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Classification Manual
(Revised July 1993)

Chapter 5

 Congressional and Related Publications

[  Classification Manual Home    |    Table of Contents  ]


Section 1. Boards, Commissions, Independent or Temporary Committees (Y 3.)
    A. Agency Designations
    B. Category and Series Designations


    C. Individual Book Numbers
    Section 2. Congressional Record, House and Senate Journals (X)

    Section 3. Congress, House, and Senate as a Whole (Y 1.)

    Section 4. Congressional Committee Publications (Y 4.)

     Chapter 5

    Congressional and Related

    Publications

    This chapter deals with publications of Congress and its committees, and of agencies established by Act of Congress.

    Superintendent of Documents classification numbers for publications of Congressional agencies often are constructed differently from those constructed according to the general principles set forth in the preceding chapters. These differences are especially notable in the construction of the class stem.

    However, unless exceptions are specifically stated, the general principles of the Superintendent of Documents classification system do apply to publications of Congressional agencies. As in all classes, established patterns are to be followed when classifying a new publication, unless a specific guideline directs otherwise.

    For these Congressional publications, the principle of assigning an agency designation based on the first letter of a significant word in the agency name is abandoned. Instead, the following designations are used:

    Other anomalies that occur in classes under these broad "agency designations" are discussed in the appropriate section.

    Section 1

    Boards, Commissions, and Independent or Temporary Committees (Y 3.)      [     Top ]

    Those agencies established by Act of Congress or under authority of an Act of Congress, not specifically designated in the Executive Branch of the Government, are grouped under Y 3.

    Informal interagency organizations, as well as those specifically created by law, fall into this category. Informal boards or commissions may be created when the Congress requests a report on a specified subject. In order to comply with this request, several agencies may work together because the subject of the report comes under their varied jurisdictions. These loosely formed committees may publish only one report and then cease to exist.

    Publications of these temporary groups are classed in Y 3., as well as publications of those more permanent boards and commissions established by formal Acts of Congress.

    When publications from a new committee, commission, task force, or interagency organization are received, it is necessary to determine how the agency was established, and how it fits into the total Government organization. Often this information is not included in the publication and must be obtained from the agency itself.

    If it is determined that the agency falls in the Executive rather than the Congressional branch of government, the agency designation is constructed according to the general rules and is not placed in the Y 3. classes.

    For example:

    NMB National Mediation Board

    ITC International Trade Commission

    The class stem for Y 3. publications extends past the colon, to the category or series designation which immediately follows the colon.

    The following breakdown shows the components of an individual class number:

    Y 3. Author symbol

    .AD 6: Agency designation

    :1 Category or Series

    /989 Individual book number

    A. Agency Designations      [ Top ]

    After determining that the author symbol for a new commission, board, etc., should be Y 3., assign the agency designation. The agency designation is derived from the two-figure Cutter table, by Cuttering the first main word of the agency name. The Cutter number is followed by a colon.

    For example:

    Y 3.AD 6: Administrative Conference of the United States

    Y 3.SE 4: Selective Service System

    Y 3.L 61: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science

    Check all active and inactive files to be sure the number has not been used previously.

    A slash and numbers are used to separate agencies having the same or similar first word in their names.

    For example:

    Y 3.F 31/8: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

    Y 3.F 31/15: Federal Council on Aging

    Because there are so many agency names beginning with Federal, a more descriptive word in the name is now used for the Cutter number for new class stems.

    For example:

    Y 3.EL 2/3: Federal Election

    Commission

    Y 3.ED 8: Federal Interagency

    Committee on Education

    Other common words such as Advisory, National, and Interagency should also be treated as stop words and avoided when possible in Cuttering.

    1. Subordinate Offices      [ Top ]

    The Y 3. classes make no provision for separate classes for publications of subordinate offices. Most of the organizations are small themselves, and have no subdivisions other than working groups. Subordinate offices are disregarded in classifying publications in the Y 3. classes.

