Poore
Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States, Sept. 5, 1774-March 4, 1881. (1885) U.S. Congress. Senate. Senate Miscellaneous Document No. 67, 48th Congress, 2nd Session (Serial Set 2268). New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1970.
As is evident from its title, Poore covers the earliest time period of any of the indexes and covers all documents published by the U.S. government. The descriptions are in chronological order and give the title, the source of the document, the document number, and a very brief summary of the document’s contents. Subject access is possible through an index of subjects and names which gives the page number of more complete descriptions of each item. In order to locate a copy of a document issued after 1789 in the Serial Set, the document number needs to be looked up in the 1909 Checklist or the CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, which will then give the volume of the Serial Set where the document is located.
Sample Entry:
Message on Presents from the King of Siam. Prest. Abraham Lincoln.Feb. 26, 1862
Senate Docs., No. 23, 37th Cong., 2nd sess., Vol. IV.7 pp.
Transmitting a copy of two letters from the King of Siam to the President, accompanied
by certain presents, with the President’s reply thereto.
Resolutions for Public Surveys. Kansas Legislature Feb. 26, 1862
Senate Mis. Docs., No. 23, 37th Cong., 2nd sess., Vol. IV2 pp.
In favor of an appropriation to extend the lines of the public surveys over the unsurveyed
portion of the State, and the extinguishment of Indian titles to lands in said State.
American Memory
United States. Library of Congress. “A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873.” American Memory.http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html
American Memory is a project of the Library of Congress to digitize many kinds of historical documents from their collection. One of the collections is “A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1873.” The House and Senate Journals as well as the Annals of Congress and the Journals of the Continental Congress are available in this collection, as are the Statutes at Large, a chronological arrangement of laws passed by Congress, and several accounts of the Continental Congress and early congresses by individuals. These documents can be searched separately or as a group from the “Search All Law Titles” screen, or click on the individual titles to retrieve a specific document or to browse. Also, make sure to visit the main page for the American Memory project, which is linked from this collection and contains many interesting historical documents.
Sample Search:
At the “Search All Law Titles” screen, enter “income tax” without the quotes in the large text box and choose “match this exact phrase” in the box just under the text box. You will see an image of what was being said on the subject of income taxation in 1815, almost 100 years before the imposition of the income tax we are so familiar with today.
Greeley
Public Documents of the First Fourteen Congresses, 1789-1817: Papers Relating to Early Congressional Documents. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Congress, Senate, 1900. Senate Document No. 428, 56th Congress, 1st Session (Serial Set 3879).
This is a chronological list of the documents of the early congresses, 1789-1817. There is no subject index, so it is most useful for obtaining full information about a document that has already been identified. Citations are organized by congress number, then by House and Senate, then by session number. The daily journal of each body is listed first, then other documents are organized by document type. Dates are always given, but locations are often missing or refer to specific libraries where the document could be found at the time this volume was published. For example, in the sample entry below “Not in N.Y.P.L.” means that the document cannot be found at the New York Public Library. A.S.P, in contrast, refers to the American State Papers, which are available in many libraries.
Sample Entry:
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Second Session, December 5, 1796 to March 3, 1797
Speaker: Jonathan Dayton, New Jersey
Clerk: John Beckley, Virginia
JOURNAL
4 C: 2 S.December 5, 1796.
Journal of the HousePhiladelphia.William Ross1796.299
DOCUMENTS
4 C: 2 S.December 7, 1796
Message from the President. See Senate, this date.
4 C: 2 S.December 14, 1796
Letter accompanying sundry statements in relation to annual expenditure of the War Department, from the commencement of the present Government to December 31, 1795. Not in N.Y.P.L.
4 C: 2 S.December 14, 1796
Letter from Secretary of Treasury Wolcott, accompanying a plan for laying and collecting direct taxes by apportionment among the several States, agreeably to the rule prescribed by the Constitution, in pursuance of a resolution of the House of April 4, 1796.
Published by order of the House of Representatives. Ex. Docs. 82 pp. N.Y.P.L. Philadelphia, 1796. 68 (8) p. and 9 nbdsd. sheet. nar. folio. A. S. P., Fin., 1: 414-465.
CIS U.S. Serial Set Index
CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, 1789-1969. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1975-79.
