During the 1890s political progressivism made it necessary for Wisconsin public libraries to acquire federal, state and local documents. Short summer courses for training library workers to handle these documents were taught by practicing librarians at the University of Wisconsin Summer School. When the Library School opened in 1906, documents study was expanded and required of all students. Between 1913 and 1916 a program was introduced to train political science and economics graduates in legislative reference librarianship. Although it grew out of the other two programs, this course differed from that taken by public librarians. It required extensive research based on subject knowledge. This article examines these three programs, course objectives, course content, and teaching methodologies.