Federal Government Documents
The Law Library is an official selective depository library of the United States government. For more information about government documents, their availability and use, contact our government documents Librarian. 
Subscription Databases
Some databases are restricted to the Washington University community. Links open in a new browser window.
- ProQuest Congressional (previously CIS Congressional Universe)
- CIS Congressional Universe 1789-Present
- Congressional Serial Set
- Congressional Research Digital Collection
- ERIC (CSA) / ERIC (government site)
- Hein Online - Code of Federal Regulations (1938-1983)
- Hein Online - Federal Register
- LexisNexis
- LexisNexis Academic
- LexisNexis Statistical (previously Statistical Universe)
- WestLaw
- WorldCat
Free Internet Resources to Government Documents
GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. Through FDsys, you are able to: Search for documents and publications; Browse for documents and publications by collection, Congressional committee, and date; Access metadata about documents and publications in standard XML formats; and Download documents and publications in multiple renditions or file formats.
U.S. Executive Branch
- The White House
- Compilation of Presidential Documents
- Agency list complied by the Library of Congress
U.S. Legislative Branch
- Legislative sources on FDSys
- Thomas, compiled by Library of Congress.
- United States House of Representatives
- United States Senate
- Online Directory for the U.S. Congress
- Congressional Committees
U.S. Judicial Branch
- The Judicial Branch compiled by the Library of Congress
- Official website of the Supreme Court
(It features the Court's calendar, recent opinions, rules and procedures, biographies of the sitting justices, and basic facts on the institution.) - Supreme Court Opinions
- Supreme Court Research Page (Washington University School of Law)
Historical Documents
- US National Archives and Records Administration
- Library of Congress American Memory
- The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
- Hein On-Line
(includes CFR [1939, 1949, 1977-1983] and Federal Register [v.1-70] - Making of American Law
Statistical Sources
- American Fact Finder
- Statistical Abstract
- Statistical Abstracts
- City and County book
- Lexis Nexis Academic Statistical Information
Research Guides
- Legal Research on the Internet
- Illinois Legislative history
- Legislative History Research guide
- How to Find Government Information (Yale University Library)
- Penn Library - Get Help (University of Pennsylvania)
- Research Guides (Washington University in St. Louis School of of Law)
- WU Libraries: Public Affairs, Political Science and Legal Studies
Washington University in St. Louis Olin Library)
Web Sites - Search Engines/portals
- Google's Uncle Sam
Keyword searching for federal and state documents
Ranks results by the number of external links to them - Yahoo Government Page
Federal Depository Library Program
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