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United States Congressional Serial Set

The United States Congressional Serial Set is a bound compilation of House and Senate Documents and House and Senate Reports. Publication began with the 15th Congress/1st session (1817). Documents of the first fourteen Congresses (1789-1816) were published in the American State Papers. The serial number is a unique number applied to each book in the series running consecutively from the 15th Congress. Information on the publication and history of the Serial Set is available from the Government Publishing Office.

Congressional Serial Set

Paper Holdings and Locations

1817 - 1899 (15th - 55th Congress), Serial Set volumes 1 to 3841 are stored in secured collections.
1899 - present (56th Congress - ) beginning with volume 3842 are shelved on the 6th floor of the stacks. Oversize volumes are shelved on the west wall.

Microfiche Holdings and Locations

1857 - 1879 (35th - 45th Congress), volumes 917 - 1867, stored in cabinets in office off of Balcony (L-502).
1979 - 1982 (96th - 97th Congress), volumes 13221 - 13495 in microfiche cabinets on 6th floor of the stacks. Filed under "X Congress-session:Serial Set number."
1983 - present (98th Congress - ), volume 13497 - in microfiche cabinets on 6th floor of the stacks. Filed under Y 1.1/2: Serial Set number.

Indexes/Finding Aids

Beginning with the 96th Congress (1981) Serial Set volumes for each Congress contain Reports and Documents bound in numerical sequence, so if you have the Congress and Report or Document number you can just go in the stacks to find the appropriate volume.

Before the 96th Congress (1981), Reports and Documents were not bound in a numerical sequence in the Serial Set volumes. To determine which Serial Set volume contains a specific Report or Document consult one of these finding aids:

1789 - present Proquest Congressional is available through the public Internet terminals at the Connecticut State Library.
1779 - 1969 (1st - 91st Congress) CIS US Serial Set Index (GIS REF Z 1223.Z9 C65)
1897 - 1905 (54th/2nd session - 58th/ 2nd session) Index to Subjects of the Documents and Reports (GIS REF GP 3.7: )
1909 - 1933 (60th - 72nd Congress) Index to Reports and Documents of the ... Congress. (GIS REF GP 3/7: )
1933 - 1973 (73rd - 93rd/1st session) Numerical Lists and Schedule of volumes of Reports and Documents of the ... Congress. (GIS REF GP 3.7/2)

Online Versions

1817-1980 (15th-96th Congress) U.S. Congressional Serial Set, a digital edition produced by the Readex Division of Newsbank, is available through the public Internet terminals at the Connecticut State Library. This database is being continuously updated.

1817-1873 (15th through 42nd Congress) American Memory.

104th Congress (1995/1996) - Congress. gov
Full text of committee reports and some Senate treaty documents. Search by keyword, bill number, report number, committee name or sponsor.

104th (Congress (1995/1996) - govinfo.gov
Includes full text of Serial Set publications in html or pdf format. Search by keyword, bill number, popular name, committee name or sponsor.

United States Congressional Serial Set (HathiTrust)
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (via Library of Congress)
1817-1916 (15th-64th Congress); incomplete. House and Senate reports and documents organized by session of Congress; continues the American State Papers.
United States Congressional Serial Set (Bound House and Senate Documents and Reports)
Library of Congress continues to add to this collection.
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Site: "The U.S. Congressional Serial Set, commonly known as the Serial Set, is a compilation of journals, reports, and documents from House and Senate proceedings as well as documents from executive departments and independent agencies. Documents cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, executive-branch materials were also published in the Serial Set. In addition to providing context for the federal legislative process, the Serial Set is a useful resource for understanding issues that have been investigated by Congress throughout history, including the geographical expansion of the United States, the nature of international affairs, national museum acquisitions, and much more. The Law Library of Congress and the Government Publishing Office are collaborating to digitize Serial Set documents published between the 15th (1817) and 103rd (1994) Congresses, thus making accessible two centuries' worth of American legislative history."
Congressional Serial Set (GovInfo.gov) Authenticated volumes from GovInfo.gov , in partnership with Library of Congress Law Library. Additional volumes continue to be added. Search and browse features help locate individual items within Serial Set volumes. Help section is useful.
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In-depth description available at https://www.govinfo.gov/help/serial-set#about

U.S. Congressional Serial Set from HeinOnline
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is considered an essential publication for studying American history. Spanning more than two centuries with more than 17,000 bound volumes, the records in this series include House and Senate documents, House and Senate reports, and much more. The Serial Set began publication in 1817 with the 15th Congress, 1st session.

