Sunday, May 23, 2010

Minnesota's Legislative History

From Robbie LaFleur of the MN Legislative Reference Library:

The Legislative Time Capsule is a new feature on the Legislative
Reference Library's website.

During the past 40 years of the Librarýs history, we have tracked
statistics about the Legislature. What first started as typewritten
lists in notebooks became text files on a computer and then pages on
our website. Still, researchers looking at individual sessions had
to find and compile statistics from many databases and web pages.
Wéve taken a giant step toward useful consolidation of legislative
statistics on the web, combining scattered data for each legislative
session. You can quickly find information on members, bills, laws,
vetoes, dates, special sessions, leadership, and more. The pages
draw information from the House and Senate, the Office of the Revisor
of Statutes, Legislative Manuals, and lists compiled by the
Legislative Reference Library.

The Legislative Time Capsule pages will only get better as we add
data and categories. For example, lists of committees are available
now back to 1917, but the remaining years will be added soon. As
time allow and staffing allow, we will add election results,
legislative district descriptions, links to books and articles about
the activities of each year, and more. If you have comments or
questions about the pages, or suggestions for information you would
like to see included, email us at refdesk@lrl.leg.mn.

Enjoy!
Melissa
Government Documents Coordinator

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