New Resources Available

a. U.S. Congressional Serial Set

By Linda Kennedy, UC Davis

The UC libraries now have access to Readex’s digitized version of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set at: http://uclibs.org/PID/42461

The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is a collection of primary source materials covering the period 1817 through 1980 (the 15th through 96th congresses).  It’s made up of congressional reports and documents, arranged in sequentially numbered volumes.  Many important executive agency documents were printed in congressional editions during the 19th century, making the U.S. Congressional Serial Set an incredibly rich resource covering nearly every aspect of society.  The set includes the American State Papers, a retrospective collection of materials originating from 1789 through 1838 but published in the second quarter of the 19th century.

The interface offers both a simple and advanced search, the ability to limit to tables, maps, or illustrations, and to search specific fields.  Date range and adjacency searching are included along with the ability to search within results.  Particularly useful is the ability to browse by subject, especially valuable to users unfamiliar with the set’s organization.

The U.S. Congressional Serial Set was recommended by a wide variety of UC selector groups and was endorsed by the Joint Steering Committee on Shared Collections (JSC) as an important contribution to our digital collection of scholarly historical resources.  The license negotiated by CDL contains perpetual and archival access to guarantee ongoing UC research for future generations.