Search Tips
There are two search screens on the CQ
Magazine web site. Use one search screen to search for
articles in CQ Magazine and use the other to
search for floor votes. There is also a
Quick Search box in the navigation bar for searches
on keywords and the default searching criteria.
This document provides general tips on searching as well as a list
of search commands and search operators.
Using the Search Articles
Screen
Keyword
Enter into the keyword input box the word(s)
or phrase(s) that you wish to search for. The default search searches for your
word or phrase in the CQ Magazine text and titles. You can select "Search
Article Titles Only" to narrow your search to just titles.
The word or phrase that you search for will
be highlighted in the document when retrieved. You can use the arrows before
and after the keyword to jump to the previous or next occurrence of the
keyword.
Topic
Search on any combination of CQ Magazine
subject categories listed in the scroll menu. Click on the subject to highlight
it. To search by more than one subject, press the control key while you select
your subjects on a PC, or the apple key on a Mac.
Bills
Search for all occurrences of any specific
bill or resolution. There are no spaces between letters and numbers. The
following explains the naming convention
Type of Measure |
Prefix |
Bills originating in the House of
Representatives |
HR |
Bills originating in the
Senate |
S |
Measures originating as House Joint
Resolutions |
HJRes |
Measures originating as Senate Joint
Resolutions |
SJRes |
Measures originating as House
Concurrent Resolutions |
HConRes |
Measures originating as Senate
Concurrent Resolutions |
SConRes |
All bills are followed by a number
representing the order in which they were introduced by that chamber for a
particular congressional term. Bill HR123 is the one hundred and twenty-third
bill introduced in the House of Representatives for a particular Congress.
Note, each congressional term will have bills HR1 and S1 because the start of a
congressional term is also the start of bill numbering.
Date
You can narrow a search by date or date
range. Using the Since, Before, and Between options, you can limit your search
to only those CQ Magazine articles published within a certain date range.
Using the On option, you can search for articles published on a specific date.
Using the Current Issue option searches for all articles in the most recent
issue and using the default search (Current Congress) searches for all articles
published within the date range of the current Congress. The Anytime search
does not put any limitations based on date.
Committees
Highlight one or more committees in the
committee scroll box by using the shift key when clicking on an item. This will
search for all references of the committee or committees selected. Subcommittee
information is part of the committee information.
Page Number
Find the specified page or range of pages in
the CQ Magazine. CQ Magazine pages are numbered consecutively
beginning with the first day of the year and ending with the last.
Byline
Search for a reporter's byline by entering
the name in the text field.
Number of Search Results
The CQ Magazine search engine will
return a maximum of 1000 articles. If your search has more than 1000 hits, only
the most relevant 1000 will be displayed.
Sorting your Search Results
You may elect to view your results by
Relevancy, by Date, or Alphabetically by Title. By default, your results are
returned to you in relevancy order. To change, click on the down arrow in the
box titled Sort Results By and make your selection.
Viewing your Search Results
You may also determine how many search
results you want to view at one time. The default is 30, but you can choose as
few as 5 results per screen or as many as 30.
Using the Floor Votes Search
Screen
Keyword
Enter into the keyword input box the word(s)
or phrase(s) that you wish to search for. The default search searches for your
word or phrase in the CQ Magazine floor votes text and titles. You can
narrow your search to just titles.
The word or phrase that you search for will
be highlighted in the document when retrieved. You can use the arrows before
and after the keyword to jump to the previous or next occurence of the
keyword.
Bills
Search for all occurrences of any specific
bill or resolution. There are no spaces between letters and numbers. The
following explains the naming convention
Type of Measure |
Prefix |
Bills originating in the House of
Representatives |
HR |
Bills originating in the
Senate |
S |
Measures originating as House Joint
Resolutions |
HJRes |
Measures originating as Senate Joint
Resolutions |
SJRes |
Measures originating as House
Concurrent Resolutions |
HConRes |
Measures originating as Senate
Concurrent Resolutions |
SConRes |
All bills are followed by a number
representing the order in which they were introduced by that chamber for a
particular congressional term. Bill HR123 is the one hundred and twenty-third
bill introduced in the House of Representatives for a particular Congress.
Note, each congressional term will have bills HR1 and S1 because the start of a
congressional term is also the start of bill numbering.
Date
You can narrow a search by date or date
range. Using the Since, Before, and Between options, you can limit your search
to only those CQ Magazine floor votes published within a certain date
range. Using the On option, you can search for floor votes that occurred on a
specific date. Using the Current Issue option searches for all floor votes in
the most recent issue and using the default search (Current Congress) searches
for all floor votes published within the date range of the current Congress.
The Anytime search does not put any limitations based on date.
Chamber
Click on "House" or "Senate" to limit your
search to that chamber.
Number of Search Results
The CQ Magazine search engine will
return a maximum of 1000 votes. If your search has more than 1000 hits, only
the most relevant 1000 will be displayed.
Sorting your Search Results
You may elect to view your results by
Relevancy, by Date, or Alphabetically by Title. By default, your results are
returned to you in relevancy order. To change, click on the down arrow in the
box titled Sort Results By and make your selection.
Viewing your Search Results
You may also determine how many search
results you want to view at one time. The default is 30, but you can choose as
few as 5 results per screen or as many as 30.
Using the Quick Search Box
A search box also appears on the navigation
bar on every page. You can use this search box if you want to quickly type in a
word or phrase. Hit "Go" and the site will retrieve your results based on your
keyword and the site's default search criteria.
General Searching Tips
Use specific words instead of general ones.
For example, a search for "global warming" will return fewer and more targeted
results than will a search for "warming."
Use "and," "or," "the" only if you're
searching for phrases containing these words, such as "Banking and Finance". If
you get too many results, try your search without them. To search for documents
containing the words Banking and Finance, enter the terms as Banking Finance
(without the and). See Advanced searching tips and the list of search commands
and search operators for more help on constructing search syntax.
Use quotation marks around a phrase to search
for an exact match of those words in sequence. For example, to find the words
Affirmative Action in that order, enter the terms with quotation marks,
"Affirmative Action". Without the quotation marks, you may end up with results
containing the words "affirmative" and "action" in other contexts.
Use "Not" to narrow your search: If you enter
alcohol not driving, your search will return only those documents that include
the word alcohol and exclude the word driving.
Use a wildcard (*) for multiple endings: By
typing an * (asterisk symbol) at the end of a word, you can search for items
with multiple endings. For example: work* will find results for work, worker,
workers, workplace, and working.
A List of Search Commands and Search
Operators
To find one word and another word |
Separate the words with a space or
separate with "and" |
children divorce; children and
divorce |
To find words in an exact sequence |
Use quotation marks |
"campaign finance reform" |
To find one word or another word |
Separate terms with "or" |
Clinton or Bush |
To find one word but not another |
Separate terms with "not" |
Clinton not Bush |
To find any words starting with a
specific sequence of letters |
Use the asterisk symbol (*) |
work* |
To find any character in a word |
Use the ? symbol |
wom?n will find woman, women |
To find words within x number of words
of each other |
Separate words with a "w" and a slash
mark (/) and the number of words which can occur between the search terms |
electoral w/10 college will find the
words "electoral" and "college" within 10 words of each other |
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