Tutorial
How to Use the Database

Estimated time to complete this Tutorial: 6 minutes

This is really quite and amazing site. To get started open up a new browser window, yes you can have several browsers running at the same time! Windows people press the keys CRL and N. Mac people press the keys CONTROL and N. You should have now two browsers running with this page on each. One we will use to access the Code of Federal Regulations database and the other is this page, which you will refer to from time to time.

Okay here we go!

A Simple Search of the Federal Regulations Database

  1. Click on this link Title 39 Postal Service
  2. Up comes something similar to this without the word dogs in the Search Terms Box.
  3. Now enter a keyword(s). Such as dogs, safety, or work hours. Just for grins try all 3, separately of course.
  4. Press the SUBMIT button. You are now searching the every document in Title 39 for any word matching your keyword. If you used "work hours" for example every time "work", "hours", or "work hours" appears a link to that document is returned to you.
  5. You should now see a list of documents with size, score, and a choice of TXT, PDF and SUM. Click on TXT.
  6. The document opens, now scroll down until you come to the first bold word. Keep scrolling and you will see your keyword in bold as you go.
  7. In the box just above Search Terms: is the Maximum Records Returned: box. It is always set at 40, this of course can be changed. Click in the box behind the number, backspace a couple times and type in any number up to 200. Put the Search Terms: box the keywords "work hours"and in the Maximum Records Returned: box 200. You are returned 103 different links to the documents where your keywords exist. Wow!

Okay NOW your ready to just plain go bananas with the Federal Regulations database.

  1. Click here for the complete Code of Federal Regulations.
  2. A table comes up listing all 50 titles, and some much better instructions at the top then I could ever hope to give. You may want to do a little reading on your own here. Go here for HELP for some examples of queries to use.
  3. Still let's do something while we are here. You will notice a huge table (See Picture below)
  4. You will notice little check boxes next to the years on all 50 Titles. Let's just do a search on 3 different Titles and only on the year 2001.
  5. Scroll down to each of these and check the little box above the red links under the 2001 column. Title 21 Food and Drugs, Title 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms, and Title 39 Postal Service.
  6. Now go back to the top and press the continue button. A page comes up including the three titles for a search on keywords. Just as above in this tutorial. Type in the Search Terms: box the word "mailing", press SUBMIT. There you go! A complete search of all three titles! Double Wow!!
  7. But what if you want to search all titles without having to check all those little boxes, click here Complete Search all Titles or go to the top of the Code of Federal Regulations Page and follow the links provided..

Have Fun! Let me know what you think!
For you particularly Savvy Contract People if you find a document send me the link to it.

Thanks

Pete
(click above to send me a comment or link)