Jump to Content
California State University San Marcos Courses/WebCT | myCSUSM
Library


This is a collection of sites provided by both government and non-governmental agencies on popular or frequent-use topics.

 

Judith Downie
Humanities & Government Documents Librarian

jdownie@csusm.edu
(760) 750-4374
Census
Elections
Environment
Grants (new page)
Legislation
Maps
Statistics
Tax Forms

 

Pathway Services Browse Topics
A wide variety of subject-specific guides developed in partnership with the Government Printing Office to direct librarians and the public to Federal Government information on the Internet. 

Library of Congress
Includes historical documents, copyright information, reference and interlibrary loan information as well as access to the LC catalog. An important part of this site is American Memory, a collection of digitized documents, images and sound files on American History.

 

Census

American FactFinder
Preset tables with demographic and geographic limiters for quick access to Census data. NOTE: a number of pages in AFF require use of pop-ups. It is advised to disable your pop-up blocker during use of this site or put factfinder.census.gov on your allowed list. A helpful page for the geographic codes used by the Census as well as some related information is the Missouri Census Data Center's Rx: A Cure for the Common Codes page.

Census Briefs and Special Reports
Summaries of some of the more popular topics, drawn from the Diennial Census. Many other topics are covered, here is a sampling:

Census Bureau Home Page
Includes the latest census information, publications announcements, searching instructions, and links to electronic census publications.

Census Lookup
Jump directly to base files of 1990 Census of Population and Housing:

Census of Agriculture
Information on the home page is for every five years beginning with 1992, but follow the historical link in the pull down to find abbreviated 1987 data as well. Years prior to 1987 are only available in sporadic holdings (such as individual state projects) online.

Economic Census

Historical Census Tables
Information in table or PDF format for the Decennial Census starting with 1790. More tables are being added all the time with the more recent censuses being the most complete. The GeoStat Center at University of Virginia offers an alternate site with some different ways to manipulate the data for 1790-1960.

1990 CENSUS SUMMARY TAPE FILE 3 (STF3)
Sample count - all socioeconomic and demographic variables

1990 CENSUS SUMMARY TAPE FILE 1 (STF1)
100% count - basic demographic variables

2000 CENSUS SUMMARY FILE 3 (SF3)
Sample count - all socioeconomic and demographic variables

2000 CENSUS SUMMARY FILE 1 (SF1)
100% count - basic demographic variables

 

Election Information

California State Election Information
Information on the California State voting process, registration, district information and more from the California Secretary of State.

DemocracyNet
(Not a government site) From the League of Women Voters, the site works to present non-biased information on issues and elections by district.

Federal Election Commission
Information on federal-level elections (past and current), financing, calendars, voter registration, and recent election results.

Project Vote Smart
(Not a government site) The providers work to furnish non-biased information on all candidates running for, and officials in, public office. This site provides information on their stands on issues, campaign finances, voting records, and more. There is a link to 'interest group ratings' which reflect the biases of the interest groups providing the information.

 

Environment

Endangered Species Home Page
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's page includes information on threatened and endangered species of plants and animals at the federal and state level.

National Climatic Data Center
The "Online Document Library" includes monthly climatic data of the world, storm data, and local climatological data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (NOTE: Access may be limited to educational accounts). Additional weather data is available from NOAA.

 

Legislation

American Memory
Digitized documents, images and sound files, collected by the Library of Congress, including items from the "Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention" and "Century of Lawmaking, 1774-1875" collections.

GPO Access
Follow the Legislative Resources links to find a number of sources on Congressional action on various legislation. This collection covers 1993 (103rd Congress)-on.

THOMAS
Information gathered by the Library of Congress on congressional legislation, committees, appropriations, treaties and more. Dates of coverage vary, but much is available from the mid-1970's in full text.

 

Maps

American Memory Map Collection
A growing collection of maps of both historical and current interest from the Library of Congress.

CIA Maps
Used in the CIA World Factbook, these provide limited images.

National Atlas.gov
A tool for creating multi-layer maps of geographic and scientific areas for study.

National Map Viewer
A project by the US Geological Survey, it is still in progress but can provide detailed maps for a variety of uses.

University of Texas Map Collection
(Not a government site) Over 2,000 map images of current and historical interest. Also includes links to geographical reference sources and other map sites worldwide.

 

Statistics

Bureau of Justice Statistics
A variety of crime and legal system statistics on topics such as drug-related, juvenile justice and prisons.

FedStats
Provides access to statistical data from over 70 federal agencies and the latest White House press briefings.

Southern California Socioeconomic Assessment: Sociodemographic Conditions, Projections, and Quality of Life Indices
A collection of statistics from California and Federal sources providing county-level numbers with some analysis.

Statistical Abstract of the United States [Current]  [Earlier]
Compiled from Census data, online versions of the yearly publication are available from colonial times on.

 

Tax Forms

Federal forms and publications (IRS)

California tax board home page

 

CSUSM Government Information Home Page