A great tool for researching legislative history, the United States Congressional Serial Set, commonly referred to as the Serial Set, spans more than two-hundred years and includes House and Senate Documents, Reports, and some executive branch materials. The documents include all papers ordered printed by the House and Senate and cover a wide variety of topics, including reports from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation, reports of executive departments and independent organizations , reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.
Researching in the Serial Set
You can find the Serial Set in the A-Z database list on the library’s webpage or through HeinOnline.
The default landing page of the Serial Set directs users to the full list of Congress numbers available within the collection. Volume & Citation Quick Locator tools are provided which enable users to simply enter a Serial Set volume number or citation to retrieve the content.
Located on separate tabs users will also notice Congressional Documents and Congressional Reports from the 114th-115th Congresses which are available in HeinOnline, but have not yet been assigned a Serial Set citation. The American State Papers, which encompass the first through twenty-fifth Congress are also available.
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Once a Congress number has been selected, users are taken to the complete list of volumes within the selected Congress.
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While searching or browsing the Serial Set in HeinOnline, colored icons appear next to various records. These icons indicate whether full-text coverage or indexing only is currently available for the material. Selecting a volume number within a Congress brings users to a complete list of titles within the volume. Availability is indicated by “H” icons.
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Blue and Orange Icon:
This icon indicates that this Serial Setvolume has been digitized and is available within the HeinOnline database as well as the HathiTrust Digital Library.
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Blue Icon:
This icon indicates that this Serial Setvolume has been digitized and is available within the HeinOnline database.
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Partially Blue Icon:
This icon indicates that this Serial Setvolume is partially available within the HeinOnline database.
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Orange Icon:
This icon indicates that this Serial Setvolume is available in HathiTrust Digital Library and will link to the specific Serial Set volume within the collection.
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Red Icon:
This icon indicates that this volume/document was assigned a serial number but it was not distributed or used.
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Gray Icon:
This icon indicates that this Serial Set volume is not yet available in HeinOnline or the HathiTrust Digital Library.
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Searching the Metadata
Selecting the Advanced Search link located beneath the main search bar allows users to search particular fields within the metadata (indexing) for more precise results. Users can also choose the method in which to sort search results from the Advanced Search area by relevance, volume date (oldest or newest first), or by document title.
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