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Sharing THOMAS Content with the Share Tool

About the THOMAS Share Tool | Share Tool Functions | Printing THOMAS Content | Subscribing to THOMAS Content | Sharing or Saving THOMAS Content on your Web site or Blog

About the THOMAS Share Tool

The THOMAS Share Tool allows you to print THOMAS pages and search results, subscribe to regular updates from THOMAS, and share THOMAS content in a number of ways. You can post THOMAS links on social networking Web sites such as Facebook or Twitter, send links by e-mail, and post links to or embed THOMAS content in your own Web site or blog pages.

Share Tool Functions

The Share Tool user interface appears on most THOMAS pages. It consists of three hyperlinked icons in a row just below the main heading on the right.

The functions of the links are as follows:

ICON:	CLICKING ON THIS ICON ALLOWS:
Print	Depending on your local print configuration, you can print the current page to a network or attached printer.
Subscribe	You can subscribe to the following: Notifications of bills that have passed both the House and Senate and been sent to the President for signature The Daily Digest of actions, committee meetings and joint meetings of Congress Notifications of the latest bills and resolutions considered on the floor of the House of Representatives Notifications of the latest bills, resolutions, nominations, and treaties considered on the floor of the Senate Weekly tips about using THOMAS Weekly lists of the top ten bills searched on THOMAS, compiled from weekly usage statistics
Share/Save	You can share page content through social-networking Web sites including Facebook and Twitter, by e-mail, or by embedding content links in your Web site or blog.

Note: Pages listing search results do not support the Share Tool. In addition, neither the Senate Communications item display pages nor the XML bill text pages can be shared. In general, pages linked from other Web sites (such as the form pages for e-mail subscription or the PDF images of bill text) are not shareable.

Printing THOMAS Content

To print THOMAS content, do the following

1. On a page displaying the Share Tool icons, click the Print icon.
2. The print dialog appropriate to your computer or workstation appears.
3. Follow the appropriate procedures for your local printing setup.

Subscribing to THOMAS Content

To subscribe to THOMAS content, do the following:

On a page displaying the Share Tool icons, click the Subscribe icon.
The SUBSCRIBE dialog appears:



Note: For information about RSS in general or Library of Congress subscriptions in particular, click on the appropriate link at the bottom of the SUBSCRIBE dialog.

The full list of SUBSCRIBE update options is as follows:

THOMAS Update	DESCRIPTION OF UPDATE
Bills Presented to the President	Lists bills that have passed both the House and Senate and have been sent to the White House for the President's signature
Daily Digest	Provides notification of the Daily Digest, which details the chamber action, committee meetings, and joint meetings of Congress.
House Floor Today	Identifies the latest bills and resolutions considered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Senate Floor Today	Identifies the latest bills, resolutions, nominations, and treaties considered on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
Tip of the Week	Provides a weekly tip about using THOMAS.
Top Ten Bills	Provides a list of the top ten bills searched on THOMAS, compiled from weekly usage statistics.

Subscribing to an RSS Feed

1. To view and select options in the SUBSCRIBE dialog, use the slider bar to the right of the SUBSCRIBE options list area to scroll up or down within the dialog.
2. To subscribe to the RSS feed for one of the update options, click the RSS icon below the entry for that item in the SUBSCRIBE dialog.
   A new page or tab like the following appears:
   
   
3. To select the service to use with the RSS feed, click the down arrow to the right of the box labeled "Subscribe to this feed using."
   The following menu appears:
   
   
   
   
4. Scroll within the menu and click Live Bookmarks, Microsoft Office Outlook, Bloglines, My Yahoo, or Google to choose one of these RSS feed services/tools.
5. Click Choose Application to browse for and select an application available in your local computer or workstation environment.
6. Click the Always use [etc.] checkbox to make your choice permanent.
   A checkmark appears in the box.
7. Click the checked box to cancel the permanent choice of an RSS feed tool/service.
8. Click the Subscribe Now button:
9. Follow the instructions provided by the tool or service you have selected.
10. If you wish to select more than one subscription item, close the subscription page or tab when you have finished and select another item from the Subscribe dialog
11. Click Close to close the SUBSCRIBE dialog when you do not wish to select any more options.
    
    You will be notified by the selected tool or service regarding your subscription.

Subscribing via E-mail for the First Time

1. To subscribe to one of the THOMAS update options by e-mail, click the E-mail icon below the entry for the desired item in the SUBSCRIBE dialog.
   A new page or tab like the following appears:
   
   
   
   
2. Type your e-mail address in the space provided and click Go.
   The New Subscriber page appears:
   
   
   
   The e-mail address you entered on the previous page is filled in on this form.
3. Confirm the primary e-mail address by typing it into the Confirm Primary E-mail Address field provided.
4. You may enter a secondary e-mail address under Optional Secondary E-mail Address. This address must be confirmed like the primary e-mail address.
5. Click the Send Wireless Alerts to this address checkbox to have wireless alerts sent to a cellular telephone or other wireless device.
   When this box is checked, the Secondary E-Mail Address fields disappear, and two other fields appear: a data entry field where you can key in your wireless number (Enter Wireless Number) and a dropdown menu from which you can select the name of your wireless provider from a list or select Other:
   
   
   If you select Other from the dropdown menu, an additional data entry field appears, in which you can type the Web domain name of your provider:
   
   When you have entered all your New Subscriber data, click Save to save it or click Cancel to cancel your subscription.
   Note: For help with this form, to view the Library's Privacy Policy, or to change Subscriber Preferences, click the appropriate link at the bottom of the form.
6. When you have successfully saved your New Subscriber information, a page or tab containing a success notification appears:
   
