Professor & Reference/Instruction Librarian
Diane Duesterhoeft
she/her
Contact:
Louis J. Blume Library, Room 201
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX 78228-8608
USA
dduesterhoeft@stmarytx.edu
St. Mary's University
One Camino Santa Maria
San Antonio, TX 78228-8608
USA
dduesterhoeft@stmarytx.edu
210-436-3346
Finding your representatives
If you need to find out who represents you, check out one or more of these tools:
- My Congressional Districtget maps, demographic, and economic information by Congressional District
- US House of Representatives Find your RepresentativeThis page has a look-up feature by ZIP code to identify your representative. (ZIP + 4 makes the search faster)
- Vote SmartProvides free, factual information on candidates and elected officials including voting records, biographical & contact information, issue positions, interest group ratings, public statements, and campaign finances.
For Texas legislators:
- Who Represents Me?The Texas Legislative Council provides this look-up by county, city zip code, address.
Communicating with your representatives
Some tips when e-mailing representatives:
- send individual messages; "spamming" makes a bad impression and your message may be ignored
- include your home address, to be sure your representative knows you are from their state or district (this is not always apparent from your email address)
- The University of North Texas Library offers these "Tips on Communicating with Government Officials."
- and the American Library Association's PDF "Library Advocate's Handbook" includes a section on "Dealing with Legislators"
Some general information on keeping tabs on government can be on this site from the Knight Community News Network and J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism:
- Congressional Twitter AccountsSince many Senators and Representatives are active on Twitter, often issuing statements there rather than posting official press releases to their websites, this list, compiled by the University of California-San Diego Library, is intended to help users identify and quickly access the Twitter accounts of those in the current 117th Congress.
Make your voice heard
This website/tool (a play on the Latin phrase Vox Populi, or "Voice of the People") provides information on current bills and how they are faring in Congress. Some of their apps make it easy to contact your legislators in support or opposition to bills being considered:
- PopVoxby signing up you can create alerts concerning specific bills or subjects
Credits
This guide was originally developed by retired librarian Kathy Amen.