Introduction to Political Science Methods

Course Number:

PLS 201

Instructor:

Seo, Jungkun

This guide provides links to the resources mentioned during the class sessions. It is a very selective guide to the resources you will find useful as you do research in the field of political science. For more resources, consult the general guide page for Political Science and the course guides created for other courses. Depending on your topic you may want to consult the eresource and course guides for other disciplines as well. For instance, if you are exploring the role of media in political science, visit the eresource guide for Communication Studies.

The attached PowerPoint file provides an outline of the library research presentation. The assignment that will be distributed at the end of the first session is due at the second session.

Starting Points

Encyclopedia of Political Science

When you need a succinct overview, need to browse for topic ideas, or need to know a few key resources about a topic, a specialized encyclopedia such as this one is a great place to go.

CQ Electronic Library

Congressional Quarterly Press provides this set of eresources. Although not scholarly, it provides a wealth of background information on issues addressed in Congress.

Points of View Reference Center

In-depth news and analysis of controversial issues. Limit to Academic Journals to restrict results to scholarly articles.

Articles & eResources

The first part of this list provides links to scholarly article databases, first specialized to political science and then general databases). Next come links to newspaper databases, then the key book database (other than the local library catalog) and ending with databases that provide a variety of specialized information (e.g., congressional information, country information, polling data).

Academic Search Complete

A EbscoHost database.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Public Affairs Information Services (PAIS)

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)

HeinOnline

JSTOR

Project MUSE

Military & Government Collection

An EbscoHost database.

Sage Journals Online

Google Scholar

Newspaper Source Plus

An EbscoHost database

LexisNexis Academic

Searches newspapers and legal resources.

New York Times Archive

Historical coverage, 1851-3 years ago.

WorldCat

To identify books and government documents. 9,000 libraries contribute. Use UNCW Illiad link to request items through interlibrary loan.

CQ Almanac Online

Polling the Nations

World FactBook

Using the Library Catalog

Click here to search the Library Catalog

Use the library's catlog to find books, videos and government documents. The catalog also contains records for journals that tell you what volumes & issues we have.

Books & Library Materials

Almanac of American Politics

Websites

Political Resources on the Net

PewResearchCenter

FactCheck

PolitiFact

Oyez

Audio of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

American Rhetoric

Audio and text of famous speeches, many of them political.

Government Resources

In addition to the resources here, use the library catalog and WorldCat to find government documents. Randall Library became a depository library for U.S. documents in 1965, but we did not start cataloging them until 1990. Using WorldCat and the resources listed below, you can find a document's call number (using the Superintendent of Documents, or SuDoc, classification scheme. Then check the shelf to see if the library has it. Otherwise, we can borrow documents for you through Interlibrary Loan.

WorldCat

LexisNexis Congressional

Congressional Hearings, Reports and Documents.

HeinOnline

A variety of statutes, Congressional and Supreme Court documents.

Thomas

Bills introduced in Congress

LexisNexis Academic

Court opinions.

Catalog of Government Publications (CGP)

FDsys

U.S. Department of State

Current and some historical information, including Background Notes (basic country information), Treaties in Force, Foreign Relations of the United States.

Statistics