Paratext is happy to announce another recent addition to United States Masterfile: the NASA Index to Photograph Files, 1958-1991. This resource joins the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Repository and the NASA Planetary Data System Digital Products archive in United States Masterfile, giving researchers access to a wider variety of NASA-derived resources than ever before. Providing searchable descriptions of nearly 65 thousand images produced by NASA from the late 1950s to the(read more)

Paratext is happy to announce another recent addition to United States Masterfile: the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Repository. A resource containing over 500 thousand records and counting, NASA’s Scientific and Technical Information Repository contains documents from as far back as the days of NACA to as recently as 2022. The NASA STI repository contains open source reports, technical documents, metadata, videos, sound recordings, and images relating to the past and(read more)

Over the last few months, we at Paratext have been busily adding new data to our products to make them even more useful to your researchers and students. That’s why, we are happy to announce another recent addition to United States Masterfile: Founders Online. A joint project between the National Archives National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) and the University of Virginia Press, Founders Online is a database of the writings and correspondence of John Adams,(read more)

The entire online publication run of the Federal Register, the official periodical of the United States federal government, is now available to search by U.S. Documents Masterfile users. A publication of the National Archives and Records Administration, the Federal Register has been published online since 1994. U.S. Documents Masterfile contains the full set of online issues of the Register, a corpus of nearly 900,000 records—all with full text online. Within this resource,(read more)

Paratext is happy to announce another recent addition to U.S. Documents Masterfile: the Bibliographic Metadata of the Foreign Relations of the United States Series. A publication of the U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian, the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series is the official record of U.S. foreign policy going back to 1861. Originally contained in 500 physical volumes, the digital version available through U.S. Documents Masterfile links to full text online(read more)

Paratext is pleased to announce two new sources now available to search in U.S. Documents Masterfile: the Compilation of Presidential Documents collection and the U.S. Geological Survey Publications Warehouse index. The Compilation of Presidential Documents is an ongoing collection of documents going back to 1993 pertaining to the day-to-day activities of the office of the President of the United States. Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records(read more)

Paratext is pleased to announce that hundreds of population statistics datasets indexed in the U.S. Census Discovery API Index is now available to search in U.S. Documents Masterfile.   These datasets, which span from the mid-1980s to 2021, provide detailed population statistics in a variety of key areas. Among these highly valuable statistics tables, find information on changing demographics, birth/death rates by geographical area, median incomes, languages spoken, ethnicities,(read more)

Paratext is pleased to announce that the index of publications available through the USDA’s Economics, Statistics and Market Information System is now available to search in U.S. Documents Masterfile. Maintained by Cornell University, the Economics, Statistics and Market Information System (or ESMIS) online index is a clearinghouse for publications produced by agencies within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Five agencies within the USDA produce the nearly 2,300 publications listed(read more)

Paratext is pleased to announce that datasets from the NASA Planetary Data System are now available to search in U.S. Documents Masterfile. These datasets, found within NASA PDS Digital Products in the USDM source dropdown, give access to primary scientific data pertaining to a wide variety of different fields and disciplines. This material includes data gleaned from NASA planetary missions, laboratory experiments, and Earth-based missions. Find everything from atmospheric data describing(read more)

Paratext is pleased to announce that nearly 160,000 records from the National Park Service DataCenter are now being loaded into United States Documents Masterfile. The NPS DataCenter is a clearinghouse for documents related to the functioning of the NPS and its predecessors that has been digitized and made available online. This continually-updated resource contains records of source material from as early as 1774. The DataCenter includes a wide variety of different types of publications(read more)

Paratext is pleased to announce the new Sources Snapshot redesign in United States Documents Masterfile. Our new tiled system makes this resource more useful in a number of ways.   First, the new design makes better use of wide screen space, giving you a clearer, easier-to-parse graphical view of all search results at a single glance. This allows users to easily drill down into a particular contemporary or historical source quickly. Second, View All Records immediately resorts(read more)

Time for our final Trivia Tuesday, round 4! Every Tuesday morning in May we've posting a couple of trivia questions on our blog and Twitter to test your searching prowess. Each question has referred to a single source or set of sources found in U.S. Documents Masterfile.   This week's questions: 1. Can you find this classic comic book that talks about bicycle safety and repair? 2. I'm looking for some recipes using pork.  Can you find the(read more)

Time for Trivia Tuesdays, round 3! Every Tuesday morning in May we're posting a couple of trivia questions on our blog and Twitter to test your searching prowess. Each question will refer to a single source or set of sources found in U.S. Documents Masterfile.   This week's questions: 1. Using government documents, how can you easily create a list of the major holidays celebrated by the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu faiths? 2. As of today (May 19th),(read more)

