Subject Specialist:
Statistics and Data
U.S. Government Documents
814-865-0665
e-mail: sjw31@psu.edu
Subject Specialist:
Statistics and Data
U.S. Government Documents
814-865-0665
e-mail: sjw31@psu.edu
Congressional support agencies conduct studies and develop policy papers at the request of congressional members and committees.
Note: [Penn State Libraries] indicates a resource available to researchers with a Penn State Access Account.
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
GAO is charged with monitoring government spending for Congress. Finding guide:
Indexes for Abstracts of Reports and Testimony
also available online from the U.S. Government Printing Office starting with 2003.
CRS produces objective, nonpartisan analyses of policy issues at the request of congressional members and committees. Find publications:
ProQuest Congressional [Penn State Libraries] -- Full text in PDF
Major Studies and Issue Briefs of the Congressional Research Service
Cumulative Index, 1916/1989 to the present. Studies and issue briefs prior to 1996 are available on microfilm, 1996 to the present are available on microfiche in the Social Sciences Library, Microforms Collection, 2nd Floor Paterno Library.
Open CRS
"A project of the Center for Democracy & Technology through the cooperation of several organizations and collectors of CRS Reports, Open CRS provides citizens access to CRS Reports already in the public domain and encourages Congress to provide public access to all CRS Reports."
CRS Reports Related to the Environment
A collection from the National Council for Science and the Environment
Penny Hill Press
A listing of currently-available CRS Reports and Issue Briefs by broad topic. This company sells CRS reports but you can find most of them for free in the library. Stop at the Social Sciences Library Reference Desk (2nd Floor Paterno Library) for assistance.
Federal Government Resources / Legislative Branch / Congressional Research Service
A wide-ranging list of sites containing CRS reports from the Documents Center at the University of Michigan Library.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
A listing maintained by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) on various topics, among them:
Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)
The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment closed on September 29, 1995. During its 23-year history, OTA provided Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century.
OTA Legacy, maintained at the Woodrow Wilson School of International Affairs at Princeton University, makes "available in electronic form the complete collection of OTA publications along with additional materials that illuminate the history and impact of the agency."
Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
CBO's mission is to provide the Congress with objective, timely, nonpartisan analyses needed for economic and budget decisions. Publications back to 1975 can be found in PDF.
Executive branch agencies are charged with implementing government programs.
Official U.S. Executive Branch Web Sites
List maintained by the Library of Congress' Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room (Serial and Government Publications Division).
Think Tanks are organizations that perform independent research in specific policy areas, either under government contract or as a part of their organizational mandate.
Some well-known think tanks include: the RAND Corporation, The Heritage Foundation, Cato Institute, The Brookings Institution, and the Urban Institute. There are many others. Find think tank information and publications:
National Institute for Research Advancement : Think Tank information page
PolicyFile [Penn State Libraries]
PolicyFile draws its content from public policy think tanks, university research programs, research organizations and publishers. Provides links to Web resources where available. Some well-known contributors include:
Interest Groups are organizations whose members share common interests and work to promote those interests.
The distinction between a think tank and an interest group is often a subtle one. Organizations labeling themselves as "think tanks", or a policy research institution at least, purport to be independent and non-partisan organizations. Interest groups are more forthright in their advocacy of policy issues related to their areas of interest. This advocacy may result in direct lobbying of congressional members.
PolicyFile [Penn State Libraries]
PolicyFile indexes policy papers from think tanks, universities, and research institutes. Where possible it makes links to internet versions of these reports.
Associations Unlimited [Penn State Libraries]
The Associations Unlimited database provides information about the organization, its members, publications, budget, key personnel (who may be testifying in Congress), and other information to help you better understand the opinions and views they promote.