    B. Category and Series Designations     [ Top ]

    Category and series designations for publications of these Y 3. agencies follow the colon instead of preceding it as in other classes.

    For example:

    Y 3.AD 6:1 Annual report

    Y 3.AD 6:2 General publications

    When establishing new classes, use the standard category classes 1 through 8, assigning them according to the general rules. Numbers 1 through 8 are reserved for the standard classes even though they may never be used.

    For example:

    Y 3.N 88: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

    Y 3.N 88:1 Annual report

    Y 3.N 88:2 General publications

    Y 3.N 88:8 Handbooks, Manuals,

    Guides

    If a commission or committee is created to make a study, submits a report to Congress, and then goes out of existence, only the (Y 3.-:) class is established, and the publications are Cuttered. This class is entitled Report rather than Annual report.

    In preparing the report, the commission may issue background papers, task force reports, interim reports, etc. In that case, either the General publications class (Y 3.-:2) or a class for the specific title of the series may be established.

    1. Related Series or Subjects     [ Top ]

    Series on the same or related subjects are brought together by using the same basic number, followed by a dash and a sequential number.

    For example:

    Y 3.OC 1:10-2

    Administrative Law Judge and

    Commission decisions

    Y 3.OC 1:10-3

    Index to Decisions of Occupational

    Safety and Health Review

    Commission

    Y 3.OC 1:10-4

    Citator to Decisions of Occupational

    Safety and Health Review

    Commission

    C. Individual Book Numbers      [ Top ]

    Individual book numbers are added after the category or series designation.

    The use of the slash, dash, and other punctuation marks is often different in the Y 3. classes. Follow established patterns when classifying new publications.

    1. Numbered Series      [ Top ]

    Use a slash between the series designation and the individual book number.

    For example:

    Y 3.N 88:10/0868

    A collection of mathematical modes for dispersion in surface water and groundwater, NUREG-0868

    Y 3.N 88:1/989

    Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 1989 annual report

    A numbered publication carrying both volume and number is classified by adding a comma, rather than a slash, after the volume number. The abbreviation no. and the actual number then follows.

    For example:

    Y 3.N 88:10/0868/V.1,NO.2

    When a publication is issued quarterly, monthly, weekly, etc., use a dash after the 3-digit date and the number assigned to that particular issue.

    For example:

    Y 3.OC 1:10-2/989-8

    Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission decisions, table of citations, August 1989 issue.

    Note the use of the dash between date and issue number.

    2. Cutter Numbers      [ Top ]

    When a Cutter is used, leave a space between the category or series designation and the Cutter number. Do not use any punctuation to separate these two elements.

    For example:

    Y 3.T 25:2 B 84

    Tennessee Valley Authority. Floods on Tuckasegee River and Deep Creek in vicinity of Bryson City, NC

    Y 3.C 76/3:2 K 54/3/990

    For kids' sake--think toy safety - Revised Sept. 1990.

    A slash followed by a sequential number is used to separate titles using the same Cutter numbers, in accordance with the general rules. Revision dates are added to the book number, with any other information, separated by slashes in the usual manner.

    Section 2 Congressional Record, House and Senate Journals (X)      [ Top ]

    A. Congressional Record      [ Top ]

    The class stem for the Congressional Record (bound edition) is X followed by a period. The period is followed by the number of the Congress, a slash, the session number, and then a colon.

    For example:

    X.99/2:

    X.101/1:

    The volume number, the abbreviation PT., and the part number complete the class.

    For example:

    X.99/1:131/PT.19

    Congressional record, 99th Congress, 1st session, volume 131, part 19, Oct. 2-9, 1985.

    The daily Congressional Record is treated as a preprint for classification purposes by using /a as part of the class stem. Then the class is formed by using the Congress and session number, then the volume and issue number.

    For example:

    X/A.101/2:136/5

    Congressional record, volume 136, no.5, Jan. 30, 1990.