Time for Trivia Tuesdays, round 2! Every Tuesday morning in May we're posting a couple of trivia questions on our blog and Twitter to test your searching prowess. Each question will refer to a single source found in U.S. Documents Masterfile.   This week's questions: 1. A landmark of American foreign policy, this principle was announced by President Monroe. 2. The school lunch program has been around for many years.  Find one of the reasons for its(read more)

It’s been a hard couple of months for everyone. As most academic calendars are winding down, we thought a bit of light trivia fun might help all relax a bit after this very difficult semester. Every Tuesday morning in May we will post a couple of trivia questions on our blog and Twitter to test your searching prowess. Each trivia question will refer to a single source found in U.S. Documents Masterfile.   This week's questions: 1. "He wanted to be in the room(read more)

Due to the highly positive response to our United States Documents Masterfile webinar last week, we are offering two more sessions for those who were unable to attend the first. Our offer of free access to United State Documents Masterfile through June of this year continues to garner a heartening response from the research and library community. We’re very happy that we can provide a service that both demystifies government documents and provides full-text access to millions of(read more)

We have had a tremendous response to our offer of free access to United State Documents Masterfile through June of this year. We’re very happy that we can provide a service that both demystifies government documents and provides full-text access to millions of government publications in this challenging time. Based on the positive response from libraries, we’re offering a webinar for existing customers of U.S. Documents Masterfile as an added benefit to the library(read more)

Editor’s note: in light of the recent influx of new U.S. Documents Masterfile users, we know the question of “why government documents?” may arise for many researchers. This post, a version of which first appeared on our blog in 2018, answers that question and more. It has been updated to reflect the current realities of the government documents world.   Part I. What, Who and Why? Unless your field is political science, law, or government history, you may not(read more)

We know there is a lot going on at all of your institutions – working from home, trying to assist your users as best you can, and staying healthy and practicing social distancing. As you are trying to do your jobs remotely, we realize you may not have access to needed indexes to get you and your users to needed content.  To assist you with your work, Paratext is pleased to offer access to U.S. Documents Masterfile™ (USDM) to all institutions through end of June(read more)

With a little HTML and CSS know-how, adding our widget code to your existing library webpage is as easy as 1-2-3. Need a refresher? Not to worry, we’ve got you covered! Read on to learn where to add the code and how to customize the widget to match your library website style. These instructions will detail how to add the Eight Centuries widget code to a library website. However, fear not if you are a U.S. Documents Masterfile or Reference Universe customer: the steps are exactly the(read more)

Did you know that you can quickly add access to Paratext products directly to your library’s website? We’ve done all the hard work for you: just drop our widget code into your web page wherever desired.   Widgets are available for all subscribers, no matter the product:   The History Widget allows you to provide patrons with easy access to Eight Centuries via a single search box placed anywhere within your site—even in your LibGuides. Similarly, the(read more)

Over the last nine months, we have made some exciting new changes to U.S. Documents Masterfile. Searches have been streamlined and more options added, the site layout refined, and metadata cleaned to provide more relevant results with each search. The new USDM is a vastly improved tool for beginner users and seasoned researchers of government documents alike. Take a look under the hood:   Search Strategies Results are now arranged by date of publication rather than by(read more)

“Since many government publications become known by short titles that appear nowhere on the piece, and since libraries catalog them under institutional titles, a device for tying the two together is needed.” - Donald F. Wisdom, Foreword to Popular Names of U.S. Government Reports, 4th ed., 1984 A recurring challenge for historians is so-called “common knowledge.” Too often insights into day-to-day life, descriptions of extinct practices, and material(read more)

Exploring the Register of Debates and the Congressional Globe… Today we will look at two mainstays of early Congressional reporting: the Register of Debates and the Congressional Globe. Both dominated the journalistic world of Congress and politics in the decades before the Government Printing Office began producing its official account of Congress—the Congressional Record—in 1873. And because the two overlapped in coverage, many assumed they were partisan rivals. But(read more)

Exploring the Farmers’ Bulletin… Our “Exploring” series continues with the Farmers’ Bulletin, a publication from the United States Department of Agriculture that first appeared in 1889. For over a century, the Bulletin has disseminated the latest research out of Agricultural Experiment Stations across the country with the aim of leading farmers to bigger crop yields and more rewarding home lives. Persuit of this goal has sometimes led the Bulletin to publish(read more)

