Recommended Citation
Charlie Amiot, Congressional Research Service Products: History, Purpose, and Availability (2018), https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/law-lib_borgeson/2
Graduation Year
2018
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Congressional Research Service (CRS) products, such as CRS Reports and Issue Briefs, are valuable reference tools that can assist reference professionals in providing service to a wide range of patrons and should not be overlooked. This paper details the history leading up to the creation of CRS beginning with the formation of the Library of Congress, the establishing of CRS’s congressional agency predecessor, the Legislative Reference Service, to its present form as the Congressional Research Service; explains what kind of products CRS creates and why; and provides a brief legislative history of congressional efforts to publicly disseminate CRS products, integrated with public discourse on the subject.
Link to Published Version (may require subscription)
Citation to Published Version
37 Legal Ref. Serv. Q. 273 (2018)