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Planner's Toolkit: Research Tips for CRP Students

Federal Search Engines

These sites help you locate federal government documents.

Databases from Government Agencies

The following are databases to literature put together by government agencies and departments.  Most of them index both government and non-government publications.  Most do not offer full text.  To obtain an item, check PolyCat to see if we have it at Cal Poly.  If not, use CSU+ (for books) and Interlibrary Loan (for articles) to obtain a copy.

Government Info on the Web

You can search government documents from California specifically using Google.  By including the "site" command in your search, you limit your search to a particular site or range of sites. For example:

  • site:.gov   (searches all government websites)
  • site:.ca.gov   (searches the California state government and many California county governments)
  • site:.ca.us   (searches many California city websites)

There are exceptions to these rules for counties and cities. Your safest bet is to search site:.gov and include the name of the city in the search as well as your topic keywords.