Class Instruction

Uncle Sam  Government Publications Department Tennessee Regional Depository Public Policy POLS 3601 Federal and State Government Federal Agency Directory-LSU A complete hierarchical & alphabetical listings of all government departments, agencies, and bureaus. Census of Governments Includes information on finance, payrolls, taxes, and expenditures for state & local governments. Congressional Budget Office The CBO provides Congress objective, timely, nonpartisan analyses needed for economic and budget decisions and with the information and estimates required for the Congressional budget process. Congressional Research Service The CRS is a "think tank" that provides reports to members of Congress on a variety of topics relevant to current political events. CRS Reports do not become public until a member of Congress releases the report. General Accounting Office The General Accounting Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of Congress. Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service is the nation's tax collection agency and administers the Internal Revenue Code enacted by Congress. Office of Management & Budget The main duty of the OMB is to assist the President in the preparation of the budget and and supervise the administration of the various agencies and departments. Tennessee State Resources An alphabetical listing of all state agencies. Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury The Comptroller audits all state agencies. Tennessee Department of General Services A support agency for services and equipment for all state agencies. Tennessee Department of Revenue STATISTICS Census Bureau FedStats A gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies. Bureau of Labor Statistics Bureau of Justice Statistics Bureau of Economic Analysis-Commerce Department Statistical Abstract DATABASE SEARCHING Academic Universe Full text, newspapers, magazines, state law. U of M Electronic Databases A complete listing of the U of M online databases. Thomas is the website for the Library of Congress which will allow searching of bills, laws, and hearings going back to the 101st Congress (1989 - ). SEARCH ENGINES Google-Uncle Sam A subset of the Google search engine that only searches federal & state websites. First Gov The official search engine for the federal government. Political Information.com a search engine for politics, policy, and political news. Top METHODS SAMPLE: School Choice as a public policy topic. What is the federal law? Use CQ Weekly Magazine or CQ Almanac depending on the year you think the law was initiated or discussed. The CQ publications will provide you with provisions of the law in clear language. You will also find a law number that looks something like this: PL 106-2. What is the state law? For Tennessee laws, use the Tennessee Code Annotated (KFT 354 A3) in the Reference Department. Most state codes are online, so if you are using another state, use the internet to access that state's code. But beware. Searching codes online by the unfamilliar is difficult. Unlike the Congress, state legislatures seldom provide hearings and reports on legislation which can help determine the issues and what the legislature intended. Tennessee has virtually no hearings available except at the Tennessee State Library and Archives and these are on tape. States also have regulations concerning laws and cities may have rules in their Municipal Codes. Legislative Resources Basic information on bills, debate, votes, and legislative history For state information, newspapers often provide the best resource. Use Academic Universe to search the Tennessee or other state newspapers. Full text is provided. Most policy organizations and interest groups have web sites. A very good site to link from for public policy issues is at Vanderbilt. State and local links are also at this site. Policy.com Links to think tanks and advocacy groups, full text papers and policy positions. Check archives section for former topics of the week. Open Directory Project A directory that contains, among other things, listing of .org's on all types of policy recommendations etc. Political Information.com A search engine for politics, policy, and political news. ONLINE CITATION GUIDES Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications Government Publications Department, The University of Memphis This guide deals directly with government publications, both tangible and electronic. Online Citation Guides An extensive list of different citation styles. Send questions/comments/suggestions to Mary Freilich 7/20/06