Thomas Adds New Features

Several changes have been made to THOMAS for the second session of the 111th Congress. These changes are described below.

Bookmarking and Sharing Widget
This new toolbar, found near the top of most THOMAS pages, allows users to save or share a permanent link via bookmarks, email, or social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook. The toolbar also includes quick links to subscribe to THOMAS Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and to print.

Top Five Bills
The five most-searched-for bills from the past week are listed in the center box on the right side of the homepage. Hover the mouse over a bill number to display the title of the bill. Click on the bill number to view the Bill Summary and Status page for the selected bill.

New RSS feed: Bills Presented to the President
This new RSS feed lists bills that have passed both the House and Senate and have been sent to the White House for the President's signature. If no bills are currently awaiting signature, a list of all bills signed into law thus far during the current Congress is displayed.

To see a complete list of RSS feeds and email updates available through the Library of Congress, please visit Library of Congress RSS Feeds and Email Subscriptions. The Law Library feeds are listed under "Topics."

Contacting Members of Congress
It's now easier to contact your Members of Congress. A link to tips about how to contact your Representative or Senator is included on the THOMAS homepage.

Tip of the Week
Each week, a new tip about using THOMAS is displayed on the right-hand side of the THOMAS homepage, below the “Top Five” list. Each tip contains a link to in-depth information on the covered topic.

Bill Text PDFs
To increase visibility and accessibility of the Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of bill text, we have added PDF links on the bill version listing page. Click on these links to view the official Government Printing Office (GPO) PDF for a specific version of a bill.

Increased Timeout Interval
Search results within THOMAS are displayed on temporary pages. In response to your feedback, we have increased the timeout interval for these pages from 5 minutes to 30 minutes.