{
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    "title" : "Congress.gov 2017 Spring Cleaning: Download Search Results and Advanced Search Enhancements |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Congress.gov 2017 Spring Cleaning: Download Search Results and Advanced Search Enhancements",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2017/04/25/congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning-download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Congress.gov 2017 Spring Cleaning: Download Search Results and Advanced Search Enhancements","summary" : "Spring is a beautiful time of year in Washington, D.C. The temperature warms up; the cherry blossoms are out; and we frequently have an update of Congress.gov to share. In 2015 we added treaties and web-friendly bill text, and in 2016 we expanded the quick search feature. Today there is another round of enhancements to the Library of Congress website for","date" : "2017-04-25T14:19:20-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"andrew-weber" : "Andrew Weber"},"topics" : {
        
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "design" : "Design",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2017-04-25-congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning-download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2017/04/2017-04-25-congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning-download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2017/04/2017-04-25-congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning-download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2017/04/2017-04-25-congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning-download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements.md","slug" : "congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning-download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2017/04/25/congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning-download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eSpring is a beautiful time of year in Washington, D.C. The temperature warms up; the \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/03/cherry-blossoms-at-the-library-of-congress/?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003echerry blossoms\u003c/a\u003e are out; and we frequently have an update of \u003ca href=\"https://congress.gov/?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eCongress.gov\u003c/a\u003e to share. In 2015 we added \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/03/treaties-text-and-timely-updates-congress-gov-spring-cleaning/?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003etreaties and web-friendly bill text\u003c/a\u003e, and in 2016 we \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2016/04/congress-gov-spring-cleaning-expanded-quick-search/?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eexpanded the quick search\u003c/a\u003e feature. Today there is another round of enhancements to the Library of Congress website for tracking Congressional activity.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe big new item in this release is the ability to download your search results to a CSV (\u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma-separated_values\"\u003ecomma separated values\u003c/a\u003e) file. You can then open and manipulate the data in a spreadsheet. Soon, I will write a post to demonstrate this feature in more detail.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/04/250-x-550-congressdotgov-homepage-highlights-right-side-62.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Two highlights circled in red on the Congress.gov homepage.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\nThere have been a few changes on the homepage. One nice addition is highlighting Search Tips. Above that, in the News from the Law Library section, there will now be a contextual photo from the blog post.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral improvements and features have been added to the \u003ca href=\"https://congress.gov/advanced-search/legislation?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eAdvanced Search\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https://congress.gov/advanced-search?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eQuery Builder\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/quick-search/legislation?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eQuick Search\u003c/a\u003e forms. One nice addition to many of the Quick Search forms is a related \u003ca href=\"https://congress.gov/browse?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eBrowse link\u003c/a\u003e next to the About link. It gives you a fast, direct way to switch from searching to browsing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso, when using the Quick Search “Words and Phrases” box, it now defaults to a presumed AND between the words rather than OR. This change is a direct result of \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2017/03/testing-and-enhancing-congress-gov/?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003euser testing\u003c/a\u003e. What does it mean? If you typed \u003cem\u003eLibrary of Congress\u003c/em\u003e, the search previously would have been looking for \u003cem\u003eLibrary\u003c/em\u003e OR \u003cem\u003eof\u003c/em\u003e OR \u003cem\u003eCongress\u003c/em\u003e. With the current updates, it is looking for \u003cem\u003eLibrary\u003c/em\u003e AND \u003cem\u003eof\u003c/em\u003e AND \u003cem\u003eCongress\u003c/em\u003e. This will generate fewer items in your search results. For now, this feature is only available in Quick Search.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/04/600-x-425-congressdotgov-quick-search-committee-reports.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Additions for Browse Committee Publications, Report Types, and Search are circled in red on the Committee Reports page.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Query Builder also has been enhanced. There are now selections from the drop down for “no word variants” and “case sensitive” for several items. And there are more distance options for the “is near” operator on the form.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/04/600-x-490-congressdotgov-query-builder-update-april-2017.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Four items are circled in red to show enhancements to the Query Builder Form.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"https://congress.gov/rss?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eRSS and Email Alerts\u003c/a\u003e page continues to grow with Nomination Alerts now listed there.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2017/04/600-x-885-congressdotgov-nomination-alerts.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Nomination Alerts, circled in red, was added to the RSS and Email Alerts page.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"https://www.congress.gov/about/enhancements?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003eCongress.gov Enhancements\u003c/a\u003e page provides a complete list of these and the enhancements from prior releases:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eApril 2017\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnhancements – Download Search Results\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eExport up to 500 search results items to spreadsheet or CSV file\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnhancements – Quick Search Guided Forms\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e“Words and Phrases” defaults to AND\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDate and Member Remarks filters for Congressional Record\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTile/headings filter for Committee Reports and Congressional Record\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChamber of Origin filter for Legislation Text\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLinks to “Browse Legislation,” “Browse Committee Publications,” “CR Browse,” facilitate access to a library of popular reports.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnhancements – Legislation Advanced Search Guided Form\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLink to “Browse Legislation” facilitates access to more than 35 frequently used reports.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCongress selection checkbox and other improvements to the guided form\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnhancements – Query Builder Search Form\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAdditional word proximity (“is near”) options\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew “Word Variants” and “Case Sensitive” options\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnhancements – Alerts and Saved Searches\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSubscribe to Nomination Alerts to RSS Page\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnhancements – Homepage\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSearch Tips and Law Library news\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDisplay session convene times for the House\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003c/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlease share your Congress.gov feedback via \u003ca href=\"https://www.research.net/r/congress-gov-feedback\"\u003ethis survey\u003c/a\u003e or in the \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2017/04/download-search-results-and-advanced-search-enhancements-congress-gov-2017-spring-cleaning/#respond\"\u003ecomments on the In Custodia Legis blog\u003c/a\u003e. For a quick refresher on Congress.gov enhancements from last year, take a look at \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2017/01/the-congress-gov-top-16-in-2016/?loclr=bloglaw\"\u003ethis post\u003c/a\u003e.\u003cem\u003eThis post was originally published on the Law Library of Congress \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.loc.gov/law/\"\u003eIn Custodia Legis\u003c/a\u003e blog.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}