Thanks to the SOL Law Library Committee, the Wirtz Labor Library has the Congressional Information Service's (CIS) Congressional Publications microfiche collection.

The CIS microfiche collection includes ALL Congressional publications [hearings, reports, committee prints] from 1984 to 2001. The Library has purchased the cataloging records for the CIS microform collections from 1984-2001 [current loaded are records from 1984 to 2000, 2001 to be loaded in the catalog in February 2003].

If you search the Library's Catalog by title, subject, etc., you may come up with a record such as:

CIS 99 H341-31

• Corporate author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and the Workforce. Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.

  Title: The effect of the Fair Labor Standards Act on Amish families and H.R. 2038, the MSPA Clarification Act [microform] : hearing before the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, second session, hearing held in Washington, DC, April 21, 1998.

  Publication info:Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office,1998.

  Physical description:iv, 167 p. ; 24 cm.
  General note:Includes index.
  General note:"Serial no. 105-94."

  Subject: Amish children--Employment--United States.
  Subject: Child labor--Law and legislation--United States.
  Subject: Agricultural laborers--Legal status, laws, etc.--United States.
  Subject: Migrant labor--Legal status, laws, etc.--United States.
  Subject: Seasonal labor--Legal status, laws, etc.--United States.

  This record indicates that we have the hearing in the CIS microfiche, filed in the Microforms Area of the Library.

Congressional materials in the Library are NOT limited to microfiche. The Library still continues to collect paper hearings for relevant DOL subject areas. The advantage of the CIS microfiche is that is ALL Congressional publications. So, if for some reason you need that 1985 hearing on "Proposals to ban nuclear testing" or that 1984 committee print on "Cultivation and eradication of illicit domestic marihuana," a copy can be found within the Library.

The Wirtz Labor Library has the CIS Congressional Indexes in paper in the Law Reference Area. CIS indexing by subject, bill number, witness name, and committee goes back to 1833. The CIS Indexes from 1970 to present indexes all Congressional Publications, prior to that time, there are two separate indexes: one for hearings and one for congressional documents (i.e., the Serial Set, back to 1789).

To access electronic versions of the CIS indexes, you can use LEXIS:

Legal > Legislation & Politics > U.S. Congress > Legislative Histories

• US-CIS: From 1970 through current
  CIS/Historical Index: From 1789 through 1980
  Includes:
  U.S. Serial Set, including Reported Bill Numbers (1789-1969)
  Senate Executive Documents and Reports (1817-1969)
  U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings (1833-1969)
  Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings (1823-1972)
  Unpublished U.S. House Committee Hearings (1833-1958)
  U.S. Congressional Committee Prints (1830-1969)

Remember: Publications pre-1975 may NOT be listed in the Library's card catalog; if you have a title prior to that feel free to call/e-mail a request for us to check the "old card catalog." And if we don't have it; we can tell you who does!

Also, if you are in a Region Office or not affiliated with DOL: remember that there will more than likely be a Federal Depository Library in your area that has copies of the materials that you need -- a number of larger depository libraries have the full CIS microfiche collections or have paper copies of the materials that you may need. All will recognize what CIS is and means.