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# U.S. Congressional Serial Set

Last updated on 06-20-2024

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## **Congressional Serial Set**

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**Jump to:**Tutorials │Sample Searches │ Sample URLs │ Metadata Fields and Values │ Congressional Serial Set Finding Aids │ Related Resources

### About Congressional Serial Set

**What is the Congressional Serial Set?**

The United States Congressional Serial Set collection was digitized by the Law Library of Congress, and is made publicly available through a partnership between the U.S. Government Publishing Office and the Law Library of Congress. The joint digitization project is a multi-year effort. Additional volumes of the Serial Set will be added to this collection as they are available.

The Serial Set is comprised of the numbered Senate and House Documents and Senate and House Reports, bound by session of Congress. The contents of the Serial Set have varied throughout the publication’s history, and at times have included House and Senate Journals, and the reports of executive departments and agencies.

Each volume is assigned a Serial Number, beginning with the 1st Session of the 15th Congress in 1817. Reports and Documents for each chamber are numbered sequentially by either Congress or session, depending on the year of publication. Senate Reports have been numbered sequentially by Congress since the beginning, but House Reports were numbered by session until the 1st Session of the 47th Congress in 1881 when they began to be numbered sequentially by Congress. Both Senate and House Documents were numbered by session until the 1st Session of the 60th Congress in 1907, after which time they have been numbered sequentially by Congress.

**What is available?**
                            - govinfo  contains Serial Set volumes from a selection of Congresses. Additional volumes will be added periodically as they are digitized.
                            - Serial Set volumes and individual documents are available as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. In addition, ALTO XML files, a machine-readable format, are available within the Serial Set ZIP files for individual documents.

**Serial Set Document Types**
                            **House and Senate Documents**
                            House and Senate Documents contain various materials ordered printed by both chambers of Congress. Documents can include reports of executive departments and agencies, some of which are submitted in accordance with Federal law, then later are ordered printed as congressional documents. Sometimes committee prints are ordered printed as congressional documents also, if the information they contain is in demand. Documents contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo Congressional Documents collection.
                            **House and Senate Executive Documents**
                            Senate Executive Documents contain the text of a Treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President of the United States. Beginning with the 97th Congress in 1981, Executive Documents became known as Treaty Documents, and they are now numbered instead of lettered alphabetically. Executive Documents contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo Congressional Documents collection.
                            **Senate Treaty Documents**
                            Senate Treaty Documents contain the text of a Treaty as it is submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification by the President of the United States. Numbered consecutively from the 1st Session through the 2d Session of a Congress. Prior to the 97th Congress, known as Executive (Lettered) Documents, and identified by letters of the alphabet. Treaty Documents contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo Congressional Documents collection.
                            **House and Senate Miscellaneous Documents**
                            House Miscellaneous Documents are usually other executive branch material included by request. Senate Miscellaneous Documents are usually other executive or legislative branch material included by request. Miscellaneous Documents contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo Congressional Documents collection.
                            **House and Senate Reports**
                            House and Senate Reports contain reports of congressional committees concerning proposed legislation and/or contain findings on matters under investigation. Reports contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo Congressional Reports collection.
                            **Senate Executive Reports**
                            Senate Executive Reports contain reports of the Committee on Foreign Relations relating to Treaties between the United States and foreign nations, which have been submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification, or reports of various Senate Committees regarding nomination of individuals. Executive Reports contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo Congressional Reports collection.
                            **Court of Claims Reports**
                            Established by Congress in 1855, the Court of Claims has jurisdiction to hear all monetary claims based on congressional statute, an executive branch regulation, or a contract with the United States Government.
                            **House Journals**
                            The Journal is the official record of proceedings of each legislative day in the House of Representatives. House journals contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo House Journal collection.
                            **Senate Journals**
                            The Journal is the official record of proceedings of each legislative day in the Senate. Senate journals contained in a Serial Set volume will also appear in the govinfo Senate Journal collection.
Video Tutorials
View video tutorials that provide search tips and other useful information about searching the Serial Set. They are available for free through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) Academy.
- Tutorial for searching the Serial Set through  Basic Search   .
- Tutorial for searching the Serial Set through  Advanced Search   .
- Tutorial for searching the Serial Set through  Citation Search   .
- Tutorial for using the Serial Set  Browse by Topic   .
- Tutorial for searching Serial Set  Maps   .
- Tutorial for searching  Serial Set Documents in Other Collections   .
- Tutorial for using the Serial Set  Browse by Congress   .  
Searching the Congressional Serial Set
**Metadata, OCR-ed text, and ALTO XML files produced as part of the digitization process for the Serial Set is intended to provide useful information to end users. Information may need to be validated by users, and may not be complete or fully accurate.**

