This report begins with an inventory of basic information: definitions and guides to histories of the growth of open access publishing and citation archives and descriptions of selected major open access activities. It moves on to summarize major points of difference between proponents and opponents of nongovernmental open access publishing and databases, and then highlights federal, including National Institutes of Health (NIH), open access activities and contentious issues surrounding these developments. The report also briefly describes open access developments in the United Kingdom (where a number of governmental and nongovernmental initiatives have occurred) and in the international arena. Finally, controversial issues which could receive attention in the 109th Congress are summarized.

This report presents a list of federal government agencies that offer fax-on-demand services and provides brief description of their offerings.

Intellectual property legislation that came close to enactment during the 108th Congress has been enacted. The Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 was signed into law on April 27, 2005. Among the issues addressed are unauthorized distribution of pre-release commercial works, the marketing of devices for home use to edit objectionable content from DVDs, the preservation of the nation's film heritage, and use by libraries and archives of "orphan works."

This is a directory of telephone numbers and addresses that congressional offices may use to obtain publications from the Executive Office of the President, the executive departments, and the independent agencies and commissions of the federal government. Electronic sources are included for locating copies of government publications on the Internet. The information for each agency was provided by the agency itself.

The recent controversy regarding the use of consular identification cards (IDs) by aliens within the United States, in particular Mexico’s particular consular, has led to calls for legislation to regulate the issuance of the cards by foreign missions or their acceptance by U.S. government and private entities. This report identifies possible implications that U.S. regulation or monitoring of the issuance of these cards by foreign missions might have upon U.S. obligations under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), which protects foreign missions in the exercise of their legitimate consular functions and codifies customary international law with respect to the inviolability of consular premises and documents.

This report is written in response to numerous requests for war casualty statistics and lists of war dead. It provides tables, compiled by sources at the Department of Defense, indicating the number of casualties among American military personnel serving in principal wars and combat actions. For the more recent conflicts, starting with the Korean War, more detailed information on types of casualties, and when available, demographics have been included. This report also cites sources of published lists of military personnel killed in principal wars and combat actions.

This report discusses Fishery, Aquaculture, and Marine Mammal online news and information sources.

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This report describes security classification policy and procedure, largely prescribed in a series of successive presidential executive orders issued over the past 50 years. This policy provides the rationale and arrangements for designating information officially secret for reasons of national security, and for its declassification as well.

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This report provides information about the Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal Agencies. This list of about 150 congressional Liaison is intended to help congressional offices in placing telephone calls and addressing correspondence to government agencies.

Appropriations are one part of a complex federal budget process that includes budget resolutions, appropriations (regular, supplemental, and continuing) bills, rescissions, and budget reconciliation bills. This report is a guide to one of the 13 regular appropriations bills that Congress passes each year. It is designed to supplement the information provided by the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Treasury, Postal Service, Executive Office of the President, and General Government.

This report provides information about the Fax-on-Demand Services Available from Federal Government Agencies where numerous associations and organizations are finding fax publishing an efficient way to distribute information to the public or targeted audience.

This report discusses the “Secret,” or “closed,” sessions of the House and Senate that exclude the press and the public.

This report discusses topics in respect to tsunami disaster warnings for the United States, discussions ensued between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and NOAA about developing a multi-hazard warning and response system

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This report provides information on the amount of time taken to act on all Supreme Court nominations occurring between 1900 and the present. It focuses on the actual amounts of time that Presidents and the Senate have taken to act (as opposed to the elapsed time between official points in the process). This report focuses on when the Senate became aware of the President's selection (e.g., via a public announcement by the President).

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