U.S. Congressional Serial Set

 

Search the U.S. Congressional Serial Set Database

Departmental employees at the following offices/bureaus have access to this database:
 

  • Bureau of Indian Affairs - Nationwide
  • Bureau of Land Management - Nationwide
  • Bureau of Ocean Energy Management - Nationwide
  • Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement - Nationwide
  • Bureau of Reclamation - Nationwide
  • Fish and Wildlife Service - Nationwide
  • National Park Service - Nationwide
  • U.S. Geological Survey - Nationwide
  • Office of Natural Resources Revenue - Nationwide
  • Office of Surface Mining - Nationwide
  • Office of the Secretary - Washington Area Locations

Other users must come to the Interior Library to use this database or contact a Reference Librarian for assistance.

The bound, sequentially numbered volumes of all the Reports, Documents and Journals of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, constitutes an incomparably rich collection of primary source material on all aspects of American history. During much of the 19th century, especially in the pre-Civil War era, the Serial Set included materials originating not only from the U.S. Congress but also key Executive Department publications that were published only or primarily in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set.

This unique collection begins with Volume 1 in the first session of the 15th Congress (1817) and continues to this day. The Readex U.S. Congressional Serial Set (1817-1980) will contain all publications from the 15th through the 96th Congresses, together with American State Papers (a retrospective collection of materials originating from 1789 through 1838 but published in the second quarter of the 19th century). The Serial Set sequential numbering system was devised in 1895, and applied retrospectively to all previously published volumes.

The U.S. Congressional Serial Set will for the first time make available digital images of all the publications in this collection, including maps and color plates.

Digitized from the original print volumes in partnerships with leading academic institutions and government organizations, the set features high-resolution full-color digital images, fully searchable OCR-generated ASCII text and full bibliographic metadata for every publication. It is cross-searchable with American State Papers, 1789-1838, which contains every legislative and executive document of the 1st through 14th Congresses.