Research Guides: U.S. Government Information &amp; Congressional Publications: Databases

Databases at UD

American State Papers, 1739-1838
Full text legislative and executive publications of Congress 1789 (1st Cong) - 1838 (25th Cong). Covers materials prior to the Serial Set. Produced by the Readex Company.
Early American Imprints Series I: Evans, 1639-1800
Contains full text of many Congressional publications including journals, documents, reports, and broadsides. Search suggestion: select the "Author" tab, go to United States, select an appropriate term. If the search results are large, use the "search within" option.
Includes all American imprints from the 17th and 18th centuries identified in the American Bibliography by Charles Evans and in the Supplement to Evans’ American Bibliography by Roger Bristol.

Can be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
Eight Centuries
An index of indexes. Includes the Congressional Record File and the Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the U. S. (1774-1881).
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1996
The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) began in 1941 as the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service. The original mission of the FBIS was to monitor, record, transcribe and translate intercepted radio broadcasts from select foreign governments, official news services, and clandestine broadcasts from occupied territories. Accordingly, it provides a wealth of information from countries outside of the U.S. and insights into the second half of the 20th century. Distribution of the FBIS Daily Reports ended in 1996.
HeinOnline Academic
The world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. Includes U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional documents (such as Congressional Record and Hearings early 1900s-present), and more than 2,400 scholarly journals, all of the world’s constitutions, all U.S. treaties, and collections of classic treatises and presidential documents.
Contains thousdand of law-related journals on a variety of subjects, all dating back to inception with over 90% available through the current issue or volume. Subject related collections are often curated and made available.
Nexis Uni
Provides federal and state cases and Shepard’s® Citations. Also federal and state statutes, and regulations. Includes articles from law journals. The news collection contains articles from U.S., state and local, and international newspapers.
Vendor Lyrasis. Publisher LexisNexis.
ProQuest Congressional
Identifies congressional publications from 1789 to present. Full text varies by type of publication.
Full text is available for recent publications, including Senate and House Reports and Documents (Serial Set), laws, testimony given in Congressional hearings 1988 (100th Cong)-, the Congressional Record 1985 (99th Cong)-, House and Senate Documents 1995 (104th Cong)- and Reports 1990 (101st Cong)-, Committee Prints 1993 (103rd Cong)-. Legislative Histories are available for 1996 (106th Cong) -.
The Library has many of the full text microfiche sets indexed in ProQuest Congressional, including House and Senate Unpublished Hearings and Historical hearings set (Microfiche-Group number).
Readex AllSearch
FBIS Daily Reports, 1941-1996 constitutes a one-of-a-kind archive of transcripts of foreign broadcasts and news that provides fascinating insight into the second half of the 20th century. Many of these materials are firsthand reports of events as they occurred. Digitized from original paper copy and high-quality microfilm, this definitive online collection features full-text transcripts from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, China, Eastern and Western Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the Soviet Union. Fully searchable for the first time, this unique digital collection features individual bibliographic records for each report and highlighted events to assist researchers.
Note: After using Readex AllSearch to discover relevant documents across a range of collections, some users may find it effective to transition their research to the specific Readex collection(s) in which such documents are found. These more focused collections are designed for deeper research of particular content types.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set contains House and Senate Documents and House and Senate Reports bound by session of Congress. It began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 are found in the American State Papers. The Serial Set does not include Congressional hearings and debates.
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is bound by session of Congress. It began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 are found in the American State Papers, which can be accessed via the A-Z Databases page. The Serial Set does not include Congressional hearings and debates.
House and Senate Reports are usually from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. They include all other papers ordered printed by the House or Senate. Documents cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Executive branch materials were also published in the Serial Set.
After 1994, GPO and the Library of Congress provide digital access to most of the continuing Serial Set materials.
It is possible to search the U.S. Congressional Serial Set Maps directly.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
U.S. Declassified Documents Online
U.S. Declassified Documents is a compilation of declassified documents from the executive branch including presidential libraries, Department of State, Department of Defense, CIA, FBI, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other executive agencies. The types of materials include intelligence studies, policy papers, diplomatic correspondence, cabinet meeting minutes, briefing materials, and domestic surveillance and military reports. These records provide a unique view of the highest level of American policymaking on the most sensitive issues of national security and foreign policy. The collection also includes sources on domestic issues such as surveillance, the civil rights and anti-war movements, abuse of government power, and home-grown terrorism.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gales digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
Westlaw Campus Research
Can find full bills and has a section devoted to Legislative History located on the "All Content" tab all the way on the right-hand side.
Includes:
- Current and archival coverage of newspapers, magazines, broadcast transcripts, wires, and trade journals.
- Company Investigator, an authoritative source for researching and gaining insight on more than 30 million public and private companies.
- Topical categories to refine searches and obtain more precise results.
- Expert analysis from hundreds of law reviews and journals, encyclopedias, and treatises.
- Full-text legislation, regulations, and court decisions.
- Integrated research tools, such as template searching, headnotes, case synopses, West Key Number System®, KeyCite®, and hypertext linking to related documents.

Keep in mind that finding information on topics may require you to search within subject specific databases.

CQ Researcher
The CQ Researcher Plus Archive explores a single “hot” issue in the news in depth each week. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology. There are 44 reports produced each year including four expanded reports. PDF files are available for full issues dating back to January 1996; for issues published since January 2001, PDF files are in color.

