GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions

HeinOnline’s GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions database contains reports on audits, surveys, investigations, and evaluations of federal programs conducted by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO).

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One-Box Search Bar

The one-box search bar is stationary throughout HeinOnline. After entering the GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions database, the search bar will search only within this database, unless the Search All Databases box is ticked. Click Advanced Search to expand search fields or to perform a more specific search by text, title, creator/author, or description. Click Search Help for a quick reference guide to commonly used search syntax.

Using the One-Box Search Bar

Search for documents pertaining to a topic using the one-box search bar. For example, enter the phrase “hazardous waste” inside quotation marks into the search bar and select Just Search For. Results can be refined using the facets on the left side of the page. Available facets include date, document type, PathFinder Subjects, section type, location, title, organization, and person. Terms matching the search query appear in bold text within the matching text page snippets. Sort search results by relevance, volume date, and more. Find cited-by information and access tools, such as an instant PDF download, on the right side of each search result. Use the icons next to the Sort-by bar to modify your current search, to search within results, to toggle all matching text pages, or to turn OFF infinite scroll.

search results for "hazardous waste" in GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions, with different refine and sort options highlighted

Using the Advanced Search Option

Click the Advanced Search link located beneath the main search bar to perform a more specific search. Users can search various metadata fields- such as Text, Title, Author/Creator, and more. For example, let's say a user wanted to search for a CRS Report by Congressional Research Service member Moshe Schwartz pertaining to GAO Bid Protests. In the Author/Creator field, enter Moshe Schwartz. In the Title field, enter the words GAO AND protest*. The wildcard (*) searches for variations of a word, such as "protests," "protesters," etc. Additional options in the Advanced Search tool include searching by text and description.

This search will return twelve results containing all GAO Bid Protest reports written by Moshe Schwartz.

Using the Venn Diagram

Located within the Advanced Search tool is the Venn Diagram Search feature. Use the tool to visualize the results yield of various keywords and better refine a search. After selecting the tool, users will be redirected to a page with a search bar, instructions for its use, and a few example searches. With the Venn Diagram feature, users can simply search for multiple terms separated with the Boolean operator "AND."

Users will be redirected to a page with a search bar, instructions for its use, and a few example searches. For example, perform a search using the terms bankruptcy AND fraud AND government. Click the Search button to bring up a Venn Diagram illustrating the various combinations of those terms and their respective results yield throughout all subscribed databases. The original search combining all three terms will appear by default, visually represented by the red intersection of all three circles in the diagram.

Select the Clear button above the diagram to be able to hover over the various options. Users will then see all possible search term combinations and their results as the cursor hovers over them. Click one of these highlighted circles or intersections to explore the results.