Government Documents

Federal Government Resources

• Find documents in the Penrose Catalog.
• Government Printing Office—The GPO disseminates all official government publications, from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
• National Technical Information Service—Search NTIS to find scientific, engineering, business, and technical publications.
• THOMAS—THOMAS allows you to search bills in the current Congress and find general legislative information. Also contains the text of the Congressional Record.
• Historical Statistics of the U.S.
• American FactFinder—Data from the U.S. Census

State and Local Government Resources

• City of Walla Walla website
• Washington State website
  • Washington State Legislature
  • Washington State Courts
  • Washington State Digital Archives
• Oregon State website

International Government Organizations

• United Nations
  • UNdata
  • United Nations Statistics Division
  • UN Human Rights Commission
• Organization of the American States
• European Union

Using Government Documents

Government documents are an often-forgotten source for research in US history, politics, economics, agriculture, and law. Penrose Library is a Federal Depository library.

What is a Federal Depository Library?

The Federal Depository Library Program was established in 1813 to ensure that copies of documents printed by the U.S. Government were preserved and made accessible to the public. Whitman College has been a selective depository library since 1890, and retains a vast collection of historical and current government publications and information.