A new guide to searching the 50 public domain U.S. state legislation databases is available online for free, courtesy of the Prevention Research Center at the Brown School of Social Work in St. Louis, Missouri.
The 2011 State Legislative Search Guide, according to an email announcing its publication, "compiles hyperlinks, navigation directions, contacts for questions, search tips, and information for each of the 50 state legislative websites." The Center offers both a full-length guide with an introduction plus a guide page on each state and a two-page guide with links to each state legislature's homepage and its bill search page. (Note: the Law Librarians Society of Washington DC also has an online quick guide called State Legislatures, State Laws, and State Regulations: Website Links and Telephone Numbers.)
Standard information for each state in the Center's full guide includes:
- date range covered
- intructions for bill search, bill tracking, and statute searching
- general search tips, including how revisions to a bill's text are indicated
- general notes such as legislative session length, special features of the database, and changes made since 2009 when the Center last reviewed the sites
SLA/DGI members may also be interested in a Center project described in their Spring 2011 newsletter, Cancer Control Dissemination Research among State-Level Policymakers: Insight into how legislators gather and use information.
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