History: Primary Sources  Tags: primary_source san_francisco_state_university sf_state sfsu history_research j._paul_leonard  

First, you need to identify government documents of interest.  Here are a few ways to approach this:

• GOOGLE US GOVERNMENT SEARCH: government documents available online.  Mostly current documents.
• LIBRARY CATALOG: government documents in the SFSU library.  Under location, select "Government Collection" to limit your search to only government documents.
• GPOACCESS: all government documents printed by the US Government Printing Office since July 1976; documents include Congressional committee hearings, congressional debates and records, judiciary material, documents issued by departments such as Defense, State, Labor, and the Office of the President. Also includes links to Federal agency online resources.  May or may not be available at SFSU - to locate, see box below ("Obtain Government Documents").
• Skim bibliographies in your secondary sources for suggestions, and talk to your professor and government documents librarians.  Often the specific document/information you need is buried inside of something with a very unlikely title!

To get your hands on government documents, follow these steps:

1. GOOGLE US GOVERNMENT SEARCH:  check Google's customized government documents search to see if you can find the document online.
2. LIBRARY CATALOG:  check the SFSU library catalog to see if we have the document here at SFSU.  Under location, select "Government Collection" to limit your search to only government documents.
   
3. LINK+:  check to see if you the document is available via this free service that lets you order items from other libraries; takes 3-5 days to arrive.
4. ILLIAD:  if you can't find your document anywhere else, order it through ILLiad (free service that will get it for you from another library).  Can take 2 days - 3 weeks.

Listed here are a few of the more popular government documents available in print in the SFSU library:

• California State Publications, 1945-.
• Congressional Information Service Index, 1970-.
• GT. Britain. British and Foreign State Papers, 1812 - 1930. (Microfiche)
• GT. Britain. Public Record Office. "Rolls" public records dating back to the 14th century.
• Treaty Series from the League of Nations, United Nations and United States.
• U.S. Census Bureau.
• 1774-1789 Journals of the Continental Congress.
• 1789-1834 Annals of Congress (Or Debates & Proceedings)
• 1789-1923 American State Papers (Legislatives & executive documents) (Film)
• Congressional Record (under various titles and various formats). (Microfiche)
• U. S. Treaties. Ratified Indian Treaties, 1722-1869. (Microfilm)
• U. S. War Department, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion for Union & Confederate Armies and Navies.
• U. S. State Dept. Foreign Relations of the U. S., 1861-date. Also known as Diplomatic Correspondence.

To find location information, search the SFSU Library Catalog by title.