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Library Catalog
Interlibrary Loan
Government Documents
Reference and Circulating Materials
Journals
Databases
Internet Resources
The Marvin K. Peterson Library offers a variety of sources on political science. This guide is a starting point that presents a selection of resources, both ours and the Internet sources we list. For help writing papers, consult the Center for Learning Resources writing lab in Maxcy Hall. For library help, visit us at the Information Desk, call us at 203-932-7189, or e-mail us: LibraryHelp@newhaven.edu.
Use the library catalog to find circulating and reference materials, including books, audiovisual holdings, government documents, and periodical titles. For periodical articles, see the Journal Articles section.
Our catalog uses the Library of Congress (LC) classification system and subject headings. LC assigns call numbers (letters and numerals) according to the book's primary subject. This puts similar materials together on the shelves and allows you to find them using the call number.
Reference and Circulating Materials
Books and more
Political Science falls under the following classification, and included herein are a list of some sample titles that the library owns:
JA: Political Science (General)
JC: Political Theory
JF: Political Institutions and Public Administration
JK: Political Institutions and Public Administration (United States)
JL: Political Institutions and Public Administration (Canada, Latin America)
JN: Political Institutions and Public Administration (Europe)
JQ: Political Institutions and Public Administration (Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific Area, etc.)
JS: Local Government, Municipal Government
JV: Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration.
JX: International Law
JZ: International relations
If you can't find something in our catalog, please use our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service. ILL request forms for books and articles are available at the library Information Desk, and online from the library's website. You should complete a separate ILL request form for each item requested. Bibliographic citations should be as accurate and complete as possible. Incorrect or incomplete information, such as abbreviations or lack of a publication date, will slow down receipt of material. For more information on Interlibrary Loan, click here.
Many of your catalog searches will turn up listings of Government Documents. The Marvin K. Peterson Library has been a Federal Depository Library since 1971, and our collection of government documents includes a substantial number of political resources. Government documents have been listed in our online catalog since 2000, and many publications are available online from the "Linked Resources" tab in our Library Catalog.
Documents received before 2000 (and not online) may be in our print or microform Documents Collection. To use this collection, come to the Information Desk where a staff member will assist you. We will retrieve documents for you, help you find documents not listed in our catalog, or direct you to other resources. For more detailed information about searching for Government Documents, please consult our guide on How to Find US Government Documents, available online from our home page or in print at the Information Desk.
GPO Access (Government Printing Office) contains bibliographic citations to documents published by Federal Government agencies from 1976 to the present, with links to the online publications where available. GPO Access also makes legislative materials freely available to anyone from their front page.
In addition many political science government documents (including annual reports) at the Peterson Library are listed under the call number below:
J
| General Legislative Papers
|
The library carries articles from popular magazines as well as scholarly journals. There are guides that can help you with your journals research. One is Finding Articles which explains how to find journal articles, read and understand citations/references, and cite articles. There is also a Journals Link on the library's home page that lists journals to which the library provides access, including print, electronic, and microform access. From the Journals page, you can select either a title search or you may browse by topic on the lower half of the page.
Listed below are some selected journals for you to consider:
Africa Today; American Enterprise; American Journal of Political Science; American Political Science Review; Armed Forces and Society; Australian Journal of Politics and History; Black Scholar; Brazilian Political Science Review; British Journal of Political Science; Campaigns & Elections; Canadian Review of American Studies; Capital and Class; Cato Journal; Church & State; Country Profile (note: assorted countries, search by title); Financial Times (London); Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy; In These Times; International Political Science Review; Journal of Latin American Studies; Latin American Perspectives; Middle East Quarterly; National Review; NATO Review; New England Journal of Political Science; Peacework; Perspectives on Political Science; Philosophy & Public Affairs; Political Communication; Progressive; Psychology, Public Policy & Law; Science & Society; Washington Monthly.
The most efficient way to find articles by subject is to use an index that searches the contents of many journals at one time. The Proxy Connection provides access to most of our databases when you are outside the library and it must be used often in the library as well. Enter your 16-digit UNH ID number when requested. (This number is on the back of your UNH ID.) If you are new to database searching, you might find it helpful to consult our Database Searching Tutorial.
Select databases by title or provider or use the Subject List. Check out the Annotated List of Databases on the library home page for search tips, publications included, user's guides, tutorials, and links for each database.
