Government Publications Review, Vol. 17, pp. 173-181, 1990

Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. 0277-9390/90 $3.00 + .OO

Copyright 0 1990 Pergamon Press plc

REVIEWS

LOUIS VYHNANEK Holland Library, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-5610

Congressional Masterfile 2. (CD-ROM) Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1970- ; current year service priced from $340 to $1,390 for CZS Index subscribers; $4,900 for CM2 subscribers to purchase retrospective file (contact CIS at l-800-638-8380 for further price information).

The CIS Index is now available on CD-ROM as Congressional MasterjZe 2 (CM2). All of the valuable elements of the CIS Index are present in CM2, including detailed indexing of congressional publications, full bibliographic information, abstracts, and legislative histories. Additionally, CM2 improves access, to CIS publications by employing standard online features such as boolean and truncation capabilities, field-specific searching and date-limiting. The database consists of two CD-ROM disks, the first containing records from 1970 through 1982 and the second covering 1983 to the present. The latter disk is updated quarterly.

PRICING

CM2 may be purchased in several combinations. The basic subscription covers only the current calendar year. For libraries choosing this option, access to older records on the current disk is blocked. The cost of current-year service depends on the purchasing library’s CIS-assigned budget class, ranging from a low of $340 annually for current CIS Index subscribers at the bottom of the price scale to $4,176 for institutions in the highest budget class that order the CD-ROM disk without subscribing to the print index. There is an intermediate price scale for current-year CM2 service and a new subscription to the US Index. Retrospective coverage is available for $4,900 to any library subscribing to the current CM2 service. The prices quoted are for 1989 and are expected to increase approximately five percent in 1990.

HARDWARE AND CONFIGURATION

CM2 will run on any fully IBM compatible AT computer with at least 640K RAM. The terminal should have a hard disk configured with MS- or PC-DOS version 3.1 or higher and Microsoft 2.0 CD-ROM extensions. The CD-ROM drive must have an interface card and be compatible with the High Sierra standard format. The product adheres to the ISO- standard format, making it compatible with a wide range of CD-ROM drives. A printer is optional.

SEARCHING THE SYSTEM

In order to take full advantage of Congressional MasterfZe 2, it is advisable to work through the four tutorials, or “Guided Tours” as termed by CIS. The Guided Tour on basic searching covers creation and execution of simple search strategies, viewing the results formatted as brief records on a “QuikChek” list or full records in the “Display” mode, revising and clearing the search strategy, and starting a new session. The tutorial on advanced searching illustrates limiting fields, dates, and record types, use of the boolean “or” operator, and the index and thesaurus. Several techniques for retrieving and refining legislative histories are covered by the third Guided Tour, and the last tutorial shows how to print the retrieved information or download it to a diskette. This information is also covered in the user manual. Context-specific assistance is

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provided at the bottom of each screen and by pressing the “Help” key (Fl). The first working line of CM2’s search screen reads “FIND IN ALL FIELDS,” followed by three lines

with the command “AND IN ALL FIELDS,” and one line beginning with the statement, “BUT NOT IN ALL FIELDS.” The first “find” command may be limited to specific fields (e.g., titles, descriptors, witnesses, committees) or to specific document and record types, such as hearings, prints, or legislative histories. In addition to linking terms with the “and” and “not” operators supplied, the “or” operator may be inserted in the form of a semicolon. Below the lines linking search terms with logical operators is a line for specifying the range of years to be searched (defaulted to the time period covered by the disk that is currently loaded, but possible to change by typing over the default dates). The last line of the search screen for data entry is labeled “LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF P.L. ,” followed by a space in which to type the desired public law number.

After the search has been executed, a status line near the bottom of the screen lists the number of records that match the entire search strategy. Results may be viewed on a Quik-Chek list, which displays the record title, CIS accession number, document type, and Congress and session. The results of the search are displayed chronologically with the most recent citations listed first. Entries from the list may be flagged, and the unflagged entries deleted. Full or edited Quik-Chek lists can be printed or saved to diskette.

The “Display” mode shows full CIS records, including CIS accession number, title, source, date, document type, abstract, descriptors and contents notation. A tab key can then be used to locate search terms in the displayed record. This feature is very helpful, since it not only locates search terms as originally typed, but also relevant initialisms and abbreviations (such as locating “LC,” based on the truncated search term “Librar*“). The citation, selected fields, or the full record may be printed or saved. At any step one may return to the search screen to review or alter the search statement.

The ability to compile and customize legislative histories is one of CM2’s best features. Legislative histories on the more recent disk (1983-present) include records for (X-indexed publications available in the companion microfiche collection as well as pertinent citations to the Congressional Record and other sources, such as Office of Technology Assessment reports and presidential statements appearing in the Weekly Compifurion of Presidential Documents. Where older publications are necessary for complete histories, specially loaded records preceding the 1983 CIS Index are included on this disk. It is also possible to compile legislative histories from the retrospective disk (1970-1982), although the sources cited are limited to the congressional materials indexed by CIS.

Congressional Masterjile 2 has several advantages over the CIS Index and the online file. In comparison to the print index, the necessity of finding and manipulating separate index and abstract volumes and issues is eliminated. It is more efficient to search a range of years at once, rather than searching one annual, quarterly, or monthly index at a time. Users, however, will need a fair amount of assistance to realize its maximum potential, but the same is true of the CIS Index. Logical operators and limiting are available on both CM2 and CIS online; however, CM2 provides context-specific help to the user that is not available in the online file. Also, the absence of online charges encourages frequent use and, in effect, enhances access to the universe of information indexed by CIS.

The main drawbacks to CM2 are inherent in its format and in the pricing structure employed by CIS. The promotional literature states that CM2 “will support single or multiple CD-ROM drives, daisy chaining, and networks that support CD-ROM drives,” but most libraries will probably run it on one computer terminal, thereby causing the entire database to be tied up each time it is used. Use of quarterly updates results in some loss of currency, compared to monthly issues of the CIS Index. The price schedule used by CIS for CM2 favors libraries that already subscribe to the CIS Index. While this is a good way to encourage the print index’s present subscribers to try CM2, it is quite possible that some users of this new product will come to prefer it and in time want to cancel the paper subscription. In this case CIS would be well-advised to avoid price increases for CM2 customers who drop the CIS Index.

Congressional Musterfile 2 merits consideration from medium-sized and large libraries, particularly those currently subscribing to the printed index. It is a powerful tool that allows an unprecedented level of access, and it is likely to become a standard means of locating information in congressional publications.

PATRICK RAGAINS Government Information Librarian

Montana State University Bozeman, MT 59717

USA