View a brief guide to finding and using resources at https://library.truman.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/PublicPolicyInformation.pdf
Congress and the Nation REF JK 1 .C662
Gives overviews of legislative initiatives in Congress and any Public Law (P. L.) numbers associated with them. The material is broken down into major subject areas (Economic Policy, National Security Labor, Natural Resources, etc.) and then into more specific subtopics. The information is presented in narrative form with chronologies and descriptions of important legislative initiatives. Each volume covers approximately five years of Congressional activity. See an example of searching in Congress and the Nation.
CQ Researcher (1991-current year).
CQ Researcher provides award winning in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day, such as health care reform, immigration, school safety etc.. The reports are written by experienced journalists, footnoted and professionally fact-checked. Full-length articles include:
New York Times Article Archives 1851-the present.
Indexes over 15 million articles published in the New York Times from September 1851 to the present. Searching is free, however, you must either use the citation information to locate the articles on microfilm in Truman's library collection or purchase the full-text through the web site. Users can search for articles by keyword or phrase, author, headline, date, or date range. Searches may be limited to articles only or broadened to include advertisements and other listings.
Gives overviews of legislative initiatives in Congress and any Public Law (P. L.) numbers associated with them. The material is broken down into major subject areas (Economic Policy, National Security Labor, Natural Resources, etc.) and then into more specific subtopics. The information is presented in narrative form with chronologies and descriptions of important legislative initiatives. Each volume covers approximately five years of Congressional activity. See an example of searching in Congress and the Nation.
CQ Researcher (1991-current year).
CQ Researcher provides award winning in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day, such as health care reform, immigration, school safety etc.. The reports are written by experienced journalists, footnoted and professionally fact-checked. Full-length articles include:
- Topic overview
- Historical background
- Pro/con feature
- Resources for additional research
New York Times Article Archives 1851-the present.
Indexes over 15 million articles published in the New York Times from September 1851 to the present. Searching is free, however, you must either use the citation information to locate the articles on microfilm in Truman's library collection or purchase the full-text through the web site. Users can search for articles by keyword or phrase, author, headline, date, or date range. Searches may be limited to articles only or broadened to include advertisements and other listings.
Public Laws
The actual text of laws as passed by Congress.
Congressional Bills
This is the legislation put forward in the House or Senate proposing a new law. It ultimately needs to be considered and passed by both houses and signed by the President to become a law. The final text of the law can differ considerably from the original bill introduced in either chamber. The types of information described below are used by Congressmen and Senators to make the transition from a bill to a law.
Committee Hearings
These are public forums, usually held by a Senate or House subcommittee after a bill as been referred there for consideration. One bill may often be reviewed by several subcommittees in both houses and thus have numerous hearings associated with it. The complete records of these hearings will contain the testimony of those who spoke there regarding the bill. This could include interested citizens or subject experts who are asked to testify.
Committee Prints
These are documents prepared for the use of committees and their staffs. They are usually composed by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress, by committee staffers or by independent consultants.
Committee Reports
These are communications from committees or subcommittees describing the purpose or scope of a bill and the reasons for recommending approval by the full House or Senate. Sometimes a committee will fail to report a bill at all, effectively killing it, or report it with it "without recommendation" which has a similar effect.
Serial Set
This is a collection encompassing the committee reports mentioned aboved as well as several other types of documents. These include House and Senate Documents. These include presidential messages (including vetoes), reports on audits of government corporations, annual reports of federal agencies, and the annual State of the Union Address. Other specific categories of information include Senate Treaty Documents from the president to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Executive Reports which typically are recommendations for approval of a treaty or for the confirmation of officials in the judiciary or executive branch.
Legislative Histories
Listings of documents (hearings, committee prints, reports, etc.) related to a public law. These are generally organized by the public law (PL-104, e.g.) or by the official name of the law. In electronic format, these histories also contain links to the text of the associated bill, the law itself, and a timeline of information regarding Congressional on the bill.
The actual text of laws as passed by Congress.
Congressional Bills
This is the legislation put forward in the House or Senate proposing a new law. It ultimately needs to be considered and passed by both houses and signed by the President to become a law. The final text of the law can differ considerably from the original bill introduced in either chamber. The types of information described below are used by Congressmen and Senators to make the transition from a bill to a law.
