The Washington Post reported Monday about a new open-access website that
provides digital copies of hard to find government reports:

Hard-to-Get Policy Briefings For Congress Are Now Online
Technology Group Opens Access to Research Reports
By Brian FalerSpecial to The Washington PostTuesday, June 28, 2005; Page A13

Open CRS http://www.opencrs.com/ provides access to CRS Reports that are already in the public domain and encourages Congress to provide public access to all CRS Reports.

According to the Washington Post article, "The site includes searchable links to more than 3,300 reports -- and thousands of updates of those reports -- that were gathered by the center and five other groups: the National Council on Science and the Environment, the Federation of American Scientists, the library at the University of Maryland's law school, a Web site associated with the Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire and the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. The CDT said it is also trying to work out a deal with the University of North Texas, which has built its own online trove of reports, to make those accessible through the site as well."

Example of reports that might be needed in medical libraries:

RL32107 - Importing Prescription Drugsуomparison of the Drug Import Provisions in the Medicare Reform Bills, H.R. 2427, and Current Law, October 8, 2003

IB97018 - Science, Technology, and Medicine: Issues Facing the 105th Congress, First Session, September 09, 1998

RL32237 - Health Insurance: A Primer February 03, 2005

RL31692 - Medical Malpractice Liability Reform: Legal Issues and Fifty-State Survey of Caps on Punitive Damages and Noneconomic Damages September 17, 2004

RL31503 - Importing Prescription Drugs August 22, 2002

RL31983 -Patient Safety: Legislation to Promote Voluntary Reporting of Medical Errors February 04, 2005

While this may not be a resource we use every day like, it is one that might come in handy every once and a while.