Federal Documents Guide

Go to Census and Other Statistical Resources Guide

Federal Depository Library logoFederal Depository Program

The Hawaii State Library, Lihue Public Library and Kahului Public Library (currently closed for renovations) are Congressionally designated depositories for U.S. Government documents. As selective depository libraries, we carry select number of U.S. government documents in tangible format and focus on providing access to online federal documents according to our collection policies. Public access to the Government documents collection is guaranteed by public law. (Title 44 United States Code) A complete collection of government documents may be found in the Government Documents Collection of the University of Hawaii, the regional depository library for the State of Hawaii.

Government Publications at the Hawaii State Library

At the Hawaii State Library, the federal government publications are generally housed in the Federal Documents Section. Select scientific or technical print resources such as The Astronomical Almanac are located in the Business, Science and Technology Section.  Select print materials relating to Hawaii such as Hawaii statehood hearings are located in the Hawaii and Pacific Section. Select U.S. Armed Forces and Census publications such as Official Army Register and Census of Population are located in the Social Science and Philosophy Section. Microfiche reader-scanners are available in the Serials Section on the basement floor for viewing federal documents in that format.

What is a Government Publication?

A government publication is informational matter published as an individual document at Government expense, or as required by law (44 U.S.C. § 1901). Government documents include but are not limited to the texts of laws, regulations, executive orders, congressional hearings, court rulings, census and other surveys and statistics, scientific and technical information and annual reports from federal agencies.

How to Find Government Publications?

Horizon Information Portal The Horizon Information Portal is the Hawaii State Public Library System’s online catalog. The tangible government publications held by the library can be found in this online catalog.

  • Do a General Keyword search using: Warren Commission Report

Among the hits retrieved, find the title, Report of the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, known as the Warren Report.

  • Do an Author Browse using: United States

This brings up an alphabetical list of the federal government agencies. Click on an agency name to retrieve the titles published by that agency.

  • Do a Subject Keyword search using: Census 1790

Among the hits retrieved, find various 1790 Decennial Census products published by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publication The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) is a searchable Federal publications catalog that contains descriptive information on recent and historical publications, as well as links to full-text documents if available. Users may search the catalog by agency, keywords, subject and title, using the Advanced Search option.

GovInfo website A service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), govinfo is a one-stop portal for publications from the three branches of the Federal Government including but not limited to congressional committee prints, congressional reports, congressional hearings, presidential documents and United States court opinions. View the govinfo tutorial videos.

HathiTrust Digital Library A partnership of academic and research institutions, HathiTrust offers a collection of over 17 million titles digitized from libraries around the world, including a comprehensive digital collection of federal publications distributed by the GPO in print format.

FDLP Basic Collection: Core U.S. Government Resources

Government Websites

Executive Branch

Legislative Branch

Judicial Branch

U.S. Supreme Court opinions can also be found on FindLaw’s U.S. Supreme Court Cases and Cornell University’s Selected Historic Decisions of the Supreme Court.

Government Departments and Agencies

Contact information for U.S. federal government departments and agencies including websites. Includes contact information for major state agencies and offices for each state and territory.

Census and Other Statistical Resources Guide

Go to Federal Documents Guide

Census Data

Data.census.gov is a platform to access decennial census, the American Community Survey, the American Housing Survey and the Economic Census. Select Advanced Search and filter by Topic, Geography, Years, Surveys, Codes, and/or keywords.

The Hawaii State Data Center (HSDC) is the official source for U.S. census statistics about Hawaii.

Contains census data and publications related to the decennial census data collected from 1790 to 2010.

This site contains digitized census records from the decennial censuses,1790-1940. Individual census records are maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration, not the U.S. Census Bureau.

Contains statistical atlases of the decennial censuses from 1870 through 1920.  Includes a link to Census Atlas of the United States, the first comprehensive atlas of population and housing produced by the Census Bureau since the 1920s, covering a variety of topics ranging from language and ancestry characteristics to housing patterns and the geographic distribution of the population.

Other Statistics

Provides most closely watched national economic statistics for policy makers, business leaders, and the American public.

Provides all censuses of Agriculture from 1840 to current. Current reports include state data, county data, Congressional district data, market value of agricultural products, and median farm size.

Provides a central search portal for government data.  While U.S. federal agencies are best represented, Data.gov also includes state, local, and select non-governmental data.

NHGIS provides easy access to summary tables and time series of population, housing, agriculture, and economic data, along with GIS-compatible boundary files from 1790 through the present for all levels of U.S. census geography, including states, counties, tracts, and blocks.

Contains searchable PDF of the previous editions of The Statistical Abstract of the United States (1878-2011). Presents summary-level statistics on practically everything that takes place in the United States.      

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