Table of Contents I. What is the GPO Access WAIS Server? A. Introduction B. WAIS Components II. Registration Process A. Methods of Connecting B. Logging In 1. newusers 2. subscribers C. How to Subscribe III. Depository Libraries IV. Recommended Requirements to Utilize the GPO Access WAIS Server A. Summary of Requirements B. Workstation Guidelines 1. for all users 2. for IBM compatible workstations 3. for Macintosh workstations C. Clients available through Government Printing Office D. Clients Available From Other Sources E. Other Internet Utilities available through the Government Printing Office V. Summary of GPO Access Databases A. Federal Register B. Unified Agenda C. Congressional Record D. History of Bills E. Congressional Record Index F. Congressional Bills Database VI. Procedures for Using SWAIS A. A Simple Search Example with SWAIS B. SWAIS Searching Commands C. SWAIS Viewing Commands D. Options for Viewing and Retrieving Documents VII. Search Assistance A. General Information Pertaining to all GPO Access databases B. Default Stopword List C. Boolean Operators D. Searching Multiple Sources E. Field Restrictions F. Basic Searching Procedures G. Find Option H. Search Results I. Relevance Ranking/Feedback J. Maintaining a List of Common Searches K. Summary and TIFF files L. General Sample Searches amd Searching Techniques M. Sample Searches for Specific Databases 1. Federal Register 2. Unified Agenda 3. Congressional Record 4. History of Bills 5. Congressional Record Index 6. Congressional Bills Database VIII. Appendices A. Abbreviations Used in Bills Database B. Glossary of Terms C. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) D. Listing of Depository Libraries that offer GPO Access PREFACE This copy of the GPO Access Manual is current as of October 1994. The entire file is downloadable from the Federal Bulletin Board in either WordPerfect or ASCII format. To access the FBB, use your computer and modem to dial 202/512-1387 (settings are eight bits, no parity, one stop bit). Search for the files whole.wp or whole.txt. Individual chapters are also available as separate, downloadable files. Use the GPO Access Library from the Main Menu of the FBB (type "z") to find more information about these and other files concerning GPO Access. ****IMPORTANT NOTE: This manual will be updated periodically as required. To find out if your version is the most current, access the FBB and check the GPO Access library files for dates. If you need further assistance with GPO Access, or if the manual does not provide you with the answers you need, please contact the GPO Access User Support Team by: ---phone at 202/512-1530, or ---e-mail at help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov. We are able to provide telephone assistance Monday through Friday, except federal holidays, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thank you for using the GPO Access system. I. WHAT IS THE GPO ACCESS WAIS SERVER? A. Introduction The GPO WAIS System, otherwise known as The Government Printing Office Wide Area Information Server, is a retrieval system designed to help users find information within government databases via a computer. The server is currently set up to provide access to paid subscribers and free access to the public through the Federal Depository Library system. The goal of the GPO ACCESS WAIS Server is to create an open line of communication between computers. The user simply types in a request on their computer (client) and will receive information from a database on the GPO WAIS system (server). Unlike other search systems, the WAIS system compares and prioritizes the words contained in the search (relevance ranking) to determine which sections of the searched document(s) are most relevant and displays the results of the search in order from the most relevant to the least relevant. For example, if the user wants to find information on health problems and tobacco, he or she would select the database(s) to search and would type "tobacco AND health". The WAIS system will search all of the selected databases and return a list of documents dealing with tobacco and health. WAIS is used extensively within enterprises and by individuals to provide quick, easy access to government information. The following are examples of how WAIS has been put to use: Formatted Files WAIS provides a method for finding and retrieving formatted documents, whether they be phone listings, government manuals, bills, meetings, etc. multi-Media Graphics files are included in the GPO Access WAIS database by associating a text document with one or more graphics documents. The text document generally contains textual information about the graphics files, and is used in building the WAIS index. When a retrieval is performed, the user has the option of displaying and/or saving the graphics and/or the text file associated with them. The WAIS architecture has four main components: the client, otherwise known as the front-end or interface, the server, the database and the protocol. The WAIS client is a user-interface program that sends search and retrieval requests to local and remote servers. The WAIS server searches and retrieves documents from the WAIS database at the request of the client. The WAIS protocol is used to connect WAIS clients. B. WAIS Components The WAIS database is composed of two components; a collection of information and a WAIS index of this collection. The original set of information is referred to as the original data or simply data and includes a set of documents, headlines and words. The WAIS index is a set of files generated by the WAIS programs to facilitate fast search and retrieval of the information stored in the database. A document is the most specific retrievable element of a database. For example, a data collection may contain a volume of journals, where each article of the journal is a document. Each document is associated with a headline. A headline is one or more words that embody the main idea behind the document. When a client sends a question to a server, the server responds with a list of headlines that represent the most relevant documents related to the client's question. Generally, each headline is automatically extracted for you from the database. In WAIS, the user sees only one interface - the client software at their workstation. The client worries about how to access information in selected databases. You build a search through your local client by simply selecting the appropriate sources and entering search criteria using Boolean logic. In return, you get a list of candidate documents, ranked from most to least relevant. II. REGISTRATION PROCESS A. Methods of Connecting to the GPO Server There are three primary methods of accessing the GPO Access databases on the WAIS server: 1. Full WAIS access through the Internet using WAIS client software on your workstation. Client software is available from GPO for Windows and Macintosh systems, and many versions are available commercially for these and other computers. WAIS provides full access to all graphic files included in the subscription services. This type of subscription can be accomplished by a direct connection to the Internet or by using an Internet service provider and a SLIP or PPP account. A permanent Internet Protocol (IP) address is needed so the WAIS server can identify you as a paid subscriber. For more information on finding an Internet service provider in your area, call InterNIC Information Services at 619/455-4600. 2. SWAIS access through the Internet as a telnet session to wais.access.gpo.gov. This is generally accomplished through a dial-up to an Internet host with telnet access. No graphics files are included with an SWAIS subscription. 3. SWAIS access via modem by dialing the GPO WAIS server directly at 202/512-1661. This is done through a modem, personal computer, and communications software. No Internet access is required. If you choose the direct dial method, however, the access is limited and the cost of communications may be expensive. You will also not be able to run a client that gives you access to the graphics files in the databases. B. Logging in 1. NEW USERS All new users must register on-line via modem or telnet. On-line registering is required. All orders must be prepaid, but please register on the system before faxing credit card or deposit account information or mailing a check. Methods of payment include: MasterCard, VISA, GPO deposit account, check or money order. We will accept purchase orders from Federal agencies only, and agencies may also use money set aside for printing expenses by submitting an SF-1. Please call the User Support Team at 202/512-1530 for more details on these options. Include confirmation number in all correspondences and payments. Use your computer modem and communications software to dial 202/512- 1661, (settings 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit). Type wais (all lower case) at the first prompt; at the login prompt, login as newuser (all lower case); no password is required. Alternatively, use telnet to connect to wais.access.gpo.gov. Login as newuser (all lower case); no password is required. Follow the instructions on the screen to register for a subscription for the on- line subscriptions via GPO Access. ***NOTE: For security reasons, we discourage potential subscribers from using the Internet to pay by deposit account or credit card. Please use the modem to register, even if you will later use telnet or WAIS to access the system, or register through telnet, but send payment via mail or fax. During the registration process, you must decide how you will access the WAIS server in the future. Consult Section II Part A, Methods of Connecting to the WAIS Server to decide if you wish to register for WAIS or SWAIS. After completing the electronic order, if you prefer to avoid submitting credit card or deposit account information over the Internet, or you want to pay by check or money order, mail a written confirmation, including both the Registration Confirmation Number issued upon completion on the on-line order and the prepayment or credit card/deposit account information to: GPO Access Registration U.S. Government Printing Office P.O. Box 37082 Washington, DC 20013-7082 FAX confirmation, including both the Registration Confirmation Number and credit card/deposit account information to 202/512-1262. Orders will be processed within two working days of receipt of confirmation of payment. 