Law and Legislative Resources
Administrative Law and Regulation Resources
Bills, Resolutions. (The Library of Congress. Thomas) Contains information on bill texts, summaries and status. Links also to Congressional Record, committee reports, etc.
CIS. Congressional Information Service. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, 1970-. Microfiche. Includes United States Congressional Serial Set. Continues CIS US Serial Set.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Prints. United States. Congress. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Information Service, 1976-1980. Microfiche. Indexed by CIS US Congressional Committee Prints Index.
CIS US Serial Set. Washington , D.C: Congressional Information Service, 1978-1979. Microfiche. Documents from 1789- 1969. Continued by CIS.
Collections - U.S. Code. (HeinOnline) 1925-. Access restricted to OSU students, faculty, and staff.
Committees of the U.S. Congress. (Library of Congress. Congress.gov) Can search by committee for hearings, reports, etc. from the 95th Congress (1977-1978) - present.
Congressional Bills. (govinfo) Contains House and Senate bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions for the 103rd Congress (1993-1994) forward.
Congressional Committee Prints. (govinfo) Congressional Committee Prints are publications issued by Congressional Committees that include topics related to their legislative or research activities, as well as other matters such as memorial tributes. The prints are an excellent resource for statistical and historical information, and for legislative analysis. The subjects of the Committee Prints vary greatly due to the different concerns and actions of each committee. Some basic categories of Congressional Committee Prints are: draft reports and bills, directories, statistical materials, investigative reports, historical reports, situational studies, confidential staff reports, hearings, and legislative analyses. Coverage 94th Congress (1975-1976) forward.
Congressional Documents. (govinfo) Contains House Documents, Senate Documents, and Senate Treaty Documents. House and Senate documents contain various kinds of materials ordered to be printed by both chambers of Congress. Documents can include reports of executive departments and agencies, as well as committee prints, that were ordered to be printed as documents for the 94th Congress (1993-1994) forward.
Congressional Globe (Permanent Edition). United States. Congress. Washington, D.C.: Blair & Rives, 1834-1873. Debates and Proceedings of Congress. Continues Register of Debates in Congress (Permanent Edition) and is continued by Congressional Record (Permanent Edition)
Congressional Hearings. (govinfo) Contains selected House and Senate hearings for the 99th Congress (1985-1986) forward. The House and Senate appropriations hearings for fiscal year 1998 forward are also included. Not all congressional hearings are available on FDsys. Whether or not a hearing is included depends on the committee.
Congressional Record (Daily Edition). United States. Congress. Washington, D.C.: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GPO, . Lists legislative actions on bills. Published daily when Congress is in session.
Congressional Record (Daily Edition). (govinfo) Lists legislative actions on bills from the 140th Congress (1994) - present.
Congressional Record (Permanent Edition). United States. Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1874-. Issued for each session of Congress. Based on Daily Edition. Continues Congressional Globe (Permanent Edition).
Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the U.S. Congress. (Library of Congress. Congress.gov) Broken out by date. For each date information is available on the daily digest, Senate and House bills, and extensions of remarks for 104th Congress-.
Congressional Reports. (govinfo) Contains information on proposed legislation and issues under investigation by congressional committees from 104th Congress (1995-1996)-.
The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States. United States. Congress. Washington, D.C.: Gales and Seaton, 1789-1824.
Federal Statutes: A Beginner’s Guide – Bills and Resolutions. (The Library of Congress) Overview of the topic with links to specific aspects.
HeinLine. U.S. Congressional Documents Library. (HeinOnline) Congressional Record (1873-present) Access restricted to OSU student, faculty, and staff.
History of Bills. (govinfo) 98th Congress (1983)- present. GovInfo lists History of Bills as a separate collection, although it is actually part of the Congressional Record.
Legislation of the U.S. Congress. (Library of Congress. Congress.gov) Contains information on legislation since 1799. Replaced the Library of Congress’s Thomas website.
ProQuest Congressional. (ProQuest) Includes Congressional Records 1789-present , vote reports 1987-present, bills and laws 1789-present, hearings 1824-present, executive orders 1789- present, etc. Access restricted to subscribers. [Formerly LexisNexis Congressional].
