Editing THOMAS

{{Short description|U.S. legislative database}}
{{About|the U.S. legislative database||Thomas (disambiguation){{!}}Thomas}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2009}}

'''THOMAS''' was the first online database of [[United States Congress]] legislative information.  A project of the [[Library of Congress]], it was launched in January 1995 at the inception of the [[104th Congress]] and retired on July 5, 2016; it has been superseded by [[Congress.gov]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.congress.gov/help/faq#thomasretirement | title=Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): THOMAS Retirement | publisher=[[Library of Congress]] | access-date=October 18, 2014 }}</ref>

==Contents==
The resource  was a comprehensive, Internet-accessible source of information on the activities of Congress, including:

*[[Bill (proposed law)|bill]]s and [[Resolution (law)|resolution]]s
**texts
**summaries and status
**voting results, including how individual members voted
*[[Congressional Record]], including the daily digest
*[[presidential nomination]]s
*[[Treaty|treaties]]

The database was named after [[Thomas Jefferson]], who was the third [[President of the United States]].<ref>{{cite news |title=THOMAS.gov to Retire July 5 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-16-004/ |access-date=August 30, 2018 |work=News from the Library of Congress |publisher=The Library of Congress |date=April 28, 2016 |language=en}}</ref> "THOMAS" was an [[acronym]] for "The House [of Representatives] Open Multimedia Access System".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vlietstra |first1=J. |title=Dictionary of Acronyms and Technical Abbreviations: For Information and Communication Technologies and Related Areas |date=2001 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=9781852333973 |page=624 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1A0Ek7Lh4x8C&pg=PT632 |language=en}}</ref>

The website allowed users to share legislative information via several [[social networking site]]s,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://thomas.loc.gov/help/share.html | title=Sharing THOMAS Content with the Share Tool | website=THOMAS | publisher=[[Library of Congress]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210174053/http://thomas.loc.gov/help/share.html| archive-date=2010-12-10| url-status=dead}}</ref> and there were proposals for an [[application programming interface]].<ref>{{cite magazine | title=the database of United States Congress legislative information | first=Kim | last=Zetter | author-link=Kim Zetter | date=March 5, 2009 | magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | url=https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/03/federal-bill-wo/}}</ref>

==Library of Congress Legislative Data Challenge==
The Library of Congress created the Markup of US Legislation in Akoma Ntoso challenge<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://akoma-ntoso-markup.challenge.gov/ |title=Markup of US Legislation in Akoma Ntoso |access-date=2013-09-23 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130825093949/http://akoma-ntoso-markup.challenge.gov/ |archive-date=2013-08-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in July 2013 to create representations of selected US bills using the most recent Akoma Ntoso standard within a couple months for a $5,000 prize,<ref>{{cite web | title=Library of Congress Announces First Legislative Data Challenge | first=Tina | last=Gheen | date=July 16, 2013 | publisher=[[Library of Congress]] | url=http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2013/07/library-of-congress-announces-first-legislative-data-challenge/}}</ref> and the Legislative XML Data Mapping challenge in September 2013<ref>{{cite web |title=Legislative XML Data Mapping |url=http://legislative-data-mapping.challengepost.com/ |website=Legislative XML Data Mapping |language=en}}</ref> to produce a data map for US bill XML and UK bill XML to the most recent [[Akoma Ntoso]] schema within a couple months for a $10,000 prize.<ref>{{cite web | title=Second Library of Congress Legislative Data Challenge Launched | first=Tina | last=Gheen | date=September 10, 2013 | publisher=[[Library of Congress]] | url=http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2013/09/second-library-of-congress-legislative-data-challenge-launched/}}</ref> 
*In December 2013, the Library of Congress announced "Jim Mangiafico as the winner of our first legislative data challenge, Markup of US Legislation in Akoma Ntoso and the $5,000 prize".<ref name="First Legislative Data Challenge Winner Announced">{{cite web | url=http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2013/12/first-legislative-data-challenge-winner-announced/ | title=First Legislative Data Challenge Winner Announced | publisher=[[Library of Congress]] | date=December 19, 2013 | access-date=December 20, 2013 | first=Tina | last=Gheen}}</ref> 
*In February 2014, Jim Mangiafico and Garrett Schure as the winners of the Library of Congress ''Second Legislative Data Challenge''.<ref name="Jim Mangiafico and Garrett Schure Announced as Winners of the Second Library of Congress Legislative Data Challenge">{{cite web | url=http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2014/02/winners-of-the-second-library-of-congress-legislative-data-challenge/ | title=Jim Mangiafico and Garrett Schure Announced as Winners of the Second Library of Congress Legislative Data Challenge | publisher=[[Library of Congress]] | date=February 25, 2014 | access-date=February 25, 2014 | first=Tina | last=Gheen}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://thomas.loc.gov/ THOMAS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060130145431/http://thomas.loc.gov/ |date=2006-01-30 }} (now redirects to Congress.gov)

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[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1995]]
[[Category:Government databases in the United States]]
[[Category:Government-owned websites of the United States]]
[[Category:Library of Congress]]
[[Category:Online law databases]]


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