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 please contact CQ Press
Documents in the site are PDFs and best viewed with Acrobat Reader X. You can download the latest version for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
From the home page of the Politics in America series you can perform a Quick Search of the entire series. Quick Search skips the advance search page and immediately performs a search based on the following default criteria:
To limit your search to the current Congress, check the "Search Current Issue Only" option.
Use specific words instead of general ones. For example, a search for school desegregation will return fewer and more targeted results than a search for desegregation.
Use the words and, or, and not as search operators. For example, to search for documents containing 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 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 "original jurisdiction," type "original jurisdiction" in the keyword input box, including the quotation marks. Without the quotation marks, your search will return documents containing the word "original" and the word "jurisdiction," 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 within a certain number of words of each other |
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 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 your CQ Press Electronic Library sites.
"Search All Text" (a selection just below the search box) searches for keywords in the text and title of all documents in the Politics in America series.
"Search Titles Only" can be a quick shortcut for finding keywords in the title of documents.
"Search Specific Documents Types" narrows your search to documents falling into one of the three document types in the Politics in America series. Click the radio button " Search Specific Documents Types" and select the document types you would like to include in your search.
Four drop-down menus on this page also allow you to further limit your search by:
"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 Politics in America series by the print edition's table of contents, member name, political party, or state maps. These main browse option on the home page defaults to the current edition of the book.
The left hand navigational menu allows you select a previous edition and browse that volume by the same browse options featured on the home page.
By using the Browse by Table of Contents function, you can search through an edition in the Politics in America series by the three sections of the book: Introduction, States, and Appendices.
You can retrieve member profiles of a particular edition in the Politics in America series by using the Browse by Member Name Index. This index is organized alphabetically by last name. The link to the member's profile appears as a bolded page number. The other page numbers are links to member profiles where the member is simply mentioned.
This function allows you to browse member profiles by political party: Democrat, Independent, and Republican.
The maps section of the series offers maps of each state's congressional district based on the most recent census data available during a particular Congress. This section provides geographic clarity on county and district lines.
To enlarge the print, right click on the document and select the "Zoom Tools" option. This will allow you to enlarge or shrink the text of a document by selecting "Zoom In," "Zoom Out," or "Dynamic Zoom."
If you're having trouble zooming in and out of documents, you probably have an older version of Acrobat Reader. Documents in the site are PDF's and best viewed with Acrobat Reader X. You can download the latest version for free at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
To browse an previous edition in the Politics I America Series, select "Browse All Editions" on the left hand navigational menu.
The quick search defaults to all editions in the Politics in America series. To view the most recent profile of a member, select the " Search Current Issue Only" option on the home page. From the Advanced Search page this can be performed by using the "Limit Results by Edition" drop-down option.
The document ID is a unique code for each document in the Politics in America series. You can use this code in the key word search to locate a specific document. The document ID is located at the bottom of each document in the series.
The document citation lists a citation for the document you have opened in APA Style. To see other styles and more citation select the How to Cite option on the left hand navigation menu.
CiteNow! is a feature that generates a citation for a specific document. It can be found in the document navigation bar within any document in the Politics in America series. To create a citation for a document, simply click on the CiteNow! icon located in the left hand menu in the document window. 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. CiteNow! citations can be exported to bibliographic software.
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.
If you already have a document or a citation from the Politics in America series, 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. Your Favorite Documents, Document History, and Saved Searches may be retrieved during your next session on the Politics in America series. 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 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 Politics in America series owned by your library or institution.
At the top left corner of the document window menu 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 middle of the document window menu. 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 top right hand corner of the document window menu 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.
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