In addition to the wealth of information that you can get electronically from our web site, you can also get your hands on information and learn about the Commission’s activities through the following resources offered at our Washington DC headquarters.

The FCC Library contains a wide variety of legal and technical information on telecommunications and related subjects. The legal collection includes: federal and statutory histories; reference works; treatises; loose-leaf services; and a collection of cross-indexed legislative histories dating back to the beginning of communications law.

Documents contained in the Library include: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 (containing all FCC rules); FCC Annual Reports; FCC Federal Court Briefs (selected); the FCC Record; FCC Reports, First and Second Series; Federal Radio Commission Annual Reports; Federal Registers,1934 to present (containing the full text of FCC Report and Orders); Pike and Fisher Radio Regulations, First and Second Series; Radio Act of 1927; Communications Act of 1934, as amended; the Telecommunications Act of 1996; as well as other proposed and/or enacted legislation pertaining to communications, telecommunications, broadcasting, administrative procedures, and independent agency regulations.

FCC Library Closes to the Public.

The Reference Information Center (RIC) is the official Commission custodian for designated records. The Center provides a convenient, central location for members of the general public wishing to research and obtain record information on applications, formal and informal proceedings, and FCC programs and activities. RIC handles the intake, processing, organization, maintenance, retrieval, and retirement of this record information. RIC’s customers are varied; they include industry associations, attorneys, academic researchers, and individual consumers. RIC also is responsible for managing and maintaining the Electronic Comment Filing System. This system, which allows comments to be filed with the Commission from remote locations, facilitates public participation in Commission proceedings

The Reference Information Center is located in Room CY-A257 at the Commission’s Headquarters. It is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM and from 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM on Friday. Engineering files will not be made available and no missing information requests will be accepted on Fridays.

The Office of Media Relations (OMR) is responsible for interacting with members of the news media, oversees the agency's website, and produces the Daily Digest - a daily listing of rulemaking documents, reports, news releases, public notices and Commission speeches released each day. Although the most common method of viewing the Digest is from the Daily Digest web page, or through the Digest Listserver, paper copies of the Digest are still available for viewing each day from OMR, or for purchase from the Commission's duplicating contractor, both located on the Courtyard Level of the Commission’s Headquarters.

The FCC holds monthly Commission Meetings that are open to the Public. At these meetings, FCC Commissioners discuss and vote upon various Commission matters. The FCC announces open meetings seven days in advance in the Federal Register, under the heading "Sunshine Notice" in the Daily Digest, and on our FCC Meetings web page. The meetings are held in the Commission Meeting Room located on the 12th Street Level of the Commission’s Headquarters.

The meetings are also broadcast live from our FCC Audio/Video Events web page. George Mason University's Capitol Connection also provides live coverage of these meetings on television and the internet for a fee. For information on these services call (703) 993-3100. The meeting can also be heard via telephone, for a fee, from National Narrowcast Network, telephone (202) 966-2211 or fax (202) 966-1770. Audio and video tapes of these meetings can be purchased from Infocus, 341 Victory Drive, Herndon, VA 20170, telephone (703) 834-0100; fax number (703) 834-0111. If you have any additional questions, call the FCC’s television staff at 202-418-0460.

The Freedom of Information Act, commonly known as the FOIA, was enacted by Congress in 1966 to give the American public greater access to the Federal Government's records. You do not have to file a FOIA request to obtain information which is routinely available for public inspection, including records from docketed cases, broadcast applications and related files, petitions for rulemakings, various legal and technical publications, legislative history compilations, etc. Much of this information is already available on the FCC website, but if you would still like to file a FOIA request, follow the instructions on our FOIA web page.