Due Process: Georgetown Law Library Blog

The National Archives has announced that the 1940 Census data will be made available free of charge via the Internet on April 2, 2012. While researchers can also access the material at NARA facilities across the country, Internet access will provide all members of the public with instant access to these historical Census records. Interestingly, the National Archives has also released training videos prepared for the 1940 Census takers which give researchers a unique perspective on the decade.

This entry was posted on January 5, 2012 at 9:08 AM and has received 993 views. Print this entry.

Eight times a year, the Federal Reserve publishes commentary on the current economic conditions throughout its regional districts and the nation as a whole. Their compilation, the Beige Book, is just one of the many publications produced by the Fed and made available on their web site. To assist researchers, FedinPrint is their comprehensive search engine which provides access to all of the Fed's reports, working papers, statistics and surveys.  It's an invaluable resource for any researcher tracking economic trends, following the financial crises throughout the world or monitoring the areas of securities law or banking.

This entry was posted on November 3, 2011 at 2:08 PM and has received 4417 views. Print this entry.

Did you know that our neighbors on H Street produce policy reports for Congress on a daily basis? The U.S. Government Accountability Office bills itself as the "congressional watchdog" since they monitor and investigate how the federal government spends its budget. In this capacity, they produce indepth analysis of government programs and their reports can often serve as a wealth of background knowledge for seminar papers or other scholarly writing.

The newly released reports are highlighted on their home page and on their Facebook site. They are also searchable by keyword or report number. Some recent topics investigated by the GAO include:

• National Preparedness, Improvements Needed for Acquiring Medical Countermeasures to Threats from Terrorism and other Sources, GAO 12-121
• Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Actions Needed to Reduce Evolving but Uncertain Federal Financial Risks, GAO 12-86
• The Federal Government's Long-Term Fiscal Outlook, Fall 2011 Update, GAO 12-28SP

If you have any questions about how to access GAO reports or other sources for seminar paper topics, feel free to consult a reference librarian.

This entry was posted on October 27, 2011 at 1:47 PM and has received 4753 views. Print this entry.

As the Supreme Court resumes work for another term, members of the Georgetown Law community can make use of our resources to monitor developments at the court.

• Supreme Court Today (BNA) tracks every Supreme Court petition and case on the docket, from filing to final disposition. The Supreme Court Today component of Law Week is a searchable database, with daily updates, allowing users to view the status of and search summaries of certiorari petitions filed since the 1995 October Term. The database also contains the full text of Supreme Court opinions, oral argument schedules, selected oral argument summaries, annual reviews of the Court's decisions, and more.
• Supreme Court Research Guide  This guide is designed to give some background information and suggest resources for further research on the history of the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices of the Court, and the Court's practice and decisions.

Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask a reference librarian.

This entry was posted on October 4, 2011 at 10:19 AM and has received 5760 views. Print this entry.

The Congresssional Research Service has prepared a basic explanation of the Congressional budget cycle and the appropriations process with a graphical timetable of annual actions required to keep the federal government up and running. The interrelationship of the President's budget and the House and Senate Budget committees are explained.

This entry was posted on September 27, 2011 at 11:21 AM and has received 6146 views. Print this entry.

Thanks to CALI and the Legal Information Institute, you can now get free eBook versions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure and Evidence. These rules books are released as part of CALI's eLangdell project, which is an innovative project seeking to change the way law school casebooks are published.  Texts are published in conjunction with Cornell's Legal Information Institute.

These books are available as ePub documents, which can be easily read on an iPad, iPhone, Nook, or any device that reads the ePub format.  See below for a view of all three texts on an iBooks shelf, as well as the table of contents view of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on an iPad.

All three Federal Rules books include:

• Complete rules as of December 1, 2010.
• All notes of the Advisory Committee immediately following each rule.
• Table of Contents for easy navigation.
• Internal links cross-referenced rules.
• External links to the LII website's version of the US Code.

While these books are free to download, they were not free to produce.  If you like them, consider making a donation to the Legal Information Institute to show your support.

This entry was posted on September 8, 2011 at 12:15 PM and has received 7381 views. Print this entry.

This entry was posted on March 28, 2011 at 10:38 AM and has received 17857 views. Print this entry.

Throughout the month of March, the U.S. Census Bureau will be releasing data from the 2010 Census. Check out the new interactive map which highlights the population gains and losses by state. This data will be used for redistricting and apportionment across the nation. By clicking on an individual state, you can see the apportionment trends over ttime. For example, a state, such as New York, which had 34 Congressional representatives in 1910 will lose 2 more seats as a result of this Census, leaving it with 27 representatives in the 113th Congress.

This entry was posted on March 15, 2011 at 10:07 AM and has received 17643 views. Print this entry.

Each year, a group of librarians publishes a list of the best free websites.  There are several that showcase statistics and information about the government. 

The American Time Use Survey shows how much time we spend on various activities.  It has many charts and graphs, including how students spend their time and how Americans divvy up their leisure time.

FedSpending.org collects data from the U.S. government and makes it easy to search and understand.  Information is grouped by 3 general categories: contracts, assistance, and recovery. 

U.S. Economy at a Glance tracks key economic indicators across time. 

UNdata has statistics on many topics from over 30 UN databases.  You can search for information or browse by topic (such as crime, health, or population) or by country. 

This entry was posted on December 28, 2010 at 2:51 PM and has received 18070 views. Print this entry.

The Library of Congress just completed another set of enhancements to THOMAS.  Notable changes include the conversion of all GPO Access links to FDsys links and having the most important bill types display first in a Bill Summary & Status Search.

For a complete list of enhancements, see In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress.

This entry was posted on December 13, 2010 at 12:21 PM and has received 17904 views. Print this entry.