Category Archives: Government websites

Disasters: government websites you should know

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California wildfires have been in the news lately. It’s still hurricane season. It seems there’s always some kind of disaster in the news. Some people are better prepared for a disaster than others, but when something happens, victims need more information than anyone can remember. Government websites have the best information. If you’re looking for any kind of government information, begin with USA.gov. It collects and organizes government information from federal, state, and local government agencies. Its home page provides links about various broad categories. We’ll begin this post with its Disasters and Emergencies page. 

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Government websites: scam and fraud alerts

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As part of my occasional series on government websites you should know, I wrote about scam alertsa few years ago. At that time, I highlighted the sheer number of sites where federal agencies offer information about scams and how to avoid them. It seems useful to revisit the subject. This time I want to concentrate on the resources on a single page: Common Scams and Frauds.

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National Screening Room at the Library of Congress

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I once got lost in the Library of Congress. I was on a high school tour when a couple of friends and I made a wrong turn and ended up in library personnel office space. A nice man showed us how to get back where we belonged. The library just unveiled its National Screening Room, and I’m having a similar experience trying to wrap my mind around it. In 1800, Congress decided to establish a library for itself. It was certainly not a public library, or even a federal government library. It was specifically the Library of Congress. Its scope has grown since then. Now, anyone can apply to visit it and use its collection, the largest library collection in the world. It has grown to more than 19.5 million items. And anyone can take advantage of its digital collections without leaving home. It has digitized more than 2 million items. 

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IRS.gov: government websites you should know

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Nothing, they say, is inevitable except death and taxes. Tax season is upon us. Preparing federal taxes can be complicated. So this installment of my series on government websites you should know is devoted to irs.gov, a helpful source of official information. It is well organized and easy to use––unlike the tax code. Besides English, the site is available in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and Vietnamese.  

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Healthfinder.gov: Government websites you should know

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Have you ever looked for health-related information on the web? Most people do, either for their own health or for someone they love. Government information often does not appear on the first page of search results. Therefore, few people think of it or know where to look for it. Healthfinder.gov is an award-winning site for the general public dedicated to prevention and wellness.

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