Question 1:
How do I find the articles of incorporation for my town?
We’ve had this question a few times and wanted to shed some light on how to find the answer. In short, you’re going to search the Acts and Resolves in our digital repository to find the act that incorporated your town. For example, here is the act that incorporated Clarksburg, MA, which was approved March 2, 1798.
1979 Chap. 0076, An Act to Incorporate A Gore Of Land, Lying North Of Adams In The County Of Berkshire Into A Town By The Name Of Clarksburg
To find this, we first need to visit the Acts & Resolves community in our digital repository. You’ll see an area that says “Click here to search the contents of this community.” Click on that link and you’ll be brought to a page where you can enter a search phrase into the search box. In this case, we’re searching for “incorporate Clarksburg”
You may have to scroll through the results a bit to find an Act with a title that sounds relevant to what you’re looking for.
Question 2:
Were there any changes to a state regulation during a specific time period? 102 CMR 3.00 was amended in 1985. I have a copy of the regulations from 1979. I am trying to determine whether there were any changes in the years between 1979-1984.
For this question, we’ll have to do some research using the Cumulative Tables found in the Massachusetts Register. We’ll search the Cumulative Tables in our digital repository starting with 1976--the year CMR as we know it first existed.
In this case, I searched for “102 CMR” within the PDF file of the Cumulative Tables and found 12 instances. Not all 12 instances include section 3.00, which means there weren’t any changes to 102 CMR 3.00 in those years. For the curious researcher, 102 CMR 3.0 was amended on these dates:
09/04/1987, 01/01/1993, 12/01/1993, 06/30/1995 (Emergency Regulation), 10/06/1995, and 09/20/1996.
You can find more information on doing regulatory research by looking at our guide.
Question 2:
Were there any changes to a state regulation during a specific time period? 102 CMR 3.00 was amended in 1985. I have a copy of the regulations from 1979. I am trying to determine whether there were any changes in the years between 1979-1984.
For this question, we’ll have to do some research using the Cumulative Tables found in the Massachusetts Register. We’ll search the Cumulative Tables in our digital repository starting with 1976--the year CMR as we know it first existed.
In this case, I searched for “102 CMR” within the PDF file of the Cumulative Tables and found 12 instances. Not all 12 instances include section 3.00, which means there weren’t any changes to 102 CMR 3.00 in those years. For the curious researcher, 102 CMR 3.0 was amended on these dates:
09/04/1987, 01/01/1993, 12/01/1993, 06/30/1995 (Emergency Regulation), 10/06/1995, and 09/20/1996.
You can find more information on doing regulatory research by looking at our guide.
Question 3:
I’m looking for transcripts from a specific committee and/or during a specific time period. Does the State Library have these in its collections?
When we get this question, we always tell patrons that tracking down transcripts in Massachusetts is tricky. In the history of the General Court, there has never been an official transcriber. If a committee were to have a hearing transcript or minutes, it is not mandated to come into the collections of the State Library. They could also end up at the Massachusetts State Archives with their respective committee files.
If we do have materials related to a hearing, you have to search our catalog and digital repository using a keyword search to find them. For example, searching for terms like: public hearing, transcript, and the specific topic - like deputy auditor or election dispute. While actual committee documents may not come up, you might find other helpful documents.
Be sure to take a look at our blog post for more information about searching for committee files.
Do you have a question of your own? Reach out to our team of Reference librarians at reference.department@mass.gov or stop by the library Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian
I’m looking for transcripts from a specific committee and/or during a specific time period. Does the State Library have these in its collections?
When we get this question, we always tell patrons that tracking down transcripts in Massachusetts is tricky. In the history of the General Court, there has never been an official transcriber. If a committee were to have a hearing transcript or minutes, it is not mandated to come into the collections of the State Library. They could also end up at the Massachusetts State Archives with their respective committee files.
If we do have materials related to a hearing, you have to search our catalog and digital repository using a keyword search to find them. For example, searching for terms like: public hearing, transcript, and the specific topic - like deputy auditor or election dispute. While actual committee documents may not come up, you might find other helpful documents.
Be sure to take a look at our blog post for more information about searching for committee files.
Do you have a question of your own? Reach out to our team of Reference librarians at reference.department@mass.gov or stop by the library Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian