Official name of the country: United States of America
Official language: English

Official name of Parliament: Congress of the United States
-Bicameral -
Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

Official names of Chambers:       Senate (1)
Member of the ASGP
      House of Representatives (2)
Member of the ASGP

The Library of Congress and the Congressional Research Service (CRS) serve both chambers of the Parliament. The Senate and the House of Representatives also maintain their own libraries, but neither facility provides research and policy analysis for their respective Chamber.

2. Address
Congressional Research Service
Library of Congress
10 First Street, S.E.
Washington, DC 20540-7000
Tel.: *(1)(202)7075775
Fax: *(1)(202)7072615
Telex: TWX 7108330185
E-mail: dmulhollan@crs.loc.gov

3. Details on the Library
Year of foundation: 1800
Person in charge: Mr James H. Billington; Mr Daniel MULHOLLAN
Position or official title: Librarian of Congress; Director, Congressional Research Service
Number of library staff: 767 (for CRS only)
Number of professional librarians: 110
Number of research and subject analyst staff in the Library: 444 (including 28 administrators who are also qualified as subject analysts)
Number of secretarial and support staff: 198
Number of other staff: 15 (automation specialists)
Size of collection: 110.000.000 (for Library of Congress)
Number of annual accessions: 3.400.000
Annual acquisitions budget: 7.040.000 US$ (General Collection); 6.632.000 US$ (Law Library)
Number of current periodicals: 75.000
Periodicals indexed for relevant articles: Yes, by CRS
Number of periodicals which are currently indexed for articles: 1.100
Number of periodical articles indexed per year: 10.000
Number of current newspapers: 1.420
Press cuttings: Yes, by CRS
Indexing of Parliamentary Papers: A number of Congressional documents are indexed, but not by the Library of Congress or the Congressional Research Service. For example, the Congressional record is transcribed by the Official Reporters of Debates and indexed by the Congressional Record Index Office. This office is part of the Government Printing Office and is under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing. The transcripts of committee hearings are provided by the official Reporters to Committees or a private transcription company. Each committee in the House and Senate does its own indexing of committee hearings
Library in charge of the archival materials of the Parliament: No, papers of the Congress go to the National Archive
Library uses a thesaurus or a classification system for subject indexing: Classification system (Library of Congress); thesaurus (CRS)
Automation of cataloguing: Yes
Is the automated library catalogue accessible as an online catalogue to outside users?: Yes
Clientele: The Library of Congress, including the Law Library of Congress serves all researchers over 18 years old. CRS, however, serves exclusively Members of Congress, their staff, and committees
Number of reading rooms: 6 (114) (CRS)
Number of loans per year: 44.000 (circulated to Congressional offices)
Reference services: 600.000
Current bibliographies: 74
Retrospective subject bibliographies: 313
External database searches: 12.000 - 15.000 + 150.000 - 200.000 inhouse database searches
Analysis and research: Yes, by CRS
Other special services: Seminars, institutes and training: 412 events, 11.762 participants;
in-person briefings and consultations: 4.868 CRS staff participants;
translations
Right to deposit: Full depository status for the Library of Congress which receives serials and books, films, maps, tv and radio broadcasts, computer software and CD-ROMs, recorded sound and music, musical scores and sheet music, posters, architectural drawings, arts, manuscripts
Depository library: US Government Printing Office, UN, EU and other IGOs
Other special collections of the Library: Special collections (by Division): African and Middle Eastern, American Folklife Center, Archive of Folk Culture, Asian, European, General Reading Rooms, Geography and Map, Hispanic, Law Library, Manuscript, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound, Music, Prints and Photographs, Rare Book and Special Collections, Science and Technology, Serial and Government Publications
Any other information: Part of the Library of Congress is the CRS with its own library (105.000 vols., 5.069 periodicals and a selecting depository library for US Government publications). The CRS serves as the principal research and policy analysis arm of the Congress. The 767 authorized positions include all staff engaged in research and policy analysis, reference and information services, legislative documentation and administrative support
IFLA membership: Yes

4. Publications published by the Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service review
Professional journal issued 10 times per year
* Digest of public general bills and resolutions
Published during each session of Congress in two cumulative issues, with occasional supplements, and a final edition of the conclusion of the session
Major legislation of the Congress
Published approximately two times during a Congress (a two-year period). - Summaries of Congressional issues and the major legislation introduced in response to them
Guide to CRS products
Quarterly. - Restricted circulation
- Update to the Guide to CRS products
Monthly. - Restricted circulation
Weekly update
Weekly. - Restricted circulation

5. Publications concerning the Congressional Research Service and the
Library of Congress
Guide to the Library of Congress. - Washington, DC : LC, 1988. - 119 p.
Annual report of the Librarian of Congress for fiscal year 19.. - Washington, DC
* Annual report of the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress for fiscal year 19.. - Washington, DC : Congressional Research Service
Robinson, William H.: Building a parliamentary research capability // In: Soviet and East European parliamentary libraries at the dawn of the post-communist era. - Bonn, 1991. - p. 99 - 124
ISBN 3-89372-009-X
The Bowker annual of library and book trade information. - New York : R.R. Bowker
Has a section on Library of Congress activities written by various authors each year
Cole, John Y.: For Congress and the nation : a chronological history of the Library of Congress. - Washington, DC : US Govt. Print. Off., 1979
Goodrum, Charles A.: The Library of Congress / Charles A. Goodrum and Helen W. Dalrymple. - Boulder : Westview Press, 1982. - 338 p.
Howard, Evelyn: The Congressional Research Service. - Washington, 1994 (CRS report ; 94-691)

6. Parliamentary documents
Congress
* Congressional record
Proceedings and debates of the US Congress
* Hearings, reports and prints of the Committees of the House and Senate
Senate
* Standing rules of the Senate and Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 : as amended. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1987. - 135 p. - (Senate Doc. ; 100-4)
* Gilfry, Henry H.: Senate precedents. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1914. - 711 p.
Riddick, Floyd M.: Senate procedure : precedents and practices. - Revised ed. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1992. - 1608 p. - (Senate Doc. ; 101-28)
* Slack, Lana: Senate manual / Lana Slack and James King. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1988. - 927 p. - (Senate Doc. ; 100-1)
House of Representatives
Anderson, Donnald K.: Rules of the House of Representatives. - Washington : Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives, 1989. - 33 p.
Brown, William Holmes: The Constitution, Jefferson's manual, and rules of the House of Representatives. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1993. - 1257 p. (House Doc. ; 102-405)
* Cannon, Clarence: Cannon's procedure in the House of Representatives. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1963. - 542 p. - (House Doc. ; 87-610)
* Deschler, Lewis: Deschler's precedents of the US House of Representatives. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1977. - 8 vols. to date
(House Doc. ; 94-661)
More volumes are anticipated
* Deschler, Lewis: Procedure in the US House of Representatives / Lewis Deschler and William Holmes Brown. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1982. - 852 p.
1987 supplement : annotations of the precedents of the House for the 97th, 98th, and 99th Congresses. - 178 p.
* Hinds, Asher: Hinds' and Cannon's precedents of the House of Representatives / Asher Hinds and Clarence Cannon. - Washington : US Govt. Print. Off., 1907 and 1936. - 11 vols.

(updated in June 1995)