You can locate content in the Congressional Serial Set by:
- Using the  Basic Search  for keyword and metadata fielded searches,
- Using the  Advanced Search ; fields specific to the CDOC will display after you select Congressional Documents in the Refine by Collection column,
- Using the  Citation Search  to retrieve a single document in PDF format if you know the Congress number, document type, and number of the document,
- Narrowing search results  by clicking on links in the Refine Your Search panel on the left hand side of the page (the sections under Refine Your Search correspond to the metadata available for the documents), and
- Browsing  on the Congressional Documents browse page.
- **General govinfo Search Tips**
Search ExamplesSearchExample
**Search by Congress Number and Chamber**

 These examples will search for Serial Set documents from the House of Representatives from the 69th Congress. 
-  Using Basic Search, enter:  collection:serialset and congress:69 chamber:house Using Advanced Search
-  Select  Congressional Serial Set  under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select Congress Number  in the first box and  select 69  in the second box.
-  Click + Additional Criteria and select  Chamber of Congress  then select  House of Representatives  in the next box. 

**Search for keyword by Serial Set Volume Number**

 These examples will search Serial Set Volume Number 8629 for the keyword *river*. 
-  Using Basic Search, enter:  river and serialnum:8629
-  Using Advanced Search, 
 Select 
Congressional Serial Set
 under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select 
Serial Set Volume No.
 in the first box and enter 
8629
 in the second box. 
 Click + Additional Criteria and enter 
river
 in the next box. 

**Search by Document Number**

 These examples will search for Serial Set documents with 77 as the document or report number. 
-  Using Basic Search, enter:  collection:serialset docnum:77
-  Using Advanced Search,  Select  Congressional Serial Set  under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select  Document Number  in the first box and enter  77  in the second box. 

**Search by President**

 These examples will search for Serial Set documents that reference Lincoln as the President. 
-  Using Basic Search, enter:  collection:serialset and president:lincoln
-  Using Advanced Search, select  Congressional Serial Set  under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select  President  in the first box and select  Lincoln, Abraham  in the second box. 

**Search by Citation**

 These examples will search for *House Miscellaneous Document 38-78*
-  Using Basic Search, enter:  citation:(H. Misc. Doc. 38-78)
-  Using Advanced Search, select  Congressional Serial Set  under Refine by Collection, then under Search In select  Citation  in the first box and enter  H. Misc. Doc. 38-78  in the second box.
-  Using Citation Search, select  Congressional Serial Set  from the Select Collection box, select  House Miscellaneous Document  from the Select Document Type box, select  38th Congress  from the Select Congress box, and enter  78  in the next box.

**Search for a Full Serial Set Volume**

 Below provides guidance for searching for a full Serial Set Volume. 
-  Using Advanced Search,
 Select 
Congressional Serial Set
 under Refine by Collection
 Then under Search In select 
Full Serial Set Volume
 in the first box and select 
true
 in the second box.
Click on the search button. 
In the search widget, click on the Search tab at the top.
 The top of your search results should now display your advanced search query in the search box and a check box, Search Within Results, should display. 
 Check the box next to Search Within Results. 
 Enter your keyword or field operators and conduct a search across ONLY full Serial Set volumes. 

Sample Congressional Serial Set URLs
**govinfo** uses two key pieces of information to construct predictable URLs to documents and Details pages:
- Package ID is used to identify an individual Serial Set document or a full Serial Set Volume.
IdentifierStructure/Metadata FieldExample
**Package ID - Full Volume**

SERIALSET-{Full Serial Set Number}

Note: Additional information regarding the structure of a full serial set number:
- SERIALSET-00559_00_00: Serial No. 559
- SERIALSET-00065_03_00: Serial No. 65-3
- SERIALSET-11975_23_0a: Serial No. 11975-23a

SERIALSET-08824_00_00

**Package ID - Individual Document**

SERIALSET-{Serial Set Number}-{Sequence #}-{Document #}-{Doc Part #}

NOTE: Additional information on the structure of an individual document package id:
- SERIALSET-00078_00_00-010-0037-0000: Serial No. 78, 10th document, document #37
- SERIALSET-00065_03_00-006-0053-0000: Serial No. 65-3, 6th document, document #53
- SERIALSET-00246_00_00-001-0512-0003: Serial No. 246, 1st document, document #512, document part 3.

