I wrote in January (Bringing order to Web searching) about the search tool Clusty, noting its customizable tabs for searching news, images, shopping sites, blogs and other types of information. Now it has added a “Gov” tab, allowing users to search a number of special collections focused on U.S. government and politics. It combines a metasearch of FirstGov, MSN limited to the “.gov” domain, DefenseLink, political news from Reuters, AP and CNN, and a number of prominent American think tanks, including RAND, The Brookings Institution and The Cato Institute.

You can also use it to find senators and representatives. Type in a state name or postal abbreviation, and it will return the state’s senators, with their photographs, voting record, biography and a form to e-mail them. Type in a ZIP code to find a U.S. representative.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.