Library Contact
Clark Library
Hatcher Graduate Library 2 South
Starting Research on US Policy? Look for a CRS Report
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CRS ReportsReports from 2018- available directly from CRS
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Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports (1916-present)The CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a confidential, nonpartisan basis. Their reports are written at the request of members and provide good summaries of policy or background information on a matter of interest to Congress.
Starting Research on State Policies? Search NCSL for an Overview
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National Conference of State LegislaturesNCSL provides detailed overviews and 50 state comparisons of state bills and laws
Find an Association
One way to figure out what policymakers are doing in an area is to find their professional associations. Think about what level or branch of government and then search for a national association devoted to that group. Once you find the association see if you can find a resource or issues page
Another way to find association information is to use domain searching. In google, search for your keyword and then include site:[domain url]. The example below is searching for covid-19 information from the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
Here are other examples of associations
Use Domain Searching in Google
Search for information from a government or organization by using Google domain search. Enter your keywords and then add site:[url of website]
This can be useful also when looking for information from the military (.mil) or a state (Michigan is .michigan.gov) or a city (Detroit is .detroit.mi.gov)