LEGI-SLATE ON-LINE SERVICE

Scope of Data Base

Contents:
• Text and legislative status of every bill
• Bill outlooks and hot bills
• Texts of committee markups and Congressional Record
• Recorded committee and floor votes
• Political information on Members of Congress
• Texts of articles and press releases on legislation
Time Period:
• Files begin 1979 or thereafter
• Updated daily
Access:
Workstation in Documents Center, 203 Hatcher Library North

Main Menu

Command	Definition	From
LEGISLATION
1. Quick Bill	+Information on any bill	1979
2. Hot Bills	+Identification and status of major legislation receiving media attention Also in Congressional Universe and THOMAS	1979
3. Find Bills	+Find legislation (bills or resolutions) Also in Congressional Universe, 1989+ and THOMAS, 1973+	1979
4. Bill Text	Text or outline of any bill Also in Congressional Universe, 1989+ and THOMAS, 1989+	1985
5. Status(History)	Bill status or legislative history Also in Congressional Universe, 1989+ and THOMAS, 1973+	1979
6. Bill Outlooks	+LEGI-SLATE bill overviews & outlooks	1991
7. Bill Digest	Congressional Research Service digests Also in THOMAS, 1973+	1985
8. Cosponsors	Cosponsors of a bill Also in Congressional Universe, 1989+ and THOMAS, 1973+	1979
9. Cong.Record	Text of the Congressional Record Also in Congressional Universe, 1985+ and THOMAS, 1993+	1987
VOTES
10.Find Votes	Find recorded committee or floor votes Floor votes also in Congressional Quarterly, 1995+	1979
11.Vote Analysis	Ratings of Members' voting records	1979
COMMITTEES
12.Schedules	Not available at University of Michigan Paper/fiche floor and committee calendars in Documents Center	1981
13.Q&A Testimony	Not available at University of Michigan In Congressional Universe, 1988+ with paper/fiche since 19th Century in Documents Center	1991
14.Prep.Testimony	Not available at the University of Michigan In Congressional Universe, 1988+ with paper/fiche since 19th Century in Documents Center	1995
15.Markups	+LEGI-SLATE reports on committee markups	1991
16.Comm.Reports	Not available at the University of Michigan In Congressional Universe, 1989+ with paper/fiche since 18th Century in Documents Center	1987
17.Rosters	Committee or subcommittee rosters Also in Official Congressional Directory, 1995+ and earlier paper versions	1979
MEMBERS
18.Quick Member	+Information on any Member of Congress Also in Official Congressional Directory, 1995+ and earlier paper versions	1979
19.Comm.Assign.	Committee or subcommittee assignments Also in Official Congressional Directory, 1995+ and earlier paper versions	1979
20.Attendance	Attendance at recorded floor votes	1979
21.Group Ratings	Public interest group ratings Also in Almanac of American Politics (paper), 1974+	1979
22.Almanac	Information about states,governors & Members of Congress from the Almanac of American Politics Also in Almanac of American Politics (paper), 1974+	1985
23.Dear Colleagues	Not available at University of Michigan Also in Academic Universe under Legislative News	1995
24.Zip Codes/Labels	Not available at University of Michigan Also on Clerk of the House Web Site	current
NEWS
25.LEGI-SLATE News	Articles about the political scene	1990
26.Wash.Post	Not available at the University of Michigan In Academic Universe, 1977+	1985
27.FNS Transcripts	Transcripts of selected press briefings,speeches,news interviews	1985
28.BNA On-Line	Not available at University of Michigan	1993
29.APN Briefings	American Political Network news briefings	1993
30.Congress Daily	Not available at University of Michigan See Congressional Universe, 1991+	1995
31.Natl.Journal	Not available at University of Michigan Congressional Universe has 1977+	1985
32.FNS Daybook	Not available at University of Michigan	1995
33.CQ Index	Index to weekly Congressional news Alternate is full text of Congressional Quarterly, 1983+	1985
REGULATIONS
34.Fed.Register	Not available at University of Michigan Full text on Congressional Universe, 1980+	1981
35.Quick FR (Text)	Not available at University of Michigan Full text on Congressional Universe, 1980+	1985
36.Daily CFR	Not available at University of Michigan Full text on Congressional Universe	1990
37.Reg Alert	Not available at University of Michigan Some in on-line version of LEXIS	1995
U.S. CODE
38.Current USC	Not available at University of Michigan Use Congressional Universe	1987
UTILITIES
39.Update Reports	Automated update reports
40.User Files	Create,store,display or edit your LEGI-SLATE files
41.User Aids	Display help,finding aids, usage reports or lists
42.User Settings	Change user settings
43.How Current	Update status for the Congressional Record, Federal Register and Daily CFR
44.Congress	Switch from one Congress to another
45.Signoff	Signoff of LEGI-SLATE

+ Screen-formatted displays (see below)

Not available at the University of Michigan refers to availability through the LEGI-SLATE On-Line Service. The information may be found in other sources. Contact the Documents Center staff for assistance.

