Government Documents
Materials produced by national, state, and local governments and national and international organizations may be considered primary resources. United States Senate and House hearings, resolutions, laws, etc. are primary documents as are publications of organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union. Presidential papers, treaties, and Supreme Court decisions are other examples of primary resources. Many of these documents are available online through BU library databases. Documents that are not available online may be available in microfilm or microfiche in Mugar Library or the Pappas Law Library.
Government documents databases available at BU include:
- U.S. Congressional Documents This link opens in a new window Includes Congressional Record from its inception in 1873 as well as the three predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873), among other publications.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window Covers abstracts and indexing for hearings, reports, documents and committee prints. Date coverage: 1970-
- U.S. Presidential Library This link opens in a new window Includes Public Papers of the Presidents, Daily and Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, and other documents related to U.S. Presidents.
- Congressional Bills This link opens in a new window Contains all published versions of bills from the 103rd (1993-1994) Congress to the present.
- Congressional Committee Prints This link opens in a new window The subjects vary based on the committee. Includes historical and confidential staff reports. Full text from the 84th Congress (1955-56) through the present.
- United Nations Law Collection This link opens in a new window The collection major United Nations legal publications, including the complete collection of the United Nations treaty series. Also included are the Monthly Statement of Treaties and International Agreements, United Nations Legislative Series, United Nations juridical yearbook, Official records of the First, Second, and Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea with Final Act , International Court of Justice reports, advisory opinions and orders, and more.
- Digital National Security Archive This link opens in a new window Comprehensive collections of primary documents released through the Freedom of Information Act. Includes many aspects of U.S. foreign policy and military policy from 1945 to the present. Overlaps with U.S. Declassified Documents but has more recent coverage.
- Making of Modern Law. Foreign Primary Sources, 1600-1970 This link opens in a new window This collection consists of historical legal codes, statutes, regulations, and commentaries on codes from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and other countries in northern Europe. Included are crucial sources of historical statutes and regulations for the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
- Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises, 1800-1926 This link opens in a new window This collection provides digital images on every page of 22,000 legal treatises on U.S. and British law published from 1800 through 1926.
- Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources This link opens in a new window This archive offers online access to 350 years of legal primary sources, such as United States codes, state codes, municipal codes, constitutional conventions and compilations, and other documents in American legal history. Date coverage: 1620 - 1979.
- Making of Modern Law: American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990 This link opens in a new window This collection of papers spans the majority of the twentieth century, from 1912 to 1990 and includes documents on a wide variety of issues including: civil rights and civil liberties: race; gender,;academic freedom; censorship; legislation; labor; freedom of belief, expression, and association; and due process.
- U.S. Supreme Court Library This link opens in a new window The official U.S. Reports derived from bound volumes as well as preliminary prints, slip opinions, and books and periodicals related to the Court.
- U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 This link opens in a new window This database contains records and briefs brought before the U.S. Supreme Court in the period 1832-1978.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new window Hein Online is a PDF collection of primary and secondary legal materials including: law reviews, law journals, and bar journals; treatises; federal statutes and legislative materials; federal regulations and executive materials; Supreme Court cases; selected state materials; titles from the American Law Institute and National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws; and a growing collection of international legal materials including United Nations publications and treaties.
For additional databases see the Government Documents Databases A-Z list. Guide
