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U.S. Government Documents

The Houston Public Library is a selective depository library for U.S. government document publications. The Library has been a depository since 1884 and has the oldest and largest collection of government publications in the Houston area.

The collection currently is comprised of over 800,000 documents from virtually every agency of the federal government. Documents come in many formats including books, pamphlets, periodicals, CDs, and maps.

Basic access to this collection is through the Houston Public Library catalog. Materials dating from 1976 to the present appear in the catalog. Many older documents have not been cataloged, but are definitely findable. Check with a librarian for assistance in finding older materials.

The Government Documents collection is a closed-stack, non-circulating collection. Materials must be retrieved by staff members for use in the library.

An extensive amount of government information is also available via the internet. The following links are helpful finding tools for this information:

GPO Access -- Government Printing Office official information from all three branches of the Federal Government
Fedstats -- Easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by more than 70 federal agencies.
FedWorld Information Network -- National Technical Information Service access point for locating and ordering federal government information
GODORT -- Frequently used sites selected by the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association, via Vanderbilt University
HANDI -- Information on Houston-area depository libraries
Thomas -- Legislative information on the Internet
White House -- Official site of the White House, includes virtual library of documents, speeches, press releases, and latest news and statistics
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government -- Learn about the Federal Government for Kids (K thru 12), parents and teachers
USA.Gov -- The U.S. Government's official web portal