Public and Private Laws. (govinfo) 104th Congress (1995)-present.
Public Law. United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. GPO: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GPO, distributor),. Popularly known as Slip Laws. The first official version of a new law. It may be a single sheet of paper or hundreds of pages. Marginal notes may indicate the section(s) of the U.S. Code into which the law will be integrated. A brief legislative history appears at the end of the law. Replaced at the end of each congressional session by the cumulative volumes of the United States Statutes at Large.
Register of Debates in Congress. United States. Congress. Washington, D.C.: Printed and published by Gales & Seaton, 1825-. Debates and Proceedings of Congress. Continues The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States and is continued by Register of Debates in Congress (Permanent Edition)
Session Laws Library. (HeinOnline) Contains United States Statues at Large (1789-2011), links to other countries’ statutes and acts, as well as, statutes for the State of Ohio and other states, etc. Access restricted to OSU student, faculty, and staff.
Statutes at Large. United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. GPO, 1845-. Chronological compilation of laws. Although citations to the Statutes at Large are by volume and page number (example 88 Stat. 1896), Public/Private Law numbers can be used to locate specific laws. Annual. Volumes include subject and name indexes. Note: 1963 through 1974 each volume of the Statutes at Large contained a "Guide to Legislative History of Bills Enacted into Public Law" (usually near the end of the volume). Beginning with the 94th Congress (1975), a brief legislative history is printed on the last page of each law. It is self- indexed, also indexed in Shepard’s Acts and Cases by Popular Names.
United States Code. United States. Washington, D.C.: , . Codification of "general and permanent laws" currently in force (i.e. not private laws or appropriations). With its subject (Title) arrangement, the Code brings together initial laws and subsequent amendments. It is reissued every six years, with annual supplements in the intervening years. Citations to the United States Code are in the form of title number U.S.C. section number, subsection number (example 40 U.S.C. 210.1). Includes subject and popular name indexes. Note: The United States Code Annotated (U.S.C.A.) is available at the Law Library. This commercially produced version (West Publishing) of the U.S.C. includes notes on the history of laws and related legal cases. It is self-indexed, also indexed in Shepard’s Acts and Cases by Popular Names. Check out the following call numbers to see the specifics of OSU Libraries' holdings:
K44 .C1 1946 ; K44 .C1 1952 ; K44 .C1 Suppl; K44 .C1 1958; K44 .C1 1964;
K44.C1 1964 SUPPL; K44 .C1 1970; K44.C1 1970 Suppl; K44 .C1 1976;
K44.C1 1976 SUPPL; K44 .C1 1982; K44 .C4; K44.C12; KF62 1994.A2:
KF62 1988 .A2 1989, and KF62 2000 .A2.
United States Code. (U.S. House of Representative. Office of the Law Revision Council). Latest version of the code by titles, with links to prior versions (1994-).
United States Code. (govinfo) 1994-.
United States Statutes at Large. United States. Washington, D.C. : U.S. GPO, 1845-. Chronological compilation of laws. Although citations to the Statutes at Large are by volume and page number (example 88 Stat. 1896), Public/Private Law numbers can be used to locate specific laws. Volumes include subject and name indexes. Note: 1963 through 1974 each volume of the Statutes at Large contained a "Guide to Legislative History of Bills Enacted into Public Law" (usually near the end of the volume). Beginning with the 94th Congress (1975), a brief legislative history is printed on the last page of each law.
United States Statutes at Large. (govinfo) 82nd Congress (1951)- 113th Congress (2014).
Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings. Bethesda, Maryland: CIS, 1986-. Microfiche. 1823-1976.
Code of Federal Regulations - Annual Edition. (govinfo) The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) annual edition is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. The 50 subject matter titles contain one or more individual volumes, which are updated once each calendar year, on a staggered basis. 1996-present.
Code of Federal Regulations. (HeinOnline) Search able by year, title, part, affected sections, etc. 1938-present. Please note that there were no CFR supplements published for 1942 and 1948. Access restricted to OSU student, faculty, and staff.
