THOMAS Named for Thomas Jefferson, Thomas was designed to make federal legislation freely available to the public. Since 1995 this Library of Congress Web site has not only provided copies of congressional bills, but has expanded the scope of its offerings to include many valuable features, including: • Bills and Resolutions • Activity in Congress • Congressional Record • Schedules & Calendars • Committee Information • Presidential Nominations • Treaties • Government Resources • For Teachers (resources for teachers include classroom activities, lesson plans, guide to congressional information and more). Most government agencies now have an active Web site, many with a wealth of valuable information available to the public, for example both the Securities & Exchange and the United States Patent Office, offer copies of their documents on their site as well as providing a searchable database for document retrieval. Other valuable sites include labor and business statistics from the United States Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration. Thomas, however, remains my favorite for its current legislation features as well as the archival federal material available. On Thomas you can: keyword search, search multiple congresses, search by public law number, browse legislation by sponsor, check the activity for the previous legislative day, or check current floor actions in the house. You can also search the Congressional Record or search United States Treaties by treaty number, title or treaty type, dating back to 1967. In most instances, coverage for federal legislation dates back to the 93rd congress (1973) through the current congress.

Submitted by Jenny Zook, Reference Librarian on April 25, 2008

This article appears in the categories: Law Library