    B. House and Senate Journals      [ Top ]

    The House Journal and the Senate Journal have been assigned XJH and XJS respectively. The letters are followed by Congress and session number, then the part number.

    For example:

    XJH:100-2/PT.1

    Journal of House of Representatives, 100th Congress, 2nd session, part 1.

    Section 3 Congress, House, and Senate as a Whole (Y 1.) [ Top ]

    Publications of the Congress as a whole, the House of Representatives, and the Senate are grouped into three separate classes regardless of type of material. The class stems are as follows:

    Y 1.1: Congress as a whole, and conference committee publications without the names of specific established committees printed on them.

    Y 1.2: House of Representatives publications

    Y 1.3: Senate publications

    None of these publications carry a Congressional committee name.

    The publications may be manuals, bibliographies, compilations of laws, or any other type of material. Separate classes are not established for specific kinds of material, except for certain titles as noted below.

    A. Individual Book Numbers      [ Top ]

    A few of the publications in these classes are not numbered. The individual book numbers for these publications consist of a Cutter number added after the colon. Revision dates and other additions are handled the same as in other Cuttered classes.

    For example:

    Y 1.2:F 31/11

    Drafting Federal Law

    The Senate has numbered all of its publications since the beginning of the 98th Congress. The series abbreviation and numbers printed on the publications are used rather than Cutter numbers.

    For example:

    Y 1.3:S.PUB.101-15

    Annual report of the Architect of the Capitol. S.pub. 101-15

    A few specific titles among House and Senate publications are assigned separate classes.

    For example:

    Y 1.2/2: Calendar of United States House of Representatives and History of Legislation

    Y 1.3/9: List of Standing Committees (Senate)

    These classes are completed in the usual way, by adding a number, date, or Cutter number after the colon as appropriate in each case.

    B. Numbered House and Senate Documents and Reports     [ Top ]

    Each type of numbered House and Senate document and report has a separate class stem.

    For example:

    Y 1.1/3: Senate Documents

    Y 1.1/4: Senate Treaty Documents

    Y 1.1/7: House Documents

    Y 1.1/8: House Reports

    The number as it is printed on the report follows the colon.

    For example:

    Y 1.1/5.102-570 Senate Report 102-570

    Y 1.1/8:102-914 House Report 102-914

    Since the Congress number is incorporated in the House and Senate numbering systems, no adjustment to the class is necessary to differentiate between the publications of various Congresses.

    C. Subordinate Offices      [ Top ]

    The classification system does not provide for an orderly incorporation of classes for publications of subordinate offices of Congress. Publications of two such offices have been handled in two different ways.

    Publications of the Office of Technology Assessment, United States Congress, are classed in Y 3.T 22/2:. The individual classes follow the pattern of the Y 3. classes. (See Section 1B of this chapter.)

    Publications of the Congressional Budget Office, United States Congress, are classed in Y 10. The individual classes follow the pattern of the regular department and agency classes. (See Chapter 2.)

    Classes for publications of newly created subordinate offices of Congress should be established using the next available sequential number after Y 10. Establishing classes for these subordinate agencies at the end of the Y's will avoid mixing them with the boards, committees, and commissions in Y 3.

    D. Star Prints      [ Top ]

    Corrected editions of Congressional documents are issued as star prints. These documents have a star printed at the lower left-hand corner of the title page or cover. Sometimes the words "star print" also appear adjacent to the star. Star prints are new, revised editions. The class number for a star print should include /CORR. after the number assigned to the original edition.

    For example:

    Y 1.1/5:97-177 (original edition)

    Y 1.1/5:97-177/CORR. (star print)

    Section 4 Congressional Committee Publications (Y 4.)      [ Top ]

    Y 4. is the agency symbol assigned to the working committees of Congress.

    A. Constructing the Agency Designation      [ Top ]

    The agency designation for a Congressional Committee consists of a Cutter number based on the first significant word in the Committee's name. The Cutter number follows the Y 4. and is followed by a colon.

