Among the many attempts, governmental
and otherwise, to create multipurpose tools by assembling a selection of
links to federal resources, only a few of the best will be found here.
Together they constitute an effective vade mecum for the
citizen activist. Also in this drawer are a few of the most common tools, the
useful sort that everyone needs around the house, and that can be obtained from many suppliers.
A vital resource for anyone dealing with recent or current legislation, regulation, debate, or legislative history, containing as it does many of the most important legislative texts. Also useful for anyone seeking recent government publications, via its inclusion of a searchable copy of the Monthly Catalog.
A fuller description is available; so is a general Guide to Searching GPO Access from Georgetown University.
Mirror sites, including those at
Purdue University, the
University
of Tennessee at Knoxville, the University
of Texas and the
University of California at San Diego,
offer the same information, but different search mechanisms, and are
often well worth investigating.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces001.html
http://thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/gpo/
http://www.lib.utk.edu/gpo/
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/GPO_Access.html
http://ssdc.ucsd.edu/gpo/
The Government Manual is the first resort for anyone whose concern is with a specific agency or organization in the Federal government. For someone interested in (especially someone interested in addressing or employing the services of) a particular agency like "The Federal Judicial Center" or the "Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms," the Manual provides introductory descriptions of the agency, a good sense of its overall organization, the names of current office holders, addresses, phone numbers, contact information, the addresses of regional and divisional field offices, and usually some leads to further information. For someone interested in a small program within a large agency or detailed information of almost any sort, the Manual will prove inadequate--but should probably still be the place to start.
Fuller description available.
Most recent edition also available through GPO Access.
gopher://una.hh.lib.umich.edu/11/socsci/poliscilaw/govman
MARVEL pushes the gopher system to very nearly its limit of complexity and bulk. It contains a truly impressive amount of material, but not always in a way that is readily accessible, or that gives one confidence that it is the most up-to-date version (often it is not). Especially when taken together with THOMAS and the other Library of Congress resources, MARVEL is more a continent to be explored and to become gradually familiar with than a resource to be quickly used and forgotten. It is concerned with documents, not with sites, and should be considered by anyone in search of government documents, but probably not as a first choice.
A fuller description is available
gopher://marvel.loc.gov
Also available in a gopher version
A fuller description is available.
http://www.gsa.gov/et/fic-firs/fichome.htm
rivately manufactured Multi-purpose
tools
Like the Government Manual, and representing a reasonable followup to use of the Manual, the Locator is best at connecting users to specific departments or agencies of the Federal government. It seems to do a creditable job of keeping up with new and changing sites, and makes the chore of locating agency sites painless. More comprehensive and up-to-date in its collection of agency sites than the LC Marvel gopher.
A fuller description is available.