The CIS U.S. Serial Set Index includes an Index of Subjects and Keywords as well as an Index of Names and Organizations. There is also a numerical list of reports and documents and a schedule of serial volumes to assist in locating a copy of a document in the serial set once the congressional reference number is known. Each reference in the subject index gives the document number, the congress and session, and the volume in the Serial Set where the document can be found. This index gives the most consistently comprehensive information of any of the indexes about where to locate a document in the Serial Set and is an excellent starting point for historical searching.
Sample Entry:
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
Cost of occupation of Philippine Islands
H.doc. 875 (62-2) 6323
Democratic Party and Philippine independence, article by Moorfield Storey
S.Doc. 159 (63-1) 6536
Congressional Masterfile I
Congressional Masterfile I (CD-ROM). Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, Inc.
This CD-ROM searchable subject index includes the same material as the print indexes published by CIS (the U.S. Serial Set Index 1789-1969, the Congressional Hearings Index 1833-1969, the Unpublished Congressional Hearings Index 1823-1964, and the Congressional Prints Index 1830-1969). Search results can be displayed in short or long format. A short bibliographic reference includes the title of each document, CIS’s reference number (used to access the document on CIS’s microfiche collection), the congress and session numbers, and the document number. If the document is in the Serial Set, there will be a notation to this effect in the short entry. The long entry also gives the serial volume number as well as more detailed information about dates, subject terms, and witnesses for hearings. Please note that many of the hearings and prints are not readily available except as part of CIS’s microfiche sets.
Sample Short Entry:
CIS NO: 1272 H.rp. 104 (Serial-Set)
TITLE: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln; implication of Jefferson Davis and others in crime of treason; letters relating to policy of rebel government towards negroes bearing arms, rebel prisons, etc.
CONGRESS-SESSION: 39-1SESSION YEAR(S) : 1865, 1866
CONGRESS: 39
Sample Long Entry (partial):
CIS NO: 48-1 S.Rep. v.2n.283 (Published-Hearing)
TITLE: Dividing Portion of Reservation of Sioux Nation of Indians, in Dakota, into Separate Reservations, and Securing Relinquishment of Indian Title to Remainder
DATE: Aug. 7,8,15,17,21,22,24,25,27,28…1883COLLATION: xlv +404p. Index. foldouts
NOTES: [re. locations of hearings]
COMITTEE: Senate Select Committee to Examine into the Condition of the Sioux and Crow Indians
WITNESSES (and witness notations):
IRON BULL, Mr. (Crow Indian, Crow Agency, Mont, p.3.)
TWO BELLY, Mr. (Crow Indian, Crow Agency, Mont, p.5)
Congressional Record
United States. Congress. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1873–.
United States. Congress. Congressional Globe. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1834.
United States. Congress. Register of Debates in Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1825–.
United States. Congress. Annals of Congress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1789-1824.
United States. Continental Congress. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1968.
The Congressional Record has published the proceedings and edited debates of Congress since March 5, 1873. Before 1873, the debates were summarized in the Congressional Globe (1833-73), the Register of Debates (1824-37), the Annals of Congress (1789-1824), and the Journals of the Continental Congress. The earliest of these sources are limited by the lack of an official stenographer and by primitive transcription methods. The Journals of the Continental Congress in particular consist primarily of summaries and written documents compiled years after the fact, but by the time the Congressional Record began publication the main difference between the transcripts and the actual debates was the editorial changes made by congressmen. For example, in the Congressional Record a bullet next to a statement means that it was inserted in the record but never spoken on the floor.
Each numbered Congress has its own indexed volume or volumes of the Congressional Record, arranged in chronological order. Later volumes also have an indexed Daily Digest at the end of the Congress, and some have appendixes of various kinds. The main index refers to page numbers in any of these volumes, as well as to bill and resolution numbers which can then be pursued in the House and Senate Journals.
Sample Entry from the 76th Congress (Volume 85, November 1 to November 3, 1939):
HITLER, ADOLF, article by Hermann Rauschning entitled “Hitler could not Stop” (Appendix, 20).
Comments in Winston Churchill’s book relating to (Appendix, 157).
Letter from the President of the United States urging termination of the European War addressed to, 198.
