Use the # Basic Search form to retrieve Congressional information by performing keyword searches on congressional publication results records and full text (when available). Results records include titles and other bibliographic information, subject indexing, and abstracts where available. Using this form will return targeted results, finding records in which the search term represents a main theme. In cases where full text is available, the results record will link directly to the full text. Searches initiated from this form will search all ProQuest^® Congressional publications available to your institution (see FAQs about ProQuest^® Congressional Content for more information).

For examples of how to use the Congressional Publications search forms, see these User Scenarios.

Building a Search String

There is one keyword search term field on the Basic Search Form (Congressional Publications). You may build a keyword search by typing two terms and separating them with one of the logical connectors (i.e., AND, OR, or AND NOT) to tie them together.

For example, if you were searching for information on child labor legislation as it relates to mining, you could type child labor AND mining. This way, you would retrieve only those materials that mention "child labor" and "mining".

Selecting Additional Search Criteria (Date and Congress)

In addition to specifying keywords, you can restrict your search to a specific date or date range. For more information, see How do I restrict my search by date?.