DOHERTY LIBRARY USER GUIDE
P OLITICAL S CIENCE R ESOURCES
CONTENTS:
1. Indexes and Full-text Databases
a. Online newspapers & newswires
b. Periodical holdings information
2. General Reference
a. Research guides
b. Style guides & writing aides
c. Directories, almanacs & guidebooks
i. Official Web sites of selected government entities
d. Elections, opinion polls, statistics
e. Dictionaries, encyclopedias & more
3. Resources for specific branches of government
a. Legislative
b. Executive
c. Judicial
4. Political quotations
KEY:
= Library Database
= Print Resource in Doherty Library
à = World Wide Web
1. INDEXES AND FULL-TEXT DATABASES @ http://library.stthom.edu
Academic Search Premier – Large periodicals database; Multi-disciplinary; Contains a range of
popular and scholarly titles including Policy Review, Political Quarterly, Politics, Comparative Political
Studies and more.
Business Source Complete - Business, economics & finance journals & publications.
CQ Researcher and CQ Weekly (CQ Press) - Researcher offers full-text comprehensive reporting
on issues in the news; Weekly is the magazine of legislative news and non-partisan analysis. Also
contains the online Encyclopedia of American Government.
à GPO Access - http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html - Full-text Web documents from the U.S.
Government Printing Office; official information from all three branches of the federal government.
GPO Monthly Catalog – Citations only (many URLs provide links to full-text at U.S. Government
portals and Web sites); Searching capabilities in this database are more user-friendly than many .gov
Web portals.
JSTOR. - Premier academic journals in many subject areas – including over 20 respected political
science journals such as American Political Science Review & Political Research Quarterly.. Full-text
coverage is from the first issue of a journal to within 3-5 years of the present.
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Lexis-Nexis Academic - Indexing, abstracting and full-text; News sections contains wire service
news plus local / national / international newspapers, magazines & journals including the New York
Times and the Washington Post. Legal & business sections include news and trade publications,
patent information, case law and codes, law journals & legal reference sources.
Project Muse – A collections of scholarly periodicals in a variety of fields; Includes: BrookingsWharton Papers on Urban Affairs, The Good Society, Journal of Democracy, Journal of Policy History,
& Human Rights Quarterly.
Social Science Abstracts Plus Text - Indexing a wide range of periodicals, disciplines covered
include addiction studies, gerontology, econometrics, international relations, minority studies, urban
studies, and more.
TopicSearch - This current events database, a subset of Academic Search Premier (see above),
will be primarily of interest to students / beginning users. It allows for the easy exploration of current
events, issues, and other popular topics. Dropdown menus for “Current Events” and hot “Topics” help
users quickly locate relevant materials.
Westlaw Campus – Our major resource for law & legal issues research; includes federal and state
cases, statutes and legislative materials, legal encyclopedias, journals, and law reviews..
WorldCat – A library meta-catalog that allows you to search across thousands of library catalogs
at once (like à Google books, only better). A great resource for identifying materials not held at
Doherty library.
a. Online Newspaper & Newswire Collections:
•
New York Times 2001-present and New York Times Historical (1851-2000) - full-text; (The
Library’s microfilm holdings go back to 1960 and we keep the last 3 months of current print
issues in the Silent Reading Room).
•
Wall Street Journal - full-text. Contains WSJ’s Eastern edition from 1984 – present.
(Last 3 months of current issues in the Silent Reading Room)
•
Houston Chronicle - full-text online from 1985 – present. (The library keeps the last 3 months
of current print issues in the Silent Reading Room).
•
Lexis-Nexis Academic – U.S. and International newspapers, newswires and magazines.
(See annotation above).
•
Newsbank Newspapers Online – Southwest - provides Houston Chronicle, San Antonio
Express-News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Arizona Daily Star, Daily Oklahoman, and Tulsa
World.
•
InfoTrac Custom Newspapers – About 120 major newspapers from around the world are
covered.
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b.
DOHERTY LIBRARY’S PERIODICAL HOLDINGS:
Library periodical holdings, regardless of format (print, fiche, online), are found using the Journal
holdings A to Z list maintained at the Library’s web site at http://library.stthom.edu. Browse
alphabetically for titles or use the Find:
option to search for individual title holdings.
2. G E N E R A L R E F E R E N C E W O R K S
a. Research Guides
How to Research Congress. (CQ Press) REF JK 1108 .M349 1996
How to Research Elections. (CQ Press) REF JK 1976 .M37 2000
How to Research the Presidency. (CQ Press) REF JK 516 .M365 1996
How to Research the Supreme Court. (CQ Press) REF KF 8741.A1 M36 1992
Information Sources of Political Science. (ABC-CLIO) REF JA 71 .I6453 2005
Political Science: A Guide to Reference and Information Sources. REF JA 71 .Y75 1990
Political Science: Illustrated Search Strategy and Sources with an Introduction to Legal Research
for Undergraduates. REF JA 88 .L69 1993
Reader’s Guide to the Social Sciences. REF H 41 .R45 2001 v.1-2
Presents and critically reviews the literature on a range of topics from the social sciences, including:
economics, political economy, politics, sociology, law, more.
