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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
Examples of tools to help use the Serial Set.
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.
