Research Guides: Government Information Basics: Start

Purpose

This research guide will help you begin finding Government Information, but it is not the end. If you do not find what you are looking for please see our other guides or contact us.

Get Started

When searching for Government information ask yourself:

Who needs it? Government Information is not sorted by subject, but by who created it. Thinking about who needs the information you want will help you decide who might have it.
What information are you looking for? The strategy for finding your information will change depending on what kind of information you need.
Why is it important? Governments does not collect data on everything, but knowing why the information is important can help you think about who might be keeping it.

Quick Start: A good place to find out who has your information is usa.gov. Search for your topic and you will get results from different agencies.

Where to look

Knowing where to look can be difficult and will depend on what information you are looking for.

Each section will help you find information based on a general type of information. Click on one of the tabs for more detailed resources and search strategies.

Quick Start: If you're not sure where to start or just want to start looking Google is a good place to begin.

To search Google for Government Information type site:gov and your search term. You can also use the search box below.
Another good place to begin is govinfo.gov This is a search engine managed by the Federal Government to search for Government information.

Government Information

Government Information is a regional library of the Federal Depository Library Program as well as a depository of Colorado state, United Nations, and European Union information. It consists of over five million items from the United States government, Colorado and other state governments, foreign governments, and international governmental organizations like the UN. As a federal depository, the Library also offers assistance and its collections to members of the public. This includes providing public computers for unrestricted access to government information on the Internet.

We offer a wide array of services to support students, staff, and faculty, including online guides for research, one-on-one consultations, class instruction, phone, email, and walk-in reference.