Research Tips & Tools

Course Guides:

Political Science 361:
State and Local Government

Finding Books

Use the HELIN Library Catalog to locate books in Roger Williams University Libraries and other HELIN libraries.  To find books located in other libraries you may also wish to search InRhode or WorldCat

Subject Searching

Use this type of search when you know the name of an author, a correct title, or a Library of Congress Subject Heading.

Sample subject headings for this class:

Local Government
State local relations
State government
Public policy
Political planning

Keyword Searching:

Use this type of search when you do not know the proper LC Subject heading for your topic, or when you know some of the words but not all the words in a title. Or to expand or narrow your search.

HELP FOR WORD SEARCHING


Reference Materials

Almanac of American Politics
REF JK 1012.A44
The Book of the States 2004
REF JK2403.B6
The Municipal Yearbook
REF JS342.A2.M8
Rhode Island Government Owner's Manual
REF JK3431.R48
State Legislative Elections
REF JK1967.B37 1998

Finding Articles using Online Databases

Academic Search Premier - Ebsco 
General periodical index providing full text for nearly 3,460 scholarly publications.
CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online A "comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs."
Congressional Universe Part of the Lexis/Nexis suite of databases.  Choose Congressional Universe from left blue column for information on Congress and U.S. Legislation.
Ethnic NewsWatch Ethnic NewsWatch is a full-text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. 
GenderWatch   GenderWatch is a full-text database that focuses on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. 
Lexis/Nexis Universe
 
A news, law, and busines information service with full-text access to nearly 6000 newspapers, periodicals, and reference sources.
PAIS International  
Stat USA Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce that provides information for U.S. business, economic, and trade community. See librarian for password.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts Citations and abstracts of political science literature, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy.

Finding Information on the Web

Census Bureau
Latest available census data with link to American Factfinder.
Citing Electronic Resources
Links to style guides for print and electronic citation guides of copyrighted information
Political Science Research Guide
Created by RWU Librarians and Political Science faculty offers good links for political science research.
University of Michigan's Document Center
One of the most comprehensive sites on the web for locating government information, whether it be local, state, federal, foreign, or international. Its Documents in the News section is especially useful for identifying government issues making news headlines. Also includes links to Political Science Resources on the Web and Statistical Resources on the Web