Government Information & Archival and Declassified Documents

Finding Government Documents (Library of Congress)
Guide compiled by the Library of Congress (LC) highlighting both online and print resources that contain documents created by the U.S. federal government along with related research tools. For subscription sources highlighted by LC, see this page or the Finding Books, Articles & More page for Vanderbilt subscription access.

Congressional Resources - Databases

Proquest Congressional Publications This link opens in a new window
U.S. Congressional materials (hearings, bills, Congressional Record and compiled legislative histories) and Executive Branch documents.
Coverage: index:1970 to present; full text: coverage varies. Vendor Tutorials: Training videos - http://help.lexisnexis.com/tabula-rasa/congressional/trainingvideos_ref-reference?lbu=US&locale=en_US&audience=all
ProQuest Legislative Insight This link opens in a new window
Publications created by the United States Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws.
Vendor Tutorials: Quick Start Guide - http://proquest.libguides.com/quick_start_legislative_insight
U. S. Congressional Serial Set (1789-2012) - ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Contains Documents and Reports from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Includes committee reports related to bills and other matters, presidential communications to Congress, maps, treaty materials, as well as some non-governmental publications. During for much of the 19th century, especially in the pre-Civil War era, the Serial Set includes materials originating not only from the U.S. Congress but also key Executive Department publications.
Coverage: 1789-2012. User Limit: Unlimited.
CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
Reference resource for research in American government, politics, history, public policy, and current affairs. Simultaneous access to CQ Almanac, CQ Congress Collection, CQ's Politics in America, CQ Political Handbook of the World, CQ Researcher, CQ Supreme Court Yearbook, and CQ Weekly.

Foreign Relations - Databases

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1945-80 (US Department of State) This link opens in a new window
Official documentary historical record of major US foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.
Coverage: 1945-80.
Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1861-1980 (HeinOnline) This link opens in a new window
Official documentary historical record of major US foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication.
Coverage: 1861-1983.

Government Archives and Documents

CIA Freedom of Information Act Reading Room
A repository for searching and viewing declassified documents in specific collection and topic areas under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the CIA Historical Review Program, which is a voluntary declassification program begun in the 1980s that focuses on records of historical value.
Department of State Freedom of Information Act Documents
Access to search tool containing over 200,000 searchable documents reviewed and released by the Department of State to the public under the Freedom of Information Act
FBI Records: The Vault
FOIA library for the FBI containing 6700 documents and other media that have been scanned from paper into digital copies. Included are many FBI files that have been released to the public but never added to this website; dozens of records previously posted on our site but removed as requests diminished; files from our previous FOIA Library, and new, previously unreleased files.
Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy
The Project on Government Secrecy worked to reduce the scope of government secrecy and to promote public access to government information by seeking reform of national security classification and declassification policies. Website is no longer actively maintained but contains worthwhile material.

Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS) (now called U.S. Declassified Documents Online) This link opens in a new window
Declassified government documents covering major domestic and international events since the end of World War II. Cabinet meeting minutes, correspondence, diary entries, intelligence reports, political analyses and technical studies from the White House, State Department, National Security Agency, FBI, and CIA.
Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Full-text collection of declassified documents relating to U.S. foreign policy decisions from post-World War II to the present.
Coverage: 1945 to present.
National Security Archive This link opens in a new window
Documents that have been declassified and organized into Electronic Briefing Books. Each document accompanied by identifying information and a summary of its significance.
Coverage: Post World War II to present.

National Archives
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever.

Other Archival Collections

Presidential Documents Archive
Collections created by the American Presidency Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara to help researchers and students navigate key documents related to specific historical events, dates in history, or categories of documents, including executive orders, news conferences, and presidential signing statements.

Presidential Recordings Digital Edition This link opens in a new window
Recordings and annotated transcripts of telephone conversations of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. Transcripts are searchable and browseable by administration, series, speaker, date, place, and duration.
User Limit: Unlimited.
History Vault This link opens in a new window
Digitized letters, papers, photographs, scrapbooks, financial records, diaries, and other primary source materials.

• American Indians and the American West
• American Politics and Society
• Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle
• International Relations and Military Conflicts
• Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War
• Women's Studies
• Workers and Labor Unions
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
• "We Were Prepared for the Possibility of Death:" Freedom Riders in the South, 1961
• African America, Communists, and the National Negro Congress, 1933-1947
• Black Economic Empowerment: The National Negro Business League
• Black Liberation Army and the Program of Armed Struggle
• Black Nationalism and the Revolutionary Action Movement: The Papers of Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)
• Bush Presidency and Development and Debate Over Civil Rights Policy and Legislation
• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: French Colonialism in Africa: From Algeria to Madagascar, 1910-1930
• Chinese Maritime Customs Service: The Customs’ Gazette, 1869-1913
• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies to League of Nations Mandates in Africa 1910-1929
• European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Political and Economic Consolidation of Portuguese Colonies in Africa, 1910-1929
• FBI Surveillance of James Forman and SNCC
• Fannie Lou Hamer: Papers of a Civil Rights Activitist, Political Activist, and Woman
• Federal Surveillance of African Americans, 1920-1984
• Fight for Racial Justice and the Civil Rights Congress
• Franklin D. Roosevelt and Race Relations, 1933-1945
• Grassroots Civil Rights & Social Activism: FBI Files on Benjamin J. Davis, Jr
• Greensboro Massacre, 1979: Shootout between the American Nazis and the Communist Workers Party
• Integration of Alabama Schools and the U.S. Military, 1963
• James Meredith, J. Edgar Hoover, and the Integration of the University of Mississippi
• Liberation Movement in Africa and African America
• Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1864-1918
• Liberia and the U.S.: Nation-Building in Africa, 1918-1935
• The Minutes of the Shanghai Municipal Council, 1854-1943
• Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement
• Policing the Shanghai International Settlement, 1894-1945
• Quest for Labor Equality in Household Work: National Domestic Workers Union, 1965-1979
• Ralph J. Bunche Oral Histories Collection on the Civil Rights Movement
• Rastafari Ephemeral Publications from the Written Rastafari Archives Project
• Shanghai Municipal Council: The Municipal Gazette, 1908-1940
• Republic of New Afrika
• SUR, 1931-1992
• Southern Negro Youth Congress and the Communist Party: Papers of James and Esther Cooper Jackson

GovInfo
GovInfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch.
GovInfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
USAGov
USAGov is the Official Guide to Government Information and Services
Congress.gov
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC's Congressional Research Service.
Coverage: 104th Congress, 1995 to present

Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
Documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, raw footage, and thousands of award-winning films.
Associated Press Collections Archive This link opens in a new window
Original wire copy, personal papers, AP style books, and internal publications from the Associated Press Corporate Archive. Videos from the AP Archive and images from AP Images archive.
Coverage: Mid-1800s through the twentieth century.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
On-demand streaming video service for documentaries, training films, and theatrical releases. Films under a current license agreement are available for immediate viewing. Other films may require a request through the Kanopy site. Viewing films in a group forum is permitted as long as the viewing is by Vanderbilt authorized viewers only (current faculty, staff, or students) and it is not for commercial benefit (i.e. no admission costs are charged and no profit is made from the screening).
Visual History Archive (USC Shoah Foundation) This link opens in a new window
Streaming video collection of primary source testimonies of survivors and witnesses of crimes against humanity.