Library Course Guide - UWW | Library Course Guide for University Without Walls


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UMass Libraries > Research by Subject > Political Science Research Guide

Library Course Guide for Political Science 255H
American Foreign Policy:Honors Seminar

Introduction
This guide is arranged in the order that one might work through the research process. However, if you would like to go to a particular area, choose from the alphabetical grouping below.

Reference Materials
Locate background information on your topic by using the Library Catalog. To restrict your search to reference materials, click on the Other Searches box, then choose Restrict Searching to Reference Collections Only.

General Encyclopedias, e.g., Encyclopedia American, Ref. AE 5 E333.
Specialized Encyclopedias:
Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, Ref. E 183.7 E52 2002.
Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations, Ref. E 183.7.E53 1997.
Hanbooks and Yearbooks: publications which provide brief information about individual countries and about international organizations; particularly useful are:
Europa World Year Book, (annual), Latest ed. Ref. Desk JN 1.E89.

Political Handbook of the World (annual), Latest ed. Ref. JF 37.P6.
Country Reports: EIU Country Reports, online Each report examines and explains in depth the issues shaping nealy 200 countries: the political scene, economic policy, domestic economy, sectoral trends, and foreign trade and payments. Detailed two-year forecasts complement the analysis and pinpoint political and economic developments. Produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit - publisher of The Economist
Atlases: World atlases: call numbers begin G1001 - G1046 Regional/country atlases: call numbers begin G1100 -G1779 (western hemisphere) -- G1780 -G2799 (eastern hemisphere).
Dictionary:
International Relations: A Political Dictionary, Ref. JX 1226 P55 1995.
Biographical Information:
Biography Resource Center online. Brief biographies from Who's Who and other sources.
Current Biography, 1940+ Ref. CT 100.C97. Biographical articles about people in the news.

Þ There are several useful “summary” publications, which provide overviews of world events (#1 and #2 below), of important foreign and domestic documents (#3), and of congressional activity (#4).

1. Facts on File Yearbook, 1941+ Ref. D 410.F14

A series of weekly reports, with cumulative indexes.

2. Keesing’s Record of World Events, 1913+ Ref. D 410.K4

3. Historical Documents, 1972+ Latest 5 years, Ref. E 839.5H57 1981

4. Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus, 1945+ Ref. JK 1.C74

This is kept up-to-date by CQ Weekly, Ref. JK 1.C741 and online.

Please note: The "Ref" before the call number indicates an item in the Reference Collection, which is located on the Main floor of the Du Bois Library.

Books
Search for books in the Library Catalog. Use either subject or keyword search to find books on a particular topic. Write down the location and the call number. Consult the floor Directory to the Du Bois Library to find the floor where your call number is located.

Other sources of books include:

Net Library - online books
WorldCat and Other Library Catalogs for searching other catalogs if you don't find books in the Four College Catalog.
Borrow books from the Virtual Catalog and Interlibrary Loan.

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Databases
Locate citations, abstracts and/or full text of journal articles, magazine articles, newspapers, dissertations, government documents, and other information sources in your subject.

The UMass Libraries database collection is licensed for on-campus access by all and remote access by OIT Account holders. See Library Services for Remote Users for information about off-site access.

Please note: In some of our databases you may see the UMLinks button - graphic for SFX/UMLinks service . Clicking on this button will take you directly to the full text of your article, if available, or to other options for finding the article if not available online. For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions about UMLinks.

Selected databases for Political Science 255H research topics are:

Academic Search Premier: an interdisciplinary databases with many full text articles. Good starting point for many topics. 1975-present.
Columbia International Affairs Online: Full-text working and position papers, books, and journals, from international affairs research institutes.
Expanded Expanded Academic Index: wide range of periodical articles on many topics -a great place to start your research. Includes full text.
International Political Science Absracts: Citations to articles from international political science periodicals, 1989-present.
LexisNexis Academic: full text articles from news sources, business periodicals, legal, and medical publications. 1980-present.
PAIS International: Citations and abstracts for articles, books and book chapters, government documents, statistical directories, research reports, conference reports and other materials relating to public and social policy published in Western European languages, 1970-present.
Social Science Absracts: Includes citations to articles in over 520 English-language scholarly journals covering a wide range of interdisciplinary fields such as economics, ethics, law, political sciences, psychology, sociology, . Indexing goes back to 1983 and abstracts start in 1994.
Social Science Citation Index: Web of Science consists of three indexes to scholarly journals. This section, Social Sciences Citation Index, covers anthropology, political science, history, public health, industrial relations, social issues, information science & library science, social work, law, sociology, linguistics, substance, abuse, philosophy, urban studies, psychology, women's studies, and psychiatry. 1956-present.
Sociological Abstracts: Citations and abstracts for articles from sociology and related (anthropology, education, medicine, social psychology) journals; include references to U. S. and Canadian dissertations and conference papers. 1963-present.

Journals and Periodicals
The Library offers many journals in digital format. To search for title listings, use the E-Journal Locator (a link is always available at the top of the page.)

Finding Journals - When consulting databases and journal indexes, make sure to write down the complete citation for each journal article that you would like to find. This includes: author, title, journal name, date, volume, and page numbers. Journal articles can be printed from library computers, emailed to yourself, or photocopied. Go to the Library Catalog and search on journal title to see if we own that journal. Search the E-Journal Locator to see if the journal is available electronically.

Please note: The "Per" before the call number indicates an item is a periodical/journal.

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Locating Materials within the Libraries
After you have the citation for your material (from a database, library catalog etc.) find the call number. If not available in the database or index you are using go to the Library Catalog.

Choose title and type the name of the journal title, book or other material in the box that appears.
If your title appears write down the call number given and location (UM/Main - W.E.B. Du Bois, UM/Sciences - Integrated Sciences & Engineering Library, Special Collections etc.).
Consult the Call Number chart to identify the floor for your material.

If this library doesn't own the material you want, try searching for an item from the Four College Catalog, or fill out an Interlibrary Loan Request Form with the appropriate citation information. Staff will attempt to locate and bring the material here for you to use.

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Government Documents Collection

The Research Process (an introduction)

Getting Started with Research - Learn about some very basic research tools and when they are appropriate. Discover techniques for using different search tools, such as databases, indexes, the library catalog and search engines. Use your skills to find different types of resources, such as articles, books, reference materials and web pages.
Merlin Information Literacy Tutorial - In-depth tutorial on the library research process, including evaluation and citation of information sources.
Citation Linker - If you have an article title or author, a journal title or ISSN, and a date for a source, this tool will help you locate it.
RefWorks Citation Manager -Collect, store, and organize citations from books, articles, web sites, and other sources. RefWorks automatically converts citations into properly formatted bibliographies.

Citation Styles
See Using Citation Styles for examples and links to standard style formats.

Library Help & Contacts

Ask a Librarian: Get reference assistance in person, by phone, by email or by virtual or "chat" reference.
Evaluate a Session: We would like your feedback about your library instruction session
Instructional Services: Resources that show how to locate, evaluate and use appropriate information for your research, teaching and service projects.
Interlibrary Loan: Request material from other libraries
Request a Consultation: Schedule an appointment with reference librarian Beth Lang. Email: bmorgan@library.umass.edu
Tutorials: Interactive tutorials to refresh your library research skills.

Prepared for Professor Eric Einhorn, Political Science 255, 2/05
Library Guide by Barbara Morgan, Law Reference Librarian and Len Adams, Government Documents Librarian

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