2. CURRENT SUBSCRIBERS At the end of the registration, all users will receive a registration confirmation number. Write this number down, because the User Support Team uses this number to access your registration information. SWAIS users will use this number as their login ID when accessing their subscriptions. For WAIS users, the system at GPO will recognize your permanent IP address as your identifier. This is why it is so important to have a permanent IP assigned to your workstation. C. Subscriptions to the GPO Access WAIS Databases Public subscriptions are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). The annual subscription price for the Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Published Bills of the 103rd Congress on-line services through a stand alone workstation (not a server) is $375 each. Six- month (26 week) subscriptions are available for $200. One month (30 days) of access can be purchased for $35. Subscriptions for Bills of the 103rd Congress are $375. The registration provides further pricing information for single and multiple workstation environments. III. Depository Libraries The U.S. Government Printing Office is expanding the availability of the GPO Access WAIS server to the public through Federal Depository Libraries. GPO is beginning a gradual expansion of the role of depositories in making electronic Government information accessible to the public by using the depository libraries as intermediaries. GPO Access services are provided free of charge to depository libraries, which in turn are expected to provide these services free of charge to depository library users. Depository libraries have to date been limited to a single Internet IP address and one (non-server) workstation, however, the restriction to one IP address per subscribing depository was established only as an interim measure. In the expansion approximately ten depository libraries will serve as "model gateways". They will provide free off-site access for the general public to the GPO Access service through Internet and via a modem. In addition, all depository libraries will be permitted to register up to a maximum of 10 subscriptions, each consisting of the Federal Register, Congressional Record and the Congressional Bills databases. During the initial phase of this enhancement, GPO will work closely with individual model depository libraries which will serve as "gateways" to provide free off-site access by the general public to the GPO Access services. Model gateway libraries will be able to offer up to ten simultaneous sessions via participating campus and community networks without subscription costs or lengthy registration processes. Expanding the no-fee availability of GPO Access services through the depository gateway will provide 24-hour off-site access to members of the public who have the necessary computer equipment. however, unless users have a WAIS client installed, they will be limited to SWAIS access. IV. RECOMMENDED REQUIREMENTS TO USE THE GPO ACCESS WAIS SERVER A. Summary of Requirements You must have a computer workstation with adequate hardware and software. You can choose any kind of computer which can run the software you decide to use. The more powerful software, which gives you the greatest ability to utilize the GPO databases, requires a more powerful computer. To take full advantage of the GPO databases, you also need an Internet account that gives you a permanently-assigned internet protocol number (called an IP number). These accounts are called SLIP and PPP accounts, and they are available from a variety of sources. Your company or university may be able to supply you with an account. Accounts are also available from commercial providers (See Section II Part A). You must also select a WAIS client program. This client is required to communicate with the GPO server program to get information from the databases. You can obtain and install a client of your own if you are using a SLIP or PPP account, or use GPO's customized client. Otherwise, you will use the default SWAIS client on the GPO computer. Windows and Macintosh client software is available from GPO for $15 (see Section C below, Clients Available through GPO for more information). If you do not choose to use a SLIP or PPP Internet account, you will need a modem and a telecommunications program. You will not, however, be able to exploit the full contents of the GPO WAIS databases. B. Workstation Guidelines 1. FOR ALL USERS a) DIAL-IN ACCESS (INCLUDES SLIP/PPP ACCOUNTS) For dial-in access to SWAIS (at 202/512-1661), or for using a dial-up SLIP/PPP account through an internet provider, a modem with a speed of at least 9600 baud is recommended, and faster speeds and hookups are even more desirable. The modem should meet V.32,V.42, V.42bis or MNP 5 standards for error correction and be compatible with the Hayes "AT"command set. Dial-in customers should also have communications software installed on their system, and many packages are available commercially. (NOTE: You will not need a modem if you are using a direct, hard-wired connection to the Internet.) b) INTERNET CONNECTIVITY To use the WAIS client software through the Internet, the workstation used to access the WAIS must have its own permanent IP address. IBM compatibles will need a TCP/IP stack manager that is Winsock- compliant; a list of providers is available through the Federal Bulletin Board (202/512-1387). Macintosh computers will need MacTCP version 2.0 or later. Both types of systems will need a SLIP/PPP manager if you are using this kind of account to access the Internet. (NOTE: You will not need this kind of software if you are dialing into the GPO Access WAIS system directly via modem at 202/512-1661.) c) GRAPHICS FILES A graphics viewer is needed to read TIFF files included in the databases. The client that you can obtain from GPO includes a TIFF viewer. Adobe Acrobat Reader is necessary to read any PDF files. (NOTE: You will not need graphics viewers if you are using the SWAIS client on the GPO system, since SWAIS does not provide any graphic files.) **** The following guidelines are based on the system recommended for the Federal Depository Libraries who are required to use a variety of electronic products. Although these are recommendations, rather than requirements, you are strongly encouraged to install microcomputer workstations that meet at least these minimum standards to make full use of the databases. 2. IBM Compatibles We recommend at least a 486DX chip operating at 33Mhz, with 8 megabytes of RAM. The system should run MS-DOS 5.0 or later. The hard disk capacity should be 160 to 350 megabytes (or more), with 15ms or less access time. This will ensure adequate free space on the disk for the temporary files or saved files taken from the WAIS. A VGA monitor is recommended, as are a mouse and Microsoft Windows (Windows is required for the GPO's client software). 3. Macintosh Computers For Macintosh users, System 7 or a late version of System 6 (such as 6.0.8) is recommended. For speed purposes, a 68030 25Mhz chip (or better) is desirable. The hard disk capacity should be 80 megabytes or more, and the system should be equipped with at least 8 megabytes of RAM. C. Clients Available Through GPO 1. SWAIS The SWAIS text-based client is available on the same system as the GPO server (wais.access.gpo.gov). It does not allow you to locate or download any graphics files. This client is provided for users who do not have a permanent Internet system IP number. You access this client through a direct telephone connection or Internet Telnet connection to the GPO computer wais.access.gpo.gov. This default software is usable by Macintosh, IBM, and Unix machines. A dial-in connection to SWAIS does not provide for downloading protocols common to bulletin boards and other electronic sources. You must use your communications software to save information. (See Section VII Part C A SIMPLE SEARCH EXAMPLE WITH SWAIS). 2. EInet WinWAIS/MacWAIS This is a registered copy to EINet WinWAIS/MacWAIS, provided to a registered GPO Access database subscriber by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) with the permission of Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC). A software license fee has been paid to MCC by GPO on behalf of the registered subscriber. This version of the program has been customized for easier access to the GPO databases. It includes all the source files and sample searches which can be used as a template. You may order a diskette copy of the WAIS client software during the registration process. The $15 fee will be added to the total for your subscription services. Additional copies of the customized GPO Access WinWAIS/MacWAIS client software are available from GPO for $15 per copy. Prepayment is required and may be made by Mastercard, VISA, GPO Deposit Account, check or money order. Copies are available on 3.5 inch high density personal computer diskettes or by downloading from the Federal Bulletin Board. To Download the Software: If you want to download the software, access the Federal Bulletin Board by modem at 202/512-1387 (Settings: 8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit, full duplex; speed: up to 9600 baud. The file will not transfer successfully via telnet.) If you are already a validated user, select Z (GPO Access) from the Main Menu, then 5 from the GPO Access Menu. To become a validated user, enter 32 at the main menu and complete the Registry, including your preferred method of payment. To Order Diskettes: If you want to pay by check or money order, mail the order, including the prepayment or credit card/deposit account information to: GPO Access, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington DC 20013-7082. FAX orders, including credit card, deposit account information, to: 202/512-1262. Orders will be processed within two working days of receipt of confirmation of payment. D. Clients Available From Other Sources There are several other clients available for Windows, Macintosh and other operating systems. Two of the most popular WAIS clients are SWAIS and WAISSEARCH for regular UNIX systems, and XWAIS for X Window systems. Currently, Mosaic for Macintosh and PC users is not compatible with the WAIS; the latest