Added links to Google U.S. Government Search, Google Patents and Unbisnet to http://govpubs.lib.umn.edu.
Also selectively bolded parts of the names of guides in the list at http://courses.lib.umn.edu/page.phtml?page_id=1776 . Let me know if you want any of the ones not bolded changed.
Also added a little triangle to resources I like best on Laws and Legislation Guide.
Google has just introduced its patent search (http://www.google.com/patents) and here are some notes from my playing with it just now:
-Google's full-text searching is from 1776-present
-Google does NOT require a user to download software to view images (since they're using their own) like the USPTO
-search results are linked to patent image/text at USPTO
-there's a "related patents" feature
-the advanced search will probably be necessary for most searches since it is full-text; try Gatling Gun with and without a date range of 1800-1900...
At first glance this is far, far superior to the USTPO search even though it doesn't have "patent applications, international patents, or U.S. patents issued over the last few months".
See http://www.google.com/googlepatents/about.html#faq