Search VIRGO for State Dept. publications
NOTE: U.Va.'s extensive State Department print and microforms collections are currently available by request through the library's catalog, as part of the U.S. Government Documents collection.
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- Adding records for State Dept. documents to our library catalog, VIRGO, is an ongoing project. Much of our collection, which includes microfilm as well as print and and digital formats, has already been cataloged and is searchable in VIRGO.
- You may want to use VIRGO's Advanced Catalog to search for State Dept. materials, because of its multiple field search options. United States Department of State is the official Author term. If you use this as your Author term be sure to add subject or keyword terms to avoid retrieving thousands of results. Or, enter only United States Department of State as Author and when search results display use the facets or limiters (e.g. Subject) in the left column of the Results screen to narrow your results to a manageable number.
Example VIRGO Advanced catalog searches:
- Author: United States Department of State. Keyword: Congo
- Journal Title: Commercial Relations of the United States
- Title: Confidential U.S. State Department central files, China internal affairs, 1945-1949
- Call number: S 1.129:104
- Adding records for State Dept. documents to our library catalog, VIRGO, is an ongoing project. Much of our collection, which includes microfilm as well as print and and digital formats, has already been cataloged and is searchable in VIRGO.
Notable State Department publications at U.Va. Library
- Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)S 1.1 (year) Print, 1861-1980 (see also record for
early vols). A key resource for researching U.S. foreign affairs. This set contains sensitive State Dept. papers on US foreign policy and diplomatic activity (read about content and organization). Last 30 years or so not available for security reasons. Digital vols available: to the 1980s from the State Dept. and selected volumes from the University of Wisconsin. See also subject tags linked to FRUS material. For information on FRUS predecessors before 1861, see p. 892 of 1909 Checklist.
- American Foreign Policy Current DocumentsS 1.71/2 (year). Print volumes, 1956-1990. Reprinted official papers of the State Department. "The main difference between this set and FRUS is that it contains documents and information that were public knowledge at the time of publication." For compilations of documents published before 1956 see A Decade of American Foreign Policy: Basic Documents 1941-1949 and American Foreign Policy 1950-1955: Basic Documents
- Background NotesS 1.123: (country name). Print volumes, 1990's. Concise factual pamphlets, usually with maps, on individual countries, covering geography, population, politics and government and economy. Principal government and US officials listed. Excellent for quick country overviews. See digital copies for 1990s to 2012. Successor to this publication is U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. These brief publications focus on U.S. relations with countries and provide links to additional resources. See also entry below for Post Reports, a publication that also contains useful country-specific information.
- Biographic RegisterS1.6: (year). Print volumes, 1882-1974 with gaps. Also at Law Library. Published 1870-1974. Entries cover foreign service and civil service personnel. Information on staff assignments and (in some volumes) staff compensation, also provided. Digital volumes from Hathi Trust (UVA only). For free online access to early volumes search Google Books.. See also List of U.S. consular officers, 1789-1939 (microform)
- Commercial Relations of the United StatesS 4.1: (volume, year). Print volumes, 1855-1901. Reports from the consuls of the United States on the trade and manufactures of their consular districts in foreign countries. Some reports include detailed descriptions of industries in a specific countries, e.g. English shipbuilding. Each report signed by a consul or commercial agent. Many statistical tables included. Published by the Bureau of Foreign Commerce in the State Dept. Online 1856-1902 from Hathi Trust.(UVA only). You can also find free online access to early volumes if you search Google Books.