Basic Search Techniques

Congress:
• Automatic login to the current two-year session of Congress
• To change Congress, use option 44 on the main menu
Most searching done by following menus and submenus
Narrow your search when searching by keyword
• Use submenus to narrow the search as much as possible before searching by keyword.
• Narrow by:
  Date
  Type of document
  Committee
  Member of Congress
  
Typing Bills:
• Bill numbers and law numbers may be typed with or without periods or spaces. For example:
  H. R. 1
  S.J.Res 1
  HR2
Typing Dates:
• Dates must include month, day and year, separated by slashes, hyphens, periods, or spaces.
  1/7/94 or ON 1/7/94
  AFTER 1-1-94
  BEFORE 1 1 94
  BETWEEN 1/1/94 and 1/31/94 (includes Jan.1 and Jan.31)
  YESTERDAY TODAY TOMORROW
Keyword Searching
• LEGI-SLATE looks for paragraphs containing your word or phrase.
• Words are assumed to be word beginnings
  FINANC will find: finance, financial, financing
• A phrase will find paragraphs containing each of your words in any order.
  CAMPAIGN FINANC will find: campaign finances, financing of campaigns
• A phrase followed by an asterisk will keep the phraise in exact order and include any endings in the last word.
  SOUTH AFRICA* will find: South Africa, South Africans but not Southern Africa
• A period at the end of a word or phrase will find exact matches in the same order without any additional endings.
  IRA. will find ira but not iraq
  Title II. will find Title II but not Title III
• Hyphenated words are treated as separate words.
  Day-Care will find: Day care but not daycare
• Ignore common articles, prepositions and conjunctions (an, with, and). Use an asterisk or period if one of these words is essential to a phrase.
  • AND would commonly be ignored
  • family and medical* would include the conjunction

General Movement Commands

STOP - Returns to Main Menu
BACKSPACE - Typing Corrections
/ - Chain Commands
Ctrl S - Pause when scrolling*
Ctrl Q - Resume after pause in scrolling
BREAK, Ctrl D, or Ctrl Break - To break out of report while information is scrolling by*
ENTER - Redisplay numbered menus with search options or advance to the next screen
REPORT - See results of your search
SCREEN - to display results, screen by screen, for files which normally scroll (e.g. non-screen-formatted files)
SCROLL - to scroll results for screen-formatted files
END - Type END after a double colon (::) to signal completion of a series
OFF - To signoff LEGI-SLATE

*Commands to break scrolling do not work with the Documents Center's LAN Workplace telecommunications package. To stop a screen from scrolling, you must turn off the computer and wait approximately 10 minutes before logging back in to LEGI-SLATE. When using non-screen-formatted files, such as the Congressional Record, it is wise to preview the files first before printing and to type SCREEN before requesting the text. Once you have reviewed a file, you launch scrolling by tying the word SCROLL.

Screen Commands

Screen Formatted Commands
• Applies to HOT BILLS, QUICK BILL, QUICK MEMBER, FIND BILLS, MARKUPS, COMM.REPORTS, OUTLOOKS, HILL NEWS, FED. REGISTER, QUICK FR (TEXT).
• Texts are displayed one screen at a time.
• Screen Movement Commands:
  ENTER - Advance to next screen
  SCREEN nn - Move to screen nn of information
  SCROLL - To scroll through screens rather than view one screen at a time
  FIRST - Move to first screen of information
  LAST - Move to last screen of information
  BACK nn - Move to previous screen of information
  DONE - Move to display text or previous menu
  MENU - List of commands and options
  NEW - Switch to a different bill, member, or document at any QUICK BILL, QUICK MEMBER, or QUICK FR prompt
Target Movement Commands:
next item
forward 2 markups
first hit goto bill 3
back 2 bills
last article
Non-Screen Formatted Commands
• Applies to files such as the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD and BILL TEXT
• Screens will automatically scroll
• Command:
  SCREEN - Type SCREEN at any prompt other than the main menu to have reports displayed one screen at a time rather than scrolling.

Text Display Options

CRTEXT e3079
MARKUPTEXT 170112
VOTETEXT 1052
POSTTEXT 123321
NJTEXT 143221
HILLTEXT 66802
BILLTEXT hr776
COMMTEXT h rep 102
FRTEXT 59 FR 15658

Printing

Choose the PREVIEW option and note the number of lines
• If there are more than 500 lines, PRINT the PREVIEW screen and ask the Documents Center staff for assistance in finding the paper copy.
Click on File at the top menu
Click on print
Choose continuous print and click on OK
Due to a glitch in the telecommunications package
• Click on File a second time
• Click on Print
• Click on Cancel
Scroll through your document
Click on File and then Continuous Print=Off
Your document will then be printed

Downloading

Insert a formatted 3-1/2 high density disk into the A drive
Click on File
Click on the Capture option
Choose the A: drive and name your file
Click on OK
Let your document scroll past
When you are finished, click on File and "Capture=Off"

Source: LEGI-SLATE, Inc. Quick Reference guide
Adapted for the University of Michigan by Grace York http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/legison.html

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