Parallel Searching
One of the most challenging moments in your project research will be the day you discover that legislation or another type of government action happened yesterday or is about to happen. You will need to take advantage of a range of different source categories.
To illustrate, let's look at available sources on the Internet concerning the telecommunication deregulation bill passed by Congress on February 1, 1996. Within 24 hours, we found the following source materials.
Note: Some of the links in the examples are not operative because we've downloaded files for illustration purposes. Go to the original home pages (URLs are provided in the examples) if you want to explore the links.
The Legislative Record
As recently as two years ago we would have difficulty obtaining the actual bill text within 24 hours of the vote, but today we accessed the bill in minutes!
Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act of 1996
We can also access the Congressional Record and all references to the bill.
In addition, we can access committee reports concerning the bill.
However, reading the bill and the debates is not the most efficient way to determine the contents and the significance of legislation. Daily News Periodicals may be the best first stop on our search.
National News Sources: On the day after major legislation passes Congress, your local newspaper and broadcasting news sources will rely on stories from Washington, D.C. The major national newspapers, e.g., The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, will have several stories about the legislation. The major national news networks will also cover the story in detail. Accessing these sources will help you identify the major features of the legislation and the key figures on all sides of the issue.
The New York Times
CNNfn
When you identify specific businesses or organizations with an interest in the legislation, look for reports about it in the trade press. For example, higher education is interested in the Telcomm bill because of its Internet content provisions.
Academe Today (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Weekly and monthly periodicals will have longer stories with more detailed analysis shortly. You should be on the lookout for these sources as time goes on.
Organizational/Institutional Sources
Always look for experts on your topic who are not directly involved in the legislation. Pepper and Corazzini is a law firm in Washington, D.C. It specializes in communication law and the firm published a briefing paper on the telecomm bill.
You should be able to find a number of advocacy organization who will suppy you with information on legislation. Here are several organizations with positions on the telecomm bill.
Alliance for Competitive Communications
This is a home page for the Regional Bell Operating Companies. It contains a great deal of information about the Telcomm Bill. In evaluating the material here remember that these companies have significant interests in the legislation. How will that fact influence your evaluation of the material found here?
Benton Foundation Communication Policy Project
The Benton Foundation is a not-for-profit public policy think tank. Can we assume that its opinions are purely "objective"? Can you determine the Foundation's position on the Telcomm Bill?
Given the sweeping changes in the Telcomm Bill, note the "censorship" focus of the following advocay groups. If you relied on the information on these pages, you might very well miss several important aspects of the bill. This is not a criticism of these organizations. They focused on the issues they believed to be important. They are not obligated to provide comprehensive coverage of the issue.
Voters Telecomm Watch
Center for Democracy and Technology
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center
This collection of sources is just a sample of what you might find quickly in the days or weeks after legislation is passed. The key to success is to look for information in the full spectrum of available sources.