House and Senate Journals
United States. Congress. House. Journals of the House of Representatives of the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1781–.
United States. Congress. Senate. Journals of the Senate of the United States Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1781–.
The House and Senate Journals record the actions of the each body on each day they are in session, but do not contain transcripts of debates. Each volume of the Journals corresponds to a session of Congress and has its own index at the back of the volume. Index entries refer to bill or resolution numbers, which then must be looked up in lists of bills, House Resolutions, and House Concurrent Resolutions which immediately precede the index. The entry for the bill or resolution gives the dates when the matter was discussed or acted on in some way. Occasionally an index entry will give a page number if there is no bill or resolution connected to the matter, as in the annual report in the sample entry below.
Sample Entry from House Journal (89th Congress, 2nd Session, 1966):
UNITED NATIONS
Participation by the United States in, 19th annual report, 274.
Permanent peacekeeping force, provide (H.Con.Res. 683, 689,690,
691, 692, 693, 694, 899, 900, 981, 1014, 1016).
Prohibit assistance to any country which is 6 months or more in arrears
with respect to payment of its assessed share of United Nations
expenses (H.R. 15145).
Urge United States to continue opposition to admission of Red China
to the (H.Con.Res. 1015).
Sample Entry from Senate Journal (89th Congress, 2nd Session, 1966):
Page Vietnam–
Agricultural agreements concluded with, reports… 8, 59,
118, 229, 264, 591
Armed Forces members killed in, appointment to service
academies for sons–(See S. 2880.)
Commitments in, fiscal and monetary position of United States,
investigate–(See S.Res. 221.)
Tables
Tables of and Annotated Index to the Congressional Series of United States Public Documents. (1902). U.S. Government Printing Office. Superintendent of Documents. GP3.2:P96.
This volume contains both a subject index to the Serial Set and a reference table of the document numbers included in each volume of the Serial Set. The reference table is arranged chronologically by congress number, then session number and date, so it is a useful source for locating documents identified in other indexes, finding the Serial Set volumes which cover a range of dates and for locating the House and Senate Journals for a particular session.
Sample Entry from Subject index:
Civil war–continued
Correspondence, James Buchanan to Lewis Cass, regarding policy to be pursued to avert war…….. ser. no. 1393 doc. no. 7
“Cotton loan” or rebel debt…………………………………………………………………………… ser. no. 1263 doc. no. 95
same………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ser. no. 1263 doc. no. 131
Debts of loyal States………………………………………………………………………………….. ser. no.1272 doc. no. 16
Sample Entry from reference tables:
FORTY-FIRST CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
March 4-April 10, 1869
Serial No.
Vol.
Part
Series
Number
Notes
1392
….
….
S. journal
….
Contains also proceedings of special session Senate, Apr. 12-22, 1869, p. 167.
1393
1
….
S.ex.docs.
1-12
Except 11, in serial nos. 1394-1398
1394
2
….
….do….
11
Alabama claims, v.1.
1395
3
….
….do….
11
same, v.2
1396
4
….
….do….
11
same, v.3
CIS Congressional Committee Prints Index
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Prints Index through 1969. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1980.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Prints. Washington D.C.: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1980.
This commercially published index covers a microfiche set of the research reports prepared at the request of Congress. It contains an Index by Subjects and Names, which refers to a reference bibliography. Reference numbers in the reference bibliography begin with an H (House), S (Senate), or J (Joint Committee), and the Congress, Session and year are also given. The reference bibliography contains brief bibliographic descriptions, including a SuDoc call number if the report was released through the Federal Depository Library Program, the name of the committee associated with the report, and subject references. If the report was not released to Depository Libraries, its entry in the reference bibliography will not have a SuDoc number or Serial Set reference and it is only available as part CIS’s microfiche set.
Sample Entry (Index by Subjects and Names):
Education
Goals in education for 1965
(89/1/65)H0667
History of American education, some important dates in
(88/1/13) H1926
Sample Entry (Reference Bibliography):
H0667:
Education goals for 1965 [with presidential message on education]
v+170 p. Jan. 1965. (89/1/65) Y4.Ed8/1:Ed8/25.
