INTRODUCTION
LOGGING INTO THE
SYSTEMYou will be given a choice of searching individual Congresses beginning with the 97th Congress (1981) as well as ALL Congresses beginning with 1981 and ALL Congresses beginning with 1973. If you would like to choose an individual Congress from the 93rd-96th Congress (1973-80), press RETURN.
BASIC SEARCH
TECHNIQUES
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STEP NOTES EXAMPLES
To SEARCH: type B (for BROWSE) followed b sen kennedy
by the name, title, or sub- b rep kemp
ject, bill number, for pub- b h.r. 123
lic law number, bill type;
1) BROWSE index the number in parentheses indi- b s. 456
cates the number of bills b cigarette
found; safety act
SPON=sponsor b civil rights
COSP=cosponsor
STLI=short title
INDX=subject
BUCK=general heading
Note: Searching capabilities vary from file to file. For more
information on searching committees, subcommittees,amendments,
public law numbers, bill status, and other options, type HELP and
choose the number of the option desired.
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2) SELECT term type R (for RETRIEVE) or S
(for SELECT) or F (for FIND)
followed by the "B" number(s)
of lines that match your
request;
R creates 1 set r b6-b9/b11
S creates and displays a list s b4/b6-b8
of sets
F creates sets, merges them, f b4-b6/b10
and displays the merged set
3) DISPLAY BRIEF form
official title type D (for DISPLAY) plus d 1
set number
abstract,chronolo- type D (for DISPLAY) plus d 1/abst
gy,or committee set number, a slash and d 2/chrn
ABST or CHRN or COMM d 4/comm
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ADDITIONAL SEARCH
COMMANDS
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STEP NOTES EXAMPLES
go FORWARD in index press ENTER key ENTER
go BACKWARD in index type N plus -20 (or multiples n -20
of 20 per page, 100 maximum) n -100
RETURN to index from type B plus B6 b b6
display
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search by BILL NUMBER type name of file plus H.R. cg95 h.r. 234
or S. and bill number cg96 s. 56
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search specific FLOOR type B (for BROWSE) and ACTN; b actn
ACTIONS then retrieve, select or
find appropriate "B" number
(Note: Actions continued on
the following screen)
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DISPLAY FULL form type D (for DISPLAY) plus set d 1/item 2
see list of options number, a slash, then ITEM
plus item number
to see display of one if you are looking at the list
option of options, type desired
option name; if not
type D (for DISPLAY) plus set d1/item 3/dgst
number, a slash, then ITEM d3/item 5/all
plus number, a slash, then
option name
RETURN from full to type D (for DISPLAY) plus set d1/lttl 7
brief number, a slash, then LTTL
plus item number
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MOVE through a set press ENTER key ENTER
next page type number of item to be 12
(brief) previous page first
next item type N (for NEXT) n
(full) previous item type N plus previous item n 11
number
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REVIEW sets type H (for HISTORY) H
REFINING
TECHNIQUES
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STEP NOTES EXAMPLES
COMBINE contents of type C (for COMBINE) plus set
sets numbers linked with
AND (for items in common) c 1 and 2
OR (for merged sets), c 1 or 2
NOT (for excluded terms), c 1 not 2
or these together C (1 or 3) and
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LIMIT sets by bill type, dates of introduction
and action, and bill status:
Type HELP C#LIMIT for complete
list of LIMIT options
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TAILOR results type KEEP or DROP plus S and
copies records into set number followed by a
a customized set, or slash and items to be kept or
drops records from dropped;
a set the result of the KEEP keep s2/1/3/5-9
command is set 0 (zero),
which can be manipulated
like any other set;
the result of the DROP command drop s3/2/4-8
is a smaller set with
same set number as the
original
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RELEASE sets type RLSE (for RELEASE) and rlse 1
set number(s) no longer rlse 2-5/7-8
wanted
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SEARCHING FOR U.S.
