LibGuides: JRN 101 Advanced Newswriting and Reporting: Government

Local Government

City of Brockton
Official web page for the City of Brockton. Find
Town of Bridgewater
Town of East Bridgewater
Town of West Bridgewater
Town of Easton
Town of Mansfield
Town of Stoughton

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.

Federal Government Sources

Congress.gov This link opens in a new window
Formally known as THOMAS, Legislative information from the Library of Congress. This database covers the 93rd Congress (1973 - 1974) until the present day. Bills, Resolutions, the Congressional Record, Committee Reports, and Voting Records can be found using this database. Not all of the publications are full text, but is a great tool to locate citations, the first step in locating the document.
Govinfo.gov This link opens in a new window
The Government Printing Office, GPO, provides free online access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. Through Govinfo you are able to search or browse for documents and publications; access metadata about documents and publications and download documents and publications in multiple renditions or file formats. This database replaces FDsys.gov.

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Inflation & prices, employment/unemploymemt, pay & benefits, productivity, spending and time use, workplace injuries, and international and regional resources.
National Archives and Records Administration
As the National Archive's website explains: "The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever. "
U.S. Census Bureau
The census bureau can provide you with data on poplulation, labor, crime and education. This site is vast, so when searching, it is best to use some of the Google strategies listed on this guide's home page.
usa.gov
This Federal Government web portal is where you should turn when you don't know where to look for statistical data. This site provides access to a host of federal agencies and access to a wealth of documents.
Statistical Abstract of the United States 1878 - 2012
The Statistical Abstract of the United States spans the years 1878 to 2012. The Abstract has summary tables of the most important United States statistics. The 2012 was the last volume printed by the Bureau of the Census. The newer editions are available in print Statistical Abstract of the United States - ProQuest.