The Social Sciences: A Cross-Disciplinary Guide to Selected Sources. 3rd ed.
REF H 61.S648 2002
Statistics Sources. REF HA 36 .S84
United States Government Information: Policies and Sources. REF ZA 5055.U6 U55 2002
U.S. Government on the Web: Getting the information you need. 2nd ed. REF ZA 5075 .H47 2001
Using Government Information Sources: Electronic and Print. 3rd ed. REF J 83 .Z7 S4 2001
b. Style Guides & Writing Aides
The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual. 4th ed. (Prentice Hall) REF JA 86.S39 2002
Style Manual for Political Science. (APSA) REF JA 86 .A52 - latest edition at the Reference desk.
The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. REF Z 253 .U69 2003 - at the reference desk.
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A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. REF LB 2369 .T8 1996 - latest
edition is at the Reference desk.
à The OWL (online writing lab) at Purdue - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ - Purdue University Writing
Lab’s helpful writing, research, and style guides online.
c. Directories, Almanacs, Guidebooks
The Almanac of American Politics. JK 1012 .A44 1974 - present
Congressional Quarterly Almanac. JK 1012.C7 v.24 – present (1968 - )
Government Phone Book USA. REF JK6 .G58 (we purchase every other year); Federal, state,
county and city government contact information.
à Google U.S. Government - http://www.google.com/ig/usgov - A special search engine from Google
for U.S. government web sites.
Statesman’s Yearbook: The Politics, Cultures, and Economies of the World. REF JA 51 .S7
Political information plus international organizations and comparative statistics on various subjects.
Texas State Directory. REF JK 4830 .T4
United States Government Manual. REF JK 421 .A3 - latest edition is at the reference desk.
i. Selected Government Entities’ Official Web Sites
à City of Houston, TX - http://www.houstontx.gov/
à Harris County, TX - http://www.co.harris.tx.us/
à State of Texas - http://www.state.tx.us/
à FirstGov, the U.S. Government’s official Web portal - http://www.firstgov.gov/
d. Elections, Opinion Polls & Statistics
America at the Polls, 1960 – 2000: A Handbook of American Presidential Election Statistics.
REF JK 524 .M33 2001
America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics.
REF JK 1967 .A8 v.10 Campaign and Election Reform: A Reference Handbook. REF JK 1976 .U88 1997
à U.S. Census Bureau - http://www.census.gov/
Congressional Districts in the 2000s, A Portrait of America. (CQ Press) REF JK 1341 .C65 2003
Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections. 4th ed. REF JK 1967.C662 2001
à Fed Stats http://www.fedstats.gov/ - statistics and information produced by more than 100 US
Federal Government agencies.
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à Statistical Reference Shelf online http://www.fedstats.gov/fast.html - Links to Statistical Abstracts,
State & Metro. Area Data Book, transportation, health stats, & more
Gallup Poll Annual. REF HN 90.P8 G35 1985-present
à Stateline: Where Policy and Politics News Meet - http://www.stateline.org/live/
à Pew Research Center for People and the Press - http://people-press.org/
à & Roper Center for Public Opinion Research. - Access public opinion data compiled from
various sources two ways:
à Free web access to some data is available at http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/
Full access to Roper Center publications from 1935- onward in the library’s Lexis-Nexis
Academic database - Select the Sources option at the top of the page and then search for
“roper center.”
Historic Documents on Presidential Elections, 1787-1988. REF JK 1965 .H56 1991
Speeches, debates, party platforms, etc.
National Party Conventions, 1831-1992. REF JK 2255 .N376 1995
The People Speak: American Elections in Focus. REF JK 1967.P39 1990
Presidential Elections, 1789-2000. (CQ Press) REF JK 524 .P6783
State Rankings: A Statistical View of the 50 United States. REF HA 214 .S727
& à Statistical Abstract of the United States. REF HA 202.U54 - Latest edition is at the library
Reference desk and also online here: http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
A Statistical History of the American Electorate. (CQ Press) REF JK 1967 .R87 2001
The U.S. Election System. REF JK 1976 .U217 2004
U.S. Presidential Candidates and the Elections: A Biographical and Historical Guide.
REF JK 528 .H38 1996 v.1-2
à For more suggestions, see the Find Statistical Data, Facts, and Opinion Polls online guide.
e. Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and More
Bieber's Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations Reversed: a Dictionary of Terms and Titles With Their
Abbreviations. REF K 89 .K37 1994
Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science. REF JA 61 .B43 1999
CQ's Pocket Guide to the Language of Congress. REF JK 9 .C67 1994
The Constitution and Its Amendments. REF KF 4557 .C66 1999 v.1-4 - “a primer for students
learning about the Constitution for the first time in a formal way”
Constitutional Rights Sourcebook. REF KF 4550 .Z9 R463 1999
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Encyclopedia of American Government. (Salem Press) REF JK 9 .E52 1998 v.1-4
Encyclopedia of American Parties, Campaigns, and Elections. REF JK 9 .B56 1999
The Encyclopedia of American Political History. REF E 183 .E48 2001
Encyclopedia of American Public Policy. REF JK 468.P64 J33 1999
Encyclopedia of Democracy. (CQ Press) REF JC 423 .E53 1995 v.1-4
Encyclopedia of Government and Politics. 2nd ed. (Routledge) REF JA 61 .C66 2004
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. REF KF 4548 .E53 2000 v.1-6 (2nd edition)
Encyclopedia of the American Legislative System: Studies of the Principal Structures, Processes,
and Policies of Congress and the State Legislatures since the Colonial Era. REF JF501.E53 1994
The Encyclopedia of the Republican Party / Encyclopedia of the Democratic Party.
