The Law Library of Congress and Willaim S. Hein & Co., Inc. recently announced that they will partner to to offer free online access to historical U.S. legal materials, including the United States Code, U.S. Reports, Code of Federal Regulations, and the Federal Register. Legal researchers and the public can access these Hein libraries through the Law Library of Congress legal research portal, Guide to Law Online: U.S. Federal. The following collections of historical primary law are available:
- United States Code 1925-1988 (includes content up to 1993)
- From Guide to Law Online: United States Law
- United States Reports v. 1-542 (1754-2004)
- From Guide to Law Online: United States Judiciary
- Code of Federal Regulations (1938-1995)
- From Guide to Law Online: Executive
- Federal Register v. 1-58 (1936-1993)
- From Guide to Law Online: Executive
- From Guide to Law Online: Executive
While not as comprehensive nor as easily searched as the BLS Library HeinOnline Subscription Databases, these collections help to make important historical legislative, judicial, and executive branch publications freely available to the public. Most of these collections are available on the federal government website FDsys, but coverage only goes back to the mid-1990s. Generally, the free Hein libraries begin with the first edition of the publication in question, and end when free access via FDsys begins.
For assistance with using the Guide to Law Online links or the BLS Library HeinOnline Subscription Databases, ask a Reference Librarian.
