This research guide relays some basic information on library and information resources pertaining to the concerns of this department, as provided by University Libraries and/or sites on the World Wide Web.

1. To Shelf-Browse for Books (using main Library of Congress Subject Divisions)

Books on subjects associated with this field are shelved under the call number ranges listed below. Use TOPCAT to search for specific items in the collection, or more narrowly-defined subjects.

Political Science (general), JA1 - JA92 ------- Elections, JF1001 ------- Federalism, JC355 ------- Government & the Press, PN 4735 - PN4748 ------- International Relations, JZ2 - JZ6530 ------- Local Government, JS3 - JS8500 ------- Nationalism, JC311 - JC314 ------- Political Corruption, JF1081 ------- Political Culture--U.S., JA75.7 ------- Political Ethics, JA79 ------- Political Parties, JF2011 - JF2112 ------- Political Violence, HV6431 ------- Press & Politics, PN4735 - PN4748 ------- Public Administration, JF1338 - JF2112 ------- State Governments, JK2403 - JK9593 ------- Terrorism, HV6431 ------- United Nations, JX1977, JZ4935 - JZ5160

2. To Find Journal and Magazine Articles (using indexing/abstracting/full-text services)

The following services are recommended for all students and researchers:

• Academic Search Premier and MasterFILE Premier: These two all-subject WWW-based services (they are part of the EBSCOhost system) feature indexing and abstracting of many journals and magazines WKU Libraries receives in hardcopy, plus a large selection of articles in full-text.
• (EBSCOhost) Public Administration Abstracts: Linked full text for several periodicals.
• PAIS International: FirstSearch database available to faculty and graduate students (and to undergraduate students by special permission). Indexes almost 13,000 journals and magazines from 1990 onward, including some ninety percent of the ones University Libraries carries in hardcopy.
• Lexis-Nexis: U.S. federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews, and international legal information.
• Project Muse: Full text for 100+ scholarly journals in the arts and humanities and social sciences.
• Lexis-Nexis Statistical: Accesses statistical surveys, charts and tables produced by federal agencies, states, intergovernmental organizations, professional and trade organizations, commercial publishers, independent research organizations, state government agencies, and universities.
• America: History and Life: Cites articles on U.S. & Canadian history & government.
• Historical Abstracts: Cites articles on world history & governments (not U.S. & Canada).
• Lexis-Nexis Congressional: Congressional publications (hearings, reports, prints, documents, bills, Legislative Histories) on key American public policy issues.
• Alt-Press Watch has full text of over 170 alternative and independent newspapers, magazines and journals.
• Alt-Press Index: FirstSearch database available to faculty and graduate students (and to undergraduate students by special permission). Indexes journals covering cultural, economic, political & social change.
• Facts on File News Digest: Updated weekly, complete full-text of Facts On File World News Digest since January 1980; 6 other core databases.
• Google Scholar: A free Web-based Google service that restricts searches to the scholarly literature. Now features linking to full-text of articles held by WKU.
• GPO Access: 70+ full text databases: Fed. Register, CFR, Congressional Record, GAO Reports, Economic Report of President,Economic Indicators, Commerce Business Daily, Bills, Supreme Court decisions. Databases list at http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/databases.html
• MarciveWeb DOCS: Citations and some full text access to U. S. government documents from July, 1976 to present.
• RAND Abstracts: Library's selected RAND reports in the periodicals area.

Special resource:  TDNet Electronic Journal Finder [use to access Libraries' electronic journals, magazines, and newspapers, as well as some indexes and databases containing full-text articles; includes a comprehensive A-Z listing of titles]

3. Monographic and Other Materials (in the Helm Library, unless specially noted)

The following are recommended for use:

U.S. Politics (general): Congressional Digest (pro & con viewpoints; in Periodicals); Congressional Quarterly Almanac Ref JK1 .C66; CQ Guide to Current American Government Ref JK1 .C14; CQ Researcher Ref H35 .E35x; CQ Weekly Report Ref JK1 .C15

Congress: Almanac of American Politics Ref JK1012 .A4x; Congress A to Z Ref JK1021 .C554 1999; Congressional Quarterly's Politics in America Ref Desk JK1012 .C63

Elections: America Votes: A Handbook of Contemporary American Election Statistics Ref JK1967 .A8; Elections A to Z Ref JK1976 .M57 1999; Encyclopedia of the Democratic Party/Republican Party Ref JK2352 .K87 1997; World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties Ref JF2011 .W67 1999

Presidency: Encyclopedia of American Presidency Ref JK511 .E53 1994; Guide to Presidency Ref JK516 .C57 1996; Presidency A to Z Ref JK511 .P775 1998; Public Papers of Presidents Govt.Fed. AE 2.114; Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Govt.Fed. AE 2.109

Supreme Court: Guide to the Supreme Court Ref KF8742 .W567 1997; Justices of the Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions Ref KF8744 .F75 1997; Supreme Court A to Z Ref KF8742 .A35 S8 1998

International Politics: Europa World Year Book (statistics & info.on all nations) Ref Desk JN1 .E85; International Year Book & Statesmen's Who's Who Ref JA51 .I57; World Encyclopedia of Parliaments and Legislatures Ref JF511 .W67 1998; World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties Ref JF2011 .W67 1999

