higher and further education and skills in England. It includes the Better Regulation Executive (BRE), previously part of the Cabinet Office. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Department for Education | This site is freely available on the Internet. | |
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| Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | This site is freely available on the Internet. | |
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| Department for International Development | The Department for International Development (DFID) is the part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Department for Transport | The Department for Transport's objective is to oversee the delivery of a reliable, safe and secure transport system that responds efficiently to the needs of individuals and business whilst safeguarding our environment This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Department for Work and Pensions | The Department for Work and Pensions administers the social security system. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Department of Energy and Climate Change | The Department was created in 2008 to bring together energy policy and climate change mitigation policy. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Department of Health | The central government department responsible for running the NHS. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Foreign and Commonwealth Office | This site is freely available on the Internet. | |
| Home Office | The Home Office is the government department responsible for ensuring we live in a safe, just and tolerant society. It is responsible for the police in England and Wales, national security, the justice system and immigration. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Ministry of Defence | This site is freely available on the Internet. | |
| Ministry of Justice | The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the courts, prisons, probation, criminal law and sentencing. It was created on 9 May 2007. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| National Statistics | This is the official UK statistics site. It is organised around twelve themes, each reflecting a major area of national life, e.g. Crime and Justice, or The Economy. It also offers access to the full text of Press Releases, major statistical publications and datasets, information from the Census, latest economic indicators and Neighbourhood Statistics. The home page includes the option to search the site for data relating to particular topics. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Revenue and Customs | HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was formed on the 18 April 2005, following the merger of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise Departments. It ensures the correct tax is paid at the right time, whether this relates to payment of taxes received by the department or entitlement to benefits paid. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Treasury | The Treasury is the United Kingdom's economics and finance ministry. It is responsible for formulating and implementing the Government's financial and economic policy. Its aim is to raise the rate of sustainable growth, and achieve rising prosperity and a better quality of life with economic and employment opportunities for all. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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Publication Guides and Indexes and Document Collections |
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| Title |
Brief description |
Format |
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| Foreign Office Confidential Prints | Between 1827 and 1914 documents of significance were distributed to foreign official officials as Confidential Prints. The Index to the set covering prints 1-10,000 has been transcribed into a searchable database. The British Library set at BS.14/3509 is incomplete; please check the hard copy numerical list in the Social Sciences Reading Room before ordering. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Index to HC Papers, 1801-2003 | Cumulative index to House of Commons papers, House of Commons bills and Command papers. [CD-ROM available from the enquiry desk for workstation 1] |
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| Official Documents | Official Documents is the official reference facility for Command and departmentally sponsored House of Commons Papers. From May 2005 onwards, all Command Papers and House of Commons Papers, as well as Key Departmental Papers, are available for free on the site in PDF format. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Parliament | Parliament is an index to the proceedings and publications of both Houses of Parliament in Westminster from 1979. It also includes material from the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly. This resource is password protected; please ask enquiry desk staff to log you in. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Scottish Parliament Bibliography | Lists publications produced by the Parliament; documents scrutinised by the Parliament and statutory publications by document type with titles and subject indexes. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Scottish Working Group on Official publications | Includes Scottish Official Weekly Listing from 2004, Scottish Government Web-Only Documents Listing from 2006 and Scottish Parliament Papers Web Only Listing from 2009. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| TSO (The Stationery Office) | Gives access to the Daily List of publications issued, and their publications catalogue online. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| UKOP Online | Bibliographic database of Parliamentary and non-Parliamentary publications published by TSO and its predecessor HMSO, publications of intergovernmental organisations for which TSO/HMSO is the sales agent, and publications of government departments and agencies published directly and not by TSO/HMSO with links to full text of selected documents. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room, |
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United States Federal GovernmentGateways, Portals, Search Engines and Documents Collections | Congress
Publications Guides and Indexes Gateways, Portals, Search Engines and Documents Collections |
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Format |
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| Digital National Security Archive | The Digital National Security Archive contains the most comprehensive collection of primary documents available. The database includes more than 55,000 of the most important declassified documents regarding critical U.S. foreign policy decisions. There are 24 complete collections, each offering specialized insights, including coverage of the Iran-Contra Affair, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the War on Terror. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Federal Bureau of Investigation Electronic Reading Room | Online access to full text of historic FBI records released under the US Freedom of Information Act. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| FirstGov | Official website for searching for US government information. Provides links to the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the federal government, a search engine, and facilities for browsing by subject. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports, 1974-1996 | US government operation which translates the text of daily broadcasts, government statements, and select news stories from non-English sources. Covers: Middle East & [North] Africa, 1974-1987; Near East & South Asia, 1987-1996; South Asia, 1980-1987; Sub-Saharan Africa, 1974-1996; China, 1974-1996; Asia & the Pacific, 1974-1987; East Asia, 1987-1996; Eastern Europe, 1974-1996 This is a subscription based service. Remote access is available for registered St Pancras Reader Pass holders. |
