FW ECOL 515: Natural Resources Policy (Fall 2025) : Government information

Government information is great because...

• You see YOUR government at work.
• Government publications are primary sources
• Sometimes, YOU get to participate in creating government information.

Government information can be complicated, because

• Most government publications are NOT written for the general public.
• Most government publications are the results of government processes, many of which are complicated and lengthy.

The more you know about government processes, the easier government information is to work with.  If you feel overwhelmed at times, you're not alone!  Often, even government specialists need to look at reference materials, or brush up on their civics to find certain publications.  And it can take specialists a while to find or understand specific materials.

When looking for federal government information, it helps to know a little bit about the government, its organization, and processes.

• The legislative branch (Congress) makes laws.
• The executive branch (president, vice-president, Cabinet, agencies) implements laws.
• The judicial branch (the Supreme Court and the federal court system) interprets laws.

These three branches are interrelated, and form a system of checks and balances (described in Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government.)

Here's another overview of the three branches, from USA.gov

Information from the research guide U.S. Government Information: Shutdown, by Kelly Smith, University of California-San Diego:

"In the event of a government shutdown due to a lapse in appropriations, agency contingency plans will indicate which of the agency's activities will continue and which will cease, which staff will be furloughed and which are "excepted" from furlough, and other details.

Unlike in previous years, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is not maintaining a list of agency contingency plans. Instead, the OMB website notes that plans "are hosted solely on each agency’s website."

In most cases websites of agencies, and the information provided by those websites, will still be available to the public, but won't be updated.  Statements on websites may indicate which, if any, parts of the website are being updated during the shutdown.

Regulations.gov

As of 9 a.m., Friday, October 3, the Regulations.gov website had the following message on its front page: 

During the lapse in federal government appropriations, Regulations.gov will continue to operate. For questions regarding impacts to individual agency rulemaking or non-rulemaking actions announced through Federal Register notices, please contact the relevant agency point of contact identified in the ADDRESSES section of the notice.

As of 5 p.m., Monday, October 6, that message was not on the website.  

Regulations.gov publishes content that appears in the Federal Register.  As of 5 p.m., Monday, October 6, the following message appeared on FederalRegister.gov:

FederalRegister.gov will automatically provide the daily Federal Register and Public Inspection List but we will not provide technical support. The official, published Federal Register is available at https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/fr

GovInfo.gov

GovInfo.gov provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the federal government.

It publishes the official versions of Congressional publications, the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and other publications.

GovInfo.gov will continue to process and post congressional materials; existing content will continue to be available.

HeinOnline and ProQuest products (Proquest Congressional, CRS Reports, Legislative Insight, Regulatory Insight)

These are databases that the UW-Madison Libraries subscribe to so our students, faculty, and staff can have access.  These products re-publish government publications and provide robust searching and subject access to government publications.  These products are accessible to UW-Madison students, faculty, and staff regardless of the federal government shutdown.

The "Citing Government Publications" section of the U.S. Government Publications at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Guide links to general guides to citing government information, as well to resources about citing government information using APA, MLA, Turabian, and Chicago styles.