This guide suggests resources and strategies for research on the general subject of political science.

Background Information  |  Facts & Figures  |  Find Articles  |  Find Books  |  Criticism & Reviews  |  Primary Sources  |  People  |  Organizations  |  Web Resources  |  Additional Resources 

Background Information (Overview Sources)

Encyclopedias and other reference works are an excellent place to start a research project or simply learn more about a particular topic.  They provide topic summaries, context, and bibliographies for further reading.

Brewer's Politics (R 320.03 C734b)
Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy (R 327.73 En19)
The Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America (R 323.1196073 En 19)
The Encyclopedia of Democracy (R 321.803 En19)
Encyclopedia of the American Judicial Systems (R 347.300321 En19)
Encyclopedia of the American Presidency (R 353.031303 En19)
Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations (R327.73 En198)
International Encyclopedia of Human Rights (R 323.03 M263i)
The Oxford Companion to American Law
The Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World

Use dictionaries, statistical works, atlases, handbooks and similar works to find and check facts about topics, people, or events.

America Votes (R 324 Am35)
The Book of the States (R 353 B644)
Civil Rights in America (R 323.0973 Si25c)
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics
Congressional Quarterly Almanac (R 328.73 C761)
A Dictionary of Political Biography
The Europa World Year Book (R 314 Eu741)
Great American Court Cases (R 348.04 G798)
Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court (R 347.326 C76g3)
Minority Rights in America (R 323.17303 Ax22m)
Official Manual of the State of Missouri (R Ref Desk 353.9 M691)
The Oxford Guide to the United States Government
The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions
Political Systems of the World (R 320.3 D444p2)
Statesman's Yearbook (R 305 St29)
Statistical Abstract of the United States (R Ref Desk 317 Un3)
The Supreme Court A to Z (R 347.2603 Su76)
The United States Government Manual (R Ref Desk 353 Un31)
Vital Statistics on American Politics 2005-2006 (R 320.973021 V83)
The World Factbook (R 910.5 W893)

Search indexes, abstracts, and databases to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.  For a complete list of Kent Library's online indexes and databases, see the Find: articles page (http://library.semo.edu/find/articles.asp).

To find historical/source materials, such as newspaper and magazine articles, use the following print sources:

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900+
    (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Social Sciences Index, 1974+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Social Sciences and Humanities Index, 1966-1974
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
International Index to Periodicals, 1907-1966
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Combined Retrospective Index to Journals in Political Science 1866-1974
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
New York Times Index, 1851+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Official Index to the Times & The Times Index, 1906+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)

To find recent articles and scholarly/peer-reviewed articles use the following online databases:

Academic Search Premier
America: History and Life
GPO
Historical Abstracts
JSTOR
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Project Muse
Proquest Research Library
Wilson OmniFile

Use the Kent Library Catalog (http://library.semo.edu/find/books.shtml) to find books, periodicals (journals, magazines, & newspapers), videos, government documents and other materials.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms.
Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located near the Reference Desk on the main floor.

Some Political Science subject headings include:
Comparative government
Democracy
International relations
Municipal government
Political ethics
Political science
State rights

Browse the shelves by call number.  Use the Dewey Decimal chart (http://library.semo.edu/learn/guides/dewey100.shtml) to get you in the right subject areas or try the following:

Political Science 320s

Book Review Digest (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Book Review Index (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)

Congressional Record (X1.1)
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (latest two presidents at R 353.035 Un3)

Learn about important people, such as authors, researchers & historical figures related to this topic or field.

American National Biography (R 920.073 Am347)
Biography Index (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Contemporary Authors (R 928 C7671)
Dictionary of Literary Biography (R 928.1 D561)
Dictionary of National Biography (R 920.042 D561)
Directory of American Scholars (R 923.7 D628)
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography (R 920.073 N213)

Professional organizations and/or societies often provide very useful topic related information.

American Political Science Association
   (http://www.apsanet.org)
International Political Science Association
   (http://www.ipsa.org/site)

Web Resources

American Civil Liberties Union
    (http://aclu.org)
The Brookings Institution
    (http://www.brook.edu)
Country Studies
   (http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs)
FirstGov
   (http://firstgov.gov)
Foreign Government Resources on the Web
   (http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/foreign.html)
GPO Access
   (http://www.gpoaccess.gov)
Project Vote Smart
   (http://www.vote-smart.org)
U.S. Census Bureau
   (http://www.census.gov)

For a list of Web searching tools, see the Find: web resources page (http://library.semo.edu/find/webpages.html). 

CIA World Factbook
   (this database is available through the library's web page)
CQ Researcher
   (this database is available through the library's web page)
Editorials on File
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Facts on File
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Facts.com
   (this database is available through the library's web page)