version Mosaic for XWindows, however, has been tested successfully with GPO Access. Many of these programs are available free or for a very minimal cost, as shareware. You pay (on an honor system basis) if you install and use this type of software. These programs are usually obtained through the Internet File Transfer Protocol system (FTP). An excellent place to begin your search for alternative FTP-able clients is at the University of North Carolina FTP server, sunsite.unc.edu, or the National Center for SuperComputing Applications, ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu. Login as anonymous with your e-mail address as your password. For more information about WAIS and WAIS clients, there are two Internet Usenet discussion groups you can subscribe to: comp.infosystems.wais and alt.wais. There is also a WAIS "frequently asked questions" (FAQ) list that you will find helpful, especially if you are looking for a WAIS client for your computer. The FAQ list is posted regularly to comp.infosystems.wais. It can also be downloaded via Anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu. Look in the directory named /pub/usenet/news.answers/wais-faq for a file called "getting-started". Additional information is available from sunsite.unc.edu. The server for the GPO database runs on a system named wais.access.gpo.gov. If you are using GPO's customized client software, this host will automatically be accessed when you ask a question. If you are using your own client, you must add the source files to your software, using wais.access.gpo.gov as the host. This tells your software where to look for the databases to retrieve the information. The sources are listed in a free file on the Federal Bulletin Board (202/512-1387); search for the keyword sources. **Note: DATABASE NAMES ARE CASE SENSITIVE. Make sure when setting up your WAIS client that database names are lowercase and separators are underscores -- not hyphens or spaces. E. Other Internet Software 1. DISCLAIMER AND COPYRIGHT Some of the following programs are Copyright (C) 1991-1994 by Peter R. Tattam, All Rights Reserved. They are provided as shareware with the following limitations: These programs are shareware and are not to be resold or distributed for sale with other programs which are for sale. There is no warranty or claim of fitness or reliability. The programs are distributed AS IS, and as such neither the author, nor Trumpet Software International nor the University of Tasmania shall be held liable for any loss of data, down time, loss of revenue or any other direct or indirect damage or claims caused by these programs. If you have any questions about your particular system configuration, consult a local expert. 2. OTHER INTERNET UTILITIES For your convenience, we have put some useful shareware programs on the Federal Bulletin Board. Search for the keyword internet. If you install and use these programs, please remember to register and pay the minimal fee asked. a) Cello Cello is a world wide web (WWW) browser for PC systems, similar to Mosaic. It is compressed in the file cello.zip. Install the file into a directory on your hard drive and unzip the distribution file. The detailed installation instructions are contained in the file readme.1st. You can also run the program clohelp.hlp for more information on the program. Cello lets you browse local and network HTML documents, run telnet sessions, run gopher servers, and carry out ftp file transfers. The user interface is graphically-oriented (point and click). b) WinQVT/Net WinQVT/Net is a suite of winsock applications. It is compressed in the file qvtws396.zip. Install the file into a directory on your hard drive and unzip the distribution file. The detailed installation instructions are contained in the files faq.wri and readme.wri. WinQVT/Net lets you read Usenet News, retrieve email, run a telnet session, and carry out ftp file transfers. The user interface is more command-line oriented than Cello. c) Trumpet If you already have some kind of TCP/IP networking package installed, it is most likely that the Trumpet Winsock will not run and you will have to massage your system configuration to install the Trumpet Winsock, possibly even to the extent of uninstalling that networking package. Alternatively, there may be a Winsock available for your package in which case the Trumpet Winsock will not be required. The Trumpet Winsock is currently distributed as shareware. You may use the Trumpet Winsock for 30 days to evaluate its usefulness. If at the end of that time you are satisfied with the Trumpet Winsock as a product, you can register it. The basic registration fee for a single user version of the Trumpet Winsock is US$20. See the install.doc (or install.txt) file for details. It is to your advantage to obtain your Windows Sockets from a commercial supplier. The documentation and reliability are likely to be superior and the installation procedure is likely to be more automated. A commercial supplier also offers much more customer support than an hobbyist who produces shareware. If you plan to have a permanent connection to the Internet, your local system administrator will tell you what equipment and software you will need to set up your system. V. GPO Access WAIS Database Summary A. FEDERAL REGISTER 1. General Information a) Database Name: 1994_register b) Contents (and relationship to printed counterpart): This database contains the daily issues of the Federal Register (FR) from January 3,1994 (Volume 59 Number 1). The database is updated 6:00 a.m. Eastern time each day the FR is published. All information in the Federal Register is included: Notices, Rules, Proposed Rules, Presidential Documents, Table of Contents, Preliminary Information, List of the CFR Parts Affected and other Reader Aids. The Unified Agenda (Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda) is available as a separate database. c) Database structure: Each daily issue of the FR is treated as one physical file, internally divided into "documents." Each "document" begins at the agency header line and ends with the "BILLING CODE" line immediately preceding the next agency header line. A single index to the database covers all of the daily issues, so that one query automatically searches all of the daily FRs. d) Special features/notes: The bulk of the FR database is ASCII text. Graphics are in TIFF formats. Rules and Proposed Rules files will usually have a summary file. B. UNIFIED AGENDA (SEMI-ANNUAL REGULATORY AGENDA) 1. General Information a) Database Name: 1994_unified _agenda b) Contents (and relationship to printed counterpart): This database contains the 1994 Unified Agenda, otherwise known as the Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda which summarizes pending regulatory actions by Federal agencies. The database is updated semi-annually when the Unified Agenda is published in the Federal Register. It is available to all subscribers to the Federal Register database for vol. 59 (1994). c) Database structure: Each "document" begins at the agency header line and ends with the "BILLING CODE" line immediately preceding the next agency header line. The 1994 Unified Agenda database will carry a single document for each agency as well as individual documents for each entry. The database is arranged by agency and will be updated semi-annually when the Unified Agenda is published. The records are ASCII text files. d) Special features/notes: The Unified Agenda database is ASCII text. This database will allow a user to easily select all of the entries for an agency or just the entries that relate to a specific topic or CFR part. C. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD 1. General Information a) Database Name: 1994_record b) Contents (and relationship to printed counterpart): The daily issues of the Congressional Record for the 103d Congress, Second Session are available through the WAIS server from January 1994 (vol. 140). The database includes the Congressional Record Index and the History of Bills and Resolutions Database. It is updated each day the Congressional Record is published between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., depending on when Congress adjourned the previous day. Contents correspond to the contents of the printed Congressional Record, except that as of 5/4/94 unnumbered pages are not included. The Lobby List will be included at a later date. c) Database structure: Each daily issue of the CR is treated as one physical file, internally divided into "documents." Each "document" is an individually retrievable unit of text, which begins at a Bodoni (fat) dash and ends prior to the next Bodoni dash. An individual daily issue of the CR will have many "documents" within it. Documents containing graphics will have one or more associated TIFF files. There will be a separate TIFF file for each image which will be sequentially numbered as they appear in the document. A single index to the database covers all of the daily issues, so that one query automatically searches all of the daily CRs. D. HISTORY OF BILLS DATABASE AND RESOLUTIONS 1. General Information a) Database Name: 1994 _hob b) Contents (and relationship to printed counterpart): The History of Bills and Resolutions database provides information about all bills that were introduced during the 2d session or introduced during the 1st session and acted upon during the 2d session of the 103d Congress. This summary of bills references the Congressional Record issue, date and pages where the action is recorded. c) Database structure: The History of Bills is an index, by bill number, of every action taken on a bill that is reported in the Congressional Record. It provides a short description, followed by a list of Congressional Record citations where the action was reported. The 1994 History of Bills Database will cumulate entries for all bills acted upon during the 103d Congress, d session. The database will be updated bi-weekly as the Congressional Record Index is published. d) Special features/notes: The CR database is ASCII text. E. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD INDEX (CRI) 1. General Information a) Database Name(s): 1992_cri; 1993_cri; 1994_cri b) Contents (and relationship to printed counterpart): GPO has mounted the Congressional Record Index for 1992, 1993, and 1994. The 1992 and 1993 Congressional Record Index databases cover the 102d Congress, 2d Session and 103d Congress, 1st Session, respectively; these databases are static. The 1994 database is cumulative up to the most recent biweekly issue of the Index; it is updated every two weeks. All page number references in these databases refer to pagination of the daily, rather than the final, Congressional Record. Because biweekly issues of the Congressional Record Index do not cumulate, there is no exact equivalent print counterpart of these databases. The CRI databases do not yet contain preliminary information found in the printed version, such as listings of commonly used index headings, or "History of Bills and Resolutions." This information will be included in the databases at a later date. c) Database structure: Each CRI database is treated as one physical file, internally divided into "documents." Each "document" is an individually retrievable unit of text, which begins at a major heading (corresponding to the headings in caps, boldface in the printed CRI) and ends at the beginning of the next major heading. The CRI databases are ASCII text. There are no graphics. d) Special features/notes: "See" index terms, with no associated entries, are treated as documents having only one line. "Documents" will be modified in the near future, to add the year and title to the "header" line, so that when a document is retrieved, the corresponding CRI year is included. F. CONGRESSIONAL BILLS DATABASE (103rd Congress) 1. General Information a) Database Name: 103_cong_bills b) Contents (and relationship to printed counterpart): The Bills of the 103d Congress database contains all published versions of bills introduced and/or acted upon by the 103rd Congress. As a result, the user will be able to access every version of a particular bill. It will be updated as bills are released to the public. c) Database structure: Each bill is a single physical file. There is no internal subdivision into "documents." Each ASCII text version of a bill has a counterpart in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. d) Special features/notes: To view the PDF image file, the user must have an Acrobat PDF reader. The GPO software allows the user to view/save/print all graphics files. The rudimentary search features of Acrobat can be utilized once a document is downloaded. VI. PROCEDURES FOR USING SWAIS A. A SIMPLE SEARCH EXAMPLE WITH SWAIS At the start of your SWAIS session, the first screen to appear is a list of the GPO databases to which you subscribed. (See Section 6 for detailed information on these databases.) The word "Free" to the right of the screen simply means that you have paid for your subscription. Suppose you are interested in finding information in the 1994 Federal Register concerning a particular agency, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. B. SWAIS SEARCHING COMMANDS These are the commands that you can use while searching for a document. This list can be reviewed during a search by pressing the ? or h key. j, down arrow, ^N Move down one item k, up arrow, ^P Move up one item J Move down one screen K Move up one screen R Show relevant documents to a previously viewed document m Mail current item to an Internet e- mail address ## Enter source numbers to highlight a Source for source selection Display current item Display current item | Pipe current item into a unix command v View current item information s Specify new sources to search or refresh the source list w Make another search with new key words o Set and show SWAIS options h, ? Show help display H Display program history q Exit the document and return to the Search Results screen C. SWAIS VIEWING COMMANDS This is the help screen that you can view while at the Search Results Screen. These commands will help you move through the list, perform additional searches, set search preferences etc.. This list can be reviewed by pressing the h key or ? key. j or ^N Move down one item k or ^P Move down one screen J Move down one screen K Move up one screen m Mail current item to an address ## Position to item number or choose an item Display current item Display current item v View current item information s Specify new sources to search w Make another search with new key words o Set and show WAIS options (preferences) h or ? Show help display H Display program history q Exit this program The following are you can use while viewing a document. Most commands can be (optionally) preceded by integer argument k to indicate how many times the operation should be carried out. For example, 3b is the command to go back 3 pages. Defaults are indicated in brackets. Display next k screenfuls of text b or ctrl-B Skip backwards k screenfuls of text [1] f Skip forward k screenfuls of text [1] /(word to be searched) Search for occurrence of regular expression [1] n Search for the next occurrence regular expression. ## Continuously scroll through the number of lines specified Display next line d or ctrl-D Scroll k lines [current scroll size, initially [1] s Skip forward k lines of text [1] m Place a mark at a place in a document ' Go to a marked portion of the document = Display current line number :f Display current file name and line number crtl-L Redraw screen q or Q Exit to search results screen / function The forward slash is used to search inside a document for keyterms. Users find it to be particularly useful when dealing with large documents. THIS FUNCTION IS CASE-SENSITIVE! As a result, if you are looking for the State Department you must type the word state with a capital S otherwise it may pick up the word state when it refers to something like"... the state of the economy..." n function This command is used in conjunction with the / function. For example, once you use /tax to search for the string "tax", you only need to keep pressing the /n key to keep searching for "tax". m function This function will place a 'mark' in the document so the user can easily move to important places. For example, if the user wants to mark a particular place in the document he or she will type in the letter m and name the mark such as A. The viewer can then can continue viewing the document and at any time can go back to mark a by using the ' function. The user can have multiple marks in a document. To select a database, use the cursor keys (arrows) to move the highlight bar up and down, or, if you do not see a highlight bar, type the SWAIS number of the database you'd like to select and hit the enter key. Some Telnet software may not highlight the selected item, or the keys we use in this example may be different. Type the ? or a lower-case h to bring up a help screen that lists alternative command keys. After highlighting the database or typing its number, press the space bar to select the source. You may select one or more databases for your search. Selected sources are marked with an asterisk (*). For this example, select the source "1994_register." At the bottom of the screen, you will see a prompt that says: selects, w for keywords, arrows move, searches, q quits, or ? Once you have selected your sources, press w to enter the keywords for your search. Remember that connectors (ADJ, AND, OR, NOT) must always be in uppercase letters. If you do not insert connectors, the software assumes an OR, so typing environmental protection agency will result in a search for environmental OR protection OR agency. Once the system prompts you, type environmental ADJ protection ADJ agency and press the enter key to start the search. After a few moments, the system will redraw the screen with a list of search results. The documents found are displayed in order from the most relevant to the least relevant.The document at the top of the list, with the score of 1000, is the most relevant, or the one the system thinks will most likely satisfy your search requirements. A document receives a higher score if the search words appear in the headline, or if the words appear many times throughout the text. A document with a score of 500 or less is not likely to be useful to the user. SWAIS, by default, retrieves 40 documents at a time. You can change this setting, and other default options, by typing a lower-case o at the Source Selection screen. D. OPTIONS FOR VIEWING AND RETRIEVING DOCUMENTS After performing the EPA search, the document "fr29jy Drinking Water; National Primary," was ranked the among the most relevant. This is an article that appeared in the July 29 issue of the Federal Register. Browse through the list using the arrow keys to highlight this document, or type the item number and hit enter. Type a lower-case v at this point, and SWAIS will show you some details about the specific document, including the file size, which is the # of Chars item. Each character is a byte, so the file we have selected is approximately 915,000 bytes, or 915K. This may be of concern to you if your internet e-mail provider limits the size of messages you may receive. It may also be important if you are pressed for storage space on your computer. Before continuing, you have several options for viewing, retrieving, or saving documents. 1) FOR ALL USERS: To read the document to decide if it meets your research needs, simply hit the space bar to view it. Note that the words Environmental Protection Agency appear in the headline and repeatedly throughout the document, which is why this article was ranked among the highest. To exit viewing, press q to return to the Search Results screen. 2) FOR SWAIS USERS WITH AN INTERNET E-MAIL ADDRESS: If you decide that you want a copy of the document, type m at the Search Results screen to mail the currently selected document to your own internet e-mail address. The system will prompt you to enter your address, and then hit enter to retrieve and mail the document. 