House Committee on Education and Labor
Education; Higher education; Elementary and secondary education; National goals; Presidential communications and messages; Elementary and Secondary Education Act; Higher Education Act
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1981-1985.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, Inc., 1981-1985.
This commercially published index covers Senate and House committee hearings from approximately 1830-1969. It is divided into eight chronological parts, each of which consists of several volumes. The first part, for example, covers hearings from 1833 to March 1917. Each part contains an index by subjects and organizations, which then refers to a separate reference bibliography volume containing detailed information on each hearing, including witnesses, topics discussed, and the number of any bill that was the subject of the hearing. There is also a title index, bill number index, SuDocs number index and names index. All items have a CIS reference number and are published in microfiche; if a hearing does not also have a SuDoc number or a reference to the Serial Set, it is likely to only be available in CIS’s microfiche set of hearing transcripts. The reference below is an example of a document available only on microfiche.
Educational facilities
Office of Indian Aff programs, FY00 approp SAp 55-C
Sample Entry (Reference Bibliography):
SAp 55-C INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL
Jan. 9, 10, 1899. 55-3. 48 p. Committee: Senate Committee on Appropriations
Subject descriptors: Appropriations; Office of Indian Affairs; Indians; Water supply; Educational Facilities; Federal aid to education
Bill: (55) H.R. 11217
Witnesses:
Woodson, A.E. (Maj.), Act Indian Agent, Cheyenne and Arapahoe Agency, Okla, p. 3.
Jones, William A., Commr, Office of Indian Aff, p. 13.
Slater, Samuel E., Office of Indian Aff, p. 19.
Ames
Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government. (1905) U.S. Congress, House of Representatives. House Document No. 754, 58th Congress, 2nd Session (Serial Set 4745-4746). New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1970.
Ames covers the years 1881-1893 and is a subject index to all government documents published during this period. The index has three columns: author or origin of the document in the left, date and description in the middle, and type of report and report number on the right. In order to find a specific report in the Serial Set after it is identified in Ames, the report number needs to be looked up in one of the chronological lists of documents: the 1909 Checklist, CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, or Document Catalogue (but note that the Document Catalogue does not include information prior to 1893).
Sample Entry:
EDUCATION
Staci, A.J . Education and liberal arts, as shown in exposition at Paris, 1889, report on Reports of Paris Exposition, 1889, v. 2, p. 113-192
H.E. 51-1, v. 39 No. 410, pt. 2.
Warren, C. Education, Bureau of, answers to inquries about work and history of 1883, 29 p. …building for use of, res. of National Educational Association of U.S. favoring provision for.July 23, 88 S.M. 50-1, v. 2 No. 167, 3 p.
Hickox
Hickox, John H., ed. United States Government Publications: a Monthly Catalog. Arlington, VA: Carrollton Press
Kanely, Edna A., compiler. Cumulative Index to Hickox’s Monthly Catalogue of United States Government Publications, 1885-1894. Arlington, VA: Carrollton Press, 1981.
Hickox published a monthly catalog arranged by year and then by author for the years 1885 to 1894. The Carrolton Press edition contains SuDoc call numbers for agency publications, but for access to the Serial Set documents must be looked up by congress, session and document type and number in the Tables, Greeley, or the CIS Serial Set Index. For subject access, there is a companion index which gives the author’s name for each reference as well as the year of publication in parentheses and the page number in Hickox where the reference may be found.
Sample Entry From Index:
Education, etc.–Continued
History. *Adams, H.B. (88) 237; (90) 53; (94) 124,223.
*Bush, G.G. (89) 139
Sample Entry From Hickox:
Bush, George Gary. History of Education in Florida. Washington, 1889. 54pp., 4 plates. I16.5:888/6
Claims. Report from the Committee on Claims favoring bill (H.R. 12384) for the allowance of certain claims reported by the accounting officers. February 26, 1889. 1p 2619-2685
Sen. Rep. no 2685; 50th Cong., 2nd sess.
CRS Index
Congressional Information Service. Index to Major Studies and Issue Briefs of the Congressional Research Service. (CD-ROM). Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1916–.
