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Library of Congress Research Guides

Federal Government Contracting: A Resource Guide

Doing business with U.S. federal agencies requires an understanding of a complex series of rules, regulations and laws. This guide provides access to useful historical, statistical, news, and administrative resources in both print and electronic form.

Introduction

a hanger of mostly completed airplane bodies in one column still being worked on
Howard R. Hollem, photographer. Production. B-24E (Liberator) bombers at Willow Run. Looking down one of the two final assembly lines for B-24E (Liberator) bombers at Ford's big Willow Run plant. Guns and wing tips have not yet been added to the planes in the foreground. The Liberator is capable of operation at high altitudes and over great ranges on precision bombing missions. It has proved itself an excellent performer in the Pacific, in Northern Africa, Europe and the Aleutians. Ford's Willow Run Plant, Michigan. Between 1942 July and 1943 February. Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

Contracting with the United States federal government crosses many different sectors from large Defense contracts to smaller contracts for goods and services found in the General Schedules.

This is a guide on federal government contracting. It includes both electronic and print sources, as well as news and administrative sources. There are some resources included which cover the legal and/or accounting side of government contracts but this guide is more about the business end of government contracting. Users may note that there are a large number of resources devoted to military contracts or sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD), this is a reflection of the fact that that DoD accounts for the lion's share of government contracts.

We have also included sources for those looking for historical contract information. This includes resources for those looking for older 20th century contracts as well as those that are looking for more recently awarded contracts. However, because the sources and strategies needed for that type of research are complex, we have only included the most notable ones and those that aggregate the information in some fashion. If you have more detailed questions, please submit a question via Ask a Librarian.

About the Business Section

Part of the Science & Business Reading Room at the Library of Congress, the Business Section is the starting point for conducting research at the Library of Congress in the subject areas of business and economics. Here, reference specialists in specific subject areas of business assist patrons in formulating search strategies and gaining access to the information and materials contained in the Library's rich collections of business and economics materials.

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