3) FOR SWAIS USERS WITHOUT AN INTERNET E-MAIL ADDRESS: If you do not have an internet e-mail address, perform a print capture to have the document print directly to your printer as it scrolls by, or perform a file capture, which will save the document as ASCII text to a directory or folder you have designated through your software. Most communications programs support this type of capture, and some common terms or phrases which may be in your manual or in an on-screen menu are save to a file, capture log, print log, print capture, screen capture, screen to file/printer, or something similar. Look for these terms in the index of the manual, or consult a technician at your location for assistance. Microsoft Windows users who are using Windows-compatible telnet or other communications software can copy small portions of a document to the clipboard and paste them into a word processor. *****This is very important: turn on the capture before pressing the space bar to view a document, and turn it off before typing q to return to the search results screen. To avoid having stdin appear in the captured file, type a large number and hit enter at the first stdin prompt to have text scroll by continuously. (See below for other search techniques.) F. SEARCHING WITHIN A DOCUMENT When viewing a document, the letters stdin will be highlighted at the bottom of the screen. When you see this prompt, the system is telling you that there is more text to follow. You can scroll through a document to read what it's about by typing a space bar at the stdin prompt to move down a full screen of text in the document. To skip down more or less than one screen, type a number at the stdin prompt. Type 100 for this example, and 100 lines will scroll past. To search for a specific term in the text, type / (a forward slash) followed by the words you would like to search for. This is case- sensitive, so be sure to type it exactly as you think it will appear in the text. In this case, type /Treatment Technique. Notice that Treatment Technique scrolls up to the top line, as will any word or phrase you search for. The words you look for will not be highlighted, so you'll have to look for them in the text of the first line. To search for the next occurrence of the same word or phrase again, type a lower-case n. When you are done looking at the document, use q to quit viewing and return to the Search Results screen. At this point, you may also use the internet e-mail command to mail the document you have just viewed to your address. G. EXITING SWAIS Once you are done searching, you can exit from SWAIS by pressing the q key at either the Search Results screen or the Source Selection screen. *******It is very important that you exit completely out. In other words, do not simply shut off your machine or exit from your communications program unless you have no choice.******* The server is set up to reset your account after fifteen minutes. Should you get disconnected, or if your machine forces you to shutdown without properly signing out, wait 15 minutes or so and try to get back in. Otherwise, you may see the message, "Sorry, someone else is logged into this account." If you see this message during business hours, and you have tried a few times to log back in, call the GPO Access User Support Team at 202/512-1530 for assistance if you can't gain access to the server. For additional help in searching and viewing, consult Section 7 for information on additional samples which will help train you to design customized searches for your specific needs. VII. WAIS Search Assistance The following text provides the user with information on the contents of the GPO Access WAIS databases and supplies searching information which includes stop words, operators, basic search procedures and sample searches. The sample searches represent common types of searches for each database and are provided to help users understand the GPO Access databases and the basic searching options available with the WAIS server. **Note: DATABASE NAMES ARE CASE SENSITIVE. Make sure when setting up your WAIS client that database names are lower case and separators are underscores -- not hyphens A. GENERAL INFORMATION PERTAINING TO ALL GPO ACCESS WAIS DATABASES: WAIS can only handle the regular ASCII character set (not extended ASCII), so all special characters have been modified. E.g. "twist" indicating a Section has been changed to Sec., etc. None of the files have any pagination. WAIS files having associated TIFF images (primarily Federal Register) can be multiple images. If a document has multiple images, the images will be sequentially numbered and scanned at 300 Dots per Inch (DPI). For additional information or assistance contact the GPO Access User Support Team by: --- fax (202)512-1262, or --- telephone at (202)512-1530 from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday-Friday except Federal holidays, --- or by internet e-mail help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov. B. DEFAULT STOPWORD LIST The following words make up the default stopword list. Stopwords are words which occur so frequently that they are not useful for distinguishing one document from another. Since they aren't useful for searching, they are not indexed. adj all also an and any are as at be because been could did do does e.g. ever from had hardly has have having hence her here hereby herein hereof heron hereto herewith him his however i.e. if into is it its me not of on onto or our really nor she should so some such than that the their them then there thereby therefore therefrom therein thereof thereon thereto therewith these they this those thus to too unto us very viz. was we were what where when whereby whether which who whom whose why with would you C. BOOLEAN OPERATORS The boolean operators, AND, OR, NOT, and ADJ aid in establishing logical relationships between concepts expressed in natural language. These operators are especially useful in narrowing down the search. These words must be capitalized or they will be considered stopwords and as a result treated as the default "OR". AND - The AND operator is helpful in restricting a search when a particular pair of terms is known. For instance, when searching for documents on lyme disease, a question such as "lyme AND Disease" would return only those documents that contain both the word "lyme" and the word "disease". OR - The OR operator is often used to join two different phrases of a Boolean search. A question such as "transportation OR highway" would search for all documents containing wither the word "transportation", or the word "highway", or both. A natural language question is much like having an implicit OR between the words, except that natural language does more work to determine the relevance of words and their relationships in phrases. NOT - The NOT operator is used to reject any documents that contain certain words. The question "education NOT secondary" would find all documents containing the word "education", that also do not contain the word "secondary". ADJ - The adjacent operator, ADJ, is used to ensure that one word is followed by another in the returned document, with no other words in between. For example, "marine ADJ mammal" returns only documents with exactly "marine mammal: and not any documents that only contain the words "marine" and mammal" separately. D. SEARCHING MULTIPLE SOURCES The user dictates which sources to search by executing the following steps. Press ALT-E or click on the File pull-down menu Highlight the Select Sources option Highlight the sources you wish to search Press the Select button E. FIELD RESTRICTIONS There are currently no established fields in the database, searches will be executed throughout entire documents. For example, the user cannot restrict a search to words in the title only. F. BASIC SEARCHING PROCEDURES The following procedures describe how to conduct a search on the GPO Access WAIS Server. - Build search criteria utilizing boolean logic - Select the sources to be searched - Press ALT-E or click on the Edit pull-down menu - Select the "select sources" option - Highlight the databases to be searched - Click on the Select button - Click on the OK button - Execute the Search - Click on the "Ask" button or press Enter - View documents - Highlight the candidate document you wish to view and hit enter or hit the left mouse button twice G. FIND OPTION Once the search is complete and the candidate document the user wishes to view has been retrieved, the user can utilize the Find Option to locate a particular term in a large document. To utilize the Find Option execute the following steps; - Press ALT-S or click on the Search pull-down menu - Highlight the Find function - Type in the word to be searched and hit Enter or click OK ( To find the next location of the word choose the Find Next option and hit Enter ) Similarly, to determine where a graphics file is located in a document, use the Find Option and type in TIFF and the corresponding number. For example, the user who wanted to know where the graphics file is positioned would type in TIFF 1 or TIFF 2 or TIFF 3 etc.. H. SEARCH RESULTS Once a search has been completed, the score (which refers to the relevance ranking), the size of the ASCII text and the title of the document will be displayed. I. RELEVANCE RANKING/RELEVANCE FEEDBACK After searching for a particular topic, the user will be provided with a list of candidate documents displayed from the most relevant to least relevant. In order to make your search more specific the user can utilize the relevance feedback function. The relevance feedback function allows the user to select a particular result of the search and mark it as relevant. The user is then enabled to run the search a second time. The server takes into account the documents marked as relevant by the user and searches for other similar documents that share a large number of common words. To operate the relevance feedback function execute the following; - Highlight a candidate document that meet the search criteria - Drag the highlighted document to the box labeled "Similar to" - Click on the "Ask" button or press Enter J. MAINTAINING A LIST OF COMMON SEARCHES The user is able to save and retrieve searches that have been completed by executing the following steps; To save: Press ALT-F or click on the File pull-down menu. Highlight the "save question" option Type in the name you want to save the search as Press OK To retrieve: Press ALT-F or click on the File pull down menu. Highlight the "open question" option Highlight the name of the search you wish to retrieve Press OK K. Summary and TIFF Files The Summary is an ASCII text file that repeats the initial heading information for the document, through the summary section. You can view the Summary before viewing or saving a large file to verify you have the right document. Documents containing graphics will have one or more associated TIFF files. There will be a