LibGuides: South Asian Studies: Government Resources

Foreign/Non-US Government Resources

Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980
This collection of files from the Foreign Office (later the Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and Dominions Office focuses on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. ... consists of the complete run of documents in the series DO 133, DO 134 and FCO 37, as well as all documents covering the Indian subcontinent in the FO 371 series. Section I. Independence, partition, and the Nehru era, 1947-64 -- section II. South Asian conflicts and independence for Bangladesh, 1964-71 -- section III. Afghanistan and the Cold War, emergency rule in India, and the resumption of civilian rule in Pakistan, 1972-80

US Government Resources

here are many strategies for finding relevant US government resources. As stated above, a great starting point is the UCSD US Government Information Research Guide. The databases, websites, and print guides/indexes listed below are also excellent. Several of these resources will help you identify specific publications (with call numbers that you can browse around to find more) that will have information on your topic. Finally, you can simply go to the shelves with print documents (Geisel 2W) and browse by call number. In order to find out which call number to browse in, you need to understand that US government documents and publications are organized by the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Classification Scheme, which is based on US government agencies. In order to find out what letters (stems of classification numbers) have been assigned to different agencies, you can use the list (scroll down to the bottom of the page) provided by the US Federal Depository Library Program.

USA.gov

Excellent starting point to identifying and accessing government resources.
Catalog of US Government Documents

Keyword Searchable Online Index to Government Documents Provided by the U.S. Government
Federal Digital System (FDsys)

GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides public access to Government information submitted by Congress and Federal agencies. It includes the content previously available in GPO Access and more.
Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States

1995 Print Version available in :
US Docs, Geisel Floor2 West AE 1.108:G 94 (3 vol.)

The index to this guide is very helpful in identifying relevant collections in microfilm and other formats which can be used at the Archives themselves, or, in many cases, at other libraries. UCSD holds some of these and many others can borrowed through inter-library loan. Such holdings include copies of many collections from foreign archives.
US Government Documents Registry

Online, Keyword-Searchable Index to Government Documents Provided by the Haithi Trust

ProQuest Congressional
Congressional sources provide information on virtually every topic imaginable, including any topic in foreign relations or in another country with which the US government was/is concerned. Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports are often excellent starting points for research topics, because these are studies carried out by subject experts at the Library of Congress for government employees and members of congress, and included excellent summaries and bibliographies.
Declassified Documents Reference System
Full text of documents from various government agencies: the White House, the CIA, the FBI, the State Department and others, declassified by the U.S. government, and obtained from Presidential Libraries.

National Security Archive

an independent non-governmental research institute and library located at The George Washington University, collects and publishes declassified documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. It provides the most comprehensive collection available of significant primary documents central to US foreign and military policy since 1945. UCSD LIbrary also subscribes to its supplementary database, the Digital National Security Archive which provides additional information.

Digital National Security Archive
Provides access to nearly 40,000 declassifed government documents from 1945 to present, organized into collections, each focused on a single topic. See also the National Security Archive website, which provides access to additional documents and information.
Foreign Relations of the United States

Official diplomatic record of U.S. relations with other countries. Contains important speeches, communiques, and other communications of State Department officials and diplomats. There is a delay (approximately 30-40 years) in the release of information as it becomes declassified.

Historical Statistics of the United States

Although this ebook draws on various sources of information, government information, government resources comprise a significant portion of these.