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Congressional Research Service (CRS) Publications

A division of the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) prepares reports for members of Congress. These reports are not provided for public distribution, but several entities make selected titles available either for online viewing or for purchase of print copies.
DatabaseCRS Reports on the WebPrint Copies for PurchasePeak: The Library CatalogOther Guides

Database
LexisNexis CRS Reports
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) was established within the Library of Congress to provide members, committees, and congressional staff with nonpartisan and objective research and analysis on all public policy issues.

Currently, the CRS research divisions are: American Law; Domestic Social Policy; Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade; Government and Finance; Knowledge Services; and Resources, Science and Industry. Many CRS reports are updated at varying intervals, so it is always important to note the exact date of issuance rather than just the title and the year of publication. University of Denver Community
Content types:  Full Text  



CRS Reports on the Web
Several Web sites redistribute online versions of CRS reports.
Open CRS http://opencrs.com/
A project of the Center for Democracy & Technology through the cooperation of several organizations and collectors of CRS Reports, Open CRS provides citizens access to CRS Reports already in the public domain and encourages Congress to provide public access to all CRS Reports.

Congressional Research Service Reports, Hosted by UNT Libraries http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/index.tkl
The University of North Texas Library hosts an award-winning site where many CRS reports are browsable by topic and searchable by full text. This is the best starting point.

CRS Reports in Homeland Security/Terrorism and Health Law & Policy http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/index.asp
From the University of Maryland's Thurgood Marshall Law Library.

Federation of American Scientists CRS Reports http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/
Provides access to CRS reports on secrecy and information policy, intelligence, homeland security, nuclear weapons and arms control, terrorism, middle east, foreign policy and regional affairs, space policy, and other topics.

National Council for Science and the Environment (NLE) http://www.ncseonline.org/NLE/CRS/
The NLE has over 1,200 CRS reports on its Web site. These reports relate primarily to environmental topics.

U.S. Department of State http://www.fpc.state.gov/c18185.htm
The State Department provides CRS Reports and Issue Briefs related to foreign relations topics. Various revisions of the same report can be found for selected reports.

The Memory Hole http://www.thememoryhole.org/
Provides access to over 300 CRS reports on Iraq, terrorism, abortion, pornography, privacy, taxes, nuclear energy, hate crimes, and other topics.

Members of Congress Web Pages
Once a specific title of a CRS publications has been determined using the Penny Hill site (above), users can use Google to search for the existence of an online version on a congressional Web page. For example, try searching Google like this:


site:house.gov arctic national wildlife refuge background and issues

site:senate.gov presidential veto and congressional procedure



CRS Reports on the House Web Site http://www.rules.house.gov/archives/crs_reports.htm
CRS reports relating to the history of the House of Representatives, House rules, the budget process, and floor procedures.

U.S. Embassy, Italy http://italy.usembassy.gov/policy/crs/
Selected CRS Reports.

Archive-It http://www.archive-it.org/collections/1078
These "harvested" CRS reports will eventually be added to the Internet Archive.


Print Copies for Purchase
Penny Hill Press http://pennyhill.com/
This commercial publisher sells CRS reports and offers same-day delivery.


Peak: The Library Catalog
CRS Publications in Documents Stacks
See PEAK Catalog
Documents Stacks
LC 14.

CRS Publications in Other Locations
See PEAK Catalog
Various locations
Various call numbers
Some CRS publications were cataloged for the Book Stacks, or were cumulated into subject anthologies.


Other Guides
WWW Accessible Reports (Gary Price) http://www.freepint.com/gary/crs.htm
Gary Price, George Washington University, has compiled a helpful guide to online CRS publications.



Christopher Brown
Reference Librarian/Government Documents Librarian
303.871.3404
Christopher.Brown@du.edu
http://www.du.edu/~cbrown/
Copyright University of Denver, Penrose Library, 01-Nov-03
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