Use the frequently asked questions on the menu on the left to help you navigate this help page. If you do not find the answer to your question here, please contact CQ Press/SAGE
From the CQ Almanac Online Edition home page you can perform a Quick Search of the entire series of Almanacs. Quick Search skips the advanced search page and immediately performs a search based on the following default criteria:
Use specific words instead of general ones. For example, a search on school desegregation will return fewer and more targeted results than a search on desegregation.
Use the words and, or, and not as search operators. For example, to search for documents containing both the word "confirmation" and the word "hearings," type confirmation and hearings in the keyword input box. To search for documents containing either the word "confirmation" or the word "hearings," type confirmation or hearings in the keyword input box.
Use the word not to narrow your search. If you type ethics not committee in the keyword input box, your search will return only those documents that include the word "ethics" and exclude the word "committee."
Use quotation marks around a phrase to search for an exact match of those words in sequence. For example, to find the phrase "Defense Appropriations," type "Defense Appropriations" in the keyword input box, including the quotation marks. Without the quotation marks, your search will return documents containing the word "Defense" and the word "Appropriations," even if the words are not used together.
Use a wildcard (*). By typing an * (the asterisk symbol) at the beginning or end of a word, you can search for items with multiple prefixes or endings. For example, typing *trust* in the keyword input box will return documents that include the words "trust," "antitrust," "trusts," "antitrusts," and "trustee."
|
Term |
Function |
How to Use |
Example |
|
AND |
Finds one term and a second term |
Separate the words with a space, or separate with "and" |
original jurisdiction original and jurisdiction |
|
" " |
Finds terms in an exact sequence |
Use quotation marks around the sequence |
"original jurisdiction" |
|
OR |
Finds one term or another term |
Separate terms with "or" |
House or Senate |
|
NOT |
Finds one term but not another |
Separate terms with "not" |
House not Senate |
|
* |
Finds any terms containing a specific sequence of letters |
Type the letters, using the asterisk symbol (*) as a wildcard |
*trusts |
|
? |
Finds variations of a term |
Replace letters with the ? symbol |
wom?n returns woman, women |
|
w/ |
Finds terms that are separated from one another by a certain number of words |
Place terms in quotations, followed by a "w" and a slash mark (/) and the number of words which can occur between the search terms |
senate w/4 hearings returns Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings |
The advanced search allows you to more specifically define the parameters of your key word search. Advanced Search provides a powerful tool for drilling down to find exactly what you need. To access the advanced search feature, click "Advanced Search" to the right of the quick search box on the CQ Almanac Online Edition homepage.
Generally speaking, to search for a complete phrase, place it in quotes. Use search operators to narrow the search: and, or, not, *, w/#. You can also search across all of your CQ Press Online Reference sites.
"Search All Text" (a selection just below the search box) searches for keywords in the text and title of all documents in every volume of the CQ Almanac.
"Search Titles Only" can be a quick shortcut for finding keywords that only appear in the title of documents.
"Search Specific Topics" narrows your search to documents falling into one of the twenty subject categories. Click the button labeled "Search Specific Topics" and select the topic(s) you would like to include in your search.
"Search Specific Books" contains a list of Almanac volumes that can be selected to focus your search on particular volumes. Click on the button "Search Specific Books" to activate this feature and then click on the book you wish to search. To select more than one book, hold down the control key while you click on additional titles.
"Event Date" allows you to narrow your search by document date. Selecting an Event Date range will limit your search results to documents with dates that are on, since, between, or before a date(s). Select your dates from the drop-down menu. Selecting "Include Documents Without Dates" will expand your search results parameters to include documents that do not have an event date.
"Sort Results By" presents two options for sorting search results: 1) relevancy based on the number of times a keyword appears and 2) alphabetically by document title.
"Number of results displayed per page" is an option in the Advanced Search that allows you to control the number of documents displayed in your search results. This number can range from 5 to 30, in multiples of five.
From the home page you can browse the Almanac by each volume's table of contents, by topic, or by Series Appendix.
Browse by Table of Contents: By using the Table of Contents browse function, you can search through the CQ Almanac Online Edition as you would the print books. After selecting a volume, the Table of Contents browse organizes the documents by chapter as the table of contents in the print edition does. Each chapter lists documents in alphabetical order by title. Because of the complex layouts of the Almanac's appendix material, this material is displayed in pdf format. You can browse this content under the "Series Appendix" heading on the homepage.
