How to Be a Washington Insider, Outside Washington

A Bureaucrat's Basic Reading List

• Washington Post
• New York Times
• Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report JK1 .C15 Current Periodicals
• National Journal JK1 .N28 Main Stacks & Current Periodicals
• National Journal's Cloakroom
• Watch CNN and Washington Week in Review Regularly

Government Directories/Handbooks

• Federal Staff Directory Main Ref. Desk JK723.E9 F44
• Congressional Staff Directory Docs Desk & Main Ref. Desk JK1012 .C65
• Official Congressional Directory Docs Desk Y 4.P 93/1:1/ (1888+ Fed. Docs.)
• United States Government Manual (1936+) Docs Desk AE 2.108/2:
• Public Records Online Docs Desk JK468 .P76 P83 1999
• Mississippi Official and Statistical Register (“Blue Book”) Docs. & Ref. Desk. J87 .M74a (1884/85+ State Docs)

Legislative Information

• Congressional Record (online 1985+ on Lexis/Nexis Congressional) in print and fiche in Docs: X 1.1 (1873+ ) online 1994+ on GPO Access and THOMAS

Congressional Hearings, Documents and Reports

• Indexed in Lexis/Nexis Congressional
• Print copies: Hearings, 1950+ Documents & Reports, 1789+ Gov. Docs. online ( 104th Congress (1994-95) + on GPO Access and THOMAS
• THOMAS
• Easiest site to surf for federal legislation, committees, reports, calendars
• HOUSE.GOV and SENATE.GOV
• Mississippi Legislature

Governmental Statistical Resources

• METASITE: FedStats
• Statistical Abstract of the United States (Online 1878+ at census.gov)  (Print: catalog record 1878-1907 Fed. Archives; 1908-current Docs. Ref. & Desk C 3.134:) 
• Mississippi Statistical Abstract (print: 1969- date) (online: 2003-2006) 
• State Docs 1950-present
• Lexis/Nexis Statistical (database) Provides in-depth indexing of federal, state, & international statistical sources.

Statistical Reports & Web Sites From Various Agencies

• (Examples) (Latest editions of print vols. at Docs. Desk)
• Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (J 29.9/6: )
• Digest of Education Statistics (ED 1.326:)
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• American FactFinder (Census Bureau)
• Mississippi Government Statistical Resources

Agency Homepages - Oversight and Investigative Agencies and others

• Metasite: FirstGOV.gov
• General Accounting Office
• Census Bureau
• CIA
• Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Environmental Protection Agency
• FBI
• Federal Election Commission
• Food and Drug Administration
• Mississippi State Legislature: PEER Committee

Researching Specific Topics

• Google UncleSam
• Hot Docs: Government Documents in the News (Columbia University)
• GPO Access
• Lexis-Nexis for full-text articles from national and regional newspapers and news magazines, legislation, judicial decisions, etc.
• other online databases such as those available through EBSCOhost