Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and jointly administered by the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), the Federal Register (generally abbreviated FR) is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

It is updated daily by 6 a.m. and is published Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The rules and regulations included are regulatory documents having general applicability and legal effect. Most rules are codified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). All new regulations must be published in the Register before they can go into effect. Many people also search the Federal Register for announcements of grants in the Notices section.

More complete information about the history of the Federal Register, what is contained in it, and how to search it can be found in About the Federal Register.

Valley Library has copies of some years of the Federal Register in both paper and microfiche (J1 .A2) (see catalog record for details) but most people look for its content in one of several online sources:

The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) annual edition is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the Federal Government. It is divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation. The 50 subject matter titles contain one or more individual volumes, which are updated once each calendar year, on a staggered basis.

There are several ways to access the CFR:

Official version, in print:  KF70 .A3. Only the latest edition is kept.

Online version of the print edition, updated on the same schedule as the print version (annually on a quarterly basis).  This online collection contains editions dating back to 1996. Available through FDsys in PDF

eCFR: continuously updated, current CFR. It is NOT the official legal edition of the CFR, but it is the most up-to-date.  www.ecfr.gov.

The CFR can also be searched in LexisNexis Academic in the Federal Statutes, Codes & Regulations section (along with the Annotated U.S. Code (USCS), the US Constitution, Public Laws, and the Federal Register)