National Journal
The National Journal provides daily analysis on Hill procedures and updates. In the Race Tracker section, you can track election poll data and campaign finance information. In the Almanac section, you can find biographies on politicians. The National Journal is an immensely rich resource that is worth exploring if you are looking for information on Congress.

HeinOnline Academic
The world’s largest fully searchable, image-based government document and legal research database. Includes U.S. statutory materials, U.S. Congressional documents (such as Congressional Record and Hearings early 1900s-present) and more than 2,400 scholarly journals, all of the world’s constitutions, all U.S. treaties, collections of classic treatises and presidential documents, and access to the full text of state and federal case law.
Contains thousdand of law-related journals on a variety of subjects, all dating back to inception with over 90% available through the current issue or volume. Subject related collections are often curated and made available.
Gale OneFile: LegalTrac
LegalTrac provides indexing for more than 1,200 major law reviews, legal newspapers, specialty publications, Bar Association journals, and international legal journals, including more than 200 titles in full text. The database offers coverage of federal and state cases, laws and regulations, legal practice and taxation, as well as British Commonwealth, European Union, and international law.
PAIS Index
An index to the world’s public and social policy literature in the fields of business, economics, local and federal government, political science, international relations, finance, and other social sciences. Includes public policy literature in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish—periodicals, books, and government documents.
ProQuest Congressional
Provides detailed subject and author indexing to access approximately 170 magazines and newsletters with substantial research value published by the U.S. government.

New York Times (NYTimes.com)
The New York Times online includes the same articles and feature text and images that appear in the print edition, but also an array of additional resources including images, videos, audio, graphics, and data content. Crosswords are not included in this NYTimes.com Group Pass subscription.
New Subscribers: (have never had a personal or UDel account)
To create your new, free account, use this link: www.nytimes.com/activate-access/edu-access.
Existing New York Times Online Subscribers
Note: If you have an existing, paid NYT subscription, you must cancel it before you can activate the free UD Library provided subscription. You may cancel by emailing customercare@nytimes.com , connecting with a chat agent on the site, or calling 800-591-9233.
After cancelling your existing account:
- Go to www.accessnyt.com.
- Find your school name by selecting “University of Delaware” from the dropdown menu.
- Click “Already have an account? Log in here.”
- Input your udel.edu email address and the same password you created for your previous account.
- Select your status as “student” (enter your graduation date) or “faculty/staff.”
- Click “Continue” and you will be directed to www.nytimes.com.
Tips and Troubleshooting:
- Students will have access until they graduate.
- Faculty and staff must renew once every four years. Add your expiration date to your calendar; there will be no subsequent reminder.
- If you find that you no longer have access, it is most likely because your account has expired.
- After expiration, activate a new pass by visiting NYTimes.com/GroupPass .
- You may reset your NYT password any time here: nytimes.com/forgot
Washington Post Online
The Washington Post (often referred to as TWP or WaPo) covers national and global news, politics and national security, business and technology, arts and entertainment, sports, and local and regional news. Sections include a range of topical areas — education, climate and environment, science, health, immigration, and more. TWP‘s investigative journalists cover a range of issues of national and international importance, and opinion columnists focus on politics, economics, culture, international news and other topics.
Select earlier content is accessible, particularly investigative journalism content related to U.S. President Richard Nixon and Watergate dating back to 1968. Search features do not enable limiting to specific date ranges, so the extent of this content is unknown.
Washington Post articles and indexing are also available from:
- 1877 to 17 years ago in ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Washington Post
- 01/01/2008 to present in ProQuest Recent Newspapers: Washington Post
Wall Street Journal (wsj.com)
The Wall Street Journal online includes the same articles and feature text and images that appear in the print edition, but also an array of additional resources including images, videos, audio, graphics, and data content.
Registration Instructions
*If you already have a personal membership to the WSJ, call 1-800-JOURNAL and to inform the WSJ that you are switching to the membership provided by the University of Delaware.*
- Step 1: Click on this link: http://wsj.com/udel. You will be prompted to login to the UD Central Authentication Service (CAS)
- Step 2: Fill out the form, then click Create. When you have completed the form and clicked Create. You will see “Redemption Successful.”
- Step 3: Check your email inbox for a confirmation receipt.
- Step 4: You are now a registered user of The Wall Street Journal Digital Edition. Access it anytime, anywhere at https://www.wsj.com/ by signing in with your email address and password.

The Economist
Subscription provided by UD.

Newspapers
by Kaitlyn Tanis Last Updated Apr 3, 2025 1024 views this year

Tips & Tricks for Searching for Articles

Finding articles within databases and journals is not the same process you would use to conduct a search in Google or an internet search engine. You cannot type in a question, but rather need to choose specific keywords and phrases to find results. These tips are similar to how you would search for material in DELCAT.

Helpful Ways to Search:

Use quotations around a phrase to "tell" the database or journal that you want these words to remain together.
- Ex: "American exceptionalism"
Think of synonyms to your keywords...Especially when conducting historical research, you may need to develop words and phrases that were used during that particular time period, rather than modern-day words.
- Ex: World War I; First World War; The Great War - All would give you different results!
Use AND/OR to connect words, concepts, and phrases together to receive specified results.
- Ex: World War I AND United States

Use the Advanced Search option in databases and journals to narrow down by date, region, type of document, and more!

U.S. Government Information & Congressional Publications

From Off Campus

Databases at UD

Tips & Tricks for Searching for Articles