Return to the Law Library

Thursday, October 15, 2015

GPO's Federal Register Scan Project

The U.S. Government Printing Office recently announced that it will digitize two million pages of the Federal Register The GPO currently makes digital copies of the Federal Register from 1994 available online through the Federal Digital System (FDsys), but the Federal Register itself dates back to 1936.  The new scanning project will expand FDsys’ collection back to the first issue. The project is expected to be finished in 2016.

If you just can’t wait that long, in the meantime you are welcome to use the State of Oregon Law Library’s collection of Federal Register issues. It extends back to January 1, 1970.




What is the Federal Register and why is it the most exciting publication in government?

The Federal Register is a daily publication that is the official source of legal information from the Executive Branch of the United States Government. The Federal Register contains:

·         Federal Agency Regulations
·         Proposed Rules and Public Notices
·         Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations and other Presidential Documents

If you are looking for federal government regulatory filings you are in the right place!

I’m looking for Federal Register issues. Where can I find them besides through FDsys and at SOLL?

Never fear, this exhilarating government publication is available from several sources!

·         Free Sources
o   Federal Depository Libraries – Most libraries in the Federal Library Depository system have a print subscription to the Federal Register (including SOLL!).
o   FDsys – PDF and Text back to 1994. Their database is not searchable as of October 2015.
o   Federal Register 2.0 – This is a non-official version of the FDsys documents.  This database covers the same materials as the FDsys database but in a searchable text format.
·         Paid Databases
o   Westlaw – Full coverage back to 1936. Issues prior to January 1981 are only available in PDF.

o   Lexis-Nexis – Full coverage back to 1936. Older issues are available in text synopsis only with full PDFs available.

No comments:

Post a Comment