The following is a list of some specialized and multidisciplinary databases that include information about political science:
ABI/INFORM Global Includes in-depth coverage for over 2,690 publications, with more than 1,750 available in full-text, including The Wall Street Journal, Eastern Edition, EIU ViewsWire, and Going Global Career Guides.
Academic OneFile (1980-). Contains more than 12,000 academic journals, the majority peer-reviewed and in full-text. Covers a variety of disciplines.
Associated Press Photo Archive A database of international and North American photographs and graphics such as maps, logos and illustrations from the Associated Press. Search political figures, countries, and more.
CountryWatch Demographic, political, economic, business, cultural, and environmental information in the form of Country Reviews. The Country Wire provides daily news coverage from several regional news services for every country.
CQ Global Researcher CQ Global Researcher aims to expose students to a variety of international viewpoints on a selected topic. Sections in each issue include background information, an historic chronology, the current situation, a "pro-con" debate, an outlook for the future, a bibliography of sources used for the issue, suggested articles from current periodicals, and "voices from abroad."
CQ Researcher CQ Researcher provides original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news. Controversial topics are addressed in a balanced, unbiased manner. Browse reports by topic such as "International Relations and World Politics."
CREDO Reference Check under the social sciences tab for Politics. Access the Dictionary of Politics and Government or the Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science.
Directory of Open Access Journals Freely available online journals, organized by subject. Hosted at Lund University, Sweden, a co-project of SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) and Open Access Institute, Budapest. Browse by title or subject. As of publication, there are 92 political science journal titles listed.
Expanded Academic ASAP (1980-). Balanced coverage from 3,500 indexed titles in a wide variety of disciplines. More than 2,100 journals are peer reviewed. Searches include: basic, advanced, subject guide, and by publication title.
FedStats Portal to statistical information from more than 100 U.S. federal agencies. Find information without having to know which agency issues the data.
FirstSearch: FirstSearch provides access to many useful databases such as AltPress Index, which indexes journals covering cultural, economic, political & social change, and ECO, an OCLC collection of scholarly journals. Search groups of databases (by topic) or by individual database. FirstSearch can also suggest the best database to search, depending on your search terms. Access: Available in the library only. Ask at the Information Desk for a librarian to log you on with a password.
General OneFile Encompassing disciplines across the spectrum. More than 11,000 journal titles and backfile coverage from 1980 - from mainstream to specialized sources
General Reference Center Gold A general interest database that integrates a variety of sources--newspapers, reference books, magazines, and trade publications. Find articles on current events, popular culture, business and industry trends, the arts and sciences, sports, hobbies, and more. Nice listing of related topics for political science, such as Geopolitics and Intergovernmental Relations.
GPOAccess For primary sources of information, this Government Printing Office site provides access to government publications (called 'documents') and indexes. From the A-Z link, look for FDLP Electronic collections and the Browse categories link on the front page. The Marvin K. Peterson Library may have some of the items listed here. For more on our Documents Collection, see our library guide on Government Documents.
HeinOnline Legal Periodicals William S. Hein & Co., Inc. is a major legal publisher. HeinOnline has library collections such as: Federal Register Library, Treaties and Agreements Library, and the World Trials Library.
History Reference Center Features full text for more than 2,300 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books from leading history publishers. Biographies of famous historical figures; historical photos, maps, and videos.
Homeland Seucrity Digital Library The HSDL is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Grants and Training and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security. This database provides access to U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national security documents, as well as theses and reports from academic institutions and local and state organizations.
INFOMINE A Scholarly Internet Research site, provided by a consortium of four universities. This site organizes by topic freely available scholarly Internet databases and web sites. Infomine features well organized access to important university level research and educational tools on the Internet.
INFORME- Revistas en Espanol "A collection of Spanish language publications with full text, covering business, health, technology, culture, issues of current interest and other subjects/Una colección de revistas hispánicas con textos completos. Abarca negocios, salud, tecnología, cultura, temas de actualidad y otras materias"--vendor description.
LegalTrac LegalTracTM provides indexing for approximately 875 titles including major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals.
NBER Working Papers Founded in 1920, the National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community. Research politics as it relates to the economy.
