About the HSDL

The nation's premier collection of documents related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management.

Our Mission

The Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) is the nation's premier collection of documents related to homeland security policy, strategy, and organizational management. The HSDL is part of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Preparedness Directorate, FEMA.

There are over 196,000 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.

The Collection

The HSDL collection provides quick access to important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources such as theses and reports from various universities, organizations and local and state agencies.

Policy & Strategy General U.S. Policy Documents, National Strategy Documents, and Key Legislation
Presidential Directives Executive Orders and Presidential Directives on homeland security
Theses & Research Reports from U.S. federal academic institutions, particularly the Naval Postgraduate School
Research Tools Grants, statistics, books, journals, and reference resources

Access & Eligibility

Approximately half of the items in the HSDL are openly searchable and available to the public, with no account or authorization necessary. The remaining items are in a larger, full collection that is available to eligible individuals.

Public

Over half the collection is freely searchable and available to anyone — no account required.

Full Access

The full collection is open to eligible individuals, including:

  • Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government officials
  • Members of the U.S. military
  • Homeland security researchers, academics, or students enrolled at or employed by a U.S. academic institution

Ask a Librarian

Individual account-holders have access to the Ask a Librarian email reference service for mission-related inquiries that are brief or factual in nature. HSDL librarians are homeland security subject-matter experts who can assist with research guidance and resource discovery.

Submit a Question