- Consular ReportsS 4.7: (volume, year). Publication title varies. Print volumes 1885-1903 (each year has an index). Reports on industries in specific countries, as well as trade statistics, and sometimes detailed diagrams of the new technology of the day (e.g., compressed air tramway motors, sugar-beet processing machines). Similar to Commercial Relations of the U.S., but this publication sometimes ranges outside of import-export and manufacturing information to cover topics relating to social conditions, politics or transportation. For example: labor strikes in Vienna, German mines and emigration, homes for pauper children in England, and the railway and banking systems of individual countries. (See also Special Consular Reports (1890-1903). Vols cover single topics, e.g., Canals and Irrigation in Foreign Countries. S. 4.9, print vols 1890-1903 with gaps).Current PolicyS 1.71/4: (number). Print issues, 1975-1990. Each number (with separate title and separate VIRGO record) covers an issue relating to US foreign affairs, and is authored by the Secretary of State, the President, or other high ranking State official. Sample titles: Restoring Bipartisanship in Foreign Affairs; State Department Perspectives on Environmental Issues. To browse Current Policy titles enter Department of State Bureau of Public Affairs Current policy in the Author field in a VIRGO Advanced Catalog search. To limit your results to a manageable number, use the Subject or Author facets in the left column on the Results screen.Dept of State BulletinS 1.3 (volume, number, year). Print volumes, 1939-1989. Also in Law Library. Official monthly record of the Department of State. Reprinted speeches of U.S. official on important foreign policy matters. The speeches didn't have to be by State Department officials, but do always deal with foreign policy. Many of these speeches are also to be found in Current Policy (S 1.71/4:). Useful for seeing what U.S. policy towards a country or an event was. Index in back of every semi-annual volume. See complete digital archive from the Internet Archive, courtesy of Boston Public Library (can be slow to load).DispatchS 1.3/5: (year). Print volumes 1990-1999. Also in Law Library. Similar, but not as detailed, as Department of State Bulletin, its predecessor. "Major speeches and congressional testimony from the State Department". See digital issues 1990-1996 from DOSFAN and 1997-1999 (scroll down page for links to issues) from the State Dept.Digest of International LawS 7.12/2 (volume). Print vols, 1963-1973. Online 1963-1973 from HeinOnline (UVA only). Earlier edition (1940) available in print.Digest of United States Practice in International LawS 7.12/3:(year). Title varies. Print volumes, 1973-1980 and 1981-1988. Law Library, print vols 1989-2011. Digital copies from the State Dept. 1989-presentDiplomatic ListS 1.8:3 (year). Print issues 1928-2000, with gaps. Lists the diplomatic staff (and spouses) serving in the foreign embassies to the United States. For issues after 2000 see the State Dept. digital archives which go back to 1993. See also Hathi Trust archives back to 1952 (UVA only). Print volumes also available at the Law School.Post ReportsS 1.127: (country name first letter). No longer available online. Reports listed in VIRGO by individual county, e.g. Kyrgyzstan. Intended for embassy diplomatic staff, this publication provides information on housing, medical facilities, education, domestic help, recreation and social life and, in some reports, standards of conduct. Issues also include brief notes on population, geography, commerce and public institutions. If you're looking more for geographic and socio-politico-economic facts for specific countries, with maps, see Background Notes (S 1.123), instead (scroll up this page for description).State MagazineS1.118 (number, year). See also preceding title Newsletter Dept of State May 1961-Dec. 1980. A magazine for State Dept employees. Includes news stories relating to US foreign policy, as well as current appointments, promotions, retirements and obits, articles on career advancement. Useful for the photographic essays about diplomatic posts around the world, the in-house perspective, and the many photographs of staff and government officials.Statutes at LargeS 7.9: (year). Laws passed by the U.S. Congress. 1776-2011 available from LLMC (free access) and HeinOnline (UVA only) . Available in print.Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949 (Bevans)S 9.12/2 (volume). E-version available from HeinOnline (UVA only).This set compiles the texts of treaties and agreements prior to 1949, and renders it unnecessary to look up early treaties in the Statutes at Large (the compilation of laws of the U.S.) where they were originally printed. A citation to Bevans appears as 10 Bevans 841, which is a citation to volume 10 page 841. Citations to early treaties and agreements may also be given to the Statutes at Large, in which case the citation would appear as 56 Stat. 1545.US Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST)S 9.12 (volume). Print volumes, 1950-1983/84. This annual publication includes the full texts of treaties to which the U.S. is a party. A citation such as 29 UST 5756 refers to volume 29 page 5756 of this work. E-version available from HeinOnline (UVA only). See also Texts of International Agreements to which the US is a Party (TIAS)Documents on German Policy 1918-1954S1.82 (volume). English translations of documents captured by the Allies from German government archives. Twenty volumes, arranged in chronological order, with titles such as The Third Reich: first phase and Germany and the Spanish Civil War. Excellent primary source for research of German political and military activities, especially during the years leading up to and including World War 2. Also held in the Law LibraryViet-Nam documents and research notesS 1.38/2 (volume, year). Print vols, nos. 1-109, 1967-1972. Translations of documents captured from the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese, plus commentary on the documents by US officials. Military and political documents, North Vietnamese news sources, as well as diaries, poems and letters written by VietCong and North Vietnamese soldiers. A special source because of the enemy perspective that includes the personal as well as the political, and the commentary on the enemy documents by US officials.World strength of the Communist Party organizations ... annual report|S 1.111: (number, year). Print vols, 1958-1973. "Two sections in each report. The “Checklist” is a summary of all the countries covered in each report. In the regional section entries for each country include party legal status and political status, election results, party membership, party leaders, party publications and areas of strength and /or activity. The “Checklist” section is a summary of all the countries covered in each report." (Andriot)