The U.S. embassy’s information resource center (formerly the USIS library) provides reference, referral and documentation service for researchers, journalists, govt officials, and others with a professional or scholarly interest in the United States.

Among the commercial online information resources that we have at our disposal are:

• Atekst – full text access to some of Norway’s most important media sources, including Aftenposten, Bergens Tidende, Dagens Næringsliv, and Dagbladet
• Lexis-Nexis – full text news and legal and business information
• GaleNet – information about international and U.S. associations, biographical information, publications and broadcast media.
• Factiva – full-text information from international publications and newspapers. Approximately 2800 business and trade publications are also included.
• Federal News Service – transcripts of testimonies, briefings, press conferences and congressional hearings, including transcripts of question and answer sessions.
• STAT-USA (Dept. of Commerce)- current and historic economic and trade related statistics.
• Leadership Directories – online access to directories of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of federal, state, and municipal government. Also law firms, NGOs, media and associations.
• WNC (World News Connection) – compiled from thousands of non-U.S. media sources, WNC (also known as FBIS) offers an extensive array of translated and English-language news and information.

In addition to the restricted information sources above, we have considerable expertise and experience in finding information on the internet, which we have been doing since the early days of gopher. The IRC also relies on its extensive network of contacts within the U.S. federal government and the American library community, and in particular on our network of colleagues in U.S. embassy libraries/information resource centers all over the world.

These information centers are a vital component of the U.S. State Department’s public diplomacy effort, and provide foreign audiences around the world with authoritative and up-to-date information about U.S.foreign policy, government, legislation, domestic issues, and society and values.

Although not open to the general public, The U.S. State Department’s Ralph Bunche Library is a tremendously important resource for Embassy libraries and information centers, providing access to hundreds of databases and electronic journals in full-text. If you are looking for a journal article or document that is not available from your own library or from the Norwegian library system, please contact us and we’ll see if we can obtain a copy from the Bunche library or from contacts elsewhere.

Contact

The IRC can provide personalized alert services on topics relating to U.S. policy and topical issues. If you need assistance from the IRC in connection with your work please send an email to osloirc@state.gov.