The federal and state governments play a major role in the environmental sciences and management disciplines.  In this role, the government agencies produce a multitude of information in a variety of formats.  The University Library is a U.S. federal depository and a Rhode Island state depository library.  The University is also home to the National Sea Grant Program's Library located on the Bay Campus.

When doing research with government publications, there are several things to keep in mind:

The government publication collections are housed separately from the rest of the collection and are located on the first floor.  Some selected government publications are in on-site storage.  They will have the location "Govt Pubs Mezzanine" listed in URI Libraries Search

Government publications use a classification system based on issuing agency rather than subject so material on a particular topic will be scattered throughout the collection rather than in one spot like the regular collection.  Therefore it's critical to use the URI Libraries Search and other finding aids to make sure that you've identified everything pertinent to your topic.

Most government publications published since the mid-1990's are available online.  These publications are all listed in the URI Libraries Search. To view the online copy, click on the "online access" link in the record.

Listed below are a few general government information resources suitable for environmental research.