HeinOnline - How to Use the Serial Set Lookup Tools
Brief video on how How to Use the HeinOnline Serial Set Lookup Tools.
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While the video is freely available, a card from the Connecticut State Library is required for remote access to the database.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (HeinOnline)
Research guide from HeinOnline for using their database, as well as additional research help on the U.S. Congressional Serial Set.
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A card from the Connecticut State Library is required for remote access to the database.

Research Tools

Examples of tools to help use the Serial Set.

Other Institutions

The Connecticut State Library (CSL) has access to federal information, although we may not subscribe to resources listed in other libraries' guides.

When listed call numbers are in the SuDoc classification system, they will often translate to CSL collection. Call numbers listed in other systems may not apply to CSL.

U.S. Congressional Serial Set: What It Is and Its History (FDLP)
Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) explanation of the Serial Set.
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From site: "This is an article was reposted from the retired GPO Access website. The article comprises of excerpts that were adapted from a presentation by Ms. Virginia Saunders, who was a Congressional Documents Specialist, in GPO's Congressional Printing Management Division. Her presentation was given at the Spring 1998 Depository Library Council/Federal Depository Conference in Arlington, Virginia."
U.S. Congressional Serial Set Finding List: Home
The College of Wooster tool for Agency publications within the Serial Set.
Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909, Third Edition Revised and Enlarged, Volume 1, Lists of Congressional and Departmental Publications (UNT)
University of North Texas (UNT) digitalized version of GP 3.2:C 41/2.
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Site: "This listing is "an approximately complete checklist of all public documents issued by the United States Government during the first century and a quarter of its history." (p. vii) List of bureaus, departments, divisions, offices, etc. starts on page 1683."
U.S. Congressional Serial Set Inventory (UNT)
University of North Texas (UNT): "The U.S. Congressional Serial Set Inventory aims to be a complete inventory of serial set holdings in U.S. libraries, from volume 1 through volume 13219-3. Libraries are encouraged to add their serial set inventories to the site. Researchers will be able to search and browse the inventories by serial set volume, by library, or by session of Congress."
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Site: "The annotated Serial Set Schedule of Volumes inventory database shows for each Serial Set volume the following data elements: Serial Set volume number, Congress and Session, sessional volume number, titles or description of titles, the report or document numbers or number ranges contained in the volume, and the names of co-operating institutions' holding the volume. For Serial Set volumes containing six or fewer titles, the full CIS version of the titles as printed in the CIS US Serial Set Index are shown in the title field. If a volume contains more than six titles, as most volumes do, a description such as "Senate Executive Documents: 84-100" (see Serial Set volume 2166) appears in lieu of printing what could in some cases amount to a great many titles. Sometimes, as in the case of composite annual reports, the title entries show a breakdown of the single volume's title into its constituent parts (see State of the Union Address in Serial Set volume 1411), listings that facilitated the level of indexing detail in the original CIS US Congressional Serial Set Index."
Schedule of Volumes of the U.S. Serial Set: 1970-present
Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC.
Index to items within Serial Set. Includes additional information about the Serial Set.
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Part of the research materials on LLSDC's Legislative Source Book
Finding Government Documents (LOC) Library of Congress (LOC) research guide: "This guide brings together online resources that contain U.S. government documents. Some are freely available to anyone with Internet access. Others include subscription databases accessible here at the Library of Congress, but also potentially at a library near you. Although this guide focuses on resources available online, the Library of Congress also holds extensive print resources in this topic area. These materials are noted in this guide when they are available in a specific research center's reference collection."
Using the Congressional Serial Set (NARA)
Call number: Federal Documents GS 4.23: vol. 41, no. 1
Prologue Magazine, Spring 2009, vol. 41, no. 1 By Jeffery Hartley
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Alternative title: "Using the Congressional Serial Set for Genealogical Research"
Schedule of Serial Set Volumes and Numerical Lists of Documents and Reports
GovInfo site
An Overview of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set
Law Librarians' Society of Washington, DC.
explanation of the U.S. Serial Set.
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Part of the research materials on LLSDC's Legislative Source Book

U.S. Congressional Serial Set

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United States Congressional Serial Set

Congressional Serial Set

Paper Holdings and Locations

Microfiche Holdings and Locations

Indexes/Finding Aids

Online Versions

Research Tools

Research Tools

Other Institutions