SERIALSET-08824_00_00-008-0599-0000

**Tip:** You can also use the link service and API to construct predictable links.

**Details Page for a Congressional Serial Set (Volume)**
- Structure:  https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/ {Package ID}
- Example:  https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-08824_00_00

**PDF File for a Congressional Serial Set (Volume)**
- Structure:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/ {Package ID}/pdf/{Package ID}.pdf
- Example:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SERIALSET-08824_00_00/pdf/SERIALSET-08824_00_00.pdf

**Details Page for a Congressional Serial Set (Individual Document)**
- Structure:  https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/ {Package ID}
- Example:  https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/SERIALSET-08607_02_00-002-0428-0000

**PDF File for a Congressional Serial Set (Individual Document)**
- Structure:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/ {Package ID}/pdf/{Package ID}.pdf
- Example:  https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/SERIALSET-08607_02_00-002-0428-0000/pdf/SERIALSET-08607_02_00-002-0428-0000.pdf
Congressional Serial Set Metadata Fields and Values
Metadata fields and values can be used to increase the relevancy of your searches. Metadata fields and values are used throughout **govinfo** for:
- Refining Your Search,
- Browsing Government Publications,
- Field Operators,
- Advanced Search, and
- Display on Details pages.

Metadata fields and values can be entered into the Basic Search box using field operators. The metadata fields and values available for the Congressional Serial Set are listed in the table below, along with examples for each metadata field. Using Field Operators

Some of the metadata fields are made available for use in Advanced Search. The metadata values can be entered in the same format for the fields available on the Advanced Search Page. Using Advanced Search
Metadata Field Display NameMetadata Field DefinitionField OperatorField Operator Example
Collection

The collection to which the document belongs. Typically the same as the publication or series.

collection:

collection:serialset

Government Author

The names of the Government organizations responsible for authoring or assembling the document.

governmentauthor:

governmentauthor:congress

Publication Date

The date the document was first made available to the public.

publishdate:

publishdate:1927-03-04

Date format is YYYY, YYYY-MM, or YYYY-MM-DD

Language

The language code of the original document, from the ISO639-2b standard.

language:

language:eng

ILS System ID

The 9-digit integer number for the record of the publication in GPO's Integrated Library System, the Catalog of Government Publications (CGP).

ilsid:

ilsid:001148334

SuDoc Class Number

The SuDoc class number from the U.S. Superintendent of Documents which classifies Government publications by publishing agency.

sudocclass:

sudocclass:"Y 1.1/2:8824" or sudocclass:"69-1:S.RP.488"

Note: The SuDoc Class Numbers in **govinfo** are typically at the class stem level, not the book number level.

OCLC Number

The OCLC number.

oclcnum:

oclcnum:1065567813

Ingestion Date

The date the document was ingested into the preservation repository.

ingestdate:

ingestdate:2021-08-06

Note: Date format is YYYY-MM-DD

Electronic Location (URL)

The URL where the document or content detail page is located.

url:

url:"/pkg/SERIALSET-11530_04_00-002-0264-0000/pdf/SERIALSET-11530_04_00-002-0264-0000.pdf"

Publisher

The government organization who publishes the document or publication.

publisher:

publisher:"u.s. government publishing office"

Branch

The branch of Government responsible for the document's contents.

branch:

branch:legislative

Possible Values: Executive, Legislative, Judicial

Type of Resource

The media type for the document, typically "text". Defined as part of the Library of Congress MODS standard.

typeofresource:

typeofresource:text

Record Origin

How the record was originally generated.

recordorigin:

recordorigin:"machine generated"

Document Class

The type of Serial Set document.

docclass:

docclass:HEDOC

Serial Set possible values: CCRPT, HDOC, HEDOC, HMDOC, HRPT, HJOURNAL, SDOC, SEDOC, TDOC, SMDOC, SRPT, ERPT, SJOURNAL, SERIALSET

Citation

The GPO citation for Serial Set documents citation. Note that the "citation" field searches for the document itself. It does *not* locate references to the document from other documents.

citation:

citation:"H. Doc. 82-264"

Title

The title of the publication.

title:

title:"Annual report of the Public Printer 1926"

Category

The category to which the collection belongs.

category:

category:"Congressional Committee Materials"

Congress Number

The number of the Congress responsible for the document. Congresses typically last for two years, so for example, the 69th Congress was in session from 1925 through 1927.

congress:

congress:69

Session Number

The session of Congress which produced the Serial Set.

session:

session:2

Possible Values: 0 (Special), 1, 2, 3, 4

Chamber of Congress

The chamber of Congress which produced the document. This may not be the same as the chamber of origin.

chamber:

chamber:senate

Possible Values: house, senate

Serial Set Number

The serial set volume number, e.g. "11975-23A".

serialnum:

serialnum:11530-4

Document Number

The number associated with the Serial Set document.

docnum:

docnum:163

Search will return all document types with this number from all congresses.