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| SearchGov.com | A Web search engine that specialises in indexing pages in the .gov and .us domains. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Thomas | Gateway to US legislative information provided by the Library of Congress. This site is freely available on the Internet |
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| University of Michigan Documents Center. Federal Government | Includes access to US federal government information and agencies by broad hierarchy, subject and alphabetical lists and via a search engine. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| USGPO-Access | The official US Government Publishing Office’s gateway to Federal government information. Gives quick links providing direct access to the Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, US Code, Congressional Record, Documents and Reports, Congressional Hearings, GAO reports, Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Public Laws, Bills, etc. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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Congress |
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| American Memory - A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation | Full text of of historic Congressional documents and debates 1774-1875, including materials relating to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, American State Papers, US Serial Set, journals, bills, resolutions and Statutes at Large This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| American State Papers | Retrospective collection of Congressional materials from 1789 to 1838. Includes topics such as Lewis and Clark's Expedition, Burr's Conspiracy and arrest, Barbary pirates, Abolition of slavery, War of 1812, Speeches and messages of presidents, etc This is a subscription based service. |
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| Congressional Hearings Digital Collection, 1824-1979 | A hearing is a meeting or session of a Senate, House, joint, or special committee of Congress to obtain information on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law. This collection includes the full text of hearings. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Congressional Record Permanent Digital Collection, 1873-1997 | Full text of verbatim debates of the US Senate and House of Representatives, with subject heading, speaker, bill and public law number search facilities available. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Congressional Research Documents Collection, 2004-2011 |
Full text of Congressional Research Service reports and Congressional Committee prints. CRS reports cover social policy,
American law, foreign affairs, trade, defence, science and industry and US government and finance. A committee print can contain anything relevant
to the legislative and oversight functions of Congress. They include research papers, compilations of laws, legislative descriptions and
analyses and transcripts of mark up sessions. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Congressional Serial Set Digital Edition, 1817-1994 | Reports, documents and journals of the US Senate and House of Representatives in full text, 1817-1994. This is a subscription based service. |
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| CRS (Congressional Research Service) Reports | The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research arm of Congress, supporting Members, their staffs and committees. Some Members and several non-profit groups have posted copies of CRS reports on their web sites. This site provides integrated access to the many reports available on the web since 1990. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| House of Representatives (United States) | The site gives access to full text of bills, the Congressional Record, roll call votes, and a directory of members. There is also a facility to search committee web sites This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Senate (United States) | The US Senate site provides access to full text of active legislation, the Congressional Record, a directory of senators, roll call votes, and links to Committee web sites This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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Publications Guides and Indexes |
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| MarciveWeb Docs | Index to United States Federal Government publications from 1976 to the present. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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Other Governments |
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Brief description |
Format |
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| Comintern Archive | An index to the archive and microform collections held at the Russian Centre for the Conservation and Study of Records of Modern History. The Comintern Archive contains original documents from over 35 communist and left-socialist parties, together with other international organisations from 21 different countries. It covers the entire period of the Comintern's existence, from 1919 to 1943. This is a subscription based resource and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Governments on the WWW | This database includes links to parliaments, executive agencies, law courts, embassies and consulates, and political parties. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Integrum World Wide | An integrated database that includes CIS and Russian central and regional newspapers, journals and magazines, Russian and foreign Information agencies, Internet media, TV and radio, statistics, directories, legislation, official publications, business information, production catalogues, Who is Who, etc. The database also includes a full text collection of literary texts (Russian and world literature in translation). This is a subscription based resource and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| Parline Database | Includes general information on each of the Parliament’s Chambers, a description of the electoral system, results of the most recent elections, information on the presidency of each chamber, information on the mandate and status of members of Parliament, and links to the Parliament’s website. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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| Royal Commonwealth Society Catalogues | In October 2006, a 2½ year project began to produce online catalogue records for official, and some commercial, publications published locally within the colonies.
Such records are now continuously being added to Cambridge University Library's Newton catalogue and exported to external databases.
Preservation of the material is also being enhanced.
Within the 2½ year timescale the project aims to cover:
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| Russian/NIS Universal Databases | Online databases of Russian/FSU Publications (East View). Files: Central Newspapers, Regional Newspapers, CIS & Baltic Periodicals, Social Sciences & Humanities, Parliamentary Publications, Military & Security Periodicals. This is a subscription based service and can only be accessed from the reading room. |
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| University of Michigan Documents Center. Foreign Government Resources on the Web | Alphabetical and topical index of non-US goverment web sites. This site is freely available on the Internet. |
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