Law: Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It Ref KF240 .O365 1999; West's Encyclopedia of American Law Ref KF154 .W47 1998

State & Local Politics: Atlas of Ky. Ref Desk G1330 .A77 1998; Ky Encyclopedia Ref Desk F451 .K413 1992; Book of the States Ref JK2403 .B6; Municipal Year Book Ref JS342 .A2 I52

Women & Minorities in Politics: The Atlas of African-American History and Politics: From the Slave Trade to Modern Times Ref E185 .S574 1998; Civil Rights in America: 1500 to the Present Ref. JC599 .U5 S53 1998; Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America Ref E185.61 .E544 1998; Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics Ref E184.A1 E574 2000; From Suffrage to the Senate: An Encyclopedia of American Women in Politics Ref HQ1236.5.U6 S32 1999; Reference Library of Hispanic America Ref E184 .S75 R44x 1993; The State of Women in the World Atlas Ref G1046 .E1 S4 1997x

Public Administration: Encyclopedia of American Public Policy. Ref JK468.P64 J33 1999; The International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration. Ref H97 .I574 1998

Kentucky Building Materials: American State Papers, Acts of Kentucky and Journals of the House and Senate, political memorabilia and papers of Kentucky politicians.

4. Department of Political Science

Dept. of Political Science http://www.wku.edu/politicalscience/
WKU International Programs http://www.wku.edu/Dept/Support/AcadAffairs/International/

5. Related Professional Societies (for professional news, careers/jobs, memberships, etc.)

• American Political Science Association http://www.apsanet.org/
• American Society for Public Administration http://www.aspanet.org/
• International Political Science Association http://www.ipsa.org/site/
• National Association of Schools of Public Affairs & Administration http://www.naspaa.org/
• Scholarly Societies - Political Science http://www.scholarly-societies.org/polisci_soc.html

6. Web Sites Recommended by Dept. of Political Science Faculty

General

• Faculty Research Working Papers, JFK School of Government, Harvard Univ. http://web.hks.harvard.edu/publications/workingpapers/Index.aspx
• Governmental & Political Sites (UNC-Greensboro) http://www.uncg.edu/psc/links.html
• Miller Center of Public Affairs (UVA) America's Memory...Democracy's Future http://millercenter.virginia.edu/
• Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies http://www.jointcenter.org/index.php
• Poly-cy: Internet Resources for Political Science http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/polycy/
• Political Resources on the Net [worldwide] http://www.politicalresources.net/
• Political Science Resources on the Web [gateway] http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/poliscinew.html
• Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/
• Ultimate Political Science Links Page http://upslinks.net/
• WKU Libraries Government Documents & Law http://www.wku.edu/Library/dlps/gov_law.htm

American Politics & Public Administration:

• Asian Pacific American Caucus http://www.apa-politics.org/
• Bowling Green http://www.bgky.org/
• Center for American Women & Politics (Rutgers) http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/
• Congressional Black Caucus http://www.congressionalblackcaucus.net/
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute http://www.chci.org/
• Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus http://www.apa-politics.org/
• Congressional Caucus on India & Indian-Americans http://www.zazona.com/ShameH1B/Library/Archives/IndiaCaucus-MissionStatement.htm
• CongressLink [gateway] http://www.congresslink.org/
• The Constitution of the United States [court decisions on constitutional issues] http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/index.html
• Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center/Legislative Research Comm. http://www.kltprc.net
• National Congress of American Indians http://www.ncai.org/
• National Governors Association [info on U.S. governors & related issues] http://www.nga.org/
• The National Security Archive [documents, research] http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/index.html
• National Women's Political Caucus http://www.nwpc.org/
• Political Advocacy Groups: A Directory of U. S. Lobbyists http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/kfountain/
• Political Information.com [links] http://www.politicalinformation.com/
• Presidential Libraries http://www.archives.gov/presidential_libraries/
• State and Local Government on the Net http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm
• THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov/
• Web Guide to U.S. Supreme Court Research http://www.llrx.com/features/supremectwebguide.htm

International Affairs:

• Center for Defense Information--Terrorism http://www.cdi.org/program/index.cfm?programid=39
• Center for Strategic & International Studies http://www.csis.org/
• Elections Around the World (transferred to Wikipedia in 2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Electionworld/Electionworld
• Erik Herron's Guide to Politics in East Central Europe and Eurasia http://web.ku.edu/~herron/
• Eurasia Research Center [news, geopolitical & economic trends, etc.] http://eurasia-research.com/erc/0main.htm
• EuroNews [news] http://www.euronews.net/
• European Union Internet Resources http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/gov_eu.html
• Foreign Affairs Online http://www.people.virginia.edu/~rjb3v/rjb.html
• Foreign Policy & International Relations http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/law30.30.00/
• Governments on the WWW http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/
• International Affairs Resources (WWW Virtual Library) http://www.etown.edu/vl/
• Political Database of the Americas http://pdba.georgetown.edu/
  
• United Nations http://www.un.org/
• University of Minnesota Human Rights Library http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/
• Web Sites of National Parliaments http://wc.wustl.edu/parliaments.html
• Special resource:  See 'Countries/Cities of the World' under Section 6 of the Geography & Geology guide
  

University Libraries Liaison: Rosemary L. Meszaros (x6441 / rosemary.meszaros@wku.edu) last updated 06/03/2009
page maintained by Charles H. Smith