   Click one of the links at the bottom of the page to view Help, the Library's Privacy Policy, or the Subscriber Preferences page.
7. You can use the Subscriber Preferences page to review your preferences, change them, cancel one or more subscriptions, or remove your Library e-mail subscription profile.
   If you check the boxes provided at the top of the Subscriber Preferences page to cancel individual subscriptions, your profile and the subscriptions you have not canceled will remain in effect. If you follow the "Unsubscribe" instructions at the bottom of the page, you will cancel all Library of Congress e-mail-based subscriptions and your profile will be deleted.
   The Subscriber Preferences page can also be accessed from the RSS Feeds and E-mail Subscriptions page, which appears when you click the All Library of Congress Subscriptions link at the bottom of the SUBSCRIBE dialog.
   You will receive e-mail notifications regarding your subscription and any changes you may have made to your user preferences.
   Your subscription is complete at this point and you can safely close the Success tab or page without clicking the Next button at the bottom of the page.
   The THOMAS SUBSCRIBE dialog remains open on the page from which you invoked it.
8. If you do click Next on the Subscriber Preference page, the Quick Subscribe for <your e-mail address> form page appears. This form includes checkboxes for all available Library of Congress e-mail subscriptions, including THOMAS subscriptions and other Library offerings.
   Follow the instructions on this page to change the subscriptions you have just entered or to subscribe to non-THOMAS Library of Congress notifications.
   You can also link from the Quick Subscribe page to the Subscriber Preference page.
   If you click Save at the bottom of the Library subscriptions form page, a page about the U.S. Government Bookstore appears. You can close this page at any time without affecting your THOMAS subscriptions.
   The THOMAS SUBSCRIBE dialog remains open on the page from which you invoked it.
9. Click Save to save your selections on this page or Cancel to cancel any changes you may have made.
   A page about the U.S. Government Bookstore appears.
10. Close the U.S. Government Bookstore page or follow its instructions to access U.S. Government Bookstore-related content.
    The THOMAS page from which you started, together with the SUBSCRIBE dialog, remain open until you close them.
11. Click Close in the upper right corner of the SUBSCRIBE dialog to close it when you do not wish to select any more options.

Placing Additional E-mail Subscriptions with an Active Subscriber Profile

If you have already subscribed via e-mail to one or more THOMAS or Library options and have a current e-mail Subscriber Profile, do the following to place one or more additional subscriptions:

1. Click on the Share Tool Subscribe icon to open the SUBSCRIBE dialog if it is not already open, then click the appropriate e-mail icon inside the SUBSCRIBE dialog beneath the additional THOMAS option to which you wish to subscribe.
   A Success page or tab appears indicating that the subscription is now in effect.
   You will receive e-mail notification of the new subscription.
   
2. Click the Finish button to exit from the Success page or tab and return to THOMAS.

Sharing/Saving THOMAS Content via Social Networking Tools, E-mail, and Web Pages

Many Uniform Resource Locator (URL) "addresses" that you see in your browser's address bar when you have retrieved THOMAS content are not persistent. They are created in the course of carrying out each user search, and cease to be valid 30 minutes after they are created.

Thus, you cannot usefully place one of these links in a Web page or post, embed it in an e-mail message, or share it through a social networking Web site like Facebook. By the time most potential users see the link, it will no longer work.

To make THOMAS content more widely available to the public, the Library has created a special Share Tool function to let you link to or embed specific content items.

Sharing via Social Networking Tools

To share or save THOMAS content via social networking tools, do the following:

1. Navigate to the THOMAS content you wish to share.
2. Click the Share Tool Share/Save icon.
   The following dialog appears (note that the SHARE tab is open by default):
   
   
   
   
3. Click the labeled icon representing the tool or service you wish to use to share THOMAS content.
   Only the tools/services listed are available for sharing THOMAS content.
4. Follow the instructions provided by the selected service.
   Your THOMAS page and the Share/Save dialog will remain open while you complete your interaction with the selected provider site.
5. To share the same content using another social networking tool, return to the Share/Save dialog and click on another icon.
6. To view the Library's Privacy Policy or the Standard Disclaimer for External Links, click the appropriate link at the bottom of the page.

Sharing via E-mail

To share or save THOMAS content via e-mail, do the following:

1. Navigate to the THOMAS content you wish to share or save.
2. Click the Share Tool Share/Save icon, then click the E-MAIL tab.
3. The Share/Save dialog appears, open to the E-MAIL tab:
   
   
   
   
4. Type the intended recipient's address into the To field.
5. You may enter multiple addresses into the To field. Separate each address from the following addresses with a comma (",) or a semicolon (";").
6. Type the email address you are using for yourself into the From field.
7. Click to check the Send me a copy box if you wish a copy of the message to be sent to the From address.
   A copy of the message will be sent to the e-mail address you have entered in the From field.
8. Click Send.
   A dialog appears in place of the Share/Save dialog confirming that the message was sent. Actual delivery may be slightly delayed.
9. Click Continue on the confirmation dialog.
   The Share/Save dialog reappears, open to the E-MAIL tab.
10. To view the Library's Privacy Policy, click the Privacy Policy link in the lower left corner of the Share/Save dialog.
11. Create another message if you wish; otherwise click Close in the upper right corner of the dialog to close it.

Linking to or Embedding THOMAS Content into Your Web Site or Blog

To link to THOMAS content into your Web site or blog, or embed THOMAS content in a Web page, do the following:

1. Navigate to the THOMAS content you wish to save.
2. Click the Share Tool Share/Save icon, then click the SAVE tab.
3. The following dialog appears:
   
   
   
4. Copy the URL displayed in the dialog into your Web site or blog.
5. If you wish, click Save to save the THOMAS page to your browser's Favorites (Bookmarks).
6. Click the Privacy Policy link to view the Library's Privacy Policy.