This guide will help you locate publications of the United States government available at York University Libraries. Most items are held in the Government Reference Collection (SC-GOV-REF), in Scott Microtext (SC-MICR), on the third floor of Scott Library (SCOTT-GOV), or in storage. In addition, many recent born digital and digitized documents and publications are linked through the GPO Catalog.

For assistance, please contact the Scott Reference Desk.

This guide is divided into the following sections:

1. Indexes to U.S. Government Publications
2. Collections of U.S. Government Publications
3. Debates of Congress
4. Additional Information

I. Indexes to U.S. Government Publications

Many of the U.S. government publications available at York University Libraries cannot be found by searching the catalogue alone. Use the following indexes to locate documents in the extensive U.S. collection described in this guide.

1774-1881: Poore’s Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States is a chronological list of publications useful for identifying early federal documents. Consult the Checklist of United States Public Documents to identify the serial volume numbers needed to locate documents in the Serial Set. Found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

1881-1893: Ames’ Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893 is a two volume set with an alphabetical subject index and a personal name index. The “Congressional Documents” section provides the serial volume numbers needed to locate documents in the Serial Set. Found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

1789-1909: Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909. Although the Checklist does not provide subject access to documents published from 1789-1909, it is useful for finding the serial volume numbers needed to located documents in the Serial Set. Found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

1893-1940: The Document Catalog is a biennial publication which serves as a comprehensive index of government documents. Found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

1895-present: The Monthly Catalog of United States Publications provides subject access to both depository and non-depository publications. Cumulative indexes are available for 1941-51, 1951-60, 1961-5, 1966-70, and 1971-6. Publications found in the depository collection are marked with a black dot. The Monthly Catalogs are found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

1895-1899: The Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications 1895-1899 is found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

1900-1971: The Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1900-1971 is found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

1936-1995: The Federal Register Indexes provide access to the full-text of the Federal Register.

1976 to present: The GPO Access web site provides links to federal legislative, executive, and judicial documents including bills, the Congressional Record, and the Federal Register. A searchable Catalog of US Government Publications from 1976 to date is available.

1970 to present: The CIS Index is published in three parts: Legislative History of US Public Laws, Abstracts of Congressional Publications, and Index to Congressional Publications and Legislative Histories. The CIS Index is an excellent research tool for tracking legislation, finding information on committee hearings, witnesses, reports and background research. Entries for documents include the SuDoc and Monthly Catalog numbers. Use these numbers to find documents in the microfiche collection found in Scott Microtext (SCOTT-MICR). The CIS Index is found in the index section of Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF).

II. Collections of U.S. Government Publications

U.S. government publications are available in a variety of formats including microcard, microfiche, and print. These documents are found in Scott Government Reference (SC-GOV-REF), on the third floor of Scott Library (SCOTT-GOV), in Scott Microtext (SCOTT-MICR), or in storage.

Many of the publications issued prior to 1981 are available in a format called microcard. Microcard is held in storage. There are microcard readers and scanner/printers located in Scott Microtext (SCOTT-MICR) on the entry level of the Scott Library.

State Papers (1789-1838): The State Papers contain reprints of records from the first fourteen congresses and selected documents from later sessions. This collection is available in microcard.

The Serial Set (1817-1956): The Serial Set contains selected categories of congressional publications including House and Senate Reports (reports on bills and matters of public interest) as well as House and Senate Documents (documents originating in Congress or presented to it). The Serial Set is arranged by serial number and publication number. This collection is available in microcard.

U.S. Depository Collection (1956 to present): The U.S. Depository Collection contains publications sent to depository libraries; publications identified in the Monthly Catalog with a black dot are found in this collection. Publications are arranged by Monthly Catalog date and entry number. For the years 1956-1981, this collection is available in microcard. From 1981 to present, this collection is available in microfiche in Scott Microtext (SCOTT-MICR). From 1981 to 1988 the microfiche are filed by year and Monthly Catalog number. From 1989 to present the documents are arranged by year and SuDoc number (Superintendent of Documents classification numbers).

U.S. Non-Depository Collection (1953-1991) : The U.S. Non-Depository Collection contains publications listed in the Monthly Catalog . Publications are arranged by year and Monthly Catalog number. For the period 1953-1980, this collection is available in microcard. From 1981 to 1991, the collection is continues in microfiche (SCOTT-MICR).

Note: The Library has an extensive print collection of U.S. government documents. Search York University Library’s catalogue by title or keyword to locate these documents.

Many U.S. Government departments make recent reports available on their web sites. For an extensive list of U.S. government departments, consult the Louisiana State University’s U.S. Federal Government Agencies Directory or GODORT’s Frequently Used Sites Related to U.S. Federal Government Information.

III. Debates of Congress

Annals of Congress (1789-1824): A summary of Congressional proceedings and debates compiled from press accounts and other published sources. Scott Government Reference has the years 1789-1822 in print (US2 Z2.5 C64) and the full set covering 1789-1824 on microfilm (US2 Z2.5 C642, SCOTT-MICR).

Register of Debates (1824-1837): A compilation of summaries of debates which may have been edited by Members of Congress. Available on microfilm (US2 Z2.5 C652 1825-1837, SCOTT-MICR).

Congressional Globe (1833-1873): Early years of the Globe are summaries of events in Congress while later years more closely resemble verbatim accounts of events in the House and Senate. Available on microfilm (US2 Z2.5 C652 1833-1873, SCOTT-MICR).

Congressional Record (1873 to present): The Congressional Record is a verbatim record of debates and discussions that occurred on the floor of the U.S. Congress. The years 1873 to 1951/52 are in microfiche (US2 Z2.5 C662, SCOTT-MICR). The years 1874 to present are available in print (US2 Z2.5 C66, SC-GOV-REF). An index volume is available for each session of Congress.

The text of the Congressional Record from the 43rd Congress (1873-75) is available here as part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project. The text from the 101st Congress to the present and Congressional Record Index from the 104th Congress to the present are available on the Library of Congress’ Thomas web site.

IV. Additional Information

The Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report reports on major legislative action, the President’s legislative proposals, and Supreme Court decisions. Issues from 1997 to present are available at Scott Library (JK 1 C15); the most recent issues are found in the current periodical room.

For more information about locating and using U.S. government publications, consult the following:

Morehead, Joe. Introduction to United States Government Information Sources. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1999. (Scott Library Reference section, ZA5055 U6 M67 1999).

Updated by M. McCaffrey, June 1, 2007