Sources

There are over 250,000 resources in the Homeland Security Digital Library. These items cover a wide range of homeland security topics and are carefully selected and evaluated by the HSDL team. Sources include, but are not limited to:

• Federal, state and local governments
• International governments and institutions
• Nonprofit organizations and private sector entities
• Think tanks, research centers, colleges and universities

In the Public Collection

Approximately half of the items in the HSDL are openly searchable and available to the public, with no account or authorization necessary.  This public collection includes items such as:

• U.S. Policy and Strategy Documents related to homeland security: General U.S. Policy Documents, National Strategies, Executive Orders and Presidential Directives, and Key Legislation
• Congressional Hearings and Legislation
• CRS Reports & Issue Briefs
• GAO Reports & Testimony
• Theses & Research Reports from U.S. federal academic institutions, particularly the Naval Postgraduate School
• Research Tools such as grants, statistics, and books and journals (the HSDL does not collect commercially published and print materials, we do maintain a list of publishers and sources)
• Thousands of additional resources released by U.S. federal government agencies and organizations

In the Full Collection

Approximately half of the items in the HSDL are in a larger, full collection that is open to government officials at the local, state, tribal, territorial or federal levels, as well as the U.S. military.  The full collection is also open to researchers, teachers, and students at homeland security research or educational institutions.  See more about eligibility.  The full collection contains items from both public and private sectors to include text, audio, and visual resources; as well as analyses from national and international think tanks; state and local governments; foreign governments; educational institutions; and national and international organizations.

In the Restricted Collection

The Restricted Collection is a repository of sensitive materials collected from national, state and local fusion centers, threat analysis centers, and law enforcement organizations.  It is available only to U.S. government officials or active members of the U.S. military.  Read more or see eligibility.

Curated Content

HSDL Staff maintain a variety of resources which provide quick access to the most sought-after content:

• In Focus – Lists of items in the HSDL collection that are highly relevant to current events or foundational topics. 
• HSDL Blog: On the Homefront – Posts highlighting recent reports and current issues in homeland security
• Timeline – Chronological listing of events and milestones related to homeland security and emergency management
• Twitter feed – HSDL Updates and news-worthy items from the greater homeland security community

Services

Individual account-holders have access to the following features:

• Ask a Librarian: answers to mission-related inquiries that are brief or factual in nature
• Subscription to New Content of Interest: weekly notification based on your saved searches
• Subscription to Critical Releases: an email every two weeks containing a short list of the most significant, recently-added resources

Recommend or Send Resources to the HSDL

Email your recommendations, documents, media or links to the HSDL team at hsdl@nps.edu

We rely on homeland security professionals and researchers across the country to assist in the collaborative effort to help define the discipline of homeland security and facilitate the sharing of essential policy, strategy, organization, and research information throughout the homeland security professional community.

Please recommend or send the following types of resources to the HSDL. All submissions are welcome. We greatly appreciate the cases where you can attach the actual document.

• State policy documents including draft copies
• Reports and evaluations
• Lessons learned or after action reports
• Best practices
• Links to websites
• Newsletters

All submissions are subject to review and the appropriate permissions will be obtained. HSDL team subject and state specialists are available upon request.