CRS Reports are produced by the Congressional Research Service, the public policy research arm of Congress and are heavily researched and written by experts in the field on legislative issues. CRS Reports are available fulltext from 1916 to the present.
From the Congressional Research Service homepage:
"The Congressional Research Service (CRS) serves as shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. CRS experts assist at every stage of the legislative process — from the early considerations that precede bill drafting, through committee hearings and floor debate, to the oversight of enacted laws and various agency activities. CRS approaches complex topics from a variety of perspectives and examines all sides of an issue. Staff members analyze current policies and present the impact of proposed policy alternatives."
Note: there might not be a CRS report for every topic - but do try and see if there is!
Theree are several ways you can locate CRS Reports:
1. Use the Congressional Publications database (linked below)
Follow these steps:
* Document Types
Either keep Select All, or deselect and choose CRS Reports. You can also add Topic Pages.
(If you keep Select All, you will have the opportunity to limit document type within results)
* Keep the search field to: All fields except full text
if searching on the name of a law use the Title search
*Enter Search Terms = keywords. Some examples:
"student loans"
"minimum wage"
school* and (firearm* or gun*)
2. Google and add:
crs and site:gov
your search would look like this:
"minimum wage" crs site:gov
"voting rights" crs site:gov
To locate subject encyclopedias and other types of reference titles, use WorldCat UMD and the Sage Reference Collection and Sage Knowledge databases (linked below)
Searches in WorldCat UMD, use your keywords and add the defining terms such as:
dictionar*
handbook*
encyclopedia*
biography
bibliographies
bibliography
So, your search would look like this: (notice the capitol OR / AND)
("food desert*" OR "food insecurity" OR "food security") AND (encyclopedia* OR handbook* OR dictionar*)
plastic* AND pollution AND (encyclopedia* OR handbook* OR dictionar*)
transgender AND (encyclopedia* OR handbook* OR dictionar*)
Handbook of Research on Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Plastic Pollution by 
Mass Shootings in America: Understanding the Debates, Causes, and Responses by 
Encyclopedia of Food Security and Sustainability by 
The Routledge Handbook of Smuggling by 