This index covers the microfilm and microfiche set Major Studies and Issue Briefs of the Congressional Research Service. These briefs are prepared by the research agency of Congress for congressional committees and individual senators and representatives, and can give insight into how policy issues were addressed at the time each report was written. The Major Studies and Issue Briefs covers dates since 1916 and a wide range of subject matter, but as the set’s title implies, all CRS reports are not included. If constituents become aware of Congressional Research Service publications which are not part of this set, Penny Hill Press is a commercial publisher that has a selection of CRS publications. Other organizations that have put CRS reports on the web for their area of interest are the National Council for Science and the Environment, and the Federation of American Scientists. As a last resort, congresspersons can sometimes obtain a copy of CRS publications for their constituents.
The citations in the CRS Index list the year of the microfilm reel or microfiche, followed by a dash, the reel or fiche number, and the frame number. The CRS Index on CD-ROM has both an index giving all searchable terms and a thesaurus giving the subject descriptors used by the indexers for each report. Authors and titles are also searchable. Use the help menu for guidance on how to search by specific parts of the record, such as title, or how to combine search terms. In order to find a report in the microfilm or microfiche, you will need the report number and the film and frame number if it is given.
Sample Entry:
Military assistance Africa (Horn) political conflicts, international implications
and effects on US foreign policy 1978/79-4:0760
Africa policy Presidential authority, congressional restrictions summary
1978/79-4:0760
PAIS
Public Affairs Information Service. Public Affairs Information Service. New York: Public Affairs Information Service, 1915–.
PAIS is an index of information about economics, political science, social welfare, and international relations which includes congressional information but is not limited to government resources. It has been published since 1915, and focuses on factual and statistical information. Its aim is to index the “best” information in its areas of coverage. Indexes are published annually, with paperbound updates during the current year. A cumulative index was published for 1915-1974. An electronic version of PAIS is also available by subscription, covering dates from 1972.
In the cumulative index, references appear as (year) page column item no. Therefore, the citation (64)355L15 means the citation is found in the 1964 annual volume on page 355, left hand column, 15th item from the top. The items themselves are described in the annual volumes.
Sample Search: 1915-1974 Cumulative Index
WOMAN SUFFERAGE – Continued
FEDERAL AMENDMENT (17) 478L9; (18) 555L13; (19) 499r17, 500R17, 500R19, 500R20
action (19) 500R4
alteration (19) 500R8
arguments against (16) 333R9; (17) 478L8
CIS Congressional Universe
Congressional Information Service. CIS Congressional Universe. http://web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp
Congressional Universe is a commercial product available only to libraries that pay a subscription fee. It provides access to full text congressional information, including legislative histories from 1984, full text of bills and bill tracking from 1989, congressional testimony from 1988, committee reports from 1990, selected committee prints from 1996, congressional documents from 1995, and the Congressional Record from 1985. In order to search by subject, choose “Congressional Publications” from the main menu and then choose “Search by Subject.” Search terms can be entered directly, or the list of index terms can be browsed. From the Congressional Publications menu, you can also search the full text of reports, documents, prints or theCongressional Record.
Congressional Universe indexes documents back to 1970, making it a good electronic option for locating documents back to that date. However, they must be retreived in another format.
Sample Search:
From the main menu, choose “Congressional Publications.” Choose “search by subject,” and enter “arts and humanities” in the first box and “budget” in the second box. Your results screen will break down records into hearings, legislative history, prints, and reports. Scroll down to look at the hearings. One of your results should be the following record:
1. Downsizing Government and Setting Priorities of Federal Programs, Part 1, CIS-NO: 95-H181-12, CIS-DATE: March, 1995, SOURCE: Committee on Appropriations. House, DOC-TYPE: Hearing, DATE: Jan. 11, 18, 19, 24-26, 31, Feb, 16, 1995, LENGTH: ii+1103+vi p. il. Index., SUDOC: Y4.AP6/1:G74/7/PT.1, CIS/Index
If you click on the title, you will see a full record for this hearing, including a summary of testimony, numbers of related laws, the names of witnesses (including actor Charlton Heston and filmmaker Ken Burns), and testimony descriptors that can be used to refine your search. The full text of the hearing is available on-line, and you can access it by clicking on “Retrieve the full text of testimony.”
