State Government - JRN 309A - Narrative Journalism

Books in MacPhaidin Library's Collection

Massachusetts Municipal Profiles by Wellesley Hills, Mass. : Information Publications,
Call Number: REF JS451.M45 M45 2010
Publication Date: Annual
Statistics of Massachusetts cities, towns and counties.The library keeps five years.
Massachusetts political almanac by Almanac Research Services
Call Number: REF JK3130 .A6 2013
Publication Date: 2013
Profiles, Interest Group ratings and Key Vote records for all lawmakers. Org charts and directories of every Massachusetts department and agency. Also includes hard-to-find facts and figures such as salaries of important state leaders.

State Government Sources

The links below are provided for Massachusetts government agencies. If your are seeking information for other states, use some of the search strategies contained in the "Google 101" feature on this guide's home page. For example, if you are looking for data about registered sex offenders in Connecticut, try searching - "registered sex offenders" connecticut site:.gov. The link to Connecticut's sex offender registry should be the first item in your result list.

mass.gov
This is the official website of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and serves as a portal to information from the different branches of governments and state agencies and departments.
School District Profiles
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides profiles of schools and school districts. You can narrow your search for data based on school type (public school, public charter school, private school) and and by location.
Massachusetts Department of Enviornmental Protection
The Massachusetts DEP's site provides information on current pollution levels, air quality, water quality, recycling initiatives, hazardous material cleanup and much more.
Open Meeting Law
The state's open meeting law was adopted to ensure that the Commonweath's public bodies operate in public, although there are several clearly defined exceptions to this requirement. The state's Attorney General's Office has produced a primer on the open meeting law which includes relevant portions of the state code, as well as information for filing a complaint about an open meeting law violation.
State Data Center
Established by the U.S. Census Bureau in 1978, the State Data Center aims to make localized statistical information readily available to the public. Here you'll find historical population data dating back to 1930 as well as more current statistics pertaining to housing and the economy.
Passenger Manifests
The State Archives maintains a searchabile database of historic passenger manifests which recorded immigrants who arrived in the state by ship between 1848 and 1891. The records are searchable by first name, last name, and date of voyage. The records indicate the name of the passenger, their home country, age, occupation, who they travelled with and the ship they sailed on.
Secretary of State - Corporations Division
This page allows users to search the Massachusetts Secretary of State's corporate database. Searches can be conducted using the company's name, identification number or the name of one of the company's officers or principals.
Massachusetts General Court
This is the home site of the state's legislature - made up of the state sentate and house of representatives.

JRN 309A - Narrative Journalism: State Government

Books in MacPhaidin Library's Collection

State Government Sources