    For example:

    Y 4.AG 4: Special Committee on Aging (Senate)

    Y 4.W 36: Committee on Ways and Means (House)

    A slash and the numbers 1 and 2 are added to the Cutter number when it is known at the time the classes are established that both the House and the Senate have committees with the same name.

    For example:

    Y 4.J 89/1: Committee on the Judiciary (House)

    Y 4.J 89/2: Committee on the Judiciary (Senate)

    If a new committee is created and the agency designation would use the same Cutter number as an existing committee, use a slash and the next highest available number to distinguish between the two classes.

    Check all active and inactive files to determine the correct number to be used.

    For example:

    Y 4.G 74/7: Committee on Government Operations (House)

    Y 4.G 74/9: Committee on Governmental Affairs (Senate)

    With this method of classifying Congressional committee publications, the classes for publications of House, Senate, and Joint committees are intermixed.

    No separate classes are established for subcommittees under the committees.

    1. Reorganized Committees and Name Changes      [ Top ]

    If two or more existing committees merge into one committee and a new name is used, establish a new class for the committee.

    For example:

    Y 4.AG 8/2:

    Committee on Agriculture and Forestry (Senate)

    Y 4.N 95:

    Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs (Senate)

    Y 4.AG 8/3:

    Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry (Senate)

    The first two committees merged to form the third committee, which was assigned a new agency designation.

    Sometimes a committee name changes to include other subjects, but committees are not merged. If the first significant word in the committee name remains the same, use the existing class number and change the name of the class.

    For example:

    Y 4.B 22/1:

    Committee on Banking and Currency (House)

    Y 4.B 22/1:

    Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (House)

    Y 4.B 22/1:

    Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs (House)

    In this example, the committee changed its name twice, but since Banking remains the first significant word, the class does not change.

    If the name of this committee were to change to Finance, Banking, and Urban Affairs, a new class should be established using Finance as the Cutter word.

    B. Choosing the Correct Agency Designation     [ Top ]

    Sometimes it is difficult to determine which agency designation should be assigned to a Congressional document. More than one committee may be involved with the publication, or it may be identified simultaneously as two different types of publication. To resolve these problems, see the appropriate section below.

    1. Report or Committee Print?      [ Top ]

    Occasionally it is difficult to determine whether a Congressional document should be classified as a report (Y 1.) or as a committee print (Y 4.). This confusion arises when the words House Report or Senate Report, with or without numbers, appear on a publication together with a committee name or the words Committee Print.

    If the report number is printed on the publication, it is classified as a report, not as a committee print, even if the words Committee Print appear. It should be included in the appropriate Y 1. class. (See Section 3 of this chapter.)

    If the report number is not printed on the publication, classify it as committee print in the appropriate committee class under Y 4.

    2. Joint Hearings      [ Top ]

    When two committees hold a hearing jointly and publish the results in one publication, classify the publication under the first committee listed on the title page. Series or serial numbers printed on the publication are used in the class only if they are assigned by the first named committee.

    For example:

    Y 4.F 76/1:AG 8/2

    Agricultural development in the

    Caribbean and Central America, joint

    hearing before... Committee on

    Foreign Affairs and ... Committee on

    Agriculture, House of

    Representatives... Serial no. 97-ZZZ.

    This publication is classified under the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the first committee named. The Committee on Agriculture assigned Serial no. 97-ZZZ, so it is not used in this class. Instead, a Cutter number is assigned.

    3. Publications Prepared by One Committee for the Use of Another      [ Top ]

    Sometimes publications, usually committee prints, are prepared by one committee for the use of another. In these cases it is necessary to determine which committee actually published the piece.

    This situation is most prevalent when the Joint Committee on Taxation prepares summaries, descriptions, and analyses of bills for the Senate Committee on Finance and for the House Committee on Ways and Means.

    If the heading on the publication reads Joint committee print, classify it under the named Joint Committee, usually the Joint Committee on Taxation.

    If there is no heading, look at the next page to see if names of members of the committee are listed as they often are on committee prints. Classify the publication under the committee to which the members belong.

