BEV BUTULA: GAO’s Blue Book can make you happy

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The U.S. Government Accountability Office conducts studies on all areas of the federal government. The reports, often referred to as Blue Books, are usually done at the request of Congress. Unclassified reports are made available to the public. The reports often provide data and additional insight on topics of interest to legal researchers.

The GAO’s Report and Testimony online collection includes reports issued since 1971.

According to the website: “All published reports, testimonies, correspondence, and special publications are included, as are some products issued as far back as 1922, although that part of the collection is not comprehensive. Products that are restricted or classified are not included.”

Researchers can browse the collection by date, topic, collection or agency. Members of Congress can hold reports for 30 days before they are released to the public, so searchers should keep this in mind if searching by date. The site also supports an advanced search option for refined keyword searches.

The GAO makes it easy to remain current. A list of each day’s reports can be sent by email. There is also an option to create an RSS feed based on your specific search strategy.