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U.S. Government Manual: Search Tips

The following sample searches are provided as guides to general types of searches in the U.S. Government Manual. They are performed in the 1999-2000 Manual. For the sake of space, only the top three hits in each results list are included with each example below.

Sample Searches | Identification Codes

Sample Searches (3)

1. Search by Subject

This type of search returns documents that are related to a specific subject. The word(s) that you enter as your search term(s) may appear anywhere within the document.

Query: scholarship
Results: [1999 Govt. Man.] Boards, Commissions, and Committees
[1999 Govt. Man.] AGENCY/SUBJECT INDEX
[1999 Govt. Man.] UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY

The Agency/Subject Index is a helpful tool to use in conjunction with a subject search (or by itself from the browse table). Use your Internet browser's "find" tool with a word from your query to locate the index entry and page numbers for a given subject.

2. Search by Name

This type of search returns documents based on an individual's name.

Query: Gore
Results: [1999 Govt. Man.] Office of the Vice President of the United States
[1999 Govt. Man.] NAME INDEX
[1999 Govt. Man.] National Security Council

The Name Index is a helpful tool to use in conjunction with this type of search. It contains entries and page numbers for all references that identify individuals by name.

3. Search by Agency

This type of search returns documents based on agency.

Query: "Federal Bureau of Investigation"
Results: [1999 Govt. Man.] DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
[1999 Govt. Man.] CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
[1999 Govt. Man.] APPENDIX A: Commonly Used Abbreviations and Acronyms

Identification Codes

In the list that displays your query results, the title of each document is preceded by an identification code. The identification code consists of an abbreviation for the edition of the Manual in which relevant documents have been found. For example, in the listing "[1999 Govt. Man.] SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION," "1999 Govt. Man." stands for 1999 Government Manual, and "Smithsonian Institution" is the title.