Broken links for U.S. government documents

The links to many U.S. government resources are currently not working.

These links, also called "PURLs" or "persistent URLs" are maintained by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). GPO's PURL server had a significant hardware failure on August 24, 2009. The hardware has been fixed, but the process to restore online document service is on-going.

No data has been lost, and if you have a non-PURL internet address for the documents, you will still be able to reach them. Even documents hosted by GPO itself should still be available.

If you do encounter a broken PURL, do an internet search on the title, using Google or another search engine. I'm also happy to help look for a document.

Here's what a GPO PURL looks like: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS5149

And here's a MadCat library catalog record with a PURL link.

Alternate access...

...to selected government documents in the plant & insect sciences not available in print at the UW-Madison:

• "Chemicals and fuels from whole-crop utilization"
• "Crop Disaster Program"
• "Crop genetic resources: an economic appraisal"
• "Database of Lotic invertebrate traits for North America"
• "Effects of rain gardens on the quality of water in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota, 2002-04"
• "Emerald ash borer: the green menace"
• "Field guide to insects and diseases of Arizona and New Mexico forests"
• "Information resources on the care and use of insects: 1968-2004"
• "Management and research applications of long-range surveillance radar data for birds, bats, and flying insects"
• "Mapping risk from forest insects and diseases"
• "Monitoring of biocontrol insect release sites in southern Idaho, 2002-2003"
• "Planting and maintaining your native landscape to ensure survival of your plants"
• "Possible implications for U.S. agriculture from adoption of select dietary guidelines"
• "Regulatory barriers in international horticultural markets"
• "U.S. agriculture after Hurricane Katrina: status and issues"
• "USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and DHS' Customs and Border Protection: working together to protect agriculture"
• "Veterinary, Medical, and Urban Entomology National Program (U.S.): Annual report"
• "Waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Crop Insurance Program: hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, May 3, 2007"

Plants & insects in the National Archives

The United States National Archives contains a wealth of information in multiple formats. Search the Archival Research Catalog for topics of interest, or search by departments such as:

• Records of the U.S. Food Administration, 1917 - 1920


• Records of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, 1863 - 1956


• Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, 1839 - 1981


• Records of the Extension Service, 1888 - 1995


• Records of International Conferences, Commissions, and Expositions, 1825 - 1972


• Records of the Office of Government Reports, 1932 - 1947


• Records of the Bureau of Land Management, 1685 - 2006


• Records of the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, 1879 - 1972


• Records of the U.S. Geological Survey, 1839 - 2002


• Records of the Work Projects Administration, 1922 - 1944


• Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2005


• Records of the Forest Service, 1870 - 2000


• Records of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, 1875 - 1977


• Records of the Bureau of Reclamation, 1889 - 2008


• Records of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, 1909 - 1992


• Records of the Environmental Protection Agency, 1944 - 2000


• General Records of the Department of Energy, 1915 - 2003


• Audiovisual Collection, 1957 - 2006


• Records of U.S. Foreign Assistance Agencies, 1942 - 1961


• Records of the Cooperative State Research Service, 1888 - 1989


• Records of the Office of Education, 1870 - 1979


• Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior, 1826 - 1981


• Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 1876 - 1959


• Records of the Office of War Information, 1926 - 1951


• Records of the Agency for International Development, 1948 - 2003

Sample record:

"Photographs Relating to Entomological Research, compiled ca. 1898 - ca. 1942"

• Series from Record Group 7: Records of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, 1863-1956


• Contact: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001. PHONE: 301-837-3530; FAX: 301-837-3621; EMAIL: stillpixorder@nara.gov


• Subjects Represented in the Archival Material:


• Agricultural experiment stations
  Agricultural machinery
  Agricultural research
  Crops
  Flowers
  Insects
  Clarksville (Montgomery county, Tennessee)
  Columbus (Franklin county, Ohio)
  Farmville (Chatham county, North Carolina)
  Madison (Dane county, Wisconsin)
  Phoenix (Maricopa county, Arizona)
  Richmond (Virginia)
  Ventura (Ventura county, California)
  Whittier (Los Angeles county, California)


• Contributors to Authorship and/or Production of the Archival Materials:
  Department of Agriculture. Federal Horticultural Board. (08/21/1912 - 07/01/1928), Photographer


• Scope & content: This series consists of images relating to entomological research conducted on plants and insects from 1898 to 1942. These images were collected primarily from offices within the Division of Entomology and later the Bureau of Entomology and Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine. The photographs show experimental farm fields and orchards, agricultural research facilities, pests, insect damage to various crops, including mushrooms and potatoes; and insect eradication efforts. There are also images of agency research activities, including field work and various types of machinery and equipment used in Bureau facilities in Clarksville, Tennessee; Farmville, North Carolina; Columbus, Ohio; Madison, Wisconsin; Phoenix, Arizona; Richmond, Virginia; Hogen, Utah; Whittier, California; and Ventura, California. In addition, there are a few of the photographs obtained from the Federal Horticultural Board that show flower bulbs, insect pests, insect damage to flowers, and pest eradication efforts.

New: American National Biography online

American National Biography by Oxford University Press offers biographies of more than 17,400 people whose lives have shaped the nation. Originally published in 24 volumes in 1999, the online version is updated with hundreds of new entries and revisions each year to enhance accuracy and currency.

Occupations represented include:

• Agriculturists
• Apiarists
• Biologists
• Botanists
• Ecologists
• Entomologists
• Farmers
• Foresters
• Horticulturists
• Insect Pathologists
• Landscape architects
• Mycologists
• Naturalists
• Plant collectors
• Plant geneticists
• Plant pathologists
• Plant physiologists
• Science educators
• Scientific illustrators
• Scientific organization administrators
• Secretaries of Agriculture
• Seedsmen
• Soil scientists

The ANB Online also includes 900 articles from The Oxford Companion to United States History, including:

• Agricultural Education and Extension
• Agricultural Experiment Stations
• Agriculture
• Bioethics
• Biological Sciences
• Biotechnology Industry
• Dust Bowl
• Environmentalism
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Evolution, Theory of
• Farmers' Alliance Movement
• Food and Diet
• Landscape Design
• Parks, Urban
• Science
• Subsidies, Agricultural