separate TIFF file for each image, and the files will be sequentially numbered as they appear in the document (TIFF,TIF1, etc). Within the text of the document, the location of an image is indicated by reference to the TIFF file:. To view a TIFF file, the user must have a graphics viewer associated with the WAIS client, or download a file and then view it with an external graphics viewer. If you are using the GPO Access WinWAIS client, selecting a TIFF file will automatically invoke the graphics viewer and display the image. You can then save or print the image on an attached printer. The GPO Access WinWAIS client has already been customized for the multiple TIFF file names. If you are using another WAIS client, you should customize it to recognize TIF1, TIF2... TIF200 as equivalent to TIFF. L. General Sample Searches and Searching Techniques The following searches will help you familiarize yourself with various methods of searching for information in the GPO Access databases. Each of these searches can be used in more than one database. As a result, the search results presented may differ slightly. These searches only serve to guide you when construction search strings and should restrict your searching strategies. **Note: Some searches may be more appropriate for a database than others. For example, a bill search will be more useful when searching in the Congressional Record or Bills database than in the Federal Register. Subject [LEAD.ASK] QUERY: lead ADJ paint RESULT: fr12my Lead-Based Paint Hazard Elimination This search demonstrates the value of the relevance feature. Although the search specified lead adjacent [ADJ] to paint, the results include the documents with the term lead-based paint as well. Relevance is computed based on several factors, including the occurrence of the search terms in the document title, the frequency of the terms as a percentage of the total document size and conformance with the exact search phrasing. In the sample search, the phrase lead paint would receive a higher ranking than lead-based paint, although both would be considered responsive to the query. Agency Name [ENVIRMNT.ASK] QUERY: Environmental ADJ Protection ADJ Agency RESULT: fr29jy Drinking Water; National Primary Drinking Water Regulations This search demonstrates retrieval of documents based on the name of the issuing agency. Usually the agency name would be modified by a date or a subject to make the search more specific. Thus adding "AND register ADJ june ADJ 14" to the above query would limit the results to EPA documents issued on June 14,1994. Bill [MAMMAL1.ASK] QUERY: h.r. ADJ 2760 RESULT: cr21mr Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1994 This bill search demonstrates the importance of punctuation. Date [MAMMAL2.ASK] QUERY: marine ADJ mammal AND record AND March ADJ 21 RESULT: cr21mr Marine Mammal Protection Act Amendments of 1993 This date search shows the importance of including the topic, as well as the date in the search criteria. If a date is used by itself, the database will list all documents with that date, even if the documents vary in subject matter. Subject [LIBRAR.ASK] QUERY: librar* RESULT: H.R. 2840 (enr) To amend title 17, United States Code, to establish copyright The above example demonstrates how to trunkate a word. The * allows for multiple suffixes to be placed at the end of the word. Therefore, when considering the above example, WAIS would retrieve the documents containing the words library, libraries, librarian etc.. M. Sample Searches for Specific Databases 1. FEDERAL REGISTER a. General Information (1.) Database Name: 1994_register (2.) Search Results: When you execute a search, an entry in the results list will look like this: fr24fe Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of. The fr identifies this as a Federal Register document. 24fe identifies it as a document published on February 24. The balance is a short title for the document, truncated to fit the available space. (3.) Sample Searches: Sample searches are installed with the GO Access WinWAIS client software. Pull down the File menu and select Open to select a question. Each saved question includes the database(s) to be searched. Saved searches are named with an extension.ASK. Table of Contents [CONTENTS.ASK] QUERY: contents AND register ADJ june ADJ 14 RESULT: fr14je CONTENTS This search demonstrates retrieving the Federal Table of Contents for a specific date. Users can save this search and simply change the date as needed. Graphics [MOJAVE.ASK] QUERY: threatened ADJ wildlife AND mojave RESULT: fr24fe Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of This search demonstrated retrieval of a document with multiple TIFF files. Retrieving TEXT and searching for TIFF will display the tag for inserting the graphic TIFF. Retrieving TIFF will invoke the graphics viewer and display a map of the area subject to the regulations. Final/Proposed Rules [FINAL.ASK] QUERY: action ADJ final ADJ rule And register AND june ADJ 14 RESULT: fr14jn Equal Access to Justice Act Fees This search demonstrates retrieval of final rules published on a specific date. Substituting the word "proposed" for "final" would limit the search to Proposed Rules on that date. Substituting a subject for the phrase "register ADJ june ADJ 14" would limit the results to final rules on that subject, regardless of the date published. Note the use of "rule*" allows for the retrieval of documents using the phrase final rule as well as those using the phrase final rules. Code of Federal Regulations Part Number [40CFR55.ASK] QUERY: 40 ADJ CFR ADJ Part ADJ 55 RESULT: fr14mr Outer Continental Shelf Air Regulations; Delegation of Authority This search demonstrated retrieval of a document based on the CFR Part that is affected by the rule or proposed rule. It is necessary to include the word "part" in order to limit the query to the introductory material in each document that references the affected parts. Since the affected parts are referenced in the introductory material for each rule and proposed rule, the Summary can be viewed to determine the relevance of the retrieved documents before viewing or saving the full document. Relevance ranking will assist in the retrieval of documents that use a phrase like 40 CFR Parts 54, 55 and 57, although they will be assigned a lower rank, since 55 is not adjacent to part. Citation (Page Number and Date) Searches: At present page numbers do not appear in the Federal register. The page numbers ar assigned as a running head in typesetting and are not the typesetting database from which the on-line database is derived. GPO is working on adding page numbers, and they will definitely be a part of Phase II (1995). We hope to have them sooner. Meanwhile, if you have a Federal Register citation (page number and date), you must do a two step search. First search by date and/or page number and retrieve the Contents. The contents and other finding aids are typeset after the body of the Federal Register, and they do include page numbers. From the Contents you can identify the article and select significant words for a second search. For example, if you have a citation for 59 FR 37929 (July 26, 1994), search the Federal Register database for: contents AND register ADJ July ADJ 26 This will retrieve the Contents for July 26, 1994. View or print the text of the Contents. If viewing with the WinWAIS client software, use the FIND command in the text editor to search for the page number (37929). If using SWAIS, use a slash followed by page number (/37929) to skip to the line containing that number. The Contents entry is: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service RULES Plant-related quarantine, domestic: Oriental fruit fly, 37929-37930. Read the entry, select several key words, and modify the initial search to: fruit ADJ fly AND register ADJ july ADJ 26 This will retrieve the specific document (as well as the table of contents). Alternatively, you can do an initial search for the page number: 37929 This will retrieve the Contents and List of CFR Parts Affected for July 26. Viewing the list of CFR parts shows that page 37929 modifies 7 CFR part 301. you can then do a search for: 7 ADJ cfr ADJ part ADJ 301 You can add the date if you wish to limit the search, or merely select the article with the prefix fr26jy from the list of search results. 2. UNIFIED AGENDA (SEMI-ANNUAL REGULATORY AGENDA) a. General Information (1.) Database Name: 1994_unified _agenda (2.) Search Results: When you execute a search, an entry in the results list will look like this: ua25ap 3801 National Primary Drinking Water Regulations: 25 contaminants The ua identifies this as a Unified Agenda document. 25ap identifies it as a document published on April 25. The balance is a short title for the document, truncated to fit the available space. (3.) Sample Search: CFR Part Search: [40cfr745.ASK] QUERY: 40 ADJ CFR ADJ 745 RESULT: ua25ap 3724 Regulatory Investigation Under the Toxic Substances Control To locate information concerning a particular agency the user should search by agency name. The search results will list the entire Regulatory Agenda each agency with a summary for each entry. This is agency specific. To locate information concerning a particular subject, the user should search by topic. The search results will list documents which contain regulatory actions planned for the subject- it is not agency specific. 3. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD a. General Information (1.) Database Name: 1994_record (2.) Search Results: When you execute a search, an entry in the results list will look like this: cr21mr Marine Mammal Protection Acts 1994. The cr identifies this as a Congressional Record document. 