United States Library of Congress. Thomas. http://thomas.loc.gov
Thomas is the on-line legislative information service of the Library of Congress. It includes bills, laws, the Congressional record, and committee reports, as well as other information on current proposed legislation and the activities of the House and Senate. Summaries and status of bills and resumes of congressional activity are available from the early 1970’s, and the full text of bills and the Congressional Record are available from 1989. Most committee reports are included from 1995.
Each congress must be searched separately. Bills can be searched by keyword, indexed subject term, bill number, or stage in the legislative process. The Congressional Record can be searched by member of Congress, keyword, indexed subject term, date, or section of the Record.
Sample Search:
At the Thomas home page, look under “Legislation” and click on the “Bill Text: Previous” section. On the next screen, click on “101” under “Bill Text” to search the full text of bills from the 101st Congress. Enter “clean air” without the quotation marks to see all the attempts to amend the Clean Air Act during this congress. Your first five results should be the following:
1 . To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the imposition of certain excise taxes related to the enforcement of provisions of the Clean Air Act added by the Clean Air… (Introduced in the Senate) [S.2424.IS]
2 . To amend the Clean Air Act. (Introduced in the House) [H.R.2950.IH]
3 . To amend part C of title I of the Clean Air Act to improve air quality, and for other purposes. (Introduced in the House) [H.R.4239.IH]
4 . Motor Vehicle Emission Control Act of 1989 (Introduced in the House) [H.R.3195.IH]
5 . To amend the Clean Air Act to provide that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall have authority to regulate air pollution on and over the Outer Continental… (Introduced in the Senate) [S.782.IS]
Click on the bill number to see the text of the bill, as well as to link to its legislative history.
Monthly Catalog
Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (monthly). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Superintendent of Documents, 1895–. GP 3.8.
This index has been issued monthly by the Government Printing Office since 1895. It is organized by issuing agency, with a variety of indexes to provide other kinds of access. Indexes refer to the entry number in the main section of the volume. Over time, the information in the entries and the indexes have changed, but there is usually at least an annual subject index with each volume. Author and title indexes are included with some ranges of years, and a United States Congressional Serial Set Supplement was issued with separate subject, author and title indexes for several years. The Serial Set Supplements were issued up to four years after the Congress which they index.
Because they cover a broad range of years, several privately published indexes are the easiest access points to the Monthly Catalog for 1895 to 1941:
Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1895-1899. Arlington, VA: Carrolton Press, 1977.
Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1900-1971. Arlington, VA: Carrolton Press, 1973-75.
Quinquennial Cumulative Personal Author Index, 1941–. Ann Arbor, MI: Pierian Press, 1971–
Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents, 1789-1976. Arlington, VA: United States Historical Documents Institute, 1979-82.
In 1941, the Government Printing Office started issuing author/title/subject indexes which cover periods of five or ten years each, making subject access much easier. This practice continued until 1976, when the main entries were expanded to conform with national standards for cataloging and a wider variety of annual indexes were printed. Two searchable versions of the Monthly Catalog are available on the Internet. The Government Printing Office version covers documents published by the U.S. Government since 1994 athttp://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dpos/adpos400.html. FirstSearch has a database which is only available to subscribers, but covers information back to 1976.
Sample Entry From 1966 Index:
Congress, Joint Committee on Organization of:
additional expenditures, report, 5752
hearings, 1791, 11595, 14368
joint committee print, 451
reports, 4087, 4170, 13173
Sample Entry From August 1966:
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Washington, D.C. 20510
House Documents
NOTE–All House documents, entries for which are followed by a +, may be obtained from the House Document Room or from the issuing office.
House documents, 89th Congress.
11597 318. National Science Foundation, its present and future. Report of Committee on Science and Astronautics, 89th Congress, 2d session; Feb. 1, 1966. 1966. xvii+118 p. il. (Serial M.) + • Item 996
11598 320. Annual report of Secretary of Treasury on state of finances, fiscal year 1965. [1966] xxviii+813 p. ill.([Treasury Dept. doc. 3236.]) •(Available in departmental edition, $2.50, T1.1:965, and sent to depositories in that form. See Entry no. 12545.)
