ProQuest Congressional

I chose ProQuest Congressional as my database to present to my Scholarly Research Method class because I thought, why not learn more about our legislative history and procedures? Before I get into the details, what is ProQuest Congressional? According to ProQuest, the database "allows you to explore Congress in action with the most comprehensive online resource available for congressional publications and legislative research. You can perform in-depth research in public policy, historical, and legal areas of interest." So, ProQuest Congressional is perfect for research relevant to our Congress. 

1. Accessing ProQuest Congressional

Initially, I made the error of Googling ProQuest Congressional to access the database. Please don't make the same mistake because you will run through an authentication barrier, making it hard to access the website when you are not connected to our school's wifi. Instead, access the database through our law library's website on the  A-Z Databases" list and search for "ProQuest Congressional." Remember, our school has subscriptions to many databases, including ProQuest Congressional, and you can access them through our library's website. This will alleviate the stress of figuring out why the database won't let you through. Learn from my mistake, and you will be fine! 

Once on the homepage, you will see the following "Legislative & Executive Publications" sign on top of a search bar. The search bar is your primary access to the contents of the database. But before I go into the details of how to start researching, I'll share a bit more about the default access points of the website. Besides the search box, there are also a bunch of tabs on top of the database to find contents based on the shown categories. The website also provides "useful starting places" of hot topics in our country today. For example, the first topic shown is "Abortion and Reproductive Rights." You will see more suggested topics if you click the next arrow button. At the end, there is "LGBTQ Rights," which I got excited about because that is the topic I was looking for. If you've located your topic from the suggestion list, you can proceed by clicking on the topic and researching from there. Otherwise, the search box will be your best avenue (see sections c. and d. below). 

2. Materials Available

ProQuest Congressional has various materials available–from primary to secondary resources. Specifically, the database offers resources such as abstracts and indexing for congressional publications, legislative histories, information on a congressional member like their biography, committee assignments, voting records, and financial data. Finally, there is also a complete text of key regulatory and statutory resources. Overall, ProQuest Congressional provides comprehensive resources related to our Congress. 

3. Basic Search

If you want to conduct a basic search using the search box, you can use a few filters to make your search robust. First, click "Limit by Date" to set your search on a specific timeline. Second, click "Find Terms" to filter your search by subjects, issuing sources, and popular names. Otherwise, search away! 

4. Advanced Search

If you feel confident, have a specific topic in mind, and are ready to forge forward, let's conduct an advanced search instead. Returning to the homepage, click "Advanced" below the search box." It will lead you to a site with a bunch of filters. I know it looks overwhelming, but what did you expect? 

Alright! One way to search is through categories. You can search by topic pages, hearings, CRS reports, etc. Another way to advance the search is by looking for a specific witness or panelist. Scroll down the page, and you will see more search boxes to look for particular documents like vote reports or congressional records. 

Whether you are searching in basic or advanced mode, the good thing about this database is that it categorizes your search results, which makes it convenient, especially in sifting through your results. So it makes the result less overwhelming. If you're like me, who cares about a website's interface, having the result in sections looks more appealing and aesthetic. Now, wouldn't you want to use this database even more?

5. How to Share Results

It's easy. You can share your results through email, print, or permalink. If you share your results with someone without a subscription to ProQuest, you can download the content and personally share it with them. Note that contents can be downloaded in PDF format.

6. Final Thoughts

The website interface was very appealing on my phone or computer. The fonts and color scheme are just perfect for my taste. Thus, not only is the database appealing, it's clean and organized. Finally, the database works fine on the electronic gadgets that I accessed the website on (phone and computer). 

Overall, ProQuest Congressional is unique because it is the only site that offers a comprehensive collection of congressional documents from 1789 to the present. This database might be valuable as it is catered towards a specific audience–someone looking for information related to our Congress. Also, I appreciate how the website is clean and not too overwhelming for the eyes.

On the other hand, ProQuest Congressional is not accessible to the public. One needs a subscription to do so. Luckily for us, that is not an issue. Also, it is a disadvantage that the database has a limited scope for research purposes. Therefore, this might only be valuable or helpful to some. If none of these concerns you, continue your research on ProQuest Congressional.