OECD Economic Surveys (1998-). Full text. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) publishes reviews of member countries' economic situations as well as those of selected non-member countries, focusing on the economic history and conditions of each country examined. Each survey contains an analysis of developments in the subject country, including statistics and reports on the timeliest topics
ProQuest Historical Newspapers Offers full page and article images with searchable full text of the following newspapers:
(Note: Historical Newspapers cannot be searched in combination with any other databases.)
ProQuest Newspapers Search the full collection of the following newspapers:
Social Services Abstracts CSA Social Services Abstracts provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. The database abstracts and indexes over 1,300 serials publications from 50 countries and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations, and citations to book reviews. Coverage from 1979 to the present.
Sociological Abstracts The CSA Sociological Abstracts database offers access to the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database provides in-depth and non-evaluative abstracts of journal articles and citations to book reviews drawn from over 1,800 serial publications, and also provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.
STAT-USA: STAT-USA includes SOTN (State of the Nation), NTDB (National Trade Data Bank) and GLOBUS. Contains domestic and international trade and market information, including country-specific information, industry-specific information, and industry-country information, as well as economic indicators. The Foreign Traders Index identifies foreign firms seeking to import U.S. products. The World Factbook, U.S. Global Trade Outlook, A Basic Guide to Exporting, Background Notes, Business America, and Country Commercial Guides are some of the publications that are available in full text. Depository. Note: Available in Library only, on Terminals 1 or 2.
Listed below are websites that have been checked for reliability as a good source for political science information on the web. Keep in mind that these are only a sampling of what is available. In doing your own research for websites, keep a couple of key points in mind. Usually it is best to stay with those websites that have the following domains: .gov and .edu. Those websites with .com domains are commercial. Websites with .org may or may not be reliable. It is best to read more of the 'about us' section of a site in order to determine how reliable and unbiased a site really is.
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research A private, nonpartisan, not-for-profit institution dedicated to research and education on issues of government, politics, economics, and social welfare.
American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association, founded in 1903, is the leading professional organization for the study of political science and serves more than 15,000 members in over 80 countries.
The Brookings Institution A nonprofit public policy organization whose purpose is three-fold: strengthen American democracy, foster economic and social welfare, and secure a more open and safe international system.
The Centre for Strategic and International Studies Provides strategic insights and policy solutions to decision makers in government, international institutions, the private sector, and civil society. A bipartisan, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, DC.
CNN Politics Hot Topics, Election Center 2008, Commentary, and in-depth information and analysis of the candidates.
Council on Foreign Relations Designed to clarify complex world issues and offer information and analysis. Offers links to primary documents, background material, and news coverage.
FedWorld A program of the United States Department of Commerce, designed as a gateway to government information. Designed to serve as the online locator service for a comprehensive inventory of information disseminated by the Federal Government.
The Foreign Policy Centre The Foreign Policy Centre is a leading European think tank launched under the patronage of the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to develop a vision of a fair and rule-based world order.
International Association for Political Science Students The IAPSS is an international, politically independent, non-profit, student-run platform for political science students. IAPSS aims to have a global impact in the political science discipline by providing information on current events in the field to its members through its website, newsletter, and e-groups.
International Political Science Association The International Political Science Association (IPSA), founded under the auspices of UNESCO in 1949, is an international scholarly association. Its objectives are to promote the advancement of political science through the collaboration of scholars in different parts of the world.
Librarians' Internet Index The mission of Librarians' Internet Index is to provide a well-organized point of access for reliable, trustworthy, librarian-selected websites. Thousands of political websites are included, divided into easily browse-able categories. Look under Government for Politics.
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in 1949. The fundamental role is to safeguard the freedom of member countries by political and military means.
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development brings together the governments of democratic countries to support sustainable economic growth, and shares expertise and exchanges views with more than 100 other countries and economies.
RAND RAND Corporation is the original non-profit think tank helping to improve policy and decision making through objective research and analysis.
Thomas The Library of Congress THOMAS site is the source for federal legislative information. Find detailed information about bills, resolutions, activity in Congress, the Congressional Record, schedules, calendars, committee information, and more.
UN The United Nations is a global association of governments facilitating cooperation in international law, security, economic development, and social equity.
USA.gov As the U.S. government's official web portal, USA.gov makes accessible to the public U.S. government information and services on the web. USA.gov also serves as the catalyst for a growing electronic government.
World Factbook The CIA's annual guide to extensive country profiles. Major topics are geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.
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