U.S. Congressional Serial Set

Congressional Serial Set

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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. View a detailed summary and status of the project for Digitizing the United States Congressional Serial Set.

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 Congressional Documents collection on GovInfo.

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 Congressional Documents collection on GovInfo.

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 Congressional Documents collection on GovInfo.

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 Congressional Documents collection on GovInfo.

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 Congressional Reports collection on GovInfo.

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 Congressional Reports collection on GovInfo.

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 House Journal collection on GovInfo.

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 Senate Journal collection on GovInfo.

Document Class	Chamber	Document Type
CCRPT	Senate	Court of Claims Report
HDOC	House	House Document
HEDOC	House	House Executive Document
HMDOC	House	House Miscellaneous Document
HRPT	House	House Report
HJOURNAL	House	House Journal
SDOC	Senate	Senate Document
SEDOC	Senate	Senate Executive Document
TDOC	Senate	Senate Treaty Document
SMDOC	Senate	Senate Miscellaneous Document
SRPT	Senate	Senate Report
ERPT	Senate	Senate Executive Report
SJOURNAL	Senate	Senate Journal

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 Examples

Search	Example
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 selectCongress 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 38^th 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.

Identifier	Structure/Metadata Field	Example
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

Identifier

Structure/Metadata Field

Example

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 Name	Metadata Field Definition	Field Operator	Field 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 Aids

Numerical 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)

113th Congress (2013-2014)

112th Congress (2011-2012)

111th Congress (2009-2010)

110th Congress (2007-2008)

109th Congress (2005-2006)

108th Congress (2003-2004)

107th Congress (2001-2002)

106th Congress (1999-2000)

105th Congress (1997-1998)

104th Congress (1995-1996)

103d Congress (1993-1994)

102d Congress (1991-1992)

101st Congress (1989-1990)

100th Congress (1987-1988)

99th Congress (1985-1986)

98th Congress (1983-1984)

97th Congress (1981-1982)

96th Congress (1979-1980)

95th Congress (1977-1978)

94th Congress (1975-1976)

93d Congress (1973-1974)

92d Congress (1971-1972)

91st Congress (1969-1970)

90th Congress (1967-1968)

89th Congress (1965-1966)

88th Congress (1963-1964)

87th Congress (1961-1962)

86th Congress (1959-1960)

85th Congress (1957-1958)

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.