Document Part

The part number of the document.

docpart:

docpart:2

Subject

The topic or geographic subject associated with the document.

subject:

subject:"malicious mischief"

Committee

Congressional committee names associated with the document.

committee:

committee:"committee on public lands"

President

The name of the president who issued the document.

president:

president:lincoln

Agency

Agency or sub-agency name.

agency:

agency:"dept. of state"

Bill Number Citation

A referenced congressional bill citation.

billscitation:

billscitation:"h.r. 713"
Congressional Serial Set Finding AidsNumerical Lists of Documents and Reports
The Numerical List of Documents and Reports lists numerically, with a brief title, all of the Senate and House Documents and Reports issued during a Session of Congress. The Numerical List also indicates the specific volume of the Congressional Serial Set in which each Document and Report is bound. No alphabetical or subject indexing is contained in this publication.

114th Congress (2015-2016)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

113th Congress (2013-2014)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

112th Congress (2011-2012)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

111th Congress (2009-2010)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

110th Congress (2007-2008)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

109th Congress (2005-2006)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

108th Congress (2003-2004)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

107th Congress (2001-2002)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

106th Congress (1999-2000)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

105th Congress (1997-1998)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

104th Congress (1995-1996)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

103d Congress (1993-1994)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

102d Congress (1991-1992)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

101st Congress (1989-1990)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

100th Congress (1987-1988)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

99th Congress (1985-1986)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

98th Congress (1983-1984)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

97th Congress (1981-1982)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

96th Congress (1979-1980)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

95th Congress (1977-1978)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

94th Congress (1975-1976)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

93d Congress (1973-1974)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

92d Congress (1971-1972)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

91st Congress (1969-1970)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

90th Congress (1967-1968)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

89th Congress (1965-1966)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

88th Congress (1963-1964)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

87th Congress (1961-1962)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

86th Congress (1959-1960)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

85th Congress (1957-1958)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session
Schedule of Serial Set Volumes
The Schedule of Serial Set Volumes lists numerically, by Serial Number, each volume of the Congressional Serial Set as well as the contents of each volume. The Schedule of Volumes is usually planned at the beginning of a new Session of Congress and it is compiled as the Session of Congress progresses. All documents authorized to be printed during the Session must be submitted for printing or accounted for before the Schedule can be completed.

114th Congress (2015-2016)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

113th Congress (2013-2014)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

112th Congress (2011-2012)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

111th Congress (2009-2010)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

110th Congress (2007-2008)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

109th Congress (2005-2006)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

108th Congress (2003-2004)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

107th Congress (2001-2002)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

106th Congress (1999-2000)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

105th Congress (1997-1998)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

104th Congress (1995-1996)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

103d Congress (1993-1994)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

102d Congress (1991-1992)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

101st Congress (1989-1990)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session

100th Congress (1987-1988)
- 1st Session
- 2d Session
- Government Documents Indexes   - additional resources for locating content in the Serial Set, including the  Documents Index  and  Numerical List .
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set Finding List (College of Wooster)    - Finding aid for executive agency content in the Serial Set
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set: What It Is and Its History  
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set Assigned Numbers Not Used  
- American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 (Webinar)  
- Delving into the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (Webinar)  
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set Collection on govinfo (Webinar)  
Congressional Serial Set Related Resources- Featured House, Senate and Joint Publications  - Select documents of the House or Senate, or jointly published by the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives.
- Conference Reports of the U.S. Congress    - website for agreements on legislation that are negotiated between the House and Senate via conference committees.
- Congressional Documents  - Documents from congressional committees that cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.
- Congressional Reports  - Documents from congressional committees that cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations.
- Browse by Congressional Committee  - Browse documents issued by individual committees, including Bills, Documents, Reports, and Hearings.
- Contact your local Federal Depository Library  
- Purchase the Congressional Serial Set    - From GPO's Online Bookstore

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