    If there is no heading, and no members' names are listed, check the classification files to determine what has been done in similar situations, and classify accordingly.

    C. Individual Book Numbers      [ Top ]

    Individual book numbers follow the agency designation and colon. The individual book number consists of the serial or series number printed on the document, or a Cutter number if there is no serial or series number.

    Separate category or series classes, with a few exceptions, are not assigned in the Y 4. classes. Most publications, including committee prints, hearings, manuals, bibliographies, etc., are included in a single class. The exceptions are annual reports and other serials, which are discussed in 3, below.

    1. Serial Numbers      [ Top ]

    Serial numbers appearing on publications should be used in the class. The numbers may or may not be identified by the word serial on the publications. In each Congress, numbering usually begins again with number 1. Some committees use the number of the Congress in conjunction with the serial numbers, and others do not. Some identify their publications by letters rather than numbers, and some by letters and numbers.

    The numbers and letters should be used as they are printed on the publication as far as possible.

    For example:

    Y 4.AG 8/1:97-BBBB

    Surplus Agricultural Commodities Act, hearing... 97th Congress, 2nd session... Serial no. 97-BBBB

    Y 4.B 22/1:97-95

    HUD field reorganization... hearing, 97th Congress, 2nd session... Serial no. 97-95

    When a serial number does not incorporate the number of the Congress as in the above examples, the Congress number must be added to the class after the colon, followed by a slash, then the serial number.

    For example:

    Y 4.J 89/1:97/54

    Lanham Trademark Act Amendment, Hearing... 97th Congress, 2nd session... Serial 54.

    The slash in the class indicates that the Congress number is not printed as part of the serial number of the publication.

    Compare:

    Y 4.J 89/1:97/54

    Serial number printed alone without the Congress number

    Y 4.B 22/1:97-95

    Congress number incorporated in the serial number

    a) Part Numbers      [ Top ]

    Many hearings are issued in parts and also have assigned serial numbers. Some committees assign the same serial numbers to all the parts, and some committees assign each part a different serial number. The part number is used in the class only when the same serial number is assigned to all the parts.

    For example:

    Y 4.J 89/2:J-97-7/PT.3

    Department of Justice confirmation hearings... part 3... Serial no. J-97-7

    (Parts 1 and 2 are also designated Serial J-97-7.)

    Y 4.IN 8/14:97-9/PT.10

    Additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System, hearing... Serial 97-9, part 10. (Parts 1-9 are also designated Serial 97-9)

    In the following examples, the part number is not used in the class because each part has a unique serial number.

    Y 4.B 22/1:97-53

    Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act, hearings, part 2. Serial no.97-53

    Y 4.B 22/1:97-55

    Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act, hearing, part 4. Serial no.97-55

    When part 1 of a numbered serial is received, look at other publications in the class to determine whether the part number has been necessary in this particular class in similar cases. Presumably the committee is consistent in assigning serial numbers to publications issued in parts, and earlier examples can be followed. When part 2 or later numbers are received, it is easy to determine whether to use the part number in the class by locating the earlier parts.

    b) Numbered and Unnumbered Documents in One Class      [ Top ]

    A committee may issue its publications in a variety of ways. The hearings may have serial designations and the committee prints may not. That means that part of the class may be numbered, and part Cuttered. Use the same class stem for both types of material.

    For example:

    Y 4.AG 8/1:B 85/2/982

    Report of the Committee on

    Agriculture... to the Committee

    on the Budget... Committee

    print

    Y 4.AG 8/1:97-JJJ

    Review of tobacco price support program costs, hearing. Serial no. 97-JJJ

    Another committee may use serial numbers for hearings, and letters for committee prints. These are classified under the same class stem.

    For example:

    Y 4.EN 2/3:97-GG

    Natural gas regulation study... Committee print 97-GG.

