LexisNexis Congressional

WHAT IS Congressional?

Congressional provides a comprehensive access to legislative resources and documents and information by and about the United States Congress.

Updated daily, Congressional's indexing goes back to 1789. Availability of full-text documents varies depending on the type of document. Most full-text begins with the 100th Congress forward (1987/88). Access to the full text of Statutes at Large, including Public Laws, goes back to 1789.

Click here to access detailed description of coverage and update schedule.


HOW DO I ACCESS Congressional?

From the University Library System's Home Page --

1. Click on Databases A-Z.
2. Click on the letter "C" or scroll down the list to Congressional (LexisNexis) and click on the Congressional (LexisNexis) link.
3. Or, go directly to this address -- http://www.library.pitt.edu/articles/database_info/cong_univ.html


HOW DO I SEARCH Congressional?

1. Search for congressional publications by subject:

To search by subject, enter keywords into the Basic or Advanced Search form. Advanced Search allows you to limit your search by publication type.

REMEMBER to select the correct date range. Congressional defaults to the previous two years. You must select the correct date range everytime you return to the search form.

To refine your search, use the "Index Terms" list. You can chose a controlled vocabulary subject term from a browsable list or use the "Find" box to search for a subject term. Add a subject term to your search by selecting the box beside it and then clicking the "Paste to Search" button.

This method searches much of what is available in Congressional from 1970 to the present.


2. Search by type of publication(Congressional Search Forms)

Use the Congressional Publications search form to search within Committee Reports, Hearings, House and Senate documents, House and Senate Reports, and Legislative Histories. To search by keyword, or limit to a specific publication type, use the "Advanced Search" form. Use "Search by Number" to search by publication number.

Use the Legislative Histories, Bills, Laws search form to search within Legislative Histories, Bills (full text), Public Laws, U.S. Code and Statutes at Large. Also use this search form for Bill Tracking. If you know the document number, use the "Get a Document" search form. If you would like to search by subject, enter keywords into the "Keyword Search" form.

Use the Regulations search form to search within the Code of Federal Regulations or the Federal Register. If you know the citiation of the regulation, use the "Get a Document" search form. Otherwise, enter keywords into the "Keyword Search" form.

3. Search by Popular Names


Use this method if you don't have the exact name of a law or you are trying to locate a public law. Click on the "Legislative Histories, Bills and Laws" link. Then select Statutes at Large. Once you click on that button the "Look up a Popular Name for a Statute" link will appear. Click on this link to choose a name from the browsable list or enter a name into the "Find" box to search the list.

Select the box next to the name and click "Paste to Search." Then click "Find" to retrieve the law.

REMEMBER to select the correct date ranges. The search form defaults to "Previous 2 years."

4. Search Using a Document Citation

Click "Search by Number" link under the Congressional Publications search forms list. Select Publication Number if you know the report, document, or hearing number. Select Bibliographic number if you have the document's SuDocs or Accession (CIS) number.

5. Search Members and Committees

To find a member’s biographical information, voting records, and information pertaining to his/her bill sponsorship, enter the member’s last and first names in the search boxes of the “Members” search form.

Use the “Demographics” search form to retrieve members according to demographics, including gender, race, and party affiliation.

Use the “Committees” search form to find information about a committee’s membership, schedule and hearing topics. Enter the committee’s name into the search field. If you do not know the name of the committee, click on “look up a committee” to browse committee names.

IMPORTANT:

  • If you cannot find the document you need on Congressional remember that you need to check PITTCat for the location of the document in Hillman Library or the Law library. If you cannot find the document you are looking for, ask at the Hillman Library Information/Reference Desk for assistance. Between Hillman Library and the Law Library we have fairly complete coverage of congressional publications.

  • Hillman Library has many congressional publications that will not show up in a PITTCat search. Be sure to ask at the Hillman Information/Reference Desk for assistance in locating these documents. Most will be shelved in the Government Publications Collection on the ground floor. Use this guide to congressional documents in Hillman Library.

  • Be sure to write down the CIS document number and the SuDocs number from your search results to help you locate the document.

  • Congressional does not provide access to Congressional Quarterly (CQ) publications. The library has subscriptions to many CQ publications such as CQ Weekly, CQ Researcher, CQ Almanac (Hillman Library Reference Desk) and so on.

For a more in-depth explanation of searching see the "How do I.." section or use LexisNexis Congressional's Help or consult a reference librarian.

Updated 7/1/06

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