2010 Core Reference Collection for Legislative Libraries

Legislative Research Librarians Staff Section

2010 Core Reference Collection for Legislative Libraries

Introduction

In 1988, the Legislative Research Librarians Staff Section of NCSL began a project to define and describe the libraries that serve the state legislatures. The results of the "Collection Survey," reporting on the size and nature of collections in legislative libraries, were published in 1988. The list of titles generated by the "Core Reference Collections Survey" (also collected in 1988) formed the base for the 1988 list of core references. The titles were reviewed by a staff section committee, as well as other members of the staff section, with the goal of developing a list of those public policy reference materials that are essential to the work of libraries serving state legislatures.

The "Core Reference Collection for Legislative Libraries" is presented in two parts - the core collection and the supplement to the core collection. The list of titles comprising the core collection is recommended for all legislative libraries; the supplement (or individual titles from the supplement) provides a guide for acquisitions by libraries with additional resources or with other types of information needs not met by the core collection. With this edition of the core reference collection we will be using a different format, breaking the list into six separate groupings. They are: Core Collection Items, State Specific Reference Materials, Federal Resources, Electronic Resources and Serial Publications.

The components of a good core reference collection are never static; therefore, the staff section plans periodic updates of the core collection list to reflect the changing research needs of legislators and staff and the availability of individual titles. This latest version was updated in the summer of 2010. Special thanks to Robyn Cockerham (La.), Jan Wolfley (Nev.) and Marilyn Johnson (N.D.) for their work on this project along with Elizabeth Lincoln's (Minn.) contributions. Please contact Jeanne Mejeur, LRL Staff Section Liaison, with any comments, corrections, additions or deletions.

2010 Core Reference Collection for Legislative Libraries

Core Collection Items
State Specific Reference Materials
Federal Resources
Electronic Resources
Serial Publications

Core Collection Items

Subject/Title	Author or Publisher
*50 State Survey*
Almanac of the 50 States	Information Publications, Inc.
The Book of the States	Council of State Governments
State Rankings: A Statistical View of the United States	CQ Press, Inc.
*African Americans*
Black Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook	Louise L. Horner, editor - Information Publications, Inc.
*Associations*
Directory of State Government Associations	Council of State Governments
National Trade and Professional Associations	Columbia Books, Inc.
State and Regional Associations	Columbia Books, Inc.
*Courts*
Federal-State Court Directory	CQ Press, Inc.
*Crime*
City Crime Rankings	CQ Press, Inc.
Crime State Rankings	CQ Press, Inc.
*Education*
Education State Rankings	CQ Press, Inc.
*Encyclopedias, General*
Encyclopedia, General (see also: Electronic Resources)	various publishers
*Environment*
Resource Guide to State Environmental Management	Council of State Governments
*Foreign Relations*
Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The Bestselling Guide for Doing Business in Sixty Countries	Adams Media
*Governmental Finance*
Facts and Figures on Governmental Finance	Johns Hopkins University Press
*Health*
Health Care State Rankings	CQ Press, Inc.
Physicians' Desk Reference	John Wiley & Sons
Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary	F.A. Davis Co.
*Language*
French and/or Spanish to English Dictionary	various publishers
*Laws & Legislation*
National Survey of State Laws	Gale Research Co.
Subect Compliations of State Laws	Carol Boast and Cheryl Nyberg
Suggested State Legislation	Council of State Governments
Sutherland Statutory Construction	Callaghan & Co.
Uniform Laws Annotated	West Publishing Co.
Uniform System of Citation	Harvard Law Review Association
United States Code Annotated	West Publishing Co.
United States Code Congressional & Administrative News	West Publishing Co.
United States Code Service	Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co.
*Legal Research*
American Jurisprudence	Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Co.
Black's Law Dictionary	West Publishing Co.
Corpus Juris Secundum	West Publishing Co.
Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage	Oxford University Press
The Elements of Legal Style	Oxford University Press
Legal Research Guide
Burton's Legal Thesaurus	McGraw-Hill
Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory	Martindale-Hubbell
Plain English for Lawyers	Carolina Academic Press
West Encyclopedia of American Law	West Publishing Co.
*Legislative Leadership*
Directory of Legislative Leaders	National Conference of State Legislatures
*Legislative Procedure*
Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure	National Conference of State Legislatures
Robert's Rules of Order	Scott Foreman Press
*Legislative Reference Services*
Legislative Research Librarians Directory	National Conference of State Legislatures
State Legislative Sourcebook	Lynn Hellebust - Government Research Service
*Legislative Staff*
Protocol: A Handbook for Legislative Staff	National Conference of State Legislatures
American Society of Legislative Clerks & Secretaries: Roster & Reference Guide	American Society of Legislative Clerks & Secretaries
*Media*
Bowker's News Media Directory	R.R. Bowker, LLC
*Occupational Licensing*
Professional and Occupational Licensing Directory*	Gale Publishing Co.
*Postsecondary Education*
Peterson's Four Year Colleges	Peterson's
*Quotations*
Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Quotation	Oxford University Press
Respectfully Quoted	Library of Congress
*Reference, General*
Almanac of general information	various publishers
American Political Dictionary	Jack Plano & Milton Greenberg - Harcourt College Publishers
Atlas	various publishers
Chicago Manual of Style	University of Chicago Press Staff
Dictionaries of Banking, Business, Computer, Finance and Insurance Terms	Barron's Education Services, Inc.
Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary of the English Langugage	Random House Information Group
*Religion*
Appropriate religious authorities (Bible/Koran)	various publishers
*Special Days/Months*
Chase's Calendar of Events	Contemporary Books
*State Government*
Analysis/Treatise on history of state constitution	various publishers
Council of State Governments' State Directories Directory I - Elected Officials Directory II - Legislative Leadership, Committees & Staff Directory III - Administrative Officials	Council of State Governments
State Yellow Book	Leadership Directories
*Taxation*
State Tax Guide	Commerce Clearing House, Inc.
*United States Government*
Analysis/Treatise on history of US Constitution	various publishers
Carroll's Federal Directory	Carroll Publishing Company
Congressional Yellow Book	Leadership Directories
CQ's Desk Reference on American Government	CQ Press, Inc.
Encyclopedia of Governmental Advisory Organizations	Gale Publishing Co.
Federal Regulatory Directory	CQ Press, Inc.
Federal Yellow Book	Leadership Directories
Washington Information Directory	CQ Press, Inc.

