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European Studies: Government Documents

Last Updated: Jan 8, 2024 4:00 PM

Mega Guide

Links to Government Websites
From Northwestern University, an extensive guide with links to websites of national governments and their agencies. 

United States

After the Europeans themselves, no nation collects more information on Europe than the United States.

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)
The official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions. Print edition: JX 233 .A3.

Catalog of US Government Publications
Indexes print and electronic U.S. government publications published primarily since July 1976. The intent is to eventually add records for earlier documents going back to the late 1800s making the Catalog a source for current and historical materials. Right now, consult the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications for references to materials published prior to July 1976.

Congress.gov (formerly Thomas)
The official source for federal legislative information. It replaces Thomas.gov.  Until Thomas.gov is retired at the end of 2014, information from that database will be transferred to Congress.gov gradually.  Information includes bills, the Congressional Record proceedings and debates of Congress, Congressional reports, legislative histories, and public laws. Most data published since 1989 are full text. Earlier resources are only cited.

ProQuest Congressional
Bills: Provides full texts from 101th Congress (1989) forward.  Congressional hearings: Provides full texts of complete hearings from 1824-2010.  Consult the UB Libraries Catalog to access complete hearings, and the CIS collection for complete hearings held between 1970 and 2006 (Law library Koren AV Center MicFiche KF49 .C623).  Selected complete hearings are also available through Fdsys.  Committee prints: Provides full texts through 1969 and partial full text from the 103rd Congress (1993) to date.  House and Senate reports Beginnings through 1969, and selected reports from 1990 to date. For some guidance check out the various sections of this guide: http://proquest.libguides.com/pq_congressional. Also, use with Serial Set below.

To access congressional debates online, use the Congressional Record (and its predecessors which bear different names) at: http://heinonline.org/HOL/Index?collection=congrec .  Use this access in conjunction with ProQuest Congressional.  Find the print volumes at: US X 1.1: (cong.) / (sess.) and US X 1.1/A:.  They’re together in the Lockwood Government Documents Department.

United States Serial Set Digital Collection
The Congressional Serial Set is a compilation of reports and documents published by Congress since 1817. From the American Memory edition: “The reports are usually from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. The documents include all other papers ordered printed by the House or Senate. Documents cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, executive-branch materials were also published in the Serial Set.”

DTIC (Defense Technical Information Center)
A resource for the Department of Defense and other government-funded scientific, technical, engineering, and business research.

NTIS (National Technical Information Service)
NTIS covers technical reports submitted for government-sponsored research and development projects. Also included are reports made available by various U.S. government agencies and some foreign governments. Major areas included are the physical sciences, technology, engineering, biological sciences, medicine and health sciences, agriculture and social sciences.

USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (United States Agency for International Development)
The lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential.  Currently, there are projects in Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, and Serbia.

United Kingdom

  • United Kingdom Parliament
    A portal to parliament.  Access to information about the UK Parliament, full text of public bills, House of Commons debates, and committee memberships.
  • House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
    A portal to House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, the most detailed primary source for 20th century Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. The Libraries hold Hansard and parliamentary prepares, in various forms, through the 20th century.
  • House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (ProQuest) – Not Held
    A full-text online search version of the Papers, 1715 – date.

Other Nations, Selective

France

LegiFrance
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/
French legal reference site. Links to juridical sites, legal publications, and more. Mostly in French, with English translations of French codes and texts.

Germany

Deutscher Bundesrat
German Parliament (Federal Council, upper house). Links to press releases; legislative agenda; schedule of state (Land) elections; full-text documents; and more.

Italy

La Camera dei Deputati
http://www.camera.it/leg17/1
The portal to Italy's Chamber of Deputies

Denato della Repubblica
http://www.senato.it/home
Portal to Italy's Senate of the Republic. Identifies information about the Senate and text of its legislation and debates.

Netherlands

Government of the Netherlands: Staten-Generaal Digitaal
http://www.statengeneraaldigitaal.nl/
Parliamentary papers 1814/1815 – 1994/1995.

Spain

El Senado de Espana
http://www.senado.es/web/index.html
This site provides a description of the Spanish Senate and how it works. It provides a detailed description of the bodies of the House, its procedures, and official publications.

Librarian

Profile Photo
Natalia Estrada
she/they
Contact:
University at Buffalo - North Campus
322 Lockwood Memorial Library
Buffalo, NY 14260
716-645-1338

Attribution

Originally published 5 December 2014 by Charles D’Aniello, Don Hartman, Cindi Tysick, & Dave Bertuca