REF JK 2352 .E56 1997 v.1-4
Ethics in U.S. Government: An Encyclopedia of Investigations, Scandals, Reforms, and
Legislation. REF JK 468 .E7 R556 2001
Federal Agency Profiles for Students. (Gale) REF JK 421 .F42 1999 - United States executive
departments and administrative agencies.
Great Books of the Western World - Volume 35. REF AC 1.G72 1990 v - This set includes: The
American State Papers; The Federalist; On Liberty, Representative Government and Unitarianism by
John Stuart Mill; The Spirit of Laws by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu; On the Origin of
Inequality, On Political Economy, and The Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau.
Historic Documents. REF E 839.5 .H57 1972-present - Notable primary source documents
compiled and published yearly by CQ Press, including speeches, court decisions, treaties and
government reports.
Historical Dictionary of United States Political Parties. REF JK 2261 .B345 2000
A Historical Guide to the U.S. Government. REF JK 9 .H57 1998 - “A candid, measured
examination…Entries range from 500 words to more than 1,000. The appendix includes more than 2
dozen documents that have helped shape our government during the past 220 years.” Choice.
The Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts. REF JA 61 .M28 1996
100 Americans Making Constitutional History: A Biographical History. REF KF 4549 .O54 2004
The Routledge Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Political Thinkers. REF JA 83 .R725 1992
West’s Encyclopedia of American Law. 2nd ed. REF KF 154 .W47 2004 v.1-13
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3. Resources for Specific Branches of Government
a. Legislative
à Texas Legislature Online - http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/
à Thomas: U.S. Congress on the Internet - http://thomas.loc.gov/
Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1996. REF JK 1010 .A5 1997
Congressional Directory. REF JK 1011 .U472 (1997-2006)
Congressional Quarterly’s Guide to Congress. 5th ed. REF JK 1021 .C565 2000 - History and
functions of the House & Senate; the electoral college; the history of the Capital Building.
Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Annual. REF JK 1012 .C7 v. 24-present
CQ’s Politics in America: Members of Congress in Washington and at home. REF JK 1012 .P64
1982- - An almanac and directory of members, district data, committees, seniority coalitions, more
(every other year).
Directory of Congressional Voting Scores and Interest Group Ratings. 3rd ed.
REF JK 1051 .S555 2000 v.
Major Acts of Congress. REF KF 154 .M35 2004 v.1-3 – 262 acts of Congress selected for their
historical significance and lasting impact on contemporary American life.
b. Executive
à The Office of the Governor (Texas) - http://www.governor.state.tx.us/
à The White House – http://www.whitehouse.gov/
The American Presidency: A Bibliography. REF JK 511.M382 1987
The American Presidency: A Historical Bibliography. REF E 176.1.A47 1984
American Statesmen: Secretaries of State from John Jay to Colin Powell. REF E 176.A596 2004
Congressional Quarterly’s Guide to the Presidency. 2nd ed. REF JK 516 .C57 1996
Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. REF JK 511 .E53 1993
v.1-4
Encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet. REF E 176 .G89 2000 v1-3.
Presidential Administration Profiles for Students. (Gale) REF JK 511 .P78 2000
Presidential Scandals. Jeffrey D. Schultz. REF E 176.1 .S353 2000
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c. Judicial
à Texas Judiciary Online – http://www.courts.state.tx.us/ - The portal to Texas judicial pages,
including the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, & intermediate courts of appeals.
à The U.S. District Courts (Federal Judiciary) - http://www.uscourts.gov/
à The Supreme Court of the United States – http://www.supremecourtus.gov/
Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court. REF KF 8742 .A35 E53 2001 v.1-3
Historic U.S. Court Cases: An Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. REF KF 385.A4 J64 2001 v.1-2
The Justices of the United States Supreme Court, 1789-1969, Their Lives and Major Opinions.
REF KF 8744.F75 v.1-5 - Up to & including the Burger Court (1969-1978).
The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. 2nd ed. REF KF 8742 .A35 o93
4. Political Quotations
The Book of Political Quotes. Jonathon Green REF PN6084.P6 B66 1982
Crown's Book of Political Quotations: Over 2500 Lively Quotes from Plato to Reagan.
REF PN 6084.P6 C7 1982
The Macmillan Dictionary of Political Quotations. REF PN 6084.P6 E54 1993
The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations. REF PN 6084.P6 O94 1996
Political Quotations: A Worldwide Dictionary of Thoughts and Pronouncements from Politicians,
Literary Figures, Humorists, and Others. REF PN 6084.P6 P59 1994
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