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Government Documents: Historical Documents

GENERAL INDEXES

   DATES
 COVERED
TITLE OF INDEX LOCATION
  6th Floor
1774-1881 Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States. 2 vols. (Commonly known as "Poore's" for the author, Ben Perley Poore)
>>AVAILABLE ONLINE (University of North Texas Digital Library)

Gov Docs
Reference

1789-1909

Checklist of United States Public Documents (Commonly known as the "1909 Checklist") >>AVAILABLE ONLINE (University of North Texas Digital Library) Gov Docs Reference
1881-1893 Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government. 2 vols. (Commonly known as "Ames" for the author, John Griffith Ames)
>>VOLUME 1 ONLINE | VOLUME 2 ONLINE (University of North Texas Digital Library)

Gov Docs Reference

1893-1940

Catalogue of the Public Documents of the (53rd-76th) Congress and of All Departments of the Government of the United States. 25 vols. (Commonly known as the "Document Catalogue") Gov Docs Reference

1900-1971

 Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1900-1971.  15 vols. Gov Docs Reference

1951-
present

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications: Standard index for identifying government documents. 10-year cumulative index for 1951-60 &  5-year indexes for 1961-65; 1966-70; 1971-76.

1976-present may be searched in GPO ADVANCED SEARCH / OFF CAMPUS ACCESS or freely online at the Government Publishing Office's Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

Gov Docs Reference

CONGRESSIONAL INDEXES

DATES
COVERED

                     TITLE OF INDEX

LOCATION
6th Floor

1789-1817

Public Documents of the First Fourteen Congresses: Papers Relating to Early Congressional Documents. 1900. (Commonly known as "Greeley's" for author, Adolphus Washington Greeley)

Gov Docs Reference

1817-1893

Tables of and Annotated Index to the Congressional Series of United States Public Documents. 1902.  >>AVAILABLE ONLINE

Microforms
Ultra Fiche
LAC 10555

1830-1969

U.S. Congressional Committee Prints Index Through 1969. 1980. Congressional Information
Service.  5 vols.

Gov Docs Reference

Dates Vary

Congress.gov (The Library of Congress): Indexing and abstracting for Congressional publications, some from as early as the 93rd Congress,  but most of the information begins with the 101st Congress.

 Online

Dates Vary

govinfo (formerly FDsys): Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.

    • Congressional Bills
    • Congressional Documents
    • Congressional Hearings
    • Congressional Record
    • Congressional Reports

 Online

HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS

A Century of Lawmaking For a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents & Debates 1774 - 1875: American Memory Project, Library of Congress. A linked set of published congressional records of the United States of America from the Continental Congress through the 43rd Congress, 1774-1875.
 

CONTINENTAL CONGRESS &
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

JOURNALS OF CONGRESS

Journals of the Continental Congress

House Journal

Letters of Delegates to Congress

Senate Journal

Elliot's Debates

Senate Executive Journal

Farrand's Records

Maclay's Journal

       STATUTES & DOCUMENTS       

DEBATES OF CONGRESS

Bills and Resolutions

Annals of Congress

Statutes at Large

Register of Debates

American State Papers

Congressional Globe

U.S. Serial Set

Congressional Record

100 Milestone Documents: Compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration and drawn primarily from its nationwide holdings. The documents chronicle United States history from 1776 to 1965.

The American Presidency Project: The Public Papers of the Presidents contain most of the President's public messages, statements, speeches, and news conference remarks.

The Avalon Project: Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School. Documents in law, history and diplomacy.

Budget of the United States Government: FRASER: Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research. Collection documents and supporting data that contain the budget message of the President.

The Charters of Freedom: The National Archives. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States and Bill or Rights.

Checklist of United States Government Documents, 1789-1909 (a.k.a. 1909 Checklist): The 1909 Checklist includes holdings of titles that went through the depository system from 1789 - 1909.

Congressional Record (Bound Edition): U.S. Government Publishing Office. The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873 and is still published today.

Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789: The Library of Congress American Memory Project. Documents relating to the work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the Constitution.

Economic Report of the President: FRASER: Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research. Annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. The report has been published since 1947.

Foreign Relations of the United States: Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. The FRUS series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity.

Geologic Atlas of the United States: Texas A&M University Libraries. 227 folios published by the U.S. Geological Survey between 1894 and 1945. Each folio includes both topographic and geologic maps for each quad represented in that folio, as well as description of the basic and economic geology of the area.

Government Documents A-to-Z Digitization Project: University of North Texas Digital Library. An ongoing project, A-to-Z encompasses U.S. federal government documents published prior to 1960.

govinfo: Cornerstone Documents

GPO Historic Shelflist: Historic card catalog covering U.S. Government documents from the 1870s to October 1992.

Historical Publications of the United States Commission on Civil Rights: Thurgood Marshall Law Library, University of Maryland Frances King Carey School of Law. Complete electronic record of United States Commission on Civil Rights publications held in the Library's collection and available on the USCCR Web site.

Historic Government Publications from World War II: Southern Methodist University Central University Libraries. Contains 343 Informational pamphlets, government reports, instructions, regulations, declarations, speeches, and propaganda materials distributed by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) during the Second World War. The documents are held by Government Information Resources.

Library of Congress: American Memory: Statutes at Large 1789-1875

Library of Congress: Digital Collections

Library of Congress: Full Text of Federalist Papers: Series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison between October 1787 and May 1788 to urge New Yorkers to ratify the proposed United States Constitution.

Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications: Pre-1976 issues.

OhioLINK DRC: Government Documents: Ohio Government Documents Roundtable Digital Collection

Primary Documents in American History: The Library of Congress American Memory Project.

The Public Papers of the President of the United States: University of Michigan Digital Library. Contains material that was compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration. It includes volumes covering the administrations of Presidents Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton. As subsequent volumes are published, they will be added online.

Vital Statistics of the United States: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual reports that present detailed vital statistics data, including natality, mortality, marriage and divorce.

U.S. SERIAL SET

The U.S. Serial Set, or United States Congressional Serial Set, is one of the most important sources in historical government research. Started in 1817 with the 15th Congress, it contains the House and Senate Documents and the House and Senate Reports.

The Serial Set for the first fourteen Congresses was published as The American State Papers.
This set is available in the Microform Center at Microfilm 0419.

Selected early volumes of the Serial Set are now available at the Library of Congress American Memory Project.

Maag Library does not have a complete Serial Set, but we do have selected Serial Set reports. Most of these documents can be found by searching "United States Congressional Serial Set" in MaagNET, the online library catalog. Other documents may be borrowed through the OhioLINK Library Catalog.


U.S. Congressional Serial Set: What It Is and Its History

An Overview of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set*

Schedule of Volumes to the U.S. Serial Set: 1970 to Current

Library Resources for Administrative History: Congressional Serial Set

govinfo: U.S. Congressional Serial Set

U.S. Congressional Serial Set Inventory


The Serial Set: Its Make-Up & Content (2013/OhioLINK)


*PDF documents require Acrobat Adobe Reader