2mr identifies it as a document published on the 21 of March . The balance is a short title for the document, truncated to fit the available space. (3.) Sample Search: Daily Digest [DDIGEST.ASK] QUERY: daily ADJ digest AND record ADJ June ADJ 7 RESULT: cr07jn New Public Laws This daily digest search demonstrates the importance of using specific words when developing the search criteria. Senator [SENATOR.ASK] QUERY: Ms ADJ Mikulski AND transportation OR highway RESULT: ms AND mikulski AND (transportation OR highway*) Similar to the date search, this example demonstrates the importance of including a topic with the senators name, as well as the boolean operator OR. Please note that the list of candidate documents in the search results does not differentiate if the senator spoke or not. To search for when a senator spoke, after retrieving a document, use the Find option and type the senator's name in all capital letters. (For more information on the Find option see XI G.) 4. HISTORY OF BILLS DATABASE AND RESOLUTIONS a. General Information (1.) Database Name: 1994_hob (2.) Search Results: When you execute a search, an entry in the results list will look like this: hob94 S. 2136 A bill to prohibit sponsorship of television violence by The hob94 identifies this as a History of Bills and Resolutions 1994 document. S. 2136 represents the bill number The balance is a short title for the document, truncated to fit the available space. (3.) Sample Searches: Postponed Bills: [S1963.ASK] QUERY: S. ADJ 1963 RESULT: hob94 S. 1963 An original bill to permit certain financial institutions to This search demonstrates how a bill that was postponed in the Senate (S.1963) is referenced to an active bill in the House (H.R. 3841). In the above example, S.1963 references H.R. 3841. 5. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD INDEX (CRI) a. General Information (1.) Database Name(s): 1992_cri; 1993_cri; 1994_cri (2). Search Results: When you execute a search, an entry in the results list will look like this: cri94 Congressional Human Rights Foundation. The cri94 identifies this as a Congressional Record Index 1994 document. The balance is a short title for the document, truncated to fit the available space. 7. CONGRESSIONAL BILLS DATABASE (103rd Congress) a. General Information (1.) Database Name: 103_cong_bills (2). Search Results: When you execute a search, an entry in the search results will look like this H.R. 2872 (ih) To prevent and punish crime, to strengthen the rights of crime victims, The H.R. shows that it is a house bill. 2872 is the bill number and the (ih) indicates that it was introduced in the house. The balance is a short title for the document, truncated to fit the available space. APPENDIX A: ABBREVIATIONS USED IN BILLS DATABASE List of Abbreviations Sample Entry Document Type --------------------------------------------------------------------- H.R. 1234 House Bill S. 1234 Senate Bill H.J.Res. 123 House Joint Resolution S.J.Res.123 Senate Joint Resolution H.Con.Res. House Concurrent Resolution S.Con.Res. Senate Concurrent Resolution H. Res. House Simple Resolution S. Res. Senate Simple Resolution -----------> In the WAIS client, the following chart appears under the description of the source and in the Information on Database for both WAIS and SWAIS. Code Document Status (Version) ------------------------------------------------------------- (ash) Additional Sponsors House (ath) Agreed to House (ats) Agreed to Senate (cdh) Committee Discharged House (cds) Committee Discharged Senate (cph) Considered and Passed House (cps) Considered and Passed Senate (eah) Engrossed Amendment House (eas) Engrossed Amendment Senate (eh) Engrossed in House (ehr) Engrossed in House--Reprint (eh_s) Engrossed in House (No.) Star Print (enr) Enrolled (es) Engrossed in Senate (esr) Engrossed in Senate--Reprint (es_s) Engrossed in Senate (No.) Star Print (fah) Failed Amendment House (fps) Failed Passage Senate (hdh) Held at Desk House (hds) Held at Desk Senate (ih) Introduced in House (ihr) Introduced in House--Reprint (ih_s) Introduced in House (No.) Star Print (iph) Indefinitely Postponed in House (ips) Indefinitely Postponed in Senate (is) Introduced in Senate (isr) Introduced in Senate--Reprint (is_s) Introduced in Senate (No.) Star Print (lth) Laid on Table in House (lts) Laid on Table in Senate (oph) Ordered to be Printed House (ops) Ordered to be Printed Senate (pch) Placed on Calendar House (pcs) Placed on Calendar Senate (pp) Public Print (rah) Referred w/Amendments House (ras) Referred w/Amendments Senate (rch) Reference Change House (rcs) Reference Change Senate (rdh) Received in the House (rhs) Received in the Senate (re) Reprint of an Amendment (reah) Re-engrossed Amendment House (renr) Re-enrolled (res) Re-engrossed Amendment Senate (rfh) Referred in House (rfhr) Referred in House--Reprint (rfh_s) Referred in House (No.) Star Print (rfs) Referred in Senate (rfsr) Referred in Senate--Reprint (rfs_s) Referred in Senate (No.)Star Print (rh) Reported in House (rhr) Reported in House--Reprint (rh_s) Reported in House (No.) Star Print (rih) Referral Instructions House (ris) Referral Instructions Senate (rs) Reported in Senate (rsr) Reported in Senate--Reprint (rs_s) Reported in Senate (No.) Star Print (rth) Referred to Committee House (rts) Referred to Committee Senate (sas) Additional Sponsors Senate (sc) Sponsor Change House (s_p) Star (No.) Print of an Amendment -------- * NOTE: This list contains only the most frequently used actions, if the action is not covered by this list, GPO's Congressional Printing Management Division may be consulted at 202/512-0224. Congressional Bills Glossary Definition of Document Types Bills- H.R. House Bill S. Senate Bill A legislative proposal before Congress. Bills from each house are assigned a number in the order in which they are introduced, from the beginning of each Congress (first and second sessions). "Public bills" deal with general questions and "private bills" deal with individual matters such as claims against the Government. Joint Resolutions- H.J.Res. House Joint Resolution S.J.Res. Senate Joint Resolution A legislative proposal requiring the approval of both houses and the signature of the President, just as a bill does. Resolutions from each house are assigned a number in the order in which it is introduced, from the beginning of each two-year Congress (first and second sessions). There is no real difference between a bill and a joint resolution. The latter is generally used in dealing with limited matters, such as a single appropriation for a specific purpose. A joint resolution has the force of law if approved. Joint resolutions also are used to propose amendments to the Constitution. These do not require Presidential signature, but become a part of the Constitution when three-fourths of the states have ratified them. Concurrent Resolutions- H.Con.Res. House Concurrent Resolution S.Con.Res. Senate Concurrent Resolution A legislative proposal that must be passed by both houses, but does not require the signature of the President and does not have the force of law. These are generally used to make or amend rules applicable to both houses or to express the sentiment of the two houses. (For example, a concurrent resolution is used to fix the time of adjournment of a Congress. It could also be used to convey the congratulations of Congress to another country on the anniversary of its independence.) Simple Resolutions- H. Res. House Simple Resolution S. Res. Senate Simple Resolution A legislative proposal that addresses matters entirely within the prerogatives of one house or the other. It requires neither the passage of the other house nor the signature of the President and does not have the force of law. Most resolutions deal with the rules of one house. They are also used to express the sentiments of a single house. (For example, a simple resolution could be used as condolences to the family of a deceased Member or to give "advice" on foreign policy or other executive business.) Reports- H. Rpt. House Report S. Rpt. Senate Report A document setting forth a committee's explanation of its action regarding legislation referred to it. House and Senate reports are assigned a number which includes the number of the Congress during which they are published, i.e., H. Rpt. 103-40 refers to a report created in the House during the 103d Congress. Conference reports are numbered and designated in the same way as regular House and Senate Reports. Most reports favor a bill's passage although a bill can be reported without recommendation. When a committee report is not unanimous, the dissenting committee members may file a statement of their views, called Minority Views and referred to as a Minority Report. A reported version of a bill will include language referencing the applicable report number. Definitions of Common Document Status Codes (ath) Agreed to House (ats) Agreed to Senate This term is used to describe concurrent or simple resolutions. These types of bills are not "passed" in the manner of a regular bill; they are "agreed to in the house." (cdh) Committee Discharge House (cds) Committee Discharge Senate A motion to discharge a committee from considering a bill. The motion or petition, requires signatures of 218 House Members or two-thirds of the Senate. (cph) Considered and Passed House (cps) Considered and Passed Senate After debate, a bill is voted on and passed by one of the two congressional chambers. (eah) Engrossed Amendment House (eas) Engrossed Amendment Senate The final copy of a bill as passed by one chamber with the text as amended by floor action and certified to by the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate. (eh) Engrossed Bill - House (es) Engrossed Bill - Senate The final copy of a bill as passed by one chamber and certified to by the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate. (enr) Enrolled Bill The final copy of a bill which has been passed in identical form by both chambers. It is certified to by an officer of the house of origin (House Clerk or Senate Secretary) and then sent on for signatures of the House Speaker, the Senate President, and the U.S. President. An enrolled bill is printed on parchment. (ih) Bill Introduced - House (is) Bill Introduced - Senate In the Senate, any number of Senators may join in introducing a single bill and in the House a limit of 25 Members can cosponsor a bill. Many bills are actually committee bills and are introduced under the name of the chairman of the committee or subcommittee as a formality. (pch) Placed on Calendar House (pcs) Placed on Calendar Senate Pending legislation before committees of either chamber which is assigned a calendar number determining when it will be considered before the chamber. (rah) Referred w/Amendments House (ras) Referred w/Amendments Senate An engrossed bill is passed from one chamber to the other requesting concurrence. (rch) Reference Change House (rcs) Reference Change Senate Change in the referral of a bill