THOMAS ‘Retires’ July 5th

For those of you who have bookmarked THOMAS — the Library of Congress’ access portal for legislation in progress, House and Senate Member and Committee listings, the Congressional Record, public laws, and the US Code — you need to know that THOMAS is being retired as of July 5, 2016.  You will still be able to access those documents and listings by using Congress.gov.

Why was it called THOMAS?  Thomas Jefferson donated his personal collection of books and manuscripts to serve as a national reference repository in what has now become the Library of Congress.  Calling the first electronic index THOMAS just seemed to be fitting.  Why is it being retired?  Congress.gov employs a more robust search engine and has a stronger architecture than was possible when THOMAS was created in 1995. Over the years, THOMAS became more fragile and less able to sustain itself.  Thus, the introduction of Congress.gov.