Committee Hearings
These are public forums, usually held by a Senate or House subcommittee after a bill as been referred there for consideration. One bill may often be reviewed by several subcommittees in both houses and thus have numerous hearings associated with it. The complete records of these hearings will contain the testimony of those who spoke there regarding the bill. This could include interested citizens or subject experts who are asked to testify.
Committee Prints
These are documents prepared for the use of committees and their staffs. They are usually composed by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress, by committee staffers or by independent consultants.
Committee Reports
These are communications from committees or subcommittees describing the purpose or scope of a bill and the reasons for recommending approval by the full House or Senate. Sometimes a committee will fail to report a bill at all, effectively killing it, or report it with it "without recommendation" which has a similar effect.
Serial Set
This is a collection encompassing the committee reports mentioned aboved as well as several other types of documents. These include House and Senate Documents. These include presidential messages (including vetoes), reports on audits of government corporations, annual reports of federal agencies, and the annual State of the Union Address. Other specific categories of information include Senate Treaty Documents from the president to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Executive Reports which typically are recommendations for approval of a treaty or for the confirmation of officials in the judiciary or executive branch.
Legislative Histories
Listings of documents (hearings, committee prints, reports, etc.) related to a public law. These are generally organized by the public law (PL-104, e.g.) or by the official name of the law. In electronic format, these histories also contain links to the text of the associated bill, the law itself, and a timeline of information regarding Congressional on the bill.
ProQuest Congressional
Index of U.S. legislative information including Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, member and committee information, hot topics, etc. Indexing from 1789 onward; some full text available online after 1980.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index Ref KF 40 C57
Multi-part index of Congressional hearings from 1833 to 1969, divided according to time periods. Each set lists hearings by number and indicates the CIS access information for locating that hearing on microfiche. Indexing is also available by bill name and by organization or agency. A numerical listing of bill numbers lists hearings held on that bill.
CIS U.S. Serial Set Index REF Z 1223 .Z9 C65 1975
Index of Congressional documents other than hearings, including committee reports, prints, American state papers, veto messages, and State of the Union addresses. Organized chronologically by Congress in 15 volumes.
Index of U.S. legislative information including Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, member and committee information, hot topics, etc. Indexing from 1789 onward; some full text available online after 1980.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index Ref KF 40 C57
Multi-part index of Congressional hearings from 1833 to 1969, divided according to time periods. Each set lists hearings by number and indicates the CIS access information for locating that hearing on microfiche. Indexing is also available by bill name and by organization or agency. A numerical listing of bill numbers lists hearings held on that bill.
CIS U.S. Serial Set Index REF Z 1223 .Z9 C65 1975
Index of Congressional documents other than hearings, including committee reports, prints, American state papers, veto messages, and State of the Union addresses. Organized chronologically by Congress in 15 volumes.
HeinOnline
HeinOnline is a premier online database containing more than 183 million pages and 283,000 titles of historical and government documents in a fully searchable, image-based format. The database also contains the entire Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and entire databases dedicated to treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and more.
Congressional Bills
Congress.gov
https://www.congress.gov/legislation
Full text of House and Senate bills from 1993 to present and summaries of bills back to 1973.
For Congressional activity prior to 1982, nearly all information is available on microfiche. This is available in the microform reading room in Microfiche Cabinets 24-30. On any index citation note the CIS (Congressional Information Service) number, the designation for the type of document (Published Hearing, Unpublished Hearing, Committee Print, Serial-Set) and the designation of the appropriate chamber (S for Senate; H for House of Representatives).
Published Hearings (Pre-1970)
Cabinet 25 Drawer 8 - Cabinet 27 Drawer 3
Committee Prints (Pre-1970)
Cabinet 27 Drawers 4-5
Unpublished Senate Hearings (1823-1964, 1965-1968)
Cabinet 27 Drawers 6-7
Serial Set (Pre-1970)
Cabinet 27 Drawer 8 - Cabinet 28 Drawer 10
Congressional Information Services (1970-2002)
Cabinet 29 Drawer 1 - Cabinet 30 Drawer 9
For this period, documents of all types (Hearings, Committee Prints, etc.) are interfiled in this collection (along with Serial Set items), with documents retrievable by CIS number. After 1982, hearings and prints are moved to a different collection and only Serial Set items are housed here. After 2002, no new additions are made to this collection.
Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) Collection (1983+)
Cabinets 1-4
From 1983 onward, hearings and committee prints are interfiled with other government documents and accessed by SuDoc number (e.g. Y4 ). Serial Set items continued to be added to the CIS Collection until 2002, after which no items have been added to the Serial Set. All Congressional documents from 2003 and later are housed in the SuDoc collection.
HeinOnline is a premier online database containing more than 183 million pages and 283,000 titles of historical and government documents in a fully searchable, image-based format. The database also contains the entire Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and entire databases dedicated to treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and more.
Congressional Bills
Congress.gov
https://www.congress.gov/legislation
Full text of House and Senate bills from 1993 to present and summaries of bills back to 1973.
For Congressional activity prior to 1982, nearly all information is available on microfiche. This is available in the microform reading room in Microfiche Cabinets 24-30. On any index citation note the CIS (Congressional Information Service) number, the designation for the type of document (Published Hearing, Unpublished Hearing, Committee Print, Serial-Set) and the designation of the appropriate chamber (S for Senate; H for House of Representatives).
Published Hearings (Pre-1970)
Cabinet 25 Drawer 8 - Cabinet 27 Drawer 3
Committee Prints (Pre-1970)
Cabinet 27 Drawers 4-5
Unpublished Senate Hearings (1823-1964, 1965-1968)
Cabinet 27 Drawers 6-7
Serial Set (Pre-1970)
Cabinet 27 Drawer 8 - Cabinet 28 Drawer 10
Congressional Information Services (1970-2002)
Cabinet 29 Drawer 1 - Cabinet 30 Drawer 9
For this period, documents of all types (Hearings, Committee Prints, etc.) are interfiled in this collection (along with Serial Set items), with documents retrievable by CIS number. After 1982, hearings and prints are moved to a different collection and only Serial Set items are housed here. After 2002, no new additions are made to this collection.
Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) Collection (1983+)
Cabinets 1-4
From 1983 onward, hearings and committee prints are interfiled with other government documents and accessed by SuDoc number (e.g. Y4 ). Serial Set items continued to be added to the CIS Collection until 2002, after which no items have been added to the Serial Set. All Congressional documents from 2003 and later are housed in the SuDoc collection.
The Congressional Record (1774+) is published daily while either the Senate or the House of Representatives is in session. It is available in several print and online formats in Pickler Memorial Library.
HeinOnline
https://heinonline.org/HOL/Welcome
Proquest Congressional, 1985-Present
http://search.proquest.com/congressional
Congress.gov, 1989-Present
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record
U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO)
https://www.govinfo.gov/
http://catalog.gpo.gov/F
Index in Microforms Room
Micro Ref J 11 R3992
Full Text in Microfilm Room (1873-1990)
J11 R399
Full Text in Microfiche (1989-1996)
Cabinet 1, Drawer 8, X1.1
HeinOnline
https://heinonline.org/HOL/Welcome
Proquest Congressional, 1985-Present
http://search.proquest.com/congressional
Congress.gov, 1989-Present
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record
U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO)
https://www.govinfo.gov/
http://catalog.gpo.gov/F
Index in Microforms Room
Micro Ref J 11 R3992
Full Text in Microfilm Room (1873-1990)
J11 R399
Full Text in Microfiche (1989-1996)
Cabinet 1, Drawer 8, X1.1
These resourcesare all available through the new Government Publishing Office (GPO) site at https://www.govinfo.gov/ and at HeinOnline
Testimony and reports from the investigative arm of Congress in HeinOnline and at http://www.gao.gov and https://govinfo.gov
- Federal Register
- Code of Federal Regulations
- Compilation of Presidential Documents
- Public Papers of the President (Also available in print prior to 1991, J 80 .A284)
Testimony and reports from the investigative arm of Congress in HeinOnline and at http://www.gao.gov and https://govinfo.gov
United States Supreme Court Digest REF KF 101.1 D535
U.S. Supreme Court Reports REF KF 101 A33
Oral Arguments of the U.S. Supreme Court
Microfiche - Cabinet 30 Drawer 10 (1952-2001)
Online (2000+) http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcript.aspx
U.S. Supreme Court Reports REF KF 101 A33
Oral Arguments of the U.S. Supreme Court
Microfiche - Cabinet 30 Drawer 10 (1952-2001)
Online (2000+) http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcript.aspx
Dan McGurk
Research & Instruction
dmcgurk@truman.edu
Tel: (660) 785- 4528
Book a RAP session with me
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