which requires unanimous consent of the members of the house in question. (rdh) Received in House (rds) Received in Senate Legislation accepted for consideration in one of the congressional chambers. (rfh) Referred Bill - House (rfs) Referred Bill - Senate When introduced, a bill is directed to the committees which have jurisdiction over the subject with which the bill is concerned. (Bills are referred by the Speaker in the House and the Presiding Officer in the Senate.) (rh) Reported bill - House (rs) Reported bill - Senate A committee presents a report of its findings and recommendations to the parent chamber after examining a bill. The version of the bill as reported will include changes, if any, recommended by the committee. APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY Boolean Operator- A "linking word" that allows a user to define a WAIS search based on logical terms such as AND, ADJ, OR, and NOT. Provides a powerful mechanism for specifying exact relationships between words in a WAIS question. Each boolean operator used indicates a very specific relationship between sets of words. Client - In a client/server architecture, the client is the program on the user's machine which requests services from a remote server at a different location. The client installed on the user's computer interprets requests from the user and sends those requests to the server. Communications software - This software, installed on a user's machine, tells a modem how to work and initiates downloads, screen captures, and other file activities. Database - An indexed file or archive of structured, interrelated data. Associated with a database manager program that allows sorting, extracting, editing, etc. of the database. Download - Copy a file from a host system to your computer. There are several different methods, or protocols, for downloading files, most of which periodically check the file as it is being copied to ensure no information is inadvertently destroyed or damaged during the process. FTP - File Transfer Protocol. A system for transferring files from one machine to another across the Net using an FTP client. Usually accomplished via anonymous login. Internet - A worldwide system for linking smaller computer networks and individual users together. Networks connected through the Internet use a particular set of communications standards to communicate, known as TCP/IP. Log on/Log in - Connect to a host system, bulletin board, WAIS server, or public access site. Log off - Disconnect from a host system. Network - A communications system that links two or more computers. It can be as simple as a cable strung between two computers a few feet apart or as complex as hundreds of thousands of computers around the world linked through fiber optic cables, phone lines and satellites. A network allows users to share information, programs, and files, and to communicate with each other across vast distances. Offline - When your computer is not connected to a host system or the Net. On-line - When your computer is connected to an on-line service, bulletin board system or public-access site. Protocol - The method used to transfer a file between a host system and your computer. There are many types, such as Kermit, ymodem and zmodem. Zmodem is currently the fastest protocol because of its error correction and data compression methods. The user selects a protocol through his or her communications software. The protocol chosen must be compatible with the remote host in order for files to transfer successfully. Prompt - When the host system asks you to do something and waits for you to respond. For example, if you see"Login" it means type your user name. Relevance Feedback - The ability to select a document or a portion of a document and find a set of documents related to it. README files - Files found on FTP sites that explain what is in a given FTP directory or which provide other useful information (such as how to use FTP). README files are also included in most software packages downloaded or purchased by the user. They may contain important copyright information or installation and usage instructions. Server - A large, powerful computer, usually located at a remote site, capable of distributing information or files automatically in response to specifically worded requests. The server's files may include databases, programs, e-mail, or other information. Stopword - A frequently used word that, when encountered in a user question, is ignored. Since it is not useful for searching, it is not included in the index of a database and should not be used as part of a WAIS search. For example, since the word "the" commonly appears throughout the English language, it is typically regarded as a stopword and should be left out of boolean search phrases. Telnet - A method of connecting to other computers on the Internet. Upload - Copy a file from your computer to a host system. WAIS database- Database which consists of a set of documents and a set of index files. A WAIS index is used to facilitate fast search and retrieval of documents in a data collection. It contains a source description, dictionary, access list, inverted file, document table, headline table and filename index. APPENDIX C: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 1. How do I sign up for the on-line subscriptions? Registrations must be completed online. a. If you have access to Internet, register via Telnet to wais.access.gpo.gov. Type in "newuser" at the log-in prompt. b. Via modem, dial (202) 512-1661. Type in "wais" at the Type wais prompt. Type in "newuser" at the log-in prompt. Modem settings are 8 Databits, 0 Parity, 1 StopBit, full-duplex. 2. What are the costs of the on-line subscriptions? Federal Register: $375/year, $200/6 months or $35/month Congressional Record : $375/year, $200/6 months or $35/month Congressional Bills (103d Congress): $375/year, $200/6 months or $35/month 3. Can you cancel a paper subscription to use the remaining funds toward the on-line subscriptions? No. You can cancel your current paper subscription by calling 202-512-1806 and indicate that you want to cancel. There will be an $8.00 cancellation fee. You will be refunded the balance of money left on your subscription. 4. The registration asked for my IP address; I don't have one. What do I do? You have registered for the wrong service. If you do not plan to use the GPO client software (EINET) through your internet connection, register for SWAIS. The system will skip the question about IP addresses. 5. How do I login and what is my password? SWAIS subscribers login with a capitol "S" followed by the six- digit Registration Confirmation Number. Enter the password established at the time of the registration (upper and lower case). NOTE: For security reasons, the Electronic Information Dissemination Services (EIDS) staff will not give out passwords. If you forget your password, you will have to re-register and call (202) 512-1530 and provide the User Support Team with the old and new Registration Confirmation Numbers. Depository libraries login with the user-ID they established during registration and use the same password they registered with. WAIS subscribers do not have an user-ID or password. 6. I registered for the on-line services, but I don't have a password. Can you assign me one? No. Either you registered for the wrong service, or you are trying to access the wrong service. SWAIS, accessed through direct dial or telnet, requires a password chosen by the user. WAIS and the WAIS client software use the subscriber's IP address for identification; there is no password for WAIS. 7. How do I search for the "contents" on the Federal Register? "Search Query: contents AND register ADJ month ADJ day" The customized EINet WAIS client software includes the above search and other sample searches demonstrating WAIS search and retrieval procedures. These search questions can be used as templates to speed daily searches. 8. Can I get the Code of Federal Regulations on CD-ROM? The individual Code of Federal Regulations are not available on CD-ROM. They are available on 3 1/2" High Density diskettes with GPO locator codes. Some parts of the CFR (i.e. 29 CFR 1900- 1990, in the subscription OSHA Regulations, Documents, and Technical Information) may be in certain CD-ROMS. 9. How do I download/print a document on SWAIS? a. Mail the entire document to an Internet e-mail address by typing lower case "m" at the "search results screen". [NOTE: This is the only way the SWAIS can transfer the file to you other than through use of a screen capture (log file). Do NOT use the lower case "s" to SAVE a document -- the document will be saved on the GPO Access WAIS server, not on your own system.] b. If you do not have an internet e-mail address, perform a print capture to have the document print directly to your printer as it scrolls by, or perform a file capture, which will save the document as ASCII text to a directory or folder you have designated through your software. Most communications programs support this type of capture, and some common terms or phrases which may be in your manual or in an on-screen menu are save to a file, capture log, print log, print capture, screen capture, screen to file/printer, or something similar. Look for these terms in the index of the manual, or consult a technician at your location for assistance. Microsoft Windows users who are using Windows-compatible telnet or other communications software can copy small portions of a document to the clipboard and paste them into a word processor. ***** This is very important: turn on the capture before pressing the space bar to view a document, and turn it off before typing q to return to the search results screen. To avoid having stdin appear in the captured file, type a large number and hit enter at the first stdin prompt to have text scroll by continuously. 10. How can I get out of a document without going to the end of it? Type "q" (lower case) to jump out of a document and get back to the search results. 11. How do I search for a keyword within the document I have retrieved? Type "/" and the word(s) you are looking for this is case sensitive. Example: type "/Bureau" instead of "/bureau") 12. Can I change where the WAIS client saves documents to on my hard drive? Yes -- choose PREFERENCES in the edit menu to change any default setting for WinWAIS.