Note: I (Lorena) am in the process of trying to locate alternative sources for data and other information. Please contact me directly (oenglish@) if you are looking for something particular. 

via the Federal Depository Library (FDLP) program:

Federal Government Shutdown

As of midnight, Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the necessary funding to continue Federal Government operations has not been approved by the Congress and the President. The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has shut down until funding is approved.

Under a shutdown, GPO employees may only work on activities directly related to the legislative process and on activities for an orderly shutdown and to protect property and assets.

• GovInfo will continue to process and post congressional materials; existing content will continue to be available.
• The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) will be available for searching but will not be updated until the Government reopens. GPO cannot ensure that all PURLs pointing to other Federal agency resources will work during this time, nor can GPO staff fix broken PURLs during this time.
• DiscoverGov will be available for searching, but the Federal Government databases it searches may not be updated until the Government reopens.
• GPO.gov, FDLP.gov, and Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government will be available but will not be updated until the Government reopens.
• Federal Register services on GovInfo will be limited to documents that protect life and property.
• The U.S. Government Bookstore will be available for searching and placing orders, but orders will not be fulfilled until the Government reopens.

What are government documents? Material produced or published by government entities, whether local, state, national, or international, is considered 'government information' or 'government documents.' This library guide focuses on documents published by the US federal government through the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The guides listed below provide information on more specialized types of federal information or documents produced by other governmental sources.

Note that government information permeates virtually all academic disciplines, so many of the other library guides available from the WSU Libraries may also contain government information.

Reference Service

Help with searching and finding government documents is available at the reference desks in Terrell Library and the Owen Science & Engineering Library. Help via chat, e-mail, FAQ, and phone is available.

Library Instruction

Instruction on finding and using government documents is available for classes and groups and can be tailored to the needs of the students or audience. Frequently requested topics include

• finding documents through the WSU Libraries' catalog and the Internet
• searching government databases
• becoming familiar with government agencies/offices and their publications
• governments statistics and how to find them
• assessing government information and web sites
• citing government documents

Classes can be scheduled for English Composition classes through Library Instruction on the scheduling page; classes in other departments can be arranged by contacting the Government Information Librarian, Lorena O'English (see box on the left).

Checking out Documents

Many government documents are available in electronic form, linked in the library catalog or available directly from government databases or the Internet. The WSU Libraries has a large collection of circulating documents as well. The table below provides loan information for these documents:

The federal government established a system of depository libraries in 1813. The WSU Libraries, #0643, became a depository in 1907 along with many other land grant institution libraries. The FDLP symbol    is posted at the entryway to the Holland and Terrell Libraries and the Owen Science & Engineering Library as well as on the Libraries' home page.

The State of Washington also has a depository program, started in 1963. The WSU Libraries is a full state depository and receives all of the documents distributed by the state government.

JSTOR  - we have continuing access to ALL of JSTOR's journal content (including the Security Studies and Sustainability thematic collections)! This was originally set to end in June 2023, but has been extended as an ongoing subscription.