How to Do Research at The Paul Robeson Library: Political Science
Contents
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Susan Beck
Reference Librarian
(856) 225-2831
Last edited by: Julie Still |
Finding Books (Back to Top)
To Find a Book at the Paul Robeson Library Use:
Selective List of Resources Available at Paul Robeson Library:
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
- Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science: A User’s Guide to its Terms (REF
JA61.B43 1999)
Largely terminology with a separate biographical section.
- Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought (REF JA61.B57 1987)
Covers major ideas and doctrines. Chiefly Western, with
some coverage of Chinese, Hindu and Islamic thought. Survey
articles of major traditions.
- Dictionary of Political Analysis (REF JA61.P57
1982)
A bit dated, but provides good, clear definitions.
- Encyclopedia of Democratic Thought (REF JC423.E54
2001)
Collection of essays on key ideas and issues in democracy. Coverage is
international.
- Encyclopedia of Democracy (REF JC423.E53 1995)
This four volume set is international in scope and contains entries on
countries, eras, philosophical concepts and biographical information. Features an alphabetical list of entries by subject category (e.g.
“biographies by centuries”) and an appendix of primary source documents.
- Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions (REF JC491.E63 1998)
Entries are written by American and British contributors, but the coverage is
global. Features a timeline of revolutionary events, maps and
illustrations
Handbooks
- New Handbook of Political Science (REF
JA66.N49 1996)
Essays by individual scholars grouped by broad topics. Extensive
references with each essay. Subject and name index.
- Oxford Companion to Politics of the World (REF JA61.O95 1993)
Both short and in-depth essays on countries, events,
concepts and types of government. Biographies included.
Atlas
- International Boundaries: A Geopolitical Atlas (REF
JC323.A52 2003)
In view of the relationship between boundaries and security, this tool aims “to
provide illustrations, descriptions and assessments for all the existing
international land and maritime boundaries.” All terminology used in the
assessments is defined.
- Politics, Elections and Public Opinion
- America Votes (REF JK1967 .A8)
- Congressional Quarterly’s Guide to U.S. Elections (REF JK1967 .C662 1994)
- Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America (REF JK2261 .E474 2000)
- Political Parties and Elections in the United States: An Encyclopedia
(REF JK2261.P633 1991)
New
Jersey Politics
Public Opinion
- Polling the Nations: The Ultimate Survey Database
Electronic resource available through IRIS. Simply search on the
title. Provides access to opinion polls conducted from 1986 to the
present on a vast array of topics. U.S. and
international in scope.
- Eagleton Institute of Politics: Center for Public Interest Polling http://eagletonpoll.rutgers.edu/
Features a searchable archive of Eagleton Polls of New Jersey residents from
1971 to the present on a wide range of topics and a “polling links” page
providing links to other institutions that survey public opinion.
Legislative Histories
New Jersey Legislative Histories
Other Legislative Links
- Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet
The Library of Congress’ website rich with authoritative information and
featuring an easy-to-use interface. Includes the Congressional Record
from 1989 to present, text of bills from 1989 to
present and more. See “About Thomas” on the main page for a full
description.
- GPO Access
Official information from the U.S. Government Printing Office. Includes the United States Code, the Federal Register, Executive
Orders and other Presidential materials.
State and
Local
- New Jersey Legislative Manual (Latest edition: REF JK3531)
- New Jersey Law Network
Helpful links to executive, legislative and judicial branches of NJ government,
text of the New Jersey Statutes, information on various legal topics.
- New Jersey State Legislature
This site provides the full text searchable version of
the New Jersey State Constitution of 1947.
- The Illustrated Dictionary of Constitutional Concepts (REF JA61.M28 1996)
Finding Articles (Back to Top)
Types of Articles
First, you need to know what kind of articles your
instructor wants you to use in your paper. There are two general types of
articles: those that come from general readership magazines such as Time,
or Newsweek or those that come from research journals or scholarly journals
such as Artforum International. For
complete information on how to recognize a scholarly journal, please go to
“Types of Periodicals” on the Paul Robeson Library Web Site
Using an Index for Popular Articles
Now that you know what you are looking for you will
need to use an index to find the article. Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) is a good starting place. This database is available on-line and has full-text
of the articles from both general readership magazines and scholarly journals. Search Tip: In order to find journal articles quickly, use the Advanced Search
instead of the default, Basic Search, and check off the boxes for
"Scholarly (Peer Reviewed)" journals and "Full Text."
Scholarly Journals
At some point, you will need to use the more
specialized, scholarly indexes. A list of these indexes for Literature
along with descriptions can be found at the Rutgers University Libraries Index
Page
The scholarly indexes may give you citations to
articles as your search result. A citation is not the complete article
but it gives you enough information to locate the article in our library
system. Many of these resources include government publications, research reports or statistical information. The best indexes to use
for political science are:
- CountryWatch
- CQ Researcher
- Ethnic News Watch
- Government Periodicals Index
- Left Index
- Lexis Nexis Academic
- New York Times
- PAIS International
- Statistical Abstract of the United States (electronic access via IRIS)
- World News Connection
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
How to locate the periodical using a citation:
- Use the Journal name to search in the Catalog
(IRIS)
- When you enter the search
term, click on “Periodical Title” as
your “Search Type.”
- The catalog will tell you if the periodical is at the same
library
as you, at a different Rutgers Library, not
owned by Rutgers at
all, or available on-line.
- Make sure that the search results match the date of the
article
you are trying to locate.
- If the periodical is available on-line, the catalog will
display a link to use.
- If the periodical is available at a different Rutgers
Library than
you are at you can click on "Request article /other" button
to order it.
- If Rutgers does not own the periodical at all, you can
request the
article through Interlibrary Loan.
- If you get confused, contact a Reference
Librarian.
Political Science Departments at Rutgers University (Back to Top)
Other Recommended Sources (Back to Top)
Please contact Julie Still with comments and suggestions.
Compiled by Lori Rowland. |
