Google U.S. Government Search

Internet users are frequently overwhelmed by the amount of information they retrieve when they conduct a search using the search engine Google <http://www.google.com>. You can now limit results to government sites by using Google U.S. Government Search <http://www.google.com/ig/usgov>, which allows you to search across U.S. government information and provides access to government news. You can search for content located on either U.S. federal, state and local government websites or the entire Web. Below the search box, the homepage includes government-specific news content from both government agencies and press outlets. If you register (free of charge) with Google, you can personalize the page by adding content feeds on government in areas such as Business, Education & Employment, Environment, and Health.

As an example, a search of minimum wage in Google U.S. Government (be sure to click on the “Search Government Sites” button after entering your search terms into the search box) retrieves links to various federal and state government websites, such as:

• Minimum Wage Laws in the States (U.S. Department of Labor)
• History of California Minimum Wage (California Department of Industrial Relations)
• Texas Minimum Wage Law Summary (Chapter 62 of the Texas Labor Code)

While you will still notice paid advertising links at the top and along the right side of your search results pages, commercial sites have been eliminated from the results. For example, a search of domestic bankruptcy law provides links to resources from the Federal Reserve Board, the U.S. Courts, the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army, and many other government sites. Don’t forget to go beyond the first page of results by clicking on the page numbers provided at the bottom of each search results page.

Another option for limiting search results to government websites is to use Google’s Directory for Government Information, which offers lists of and links to sites divided by topic <http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Government/>.