Updated: October 4, 2013 at 4:23pm CDT
Due to the federal government shutdown, many U.S. government websites are unavailable or will not be updated with new information.
The following websites are inaccessible:
- Census.gov, American FactFinder, and Fedstats
- USATradeOnline database
- U.S. Department of Agriculture website, including the Agricola database
- NASA website
- Federal Communications Commission website
- Federal Trade Commission website
- National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) website
- Bureau of Economic Analysis website
- National Park Service website
- National Archives website
- National Science Foundation website
- ERIC ED documents (U.S. Dept. of Education) – we recommend using the ERIC database via EBSCO on the library website to search for information
- Data.gov website
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website (Note: the National Weather Service site remains available.)
Accessing Archived Versions of Government Websites
You can search “archived” versions of some government websites by using the Archive.org “Wayback Machine.” More information is provided in this post: http://blog.archive.org/2013/10/02/governmentblackout/
Legislative information websites will continue to be updated and accessible. This includes:
Some Websites Available, But Not Updated
Other websites will remain available, but they will not be updated with new information. Although not an exhaustive list, the following websites may not be updated with new information:
- Whitehouse.gov
- U.S. Dept. of Commerce
- U.S. Dept. of Education
- U.S. Dept. of Energy
- U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
- U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development
- U.S. Dept. of the Interior
- U.S. Dept. of Justice
- U.S. Dept. of Labor
- U.S. Dept. of Transportation
- National Institutes of Health
- National Library of Medicine
- National Science Foundation
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Small Business Administration
- Government Printing Office
In addition, the U.S. Dept. of Defense website is available, with limited updates. The U.S. Dept. of State website is available and appears to be updated as of this writing. The U.S. Dept. of the Treasury website is available and portions of its website will continue to be updated.
For more information on the status of government services, please consult:
- USA.gov
- Absolutely Everything You Need to Know About How The Government Shutdown Will Work. Washington Post, September 30, 2013.
- Government Shutdown: What’s Closed, What’s Open? CNN, October 1, 2013.
- The Government Shutdown and Libraries. American Libraries magazine.