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Serial Set/Reports and Documents in the Library (approx. 1964– )
| The Serial Set is shelved in the position of classification number Y 1.1/2: in the Documents Collection. It consists of tan-colored hardbound volumes shelved by the sequential Serial Set Numbers printed in black on their spines and ceases with the 104th Congress (1996). | ||
| Two kinds of publications comprise the Serial Set:
Reports and Documents. The Reports are the comments,
occasionally including dissenting views, which accompany bills out of Committee.
The Documents are a miscellaneous collection of whatever the Congress decides
to print. Some are ceremonial, some substantive. Examples: collections of
prayers offered at the beginning of each workday in Congress, reports of
the Capitol Architect, descriptions of additions to the National Wild and
Scenic River System.
Reports and Documents are usually cited in sources such as bibliographies by Report or Document number, not by Serial Set volume number. However, prior to 1981, the Reports and Documents were not published in the Serial Set in numerical order. To find which volume contains a particular Report or Document, one must consult the Numerical Lists and Schedule of Volumes, a finding aid published for every Congressional Session. These Lists are shelved at the end of the Serial Set volumes.
Beginning with the 97th Congress (1981) the Serial Set became much more
user-friendly, with Reports and Documents appearing in numerical order. Matching
up dates and Serial Set volumes is easy if you consult this handy
Table of
Congressional Publication Volumes and Presidential Issuances, provided
in PDF format by the the Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.
Another useful tool is this U.S Congressional Serial Set Finding List, developed by Jennifer McMullen at the College of Wooster. It cross-references varaious agency series and serial set volumes. Often agency annual or other reports are reprinted in the Serial Set, and this index makes it easy to track these titles down.
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In 1997 (105th Congress) the Library stopped receiving
the official Serial Set from the Government Printing Office and began inhouse
binding of paper Reports and Documents. These publications from the 105th
and later Congresses are shelved by Congress number within each individual
series, using the following classification numbers:
In other words, for Reports and Documents prior to the 105th Congress, all series produced by a particular Congressional session can be found together in Serial Set volumes. Starting with the 105th Congress, all Reports and Documents in a particular series are shelved in numerical order. For example, 105th Congress House Reports are followed by 106th Congress House Reports, etc., with the Y 1.1/8: classification. All Reports and Documents received since 1997 are represented in the Library's Online Catalog. For material published between 1976 and 1996, another index (either the Catalog of Government Publications or CIS Index) must be used for bibliographic access to the Serial Set volumes. Prior to 1976, you must use the printed Monthly Catalog of Government Publications, which is kept in storage and can be retrieved within 24 hours, or Congressional Universe. If you have any questions about the Library's Serial Set/Reports and Documents collection, or are having difficulty locating any of these publications, please contact the Documents Librarian. |
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Serial Set/Reports and Documents: Internet Sources
| Catalog records for Reports and Documents, beginning with the
105th Congress (1997), appear in the Blume Library
Online Catalog, and these records
include links to electronic versions of the publications, when those are
available. For historical research into Congressional actions, the Library
of Congress' "A
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation" is invaluable, providing access
to laws, debates, journals and more for the years 1774-1873.
Congressional Universe. This database is available for on-campus use AT THE LAW LIBRARY ONLY. In addition to Congressional Universe, there are freely available internet sources of Reports and Documents, although none of these index historical material as thoroughly: |
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| GPO Access
This database contains Reports and Documents from the 104th Congress (1995) to the present. From the GPO Access main page, select the "View All" option ounder the "Legislative Resources" category. Then choose "Congressional Materials"; Documents and Reports are linked in this section. If you don't know whether you want a report or document, you can search both databases at once from the Search across Multiple Databases page. You can search more than one Congress, or both House and Senate publications, from the Reports or Documents search pages. In addition to searching the databases of Reports and Documents, for Documents there is a new browse feature as well. These publications are available in either text or PDF format. The text version does not display charts, photographs, and other graphic materials. The PDF versions are electronic copies of the full publication, including any illustrative material, reproduced in the same quality as in the printed documents. (You must have Adobe Acrobat software on your computer to view PDF files. The software may be downloaded for free from Adobe.) Another way to look for an individual electronic Report or Document on GPO Access is to use their Catalog of Government Publications. It contains links to publications that have electronic versions. |
Thomas and Committee web sites
Thomas contains Reports from the 104th Congress (1995) to the present. It does not contain Documents. Choose the "Committee Reports" option from the main Thomas page. You can search all reports or limit a search to House, Senate, Conference or Joint Committee reports. You can also limit the search to a range of dates or to a particular committee. Bill number search and report number search options are also available. In some cases it might be desirable to browse the list of available reports, and this function is also available on Thomas. Some Reports may be found on individual Committee web sites, but this
availability varies considerably from Committee to Committee. Some Committees
may provide lists, but not the actual Reports. Unless you have been specifically
referred to a Committee web site for a Report or Document, it will usually
be much easier to find this material through GPO Access or Thomas.
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If you need to do searching confined to the Serial Set, from 1976 to the present, a good index option is the Government Printing Office's Catalog of Government Publications, which offers a search capability limited to the Serial Set.
In recent years the Serial Set has been almost exclusively limited to being a (sometimes) dry record of Congressional recommendations and actions. But historically, it also contained many Executive Branch publications, including beautifully drawn maps and engravings, reports of explorations and investigations, etc. Unfortunately, the Blume Library's collection does not contain any of these older historical treasures, but you can see some of them, thanks to the University of Michigan's online exhibition: Congressional Serial Set: Hidden Treasures in American History. There are also links to digitized versions of particular documents of historical interest.
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Congress Guides Index • To list of
sources
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