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Core Documents of Our Democracy: Basics on Historical Document Research

The resources found in this guide are vital sources of information that support the public's right to know about the workings and essential activities of the Federal Government.

Possible Harmful Language when Doing Research in the Library Catalog

Diversity, equity and inclusion are a key part of TCU’s core values and a foundational theme in TCU’s Vision in Action: Lead On strategic plan. Fulfilling TCU’s mission to develop ethical leaders and critical thinkers in a global community depends on our ability to attract and retain students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds that thrive in our community. A diverse and inclusive campus leads to innovation, broadened perspectives and understanding — values that are foundational aspects of higher education.

Our library is committed to creating inclusive, anti-racist, non-derogatory descriptions in our catalog that accurately describe our holdings. However, we acknowledge that some of our descriptions may contain racist, homophobic, sexist, or otherwise derogatory and offensive language. In most cases, this language will be present in older records that were created in years and decades past. We are dedicated to finding ways to mitigate use of harmful and offensive language in descriptions in our catalog and we invite you to contact us if you have encountered hurtful language. 

Harmful or offensive language may appear for the following reasons: 

  • Some derogatory terms used to describe historically oppressed people have been reclaimed and used by authors and creators from those communities. 
  • Terms historically used by a community to describe themselves have fallen out of use or out of favor. 
  • We use Library of Congress Subject Headings to enable standardized searching and access across our holdings. LOC Subject Headings changes have to go through an extensive review, editorial and approval process and sometimes can only be changed by legislative action, and some of these headings continue to use outdated language. 
  • We have transcribed information directly from the materials themselves. 

We acknowledge that we are often describing communities of which we are not a part. We recognize our responsibility to describe our resources and their creators respectfully and carefully. We also recognize that we may sometimes fail and are dedicated to a process of constant reflection and improvement. 

We are pursuing actions to remediate these issues, including reviewing and correcting existing records and implementing better processes going forward. This process is complex and ongoing, but we are committed to this effort. If you discover harmful or offensive language in catalog records please contact us at LIBCataloging@tcu.edu .

This statement was adapted from those of Emory Libraries.  Last updated on 3/14/2024.

Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications 1900-1971

  • Using this index stops you from having to search the Monthly Catalog year by year. 
  • Once you’ve found the desired subject the year will be in parenthesis and the page number or citation number will follow. 
  • Find topic in the index, then go to the particular Monthly Catalog for the exact tangible document information, and then use that information to search in Proquest. 
  • Be prepared to use era appropriate terminology when searching the index.

Once you have identified the document you are looking for in the Monthly Catalog, go to the database ProQuest Congressional Hearings and choose the following options to find the document you're interested in:

  • Under "Legislative & Executive Publications" select "Search by Number"
  • Then under "Publication Search" choose "Publication Number"
  • To get the exact document listed in the Monthly Catalog, select the appropriate:
    • Publication type (examples:  House Report (H.rpt.), Senate document (S.doc.), Senate Hearing (S.hrg.)
    • Congress
  • Type in the publication number
  • Click on "Search"

Image of ProQuest Congressional Hearings Search by Number page

Checklist of United States Public Documents 1789-1909

  • The book is set-up in SuDoc order detailing what’s been published and the history of that document including possible changes in department or agency or if/when the document ceased publication

Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents 1789-1976

  • Anything before July, 1976 is pre-online, so this document is very useful for research prior to that date.
  • Only useful with exact titles.  This book will give you the SuDoc number for the specific title.

Cumulative Subject Guide to United States Government Bibliographies

  • Search a particular topic and it will provide you with SuDoc numbers significant to the topic.

CIS Legislative Histories

  • This document shows the progression of a law through congress including bills, hearings, etc…
  • This document is ONLINE ONLY in our collection.

Print Versions of the Documents Referenced in this Section may be found in the Documents Alcove