    Y 4.EN 2/3:97-119

    Telecommunications Act of 1982, hearings... Serial no.97-119.

    c) Numbering System Changes      [ Top ]

    As committees add, drop, or change their serial designations, the class should be adapted to cover these changes. When a committee has indicated that it will change from Cutters to numbers or vice versa, the class should be changed at the beginning of a new Congress or a new session of Congress.

    2. Series Numbers - Senate      [ Top ]

    The Senate devised a numbering system which it started using for its Committee publications originating in the 98th Congress.

    The system is similar to the one in use for Congressional documents and reports, in which the number consists of the number of the Congress, followed by a hyphen and a 1-up number, i.e. 102-1, 102-2, etc.

    Three series are incorporated in the Senate numbering system: Senate hearings, Senate committee prints, and Senate publications. An abbreviated designation showing the type of publication is printed on each publication, preceding the number, as follows:

    S. Hrg.102-1

    S. Prt.102-1

    S. Pub.102-1

    The S.pub. numbers are used primarily in the Y 1.3: class.

    The designation showing the type of material and the numbering follows the colon in the class stem.

    For example:

    Y 4.B 85/2:S.HRG.102-271

    Y 4.G 74/9:S.PRT.102-52

    Y 1.3:S.PUB.101-15

    The numbers are assigned in sequence for the Congress as a whole, rather than for each Committee, so the numbering within any one class will not be sequential.

    The Senate series numbers are not used in the class for two categories of documents:

    1) serials (except in Y 1.3:);

    2) joint publications which are classed under a House committee.

    3. Serial Publications      [ Top ]

    Though the committees issue primarily hearings and committee prints, there are also some serials in the Y 4. classes. They have been treated in various ways.

    One treatment is to assign a sequential number after the colon, followed by a slash and the Congress number, followed by a dash and the session number.

    For example:

    Y 4.P 93/1:1/100-1

    Congressional directory

    Another treatment used in the past is to Cutter a word in the title and then add the date after a slash.

    For example:

    Y 4.EC 7:EC 7/(date)

    Economic indicators. Joint Economic Committee

    The preferred treatment is to assign a sequential number before the colon, which is then followed by the date.

    For example:

    Y 4.F 76/1-18:991

    Rules of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. House. 1991

    4. Cutter numbers      [ Top ]

    Cutter numbers are used for publications not carrying serial or series numbers. The rules for Cuttering hearings are the same as for other publications.

    There are a few problems that are unique to the hearings. One problem is how to handle such words as United States and Legislation. Use these words for Cutter words only when absolutely necessary; otherwise treat them as stop words.

    If Legislation or United States are the only words in the title, use them for Cuttering; otherwise, choose another word. If Legislation on energy is the title of a publication, Cutter under energy rather than legislation.

    Similarly, a hearing may be on United States relations with another country. Even though the United States may appear first in the title, Cutter under the name of the other country.

    The name of the committee issuing the publication may affect the choice of Cutter, and an exception to the above rule may be necessary.

    The Committee on Energy and Commerce may issue a publication entitled Legislation on energy. Avoid Cuttering under energy, since all the committee's publications will deal with that subject. In this case, it is permissible to Cutter under legislation. Study the publications, the names of the issuing offices, and the method of handling other publications in the class, to decide on the best Cutter word.

    Classify similar titles together even though they are not revisions or new editions of the same title.

    If a hearing and committee print would be classified with the same Cutter number, add a slash number to the second publication received.

    a) Numbers      [ Top ]

    Numbers may appear as part of titles, and be required in the classes. Convert Roman numerals to Arabic numerals in the classes.

    For example:

    Y 4.______:T 19/990-91/NO.17

    Miscellaneous tax bills, XVII, hearing.

    Though the word number, part, section, or volume does not appear in the title before the number, use an abbreviation of such a designation before the number when it is added at the end of the class.

    Numbers should not be added at the end of a Cuttered class with no explanation.

A service of the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.
Questions or comments: asklps@gpo.gov.
Last updated: March 8, 2001 
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