Q. How do I find historical U.S. government information?

Start your research for historical United States government information in our Search tool.

• To Identify books, journals, maps, videos, and microforms in our collection, change the scope from Everything to UAlbany Libraries at the point of your search. Narrow the results of your search by selecting the Location value of University Library Government Documents. This collection is in the basement of the University Library in the bound Periodicals Room. The spine labels begin with J 85. Most of the materials in this collection were acquired between 1964 and 2013. 

• To find online government documents, keep the default scope of Everything at the point of your search. Narrow the results of your search by selecting the Resource Type value of Government Documents.

Branch out by searching these additional databases: 

• Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
• WorldCat (if off-campus you will need to sign in)
• HathiTrust

Looking for U.S. founding documents? (e.g., Declaration of Independence; Federalist Papers)  Try our research guide: U.S. Government Information by Subject: Historical.

Looking for official publications from the last half-century from Congress or the President? (e.g., Federal Register; Compilation of Presidential Documents) The U.S. government provides this information.

Still looking for pre-1976 materials? Try these print indexes in the Government Documents area, in the basement of the University Library:

1895-2004 Monthly Catalog . . . GovDoc J 85 GP 3.8/8: (some in storage at J 85 GP 3.8:)  The Monthly Catalog . . . is also available from the database HeinOnline and the federal website govinfo.gov.

1885-1894 Kanely's Cumulative Index to Hickcox's Monthly Catalog . . . GovDoc Ref J 85 GP 3.8: (in regular J 85 stacks)

1881-1893 Ames' Comprehensive Index . . .GovDoc Ref Z 1223 A 1905B

1789-1909 Checklist of United States Public Documents . . . GovDoc Ref Z 1223 A113

1774-1881 Poore's A Descriptive Catalogue . . . GovDoc Ref Z 1223 A 1885D

If you identify a document but cannot get the full text from our collection or online, request the material through Interlibrary Loan.

For a research consultation, contact Karina Ricker, Reference & Government Information Librarian, kricker@albany.edu