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
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STEP NOTES EXAMPLES
BROWSE index for name type B DEPARTMENT OF (if b department
appropriate and the name) of energy
b civil
service
commission
SELECT the name type R and "B" number(s) that r b6
match your request r b6/b8-b10
DISPLAY results type D plus set number d 7
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ABBREVIATIONS IN THE
LEGISLATIVE FILES
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In the INDEX (in response to a B or BROWSE command)
1. Member: SPON=sponsor ASPON=amendment sponsor
COSP=cosponsor ACOSP=amendment cosponsor
2. Short STHR=as reported by STLR=as reported by
titles, House Senate
type STLH=as amended by STLS=as amended by
House Senate
STLI=as introduced BLTP=bill type
STLP=as enacted
3. Subject: INDX=subject term BUCK=general heading
LIVT=thesaurus term
4. Committees: COMM=committee of SCOM=subcommittee of
referral referral
CORG=committee origi- ACOMM=committee of
nating amendment referral
CRPT=committee reporting
5. Numbers PLNO=public law number AMDT=amendment number
BLNO=bill number
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For searching BILL NUMBER
h.r. = House bill s. = Senate bill
h.j.res. = House joint resolution s.j.res.=Senate joint resolution
h.con.res=House concurrent s.con.res.=Senate concurrent
resolution resolution
h.res.=House resolution s.res.=Senate resolution
h.a.=House amendment s.p.=Senate printed amendment
s.u.=Senate unprinted amendment
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In full DISPLAY OPTIONS
ALL=all options except full text OPTN=display of available
ABST=abstract of bill as options
introduced OTTL=official title(s)
AMDT=amendment(s) RABS=most recent revised
CHRN=chronology of major bill abstract
actions after reported RDGS=most recent revised digest
from committee STEP=detailed status steps of
COMM=committee information bill including committee
COMP=comparisons of selected bills actions
COSP=cosponsor STTL=short titles(s)
DGST=digest as introduced SUMM=abstract or revised
INDX=subject terms abstract and status
KWIC=key words in context XREF=identical and companion
bills
LAWT=full text of public law
If these abbreviations are preceded by an "A," such as ACOSP,
the option refers to an amendment.
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Congresses: 93rd: 1973-74 98th: 1983-84
94th: 1975-76 99th: 1985-86
95th: 1977-78 100th: 1987-88
96th: 1979-80 101st: 1989-90
97th: 1981-82 102nd: 1991-92
103rd: 1993-94
104th: 1995-96
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SUBJECT SEARCHING BY SUBJECT TERM
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The Legislative Files use terms from the Legislative Indexing
Vocabulary Terms (LIVT), a printed thesaurus available in the CCC.
Subject searches may use headings from this list. For instance,
Desegregation in education
UF Discrimination in education UF= used for; these
Integration in education terms are NOT
School integration used
Segregation in education
NT Busing (School integration) NT= narrower terms
Faculty integration
Reverse discrimination in
education
BT Civil rights legislation BT= broader terms
Discrimination
Education law and legislation
Racial discrimination
RT Black education RT = related terms
Educational equalization
For best results, search under the most specific subject terms
relevant to your topic. In addition, if you type a dash (two
hyphens,--)immediately after a subject heading when browsing the index,
you may see subdivisions on your topic that are of interest.
LIVT is part of the oneline CG files. Subject terms used, related
terms, broader and narrower terms, and terms not used are indicated by
the initials LIVT in parentheses on the index screen after a B (BROWSE)
command.
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STEP NOTES EXAMPLES
To VIEW THESAURUS terms search index by typing B (for b insurgency
BROWSE) followed by subject;
then
type EXPN (for EXPAND) or expn b6
LIVT followed by the "B" livt b6
number(s) that matches
your request
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To SELECT THESAURUS if you used the EXPN command,
terms the terms are automatically
selected
if you used the LIVT command, b firearms
type B (for BROWSE) and the control
appropriate term b community
centers
To SELECT ADDITIONAL type R (for RETRIEVE) or S r b6
THESAURS terms for SELECT) or F (for FIND) r b6/b8-b11
followed by the "T" number s t3/t5-8
that matches the term f t2
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SUBJECT SEARCHING BY KEY WORD
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The Legislative Files allow key word searching for words in the
titles, digests, abstracts, and texts of public laws, using the
RETRIEVE command. In these key word searches, RETRIEVE also
automatically truncates searched terms, allowing for a broader range of
appropriate responses.
RETRIEVE is often most helpful when used in conjunction with a
BROWSE command to verify the existence of appropriate subject terms.
If the word or phrase you desire appears on the index screen, you may
RETRIEVE from that screen to get subject headings AND key words. If
the word or phrase you desire does not appear on the index screen, you
may RETRIEVE the terms directly.
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STEP NOTES EXAMPLES
RETRIEVE from index search index by typing B (for b insurgency
BROWSE) followed by the
subject; then
type R (for RETRIEVE) and the r b6
"B" number(s) of the lines r b5-b7/9
that match your request
DISPLAY type D (for DISPLAY) and the d 2
set number
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SEARCH KEY words type R (for RETRIEVE) and the r surrogate
directly key word(s); mothers
more than one term may be r (russia or
searched at one time; japan) and
whales
use the "w" to specify the r air w4
number of words allowable pollution
between chosen terms;
use single quotes to stop the r 'refugees'
automatic truncation if you and africa
want the exact word or r 'income tax'
phrase
DISPLAY type D (for DISPLAY) and set d 3
number
NOTE: Beginning with the 99th Congress, words retrieved will be in the
same sequence or within the specified number of words. In the
93rd to 98th Congresses, words retrieved will be searched in
simple combinations (AND) from anywhere in the title, digest,
abstract, or text of the law. Thus, in these earlier files
retrieved words may not appear as exact phrases.
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Written by the Library of Congress and converted to HTML by Grace York
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