How to access the US Code

Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 13:59:30 -0400
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From: Michael Ward 
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Subject: ACCESS TO FEDERAL REGISTER, US CODE, CFR, CONG RECORD AND BILLS 
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TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT - INFORMATION POLICY NOTE
ACCESS TO FEDERAL REGISTER, US CODE, CFR, CON RECORD AND BILLS.
May  6, 1995



     COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO FREE INTERNET ACCESS TO FIVE
     IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS:

          Federal Register
          US Code
          Code of Federal Regulations
          Congressional Record
          Congressional Bills
     
          by Michael Ward, TAP  May 5, 1995
          (mike@tap.org; 202/387-8030)

INTRODUCTION

     If you really are a complete idiot this won't help too much,
and even if you aren't, some of these sites can be difficult to
use.  But seriously, here are some tips on how to search SOME
important government documents on the Internet.

     The following documents are all available for keyword
searching from various government Internet sites for free:

     Legislation              (103rd & 104th Congress)
     Congressional Record     (103rd & 104th Congress)
     Federal Register         (103rd & 104th Congress)
     US Code
     Code of Federal Regulations

At the bottom of this post there is a brief description of what
these documents are, as well as how often they are updated at
each site.

EASY WAY TO FIND THE BIG FIVE PUBLICATIONS

     There are pointers for all of five of these documents at the
essential.org gopher.  They are under menu item "4. Government
Information Resources".  Using essential.org adds a layer of
menus, but you only have to remember one address.  World Wide Web
(WWW) databases such as the Library of Congress THOMAS system
have been linked with the non-graphical interface lynx.


WHERE ARE THE IMPORTANT INTERNET SITES FOR THE FIVE PUBLICATIONS

     The most important servers are the Library of Congress
THOMAS system, the GPO Access system and the House of
Representatives' GOPHER and WEB servers.

                        LIBRARY OF CONGRESS THOMAS

Thomas - thomas.loc.gov


     Thomas, the Library of Congress's Home Page, is a good site
     to use if you have a Web browser.  It provides access to
     Congressional bills and the Congressional Record.  Library
     of Congress officials say THOMAS will soon have many other
     documents, but the product line hasn't grown as fast as
     expected.  You can also search THOMAS from the essential.org
     gopher.

                            GPO ACCESS PROGRAM


GPO Access contains:
     Congressional bills
     Federal Register
     Congressional Record
     GAO Reports

The GPO Access program is a terrific source of information, if
you can find it and don't mind the somewhat clunky interface. 
GPO Access is the only free site for the FEDERAL REGISTER, and it
provides keyword searching of the US CODE.  Plus, you can do a
key word search on several publications at the same time, such as
searching bills, the Congressional Record and the US Code at the
same time for the same key words.  For reasons best explained
elsewhere, free access to GPO Access is provided through 13
libraries, each providing a somewhat different front end.  TAP
has provided links to 9 of these libraries through the
essential.org gopher.  If you want to connect directly, here are
our recommended sites:

Case Western Reserve Univ. 
     
     1. Select "1". GPO Access

Georgia Southern Univ. 
     
     1. Login Username as "INFO"
     2. Select "8" Government Printing Office Access
     3. Enter "y" to connect"

Alaska Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED)
     
     1. Login as "sled"
     2. Select "5" Government Information
     3. Select "2" Federal Government Information
     4. Select "6" GPO Access - Federal Register ...
     5. Enter "y" to connect

Univ. of North Carolina 
     
     1. Login username as "library
     2. Select "2" U.S. Government Databases
     3. Select "2" GPO Access ...


While searching GPO Access databases it is important to use
capital letters for the boolean connectors, i.e. " assault ADJ
weapon ".  The booleans are AND, OR, ADJ (adjacent to), and NOT.

To search GPO databases use the following syntax:
Bill Number (punctuation is                  s. ADJ 21
             important)                      h.r. ADJ 36

Date                                         march ADJ 21
Member of Congress                           mr ADJ kennedy



               HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES GOPHER AND WEB SITES

Gopher - gopher.house.gov


     The most notable documents on the House gopher are the
     Congressional Record and House bills, both searchable by
     keywords, and the US Code by Title.  If you just need to
     retrieve bills from the House of Representatives, the House
     gopher is the easiest source.

WWW - www.house.gov
 US Code
 Code of Federal
                                           Regulations


     The Code of Federal Regulations (as far as we know the only
     complete CFR available on the net for free) and US Code are 
     available through the House's homepage. These databases 
     actually are available from a different URL than the House's 
     homepage (with a search engine from Personal Library 
     Software.) The homepage also links to the House Gopher for 
     the Congressional Record.


                         Description of Databases


Code of Federal Regulations (House WWW)
The Code of Federal Regulations is the official compilation of
the Federal regulations. The CFR database is not as current as the 
printed version, but soon they expect to catch up. 

Congressional Record (GPO Access, Thomas, House Gopher)
The Congressional Record database is the public proceedings of
both the House and Senate. It contains the floor debates, as well
as the roll call votes among other things.

Federal Register (GPO Access) The Federal Register is the official 
forum for making available to the public regulations and legal 
notices issued by Federal agencies, some Presidential Documents, 
and many other important items. 

Legislation (GPO Access, House Gopher (House side only), Thomas)
Bills introduced by members of Congress.

US Code (GPO Access, House WWW, House Gopher (by title))
The United States Code contains the general and permanent laws of
the United States.  The GPO's US Code database is current as of
January, 1994; however, any section that has been affected by
laws passed during the 2nd Session of the 103rd Congress (1994)
includes a note identifying the public law that affected that
section.  Some titles available from the House gopher are current
as of January 1995.  GPO allows searching of the entire Code,
while the House gopher requires the user to retrieve the code by
section.


                     Other Internet sites of Interest

Marvel - marvel.loc.gov


     The Library of Congress's Marvel systems is the most
     comprehensive source of government information accessible by
     gopher. It is more of a directory that points you toward
     other gopher servers, rather than a repository for
     government information.  Information and pointers to other
     sites are listed by branch of government and then by agency
     in each branch. 

FEDWORLD



Internet Multicasting Service -- SEC's EDGAR (10K,10Q,etc) 



Sunsite-US and World Politics


Wiretap-US & World Politics


USIA - US INFORMATION AGENCY
     To connect to several "forbidden" USIA Internet sites, use
     the links from essential.org.


Court Opinions

-    3rd Circuit Opinions, Via Villanova University
     
     Links from essential.org

-    11th Circuit Opinions, Via Emory University
     
     Links from essential.org

-    Search Supreme Court Opinions, Via UNC
     
     Links from essential.org

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