Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Congress.gov Enhancements

“The beta site is the first step in a phased process that will incorporate all of the information available on THOMAS.gov and more. Below is a timeline of releases that incorporated new content and improved features to the site. February 2014 – This release focuses on two new features – Advanced Search and Browse, while making improvements to facets and the Actions tab.

New feature – Advanced Search
Implemented the first iteration of advanced search with a focus on bills, resolutions, and amendments. Items include:

  •  Twenty-two legislative data fields, each with support for contextually appropriate operators;
  •  A graphical user interface supports grouped and/or/not fielded searches;
  •  An entry box is available for users who prefer to learn and use the Solr syntax to compose and execute a command line search;
  •  Contextual help including pop-up “cheat-sheet” listing fields for command line search;
  •  Integration of the advanced search link into the global search box; and
  •  Integration of the advanced search into the search result display.

New feature – Browse
Implemented the first iteration of browsing, including browse lists for laws, bills, resolutions, and amendments; bills by subject; vetoed legislation; and legislation with committee or conference reports. All browse lists link to standard search result lists, including facets.

Improvements – Action Tab

  •  Added check all, uncheck all functionality
  •  Chamber column for All Actions clearly distinguishes between House and Senate actions
  •  Various labeling changes to improve readability of the tab
  •  Added intro text that shows number of items (faceted and total)

Improvements – Facets

  • Status of Legislation facet spans across all available content, 1973-present
  • Chamber column for All Actions clearly distinguishes between House and Senate actions
  • Renamed “Legislation Type” to “Bill Type”
  • Removed “Law” as a facet value (this information is available via the “Status of Legislation” facet)
  • Added Expand All / Collapse All functionality to multi-select facets.”
  • See also Advanced Search, Browse, and Appropriations Tables Added to Congress.gov –  by Andrew Weber

Leave a reply