Code of Federal Regulations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Service, Office of the Federal Register; for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1949-. [1949-1984] [1985-1999] [2000-]
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. (HeinOnline) Contains papers the selected papers, etc. of George Washington through Herbert Hoover. Arranged in volumes with 2 or more presidents per volume. Access restricted to OSU student, faculty, and staff.
Compilation of Presidential Documents. (govinfo) The Compilation of Presidential Documents collection consists of the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and the Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents which are the official publications of materials released by the White House Press Secretary 1992-present. Includes links to supplementary Materials such as Acts approved by the President, checklist of White House press releases, etc.
Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. (National Archives) The Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) is a currently updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). It is not an official legal edition of the CFR. The e-CFR is an editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments produced by the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Government Publishing Office.
Executive Orders Disposition Tables Historic Index. (National Archives. Office of the Federal Register) List of executive orders starts with 5075 issued by Herbert Hoover (1929) and ends with 13764 issued by BaracK Obama (2017). For information on current orders see Federal Register - Executive Orders.
Federal Register. (govinfo) Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents1990-
Federal Register [Electronic Resource]. (Serial Solutions) ProQuest Congressional contains records back to 1936 and is searchable by topic/subject.
Federal Register. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GPO, distributor. Microfiche collection v.1-v.69 September (1936-2004). {Note the Law Library has v.1(1936)-present.}
Federal Register - Executive Orders. (National Archives) Listing of executive orders from Presidents Clinton through Biden with links to the PDF of order itself. For information on older orders see Executive Orders Disposition Tables Historic Index.
Federal Register Library. (HeinOnline) Contains links to the Federal Register and indices (1936-), Code of Federal Regulations (1938-), and other related titles. Access restricted to OSU student, faculty, and staff.
Free Websites for Legal Research: Presidential Documents. (Franklin County. Law Library) Links to resources for doing research on presidential documents.
Presidential Documents Archive – Presidential Signing Statements. (The American Presidency Project) Remarks made by the President when signing an act into law. These remarks are compiled in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and later in Public Papers of the Presidents. Hoover (1929)-.
Public Papers of the Presidents. (National Archives.) Links to the public papers of Presidents Reagan through Obama.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. (govinfo). Links to the public papers of Presidents Hoover through Obama.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Federal Register Division, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration: For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GPO,. Annual compilations of many of the public messages and statements originally printed in the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Check out the following call numbers to see the specific of OSU Libraries’ holding: J80 .A28; E806 .R78, and J80 .A283.
Statements of Administration Policy on Non-Appropriations and Appropriation Bills. (OMB - Office of Management and Budget) Presidential position papers about proposed legislation. Issued irregularly.
U.S. Presidential Library - Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. (HeinOnline) Herbert Hoover (1929-1933), Harry Truman- Barack Obama ((1945- 2011). Access restricted to OSU student, faculty, and staff.
U.S. Presidential Library – Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. (HeinOnline) v.1-v.45no.3 (1965-2009). Access restricted to OSU student, faculty, and staff.
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Washington , D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. GPO, distributor, 1965-. Issued Monday of each week, this publication includes Presidential proclamations, addresses and remarks, appointments, acts approved and vetoed by the President, and messages to Congress. Self- indexed with quarterly and annual cumulative indexes.
Federal Legislative History Research: A Practitioner’s Guide to Compiling the Documents and Sifting for Legislative Intent. Richard J. McKinney and Ellen A. Sweet. Legislative Source Book. Washington, D.C.: Law Librarians’ Society of Washington, D.C., September 2019. Outline of how to conduct legislative history research.
How to Compile a Federal Legislative History. Sue Ann Orsini. PLL-SIS Presentation (12-10-2013) Overview the elements that comprise a legislative history, with sugestions of resources that can be used.
Legal Research : How to Find & Understand the Law. 14th Edition. Stephen Elias and Susan Levinkind. Berkeley, California: Nolo, 2007. Guide that explains how to do legal research, including developing search terms and strategies, online research, understanding legal resources, etc.
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