Sent to Depository Libraries
Sample Entry: 1985 U.S. Congressional Serial Set Supplement Title Keyword Index
Foreign Relations for inquiries and investigations: 85-5835
on S. 1196…, International S 85-5914
on S. 2608 together with additio 85-6295
Sample Entry: 1985 U.S. Congressional Serial Set Supplement
85-5792
Y 1.1/3:97-31
NATO today : the alliance in evolution : a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate. — Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1982.
vii, 102 p. : 24 cm.–(Document / 97th Congress, 2d session, Senate ; no. 97-31) Serial Set No.: 13440 “April 1982.” “June 9, 1982.”
·Item 996-A, 996-B (microfiche)
1. North Atlantic Treaty Organization I. United States Congress. Senate. Committee on Foreigh Relations. II. Title: N.A.T.O. Today III. Title: The alliance in evolution IV. Series: Senate Document (United States. Congress (97th, 2nd session : 1982). Senate) ; no. 97-31. OCLC 08985287
CIS/Annual
Since 1970, the material previously covered in the CIS Serial Set Index, CIS Congressional Committee Hearings Index, and CIS Congressional Committee Prints Index has been combined into one set, CIS/Annual. Similar to the older CIS indexes, there is a cumulative index which refers to abstracts in an annual volume. Abstract numbers begin with H (House), S (Senate), or J (Joint). For a detailed discussion of this index prepared by John Spears for the Government Documents Library at the University of Illinois, seehttp://www.library.illinois.edu/doc/classes/CISIndex/home.htm. The same material is available in CD-ROM format as Congressional Masterfile II, which is a continuation of Congressional Masterfile I, and is accessible at as the subject index in Congressional Universe.
Sample Entry from Subject index 1975-1978:
Nuclear test ban
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency annual rpt, 1976, Pres communic, 77 H460-11
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, congressional study mission rpt. 78 S202-6
Sample Entry from 1977 volume:
H460-11 U.S. ARMS CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT AGENCY 1976 ANNUAL REPORT:
Communication from the President
Jan 20,, 1977. 95-1
ix + 35 p. + CIS/MF/3
- Item 996 H.Doc. 95-58
MC 77-12761
Transmittal of sixteenth annual report of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) highlighting 1976 activities, including international negotiations on nonproliferation, nuclear testing, SALT, mutual force reductions, arms transfers, environmental modification, chemical weapons, research, and public information activities.
Appendices (p. 19-35) contain text of Presidential announcement on nuclear energy policy, Oct, 28, 1976 (p. 19-30), text of draft convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques (p. 31-34), and list of ACDA appearances before congressional committees during the 94th Congress, 2d session (p. 35).
FDsys
United States. Superintendent of Documents. FDsys. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/
FDsys is the digital library of the Government Printing Office, the official publisher of federal government information. It came on-line in 1995 as GPO Access, and most of the documents available in its database are from that date or later. There are exceptions: history of bills and the Congressional Record Index are available from 1983, but do not link to full text until the mid-1990’s.
Document Catalogue
Catalogue of the Public Documents of the (53rd-76th) Congress and of All Departments of the Government of the United States for the Period from March 4, 1893 to Dec. 31, 1940.Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents (biennial).
This is a 25 volume subject index covering the years 1893 to 1940, with each volume compiling approximately two years. It covers all government publications, including Congress, and also contains a list of government agencies and House and Senate Committees which were government authors during the period covered by each volume. It gives the volume and page number of each document, a description of the document, and information on the congress which published the document. Words inserted into the title by the indexer for clarity are enclosed in square brackets. If an exact date is given, it is the date the document was ordered printed. If a year only is given, it is the year of publication. Serial Set volume numbers are bolded at the end of each entry. This index also contains non-congressional documents which have SuDoc numbers rather than Serial Set information.
Sample Entry:
Indian Bureau
Utes. Draft of bill [to indemnify] confederated bands of Ute Indians for lands of their reservation in Colorado [that have been included in Battlement Mesa forest reserve and White River Plateau timber land reserve]. Dec. 9, 1901. 4 pp. map (S.Doc. 34, 57th Cong. 1st sess. In v. 2; 4220.)
Indian depredation claims.
GAMBLE, R.J. Report from Committee on Indian Depredations, amending S. 3544, to amend act for adjudication and payment of claims arising from Indian depredations. May 5, 1902. 5 pp. (S.rp. 1388, 57th Cong. 1st sess. In v. 7; 4262.)