The Stanford Libraries and the Crown Law Library hold a mostly-complete set of the Journals of the Assembly and Senate Sessions of the California Legislature, from the First Session (convened on December 15, 1849) to the present. The Journals have also been digitized by the California State Legislature for the years 1849 to 1995. During the same period, the Legislature also published appendices to the Journals. These appendices contain annual and special reports from various executive departments, commissions, and special panels, as well as Senate and Assembly committee reports and documents.

Whereas the Journals are analogous to the Congressional Record, the appendices are analogous to the United States Serial Set. These materials are valuable for historical research about California, as well as for teaching and learning at multiple levels. The range of topics addressed by the reports and documents cover, inter alia, land use and development, natural resource exploitation and conservation, including water resources, transportation, railroads and highways, public health, the emergence of (and various dimensions of) the welfare state, the expansion of the public sector, and matters of budget and taxation.