* Outdated, but no substitute at this time.

State Specific Reference Materials (Specific titles may vary by state)

Administrative Rules	Legislative Procedure: Inside the Legislative Process Legislative Calendars and Journals Rules and Rosters State Legislative Almanac/press books
Attorney General Opinions	Lobbyist Directory
Court Opinions - State Supreme/Appellate Courts	Local Government - Counties/Parishes/Municipalities: Cities, Towns and Villages Directory Local Government Offices Directory State map (with county and parish designations)
Directory of Associations	Media Directory (newspaper contacts)
Education - State School Directories	Postsecondary Education: College/University Directory Community and Technical College Directory State Financial Aid Programs for College/University Bound Students
Hostpical & Health Care Facilities Directory	Reapportionment - Distrcit Maps
Laws & Legislation: Bill Drafting Manual Digest of Legislation State law school journals State legal journals/bulletins State session laws/acts State statutes (annotated, if available)	Reference, General: State Almanac or Statistical Abstract State Atlas
Legal Research Directory/Encyclopedia	State Government: Blue Book Constitution Current and former legislator information Key State Legislative Committees and Research Agencies' publications Performance Evaluations Roster of State Officials State capitol building information (history, structure) State government and statehood history (Constitutional proceedings, etc.) State Government Officials Directory (with photographs, if available) Yearbooks

Federal Resources

Agency/Publication	URL (if possible)
Census Bureau, US Department of Commerce	http://www.census.gov
Census Bureau Reports for the 50 States
County/Metro/Zip Code Business Patterns	http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/index.html
State and Metropolitan Area Data Book	http://www.census.gov/compendia/databooks/
Statistical Abstract of the United States	http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
Congressional Budget Office	http://www.cbo.gov/
Congressional Budget Office Reports	http://www.cbo.gov/publications/
Federal Bureau of Investigation	http://www.fbi.gov/
Uniform Crime Reports for the United States	http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm
Government Printing Office	http://www.gpoaccess.gov
Internal Revenue Service	http://www.irs.gov/
Federal Tax Regulations	http://www.irs.gov/taxpros/article/0,,id=98137,00.html
Internal Revenue Code (Title 26)	http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/cfr-table-search.html#page1
National Archives and Records Administration	http://www.archives.gov/
Federal Register	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/
United States Government Manual	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/gmanual/index.html
Social Security Administration	http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html
US House of Representatives	http://www.house.gov/
Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the House Committee on Ways and Means (Green Book)	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wmprints/green/index.html
Rules of the House of Representatives and Jefferson's Manual	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/hrm/index.html
US Constitution	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/index.html
US Central Intelligence Agency	https://www.cia.gov/
World Fact Book	https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
US Congress
Congressional Directory	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cdirectory/index.html
Congressional Record	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html
United States Code Annotated	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/
United States Governmental Policy & Supporting Positions (Plum Book)	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/
US Department of Education	http://www.ed.gov
The Condition of Education	http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/
Digest of Education Statistics	http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/
National Center for Educational Statistics	http://nces.ed.gov
US Department of Justice	http://www.justice.gov/
Office of Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention	http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics	http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/
US Bureau of Justice Statistics	http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/
US Department of Labor	http://www.dol.gov
US Bureau of Labor Statistics	http://www.bls.gov/
US Executive Office of the President	http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop
Economic Report of the President	http://www.gpoaccess.gov/eop/
US Government Accountability Office	http://www.gao.gov/
US GAO Reports and Testimony	http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/repandtest.html

Electronic Resources

Subject/Title	URL
*Abbreviations*
Yahoo! Acronyms and Abbreviations	http://dir.yahoo.com/reference/acronyms_and_abbreviations
*Attorney General*
National Association of Attorneys General	http://www.naag.org/
*Consumers*
Consumer Report Online*	http://www.consumerreports.org/
*Counties/Parishes/Municipalities*
National Association of Cities	http://www.associationofcities.org/
National Association of Counties	http://www.naco.org/
*Courts*
U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit	http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/
U.S. Supreme Court	http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
WASHLAW Federal and State Courts Directory	http://www.washlaw.edu/
*Education*
Education Commission of the States	http://www.ecs.org/
Education Week	http://www.edweek.org/
*Elections*
Electionline	http://www.electiononline.org/
Project Vote Smart	http://www.vote-smart.org/
*Encyclopedias*
Columbia Encyclopedia	http://www.bartleby.com/65
*Governmental Finance*
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities	http://www.cbpp.org/
National Association of State Budget Officers**	http://www.nasbo.org/
*Health*
Health Care Financing Administration	http://www.cms.hhs.gov/
National Academy for State Health Policy	http://www.nashp.org/
*Higher Education*
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education	http://www.highereducation.org/
*Internet*
Librarian's Index to the Internet	http://lii.org/
*Laws and Legislation*
Full Text State Statutes and Legislation	http://www.whpgs.org/f.htm
National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws	http://www.nccusl.org/
Trend Track	http://thomas.trendtrack.com/texis/tt/search/search.html
*Legal Reference*
Cornell University Law School	http://www.law.cornell.edu/
FindLaw	http://www.findlaw.com/
Law Librarians: Society of Washington, D.C. - Legislative Sourcebook	http://llsdc.org/sourcebook
Legal Information Institute	http://www.law.cornell.edu/statutes.html
Lexis	http://www.lexis.com/
Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Directory	http://www.martindale.com/Find-Lawyers-and-Law-Firms.aspx
Westlaw	http://www.westlaw.com/
*Legislative Affairs*
American Legislative Exchange Council	http://www.alec.org/
National Conference of State Legislatures	http://www.ncsl.org
Current Legislative Leadership Listing	http://www.ncsl.org/Default.aspx?TabID=746&tabs=1116,86,507#507
State Legislature Websites	http://www.ncsl.org/?tabid=17173
Online Publications	http://ecom.ncsl.org/bookstore/index.htm
Staff Contacts	http://www.ncsl.org/Default.aspx?TabID=756&tabs=966,76,1006#966
*Legislators*
Political Graveyard	http://politicalgraveyard.com/index.html#PE
*Library Catalogs*
Cataloger's Reference Shelf	http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/CRS0000.htm
Library of Congress	http://catalog.loc.gov/
*Local Government*
Directory of Official State, County and City Government Websites	http://statelocalgov.net/index.cfm
Municipal Code Corporation	http://www.municode.com/
*Media*
American Journalism Review	http://www.ajr.org/
Newsbank - America's Newspapers	http://infoweb.newsbank.com/
*Quotations*
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations	http://www.bartleby.com/100/
*Reference, General*
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Research Reports and Issue Briefs	http://fpc.state.gov/c4763.htm or http://opencrs.com/
Elements of Style	http://www.bartleby.com/141
National Governor's Association Issue Briefs	http://www.nga.org/
Telephone Directories on the Web	http://www.infobel.com/teldir
Zip Codes	http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp
*State Government*
Council of State Governments	http://www.csg.org/
Directory of Official State, County, and City Government Websites	http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm
Stateline	http://www.stateline.org/
State Net	http://www.legislate.com/
*Statistics, General*
FedStats	http://www.fedstats.gov/
Statistical Resources	http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
*Transportation*
U.S. Department of Transportation	http://www.dot.gov/
*United States*
National Atlas of the United States	http://www.nationalatlas.gov/index.html
*United States* *Government*
FirstGov	http://www.firstgov.gov/
LSU Libraries Federal Agency Directory	http://www.lib.lsu.edu/gov/index.html
Regulations.gov	http://www.regulations.gov/
Thomas (U.S. Congress)	http://thomas.loc.gov/

*Search only. Pay access.

**Select Publications, followed by Fiscal Survey

Serial Publications

Title	Publisher
Chronicle of Higher Education
Computers in Libraries	Information Today, Inc.
Education USA
Governing	Congressional Quarterly, Inc.
Law Review	State Bar Association or Law School
LegisBriefs	National Conference of State Legislatures
Legislative Studies Quarterly	University of Iowa
Newsline	Legislative Research Librarians Staff Section National Conference of State Legislatures
SREB Publications	Southern Regional Education Board
Spectrum (formerly Journal of State Governments)	Council of State Governments
State News	Council of State Governments
State Legislatures	National Conference of State Legislatures
State Revenue Report	Center for the Study of States
State Tax Notes	Tax Analysts
U.S. Law Week	Bureau of National Affairs
Vital Speeches of the Day	City News Publishing Company