Thanks to the work of EveryCRSReport.com, researchers are now able to access nearly 15,000 Congressional Research Service (CRS Reports), with links to full-text sources where available in U.S. Documents Masterfile: 1774 – 2018. EveryCRSReport.com is a joint project by Demand Progress and the Congressional Data Coalition, who have made their bulk CRS report data freely available online. Reports by the Congressional Research Service are the encyclopedic research(read more)

Part I: What, Who, and Why The average researcher likely doesn’t think often about government documents. Unless your specialty is political science, law, or government history, government documents don’t seem like an obvious resource to utilize. What is a specialist in literature, psychology, or biology going to find of value in government documents? The answer may surprise you. Because the work and research of government encompasses so many aspects of human society and(read more)

Paratext celebrates 25 years of research database applications. “When Paratext began, the most significant 'disruption' came with the industry-wide pre-occupation with CD-ROM as a storage/delivery medium. At the time, CDs were rapidly replacing print and microfiche as the preferred delivery mechanism for large-volume research content,” according to Eric Calaluca, Paratext founder. “The expectation that CD publishing would lower costs was quickly(read more)

The Autumn of 2017 brings great new content to U.S. Documents Masterfile: 1774-2018, along with recently deployed new search utilities to improve search results, particularly for non-specialists. The following sources have just been added to U.S. Documents Masterfile. Congressional Bill Summaries, 2013-2017 U.S. Documents Masterfile recently incorporated 26,000 records from the Congressional Bill Summaries of the 113th, 114th, and 115th Congresses, starting(read more)

Please see this latest review of U.S. Documents Masterfile (formerly Public Documents Masterfile) in Information Advisor's Guide to Internet Research, June 2015 "We liked Paratext’s Public Documents Masterfile, and believe it provides another very good option for searching huge amounts of government information, supplemented by other public sources such as Data-Planet and Readex. We also like the fact that the database integrates such a credible and exact indexing method,(read more)

Paratext is pleased to announce our new Resource Usage Platform. You can measure statistics on terms, titles found, most popular queries, and which data sources are being utilized. The platform is available for 19th Century Masterfile, Public Documents Masterfile, and Reference Universe. Observe how your reference collection is being utilized: Discover how e-resources and print usage compares. Use for deeper analysis for coordinating research programs and objectives. Use(read more)

Paratext­­­TM announces that an extensive collection of Data-Planet TM DataSheets is now indexed, linked, and integrated into Public Documents MasterfileTM. Researchers can now query over 150,000 metadata records representing authoritative publicly and privately sourced datasets. Libraries who subscribe to both services can link directly from the search results to Data-Planet’s datasheets, with a visual chart, map, or graph, accompanied by(read more)

Paratext™ is pleased to announce that it has recently signed an agreement with Data-Planet to index an extensive collection of Data-Planet DataSheets within Public Documents Masterfile™ (PDM). Libraries who subscribe to both properties will link directly from search results into more than 150,000 of Data-Planet DataSheets, complete with a chart, map, or graph, statistical abstract and downloadable data-sets. Public Documents Masterfile users(read more)

The best search tool for government documents discovery has undergone a transformation.Public Documents Masterfile has a look and feel that’s brand new and enhanced search features to go with it. We’ve kept the basics that make Public Documents Masterfile so valuable to government  documents librarians. You can still search for current and historical primary sources, government documents printed by the GPO and beyond, and for a great variety of research(read more)

Public Documents Masterfile customers will be happy to learn that Paratext has added SuDoc numbers, LC card numbers and Item Numbers to many of the citations included in the GPO Monthly Catalog Subject Indexes (1895-1976).  Due to this inclusion, all government documents included in this index from 1947-1976 will now be considerably easier to access for Public Documents Masterfile users. Expanding the coverage of historical primary sources, we’ve also just added(read more)

A deeper awareness of the political mechanisms and motivations of the United States government, particularly during its earliest days, is invaluable for accomplishing a greater understanding of the functions of democracy.  Public Documents Masterfileis designed to simplify the process of finding important government documents and thus help promote greater knowledge of how the United States government functions. The Annals of Congress, Register of(read more)

We’ve added the index to the Congressional Globe to the Annals of Congress and Register of Debatesalready found in the Congressional Record file in Public Documents Masterfile, bringing Congressional coverage up to 1867. In addition, we’ve recently updated many thousands of records to federal documents to be discovered via Public Documents Masterfile in the following: Post-1976 GPO Public Documents (1976-current) (read more)