LexisNexis Congressional

• 01.28.2010
• link to training page for: New 2010 LexisNexis Academic Interface
• number of participants: 16

Some subscriptions UNT has through LN Congressional:

• Serial Set collections I & II (includes American States Papers)
  • Serial Set II currently not complete
  • click "help" at upper-right and then "new!" to find current status of this collection
• Congressional Research Digital Collection
  • CRS Reports (2004-forward)
  • Committee Prints
• Committee Hearings
• House & Senate Reports
• House & Senate Documents
• Legislative Histories

Basic Search

• automatically searches everything that UNT has a subscription to (rather than providing citations for documents we don't have access to
• date: defaults to all available dates (number of selections available, including date ranges)
• Congress: search by session of Congress (provides session numbers and dates)
• basic search searches the metadata records (not fulltext)
• legislative history: CIS Index

Advanced Search

• date: default "previous two years"
• Congress (just like basic search)
• option to search "all fields except / including full text" or specific field searching
• wildcard searches:
  • * = single character wildcard
  • ! = multiple character wildcard
• durable URL: will work if the user has access to that product within LN Congressional (even if you email it to a colleage within another university, as long as they also have access)

Serial Set-specific options

• Serial Set contains the collective history of America
• click plus sign next to "Serial Set Only Options"
  • can limit to specific series / document types / subjects within serial set
  • can limit to documents containing illustrations or statistical tables
    • can also limit keyword search to illustration captions or table titles
  • "andrew /2 johnson" (/2 = within two words of each other, regardless of order); limit to document type "impeachment materials"

Search by Number

• select a task: publication number, publications related to a bill or law, legislative history
  • can limit document-type to be searched; enter document/bill/law number
  • can limit collection(s) to be searched

Results Page & Document-Level Options:

• able to download entire document as single PDF
• or download in "chunks" of 50-page PDF files
• at the side of each "chunk," lists search terms and the number of times they appear in that section
• many names are hyperlinked to the biographical directory of the US Congress
• "focus search" box at top right further limits results (full text keyword search)
  • original search results are linked at the top left of the page (can easily backtrack)
  • example focus search "title(england or france)" to search only in the title field
• list of illustrations after the PDF downloads, with captions and page numbers

Left-Hand Navigation Bar Options

Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws

• keyword search: "bill tracking" (gives additional options in the keyword search)
  • click on "restrict by bill status" and "restrict by Congress"
  • links to full text of bill
  • links to related House/Senate reports
• get a document
  • pulldown menu: "US Code"
  • can enter by citation (example: 4 US Code 4 = text of the pledge of allegiance to the US flag)

Regulations (CFR)

• get a document
  • choices: CFR or Federal Register
  • by citation

Helpful Info (@ Bottom of Page, Help Toolbox)

• "About the Legislative Process"
• titles such as "How a Bill Becomes a Law," "Congressional Session Dates" (complete with graphics, tables)