Browse by Decade: You may also want to browse Almanac content by a specific decade. To access a decade page, click on one of the decade images at the top of the homepage. Once inside the decade page, you can browse that decade by topic or access a specific Almanac volume .
Browse by Topic: You may also find the Browse by Topic function helpful. Each document is assigned a topical category, which allow you to browse the Almanac's wide range of articles by the subjects that interest you. Once you have selected a topic, you will be prompted to select a year.
Series Appendix: To view appendix material that was repeated or updated throughout the series, use the Series Appendix browse on the home page. To avoid repetition from volume to volume in the Appendix section of the Table of Contents Browse, these documents were excluded from the chapter browse. Once you have selected the appendix that you want to view, you will be able to select that table from a specific year.
Policy Tracker: The policy tracker, which appears within the document window, traces legislation relating to a certain event, policy topic, or government organization over time. When available, you will be able to browse these Policy Tracker topics from a list organized by subject and link directly to those specific articles.
For ease of viewing and printing, the charts and tables from the Almanac's Appendices were converted into pdf format. These pages can be browsed under the "Series Appendix" heading on the homepage. Once open, these documents can be quickly searched using your pdf viewer's "Find" feature. Note: some of the data available in the Almanac appendices can also be found in an exportable format in the CQ Congress Collection.
The document ID is a unique code for each document in the CQ Almanac Online Edition. You can use this code in the key word search to locate a specific document.
CiteNow!™ is a feature that automatically generates a citation for a specific document. It can be found in the left navigation bar of any document window in CQ Almanac Online Edition. To create a citation for a document, simply click on the CiteNow!™ icon. A pop-up window will appear that allows you to choose the citation style that is appropriate for your research. Four citation styles are offered: APA, Chicago, MLA, and Bluebook. Chicago is the default style.
Citation styles for electronic materials are continually evolving. To provide the most up-to-date citation examples, the CQ Press editorial staff consulted the following:
The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, 19th ed.
The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th
ed.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,
6th ed.
To better serve our users, some citations in CQ Press Online Reference products incorporate document ID numbers and full URLs to the documents even where the above style guides do not require that information. This additional information facilitates locating documents in any CQ Press online reference product and thereby hews to the spirit of the style guides.
If you already have a document or a citation from CQ Almanac Online Edition, you may access that document directly. Each document will have a document URL printed at the bottom of the page. Enter the Document URL in the Address line of your web browser to view the document.
Creating a "Your Profile" account will enable you to maintain a list of Favorite Documents. You will also be able to view a Document History of the last thirty records accessed under your account and maintain a list of Saved Searches. If you have a profile, your Favorite Documents, Document History, and Saved Searches may be retrieved during your next session in CQ Almanac Online. If you do not create a profile and log-in, all session information will be lost when you end the session.
Your personal account will remain active until ninety days have passed since you last logged in under Your Profile.
If you do not yet have a profile, click on "Your Profile" at the top left of the site and
1. Enter a username
2. Select "I want to create a new account"
3. Press the Proceed button
On the next page, enter a password in the boxes provided. In the Password Hint box, type a word or phrase that will help you remember your password.
If you have already created a profile, please enter your username and password to reload your saved information. If you have an account but cannot remember your password, click on "I forgot my password" to retrieve your password hint.
When you set up a username and password, you will be asked to provide a "Password Hint." This should be a word or phrase (other than the password) that will help you to remember your password.
If you have an account but cannot remember your password, enter your username, click on "I forgot my password," and press "Proceed." The information you entered in the "Password Hint" field will appear on the screen above the username field in red.
Your account remains in the system until ninety days have passed since you last logged in under Your Profile.
The "Your Profile" log-in is saved within the main account belonging to your library or institution. "Your Profile" accounts contain information that can be accessed only with your username and password, but you must log in through the CQ Almanac Online Edition owned by your library or institution.
At the top left corner of every document is a Save to Favorites box. Click to check this box and have this document added to your Favorite Documents in "Your Profile."
From the document window you can email any document. Click on E-mail this Document in the left navigational bar of the document window. A pop-up window will appear. Fill out the required information: To, From, Subject, and Message and then Click on Send E-mail.
In the left navigational bar of the document window click on "Format for Printing" and a printer-friendly version of the document will appear. From here, select a printing option from your web browser. To return to the unformatted document, click the back arrow in your web browser.
The following describe the basic system requirements for best using this site.
This site works best when viewed in Internet Explorer 9 or higher, and the latest versions of Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.
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Phone: (800) 818-7243
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