West Virginia State University Archives is located on the ground floor (room 2) of the Drain-Jordan Library. The archives houses materials concerning the history of the University, its alumni and staff. It also contains information on African Americans in West Virginia, the history of African American higher education, and the history of the 20th century. These materials include monographs and rare books, university documents, records, manuscript materials, photographs, sound recordings, video recordings, and maps.

 The Drain-Jordan Library at West Virginia State University has been a select depository for United States public documents since 1907. Magazines and journals published by the Government Publishing Office are included in the Journal Finder library resource, books and reports are cataloged and included in the Library Catalog.

The United States Government has recently revised a site at USA.gov (formerly FirstGov) which it describes as "the first-ever government website to provide the public with easy, one-stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources."

The following list suggests the best sites to find government information available online for federal, state, international, and foreign levels of government

 

Federal Government:
General Information

 

• USA.gov the federal government's site to index government resources
• Federal Agency Index (locate federal agencies via Washburn University-School of Law)
• FDsys Federal Digital System aid in tracking down information by the Government Printing Office
• US House of Representatives
• US Senate Home Page
• White House Home Page
• Supreme Court

Federal Government:
Legislative and Regulatory Information

Legislative, executive, judicial, regulatory links and connections to: CFR, Federal Register, US Code, Congressional Record, Congressional Bill, etc. Search and retrieve congressional information from the US GovernmentPrinting Office. Use the catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

• FDsys Federal Digital System
• Library of Congress (guide to the U.S. Legislative Branch)
• Thomas (search & retrieve legislationfrom the 103^rd to current congresses)
• A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation - The Library of Congress has provided links to Important Congressional Documents and Debates including: Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention, Journals and Letters to Congress, American State Papers, Maclay's Journal, Register of Debates, etc.
• Laws and Regulations section at FirstGov (you may need to scan down page) additional statistical links
• Internet Law Library formerly U.S. House of Representatives InternetLaw Library (laws and regulations)

Federal Government:
Judicial and Court Information

• Supreme Court of the United States The official web page of the U.S. Supreme Court includes oral arguments. (on drop down menu, divided by years-above error message)
  • FedWorld - FLITE Full-text of Supreme Court decisions issued between 1937 and 1975; volumes 300 -422 of US Reports.
  • Oyez: U.S. Supreme Court Media Audio oral arguments back to 1955; unofficial transcripts back to 1979.
• US Court of Appeals Cases & Opinions beta. Has full-text of circuit court opinions from 1970 to current.

 

State Information

• State Constitutions, Statutes and Related Legislative Information (Cornell University)
• State Government Collections -- try one of the following:
  1. American Law Sources On-Line (ALSO!)
  2. State and Local Government on the Net from Piper Resources
  3. State, Tribal and Federal Appellate Courts from the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks


•  50States.com commercial site    

 

West Virginia

• State of West Virginia Homepage
• State of West Virginia Department directory | West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission
• Census Information
• WV Code º WV Constitution º WV Code of State Rules º State Register
•  Other states, Federal and International legal links from Washburn University.
• 50States - West Virginia commercial site.

 

International and Foreign Information

• Country Studies (Library of Congress)
• International Agencies and Information on the Web (University of Michigan Document Center)
• US State Department (Archive before 2001) Page and US Dept of State current (2001-present) 
• United Nations
• UNESCO
• Constitutions of the Countries of the World from:  National Constitutions from the Constitution Society, and Constitution Finder from the University of Richmond.

 

Statistical Resources

• US Census Bureau
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics

 

Additional Resources

 

• USA.gov the US Government's "search engine" for accessing online Federal Government resources
• GPO MonthlyCatalog (search for government documents)
• Easier access to the Federal Government's scientific and technical research is provided by:
  • Science.gov a portal for technical report information generated through federally funded research and development projects
  • SciTech Connect  Information about Federal research projects. Both links provide single-query searching across databases at different agencies.
• US Government Online Bookstore (commercial versions of some titles also available from Claitor's)

  Drain-Jordan Library is proud to house the Gus R. Douglass Agriculture Collection of materials related to the study of agriculture in West Virginia. The historical materials in the collection came from working research collections in southern West Virginia, and will form the nucleus of a comprehensive library and archive for Mr. Douglass’ papers and effects.

              Commissioner Douglass, the United States’ longest serving Agricultural Commissioner, was instrumental in helping WVSU regain its land grant status. The WVSU Gus R. Douglass Institute which encompasses the university’s Extension Service, the NASA CASTEM (Center for Advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and the Agricultural and Environmental Research Station, is named in recognition and honor of Commissioner Gus R. Douglass and his service to the state of West Virginia.

 The Instructional Materials Center (IMC) is located on the second floor of the Drain-Jordan Library and is open during regular library hours.  It contains picture books, instructional kits, a variety of children's literature, elementary grade textbooks and more that would be used in teaching classes for grades K-12.

Also available are three Ellison^TM XL Letter Machines with five types and sizes of alphabet and number dies. There are a large variety of shapes to use for an unlimited number of projects. The possible combinations for posters, bulletin boards, displays and learning materials are endless.

You are encouraged to bring your own paper for the Ellison Machines, but if necessary construction paper is available for purchase. Other materials that may be used with the Letter Machines such as sponge sheets, magnetic sheets and vinyl cling are also available for purchase at nominal cost.

Laminating is also available. Your items may be left with the IMC Associate or at the Circulation Desk with your name and a phone number where you can be reached. Work is usually available for pick up within 24 hours during the normal work week. Laminating is not done on weekends.  A nominal fee is charged to cover the costs of materials.

   Paradise Film History at WVSU                

The Paradise Film Collection's script collection is housed in the Drain-Jordan Library's Reference Room. It is a non-circulating collection, but can be easily used within the building. The PFC book collection has been incorporated into the circulating and reference collections.

A search listing the Paradise Film Institute's collection can be retrieved by using the Drain-Jordan Library Book Catalog at West Virginia State University. In the search field enter pfi.  A more specific search of the collection can be done by selecting advanced searching, then entering in one of the blank fields: pfi and your search word (for example: hitchcock, actors, film) in a second blank field, then pressing the search button. The results can then be sorted by title, author, published date of title, etc.

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