Government Information: U.S. Federal Databases
Search across Federal and State Websites
- USA.govThe USA.gov website allows you to search multiple federal and state agency website and reports.
Featured Full Text Publication and Citation Indexes
The following are federally-funded research databases that allow members of the public to find freely accessible articles.
FRED
Federal Reserve Economic Data: Download, graph, and track 143,000 US and international time series from 57 sources.
FRASER
Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research: Access to research information and data on the US economy.
FS Publications (U.S.D.A. Forest Service)
Full-text of 55,000 documents on all areas of forests and forestry. Coverage from 1904. Keyword options.
GAO Reports & Testimony (U.S. Government Accountability Office)
Full-text of the reports compiled by the GAO. Keyword options.
Homeland Security Digital Library
An authoritative tool for research in the field of homeland security, which includes topics such as terrorism, public health, borders and immigration, intelligence, civil liberties, weapons and the military. More Info...
MedlinePlus
Gateway to authoritative medical and health-related information from the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies and health-related organizations.
NASA STI Repository (NASA)
Includes NACA, NASA, & NIX technical reports. Keyword options.
National Service Center for Environmental Publications (Environmental Protection Agency)
Full-text of nearly 25,000 documents in all areas of the environmental sciences. Keyword options.
Publications.USA.gov
Access to full-text of consumer-oriented publications. Ordering information is also provided. Keyword options.
Repository & Open Science Portal (Dept. of Transportation)
Access to full-text of USDOT-funded research. Keyword options.
Science.gov
Portal to science information including research summaries and data. Keyword options.
OSTI.gov (Dept. of Energy)
Full-text of DOE documents in biology, chemistry, computer & information science, energy technologies, engineering, environmental sciences, materials, physics, & renewable energy.
Treesearch (U.S.D.A. Forest Service)
Full-text of the documents produced by the scientists in the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. Keyword options.
TRID (The TRIS and ITRD database)
A database that combines the records from TRB’s Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database and the OECD’s Joint Transport Research Centre’s International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) Database.
USAID Development Experience Clearinghouse (Agency for International Development)
Full-text of nearly 50,000 documents. Keyword options.
Finding NTIS Reports
In the library: PSU Library owns a large number of older NTIS documents on microfiche. As of 2011, the collection is split in 2 places -basement by the BLs- DOE cabinets on the back of the brick wall (TJ212 and T7.U5) and on the 4th floor - drawers on top of NASA cabinets. Search by NTIS report number within the drawers.
Online: The NTIS database is citations-only, however many reports are available through various sources and search engines online. Try GPO Metalib, Google Scholar, the library catalog, and Summit using a NTIS report ID or other metadata.
- National Technical Reports Library (NTRL)
This link opens in a new window
Index to technical publications from the U.S. government. Includes full text for reports from 1995 and select full text for earlier publications.
Climatic Data
- NOAA Climate ServiceFrom the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, their climatic data and resource center.
- National Weather Service > Portland, ORThis page provides local weather extremes and records, holiday weather, COOP data, and area climate summaries. From NOAA.
- Agricultural & Environmental ScienceProvides citations, abstracts and full text of articles in agriculture, aquaculture, environmental, ecology, food and human nutrition, and water resources journals, conference proceedings, EPA reports, and books.
- National Climatic Data CenterNOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) maintains the world's largest climate data archive and provides climatological services and data to every sector of the United States economy and to users worldwide. Records in the archive range from paleoclimatic data to centuries-old journals to data less than an hour old.
Search Google Scholar
Free Sources for Finding CRS Reports
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) produces analytical reports on topics of interest to Congress, but does not maintain a public website with these reports. Below are some free web sites that collect CRS reports:
- Archive-It Congressional Research Service Reports - This site searches across many of the sites that provide free access to CRS reports but there is often a lag in current updates.
- Federation of American Scientists CRS Reports - A very good site for current reports, organized by broad category but not very searchable nor historic.
- Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) - A searchable free collection updated weekly.
- University of North Texas (UNT) Digital Library CRS Reports - A searchable colllection with a delay in posting the most current reports.
- EveryCRSreport.com - Includes every CRS report that’s available on Congress’s internal website
- Full Text Reports (CRS Archive) - Collection of reports from many sources including the CRS.
- National Library for the Environment CRS Reports - Collection of CRS reports related to the environment.
- University of Maryland School of Law - Thurgood Marshall Law Library CRS Reports - Historic collection focusing on Homeland Security/Terrorism and Health Law and Policy.
(Based on the Dudley Knox Library of the Naval Postgraduate School's guide on Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports)
SEC Filings
Finding SEC Company Information
EDGAR, the Securities and Exchange Commission's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system, makes available registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms filed by domestic and foreign companies. As of May 6 1996, all public domestic companies were required to make their filings on EDGAR. Information on filings prior to 1996 is located by report number on microfiche in the offisite storage facility in a cabinet marked "U.S. Annual Reports" (call number: HG4556 .U5 A2). To identify the report number, search the company name use in the microfiche and paper indexes in a white binder on the book shelves on the back of the brick wall on the second floor next to the Oregonian cabinets. The binder has the call # HG4028.B2.