Legislative Research: U.S. Government Information Resources
- Introduction
- Videos From Congress.Gov: The Legislative Process
- Legislative Bills & Resolutions
- Legislative Laws & Codes
- Congressional Documents & Reports - U.S. Serial Set
- Congressional Committee Hearings
- Congressional Record & Floor Debates
- Presidential Documents
- Legislative Histories
- General Searching: Catalogs & Databases
- Other Digital Collections & Web Resources
- Legislative Citations & Abbreviations
- Questions? Ask Us!
Questions?
Call: (337) 482-6025
Email: reference@louisiana.edu
Text: (337) 205-7558
Visit: 1st Floor - Dupré Library
Hours: Reference Desk/Chat
Note: Reference Chat and Email services are primarily for the students, faculty, and staff of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The department will assist the public if the question concerns the University or some unique resource of Dupré Library, such as Federal government publications.
Locate Books or Published Compilations of Legislative Histories
Search the Dupré Library Catalog |
Books, eBooks, Journals, Magazines, Media, Government Documents, Microforms, and more. |
For best results, start with a Keyword search. |
Full Catalog Detailed Search | My Account | Library of Things | Louisiana Digital Library |
Keyword Search Examples
- legislative history
- legislative histories
- [your topic] AND legislation
- [your topic] AND legislative history
Subject Search Examples
Perform a search using Library of Congress (LC) subject headings.
- Legislative Histories
- [Subject] Law and Legislation (Example: Air pollution Law and Legislation)
Print Indexes & Publications
Reference & Legal Resources
These sources provide legislative history listings and citations to help you locate the full-text of legislative history publications.
Federal Legislative Histories: An Annotated Bibliography and Index to Officially Published Sources
- Ref KF 42 .2 1994 (1st Floor)
CIS Annual Index: Legislative Histories (1970 -1998)
- Docs Ref KF 49.C62 (1st Floor)
U.S. Statutes at Large (Legislative history printed on the last page of each public law)
- Docs Ref KF 50 .A3
Calendars of the House of Representatives and History of Legislation (Monday issues and Final issues for each Congress)
- Docs Ref Y 1.2
Definition of Legislative History
A legislative history consists of the citations and the texts of documents or publications that provide the intent, purpose, and background for a legislative bill, resolution or law (statute).
How to Locate a Legislative History Online
These sources provide legislative history listings and citations to help you locate the full-texts of legislative history publications. Listings and citations link to the full-texts when available.
- LegislationCongress.gov - 1973 [93rd Congress] to present
- History of BillsGovInfo – 1983 [98th Congress] to present
- Calendars of the House of Representatives and History of Legislation - for House and Senate1995 [104th Congress] to present
- United States Statutes at Large (1951 to present)Brief legislative history printed on the last page of each Public Law
- PublicLawsBrief legislative history printed on the last page of each Public Law
- Legislative Histories of Selected U.S. Laws on the Internet – Free sourcesLaw Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C.