Barnard College Library Research Guide
 

BC 3327:

Colloquium on the Content of American Politics

Professor Raymond Smith

Contents
v Print Resources
v Online Indexes and Databases
v E-Journals
v Other Full-Text Resources
v Primary Sources
v Library Services
v Course Syllabus

"Voters at the Voting Booths, ca. 1945."
Courtesy of the NAACP, 1945.
African American Odyssey, Library of Congress.

 
PRINT RESOURCES

Reference Books
Use for:

Here are some examples:

TITLE BARNARD REFERENCE
CALL NUMBER
Encyclopedia of American Political History E183 .E48 2001
Encyclopedia of Democracy JG423 .E53 1995
Civil Rights in the United States E184 A1 C47 2000
Landmark Decisions of the United States Supreme Court KF4549 F56 2003
Encyclopedia of American Immigration JV6465 .E53 2001
Encyclopedia of Minorities in American Politics E184.A1 E574 2000
Organizing Black America E185.5 .O74 2001
Encyclopedia of Education LB15 .E47 2003
Encyclopedia of American Immigration                      JV6465 .E53 2001
Encyclopedia of the American Constitution KF4548 .E53 2000
Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America E184 .A1 G14 1995
History of the Mass Media in the United States                  P92 .U5 H57 1998
Oxford Guide to the United States Government          JK9 .P384 2001
Statistical Handbook on Racial Groups in the United States E184 .A1 H417 2000
A Statistical Portrait of the United States: Social Conditions and Trends HN60 .S7 2002g
U. S. Immigration: a Reference Handbook
Also online in NetLibrary:  http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?AUM3632		 JV6465 .M55 1996 

 

 

Searching CLIO
 CLIO (Columbia Libraries Information Online) is the on-line catalog for materials added to the Columbia University Libraries since 1981.  
  • For a title search, leave off the initial article (the, an, le, etc.)
  • For an author search, put last name, then first name
  • For a keyword search, you must use and, or or not between the terms, or quotes for a phrase
  • Only use a uniform title search for anonymous works
  • In a keyword search with relevancy ranking, do not use and, or or not between the terms, but put + in front of terms that must be in the record; if + is not used, or is assumed
  • You can limit to books in the Barnard library using the More Limits or Post Limits options

 

Other Library Catalogs
Those with Columbia ID have access to the libraries of Teachers’ College, Columbia Law School and Union Theological Seminary, but they are not included in CLIO; use the Catalogs list on CU LibraryWeb, or the following links:
  • EDUCAT for Teachers’ College Library
  • Sophia for Union Theological Seminary Library
  • Pegasus for Columbia Law Library
  • CATNYP for New York Public Library research branches

 

ONLINE INDEXES AND DATABASES
  • Access these indexes and databases from the Databases (reference works & indexes) list
  • Using an index to find journal articles is a two-step process; first, find citations in the index, and second, click on "e-link" to find the full text online or do a Journal Title search in CLIO to find out which library has the paper version  

These indexes and databases will probably be the most relevant to your research.

Contemporary Women's Issues
A selected full-text resource (some material is abstract only) for information about women; particularly useful for material relating to current topics in the social sciences, such as politics, psychology, reproductive rights, and cultural studies. 

Ethnic NewsWatch
Full-text database of articles from the ethnic and minority press in the United States, 1991 to the present.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
Covers social sciences and related materials from over 100 countries in more than 90 languages, with focus on anthropology, economics, political science and sociology, 1951 to the present; to find articles about American politics, specify USA in the DESCRIPTOR field. 

International Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts for articles in the field of political science, including public administration, political theory and international relations, published in journals and yearbooks worldwide, 1989 to the present; to find articles about American politics, specify USA in the DESCRIPTOR field. 

Lexis-Nexis Academic
Full-text coverage of general news, medical, legal, business, governmental and reference topics.  Coverage varies by source; generally begins in mid-1980s.

PAIS International (Public Affairs Information Service database)
Citations and abstracts for articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs, 1972 to the present.

ProQuest Direct
Full-text articles and abstracts from newspapers and periodicals in many disciplines, including international affairs, law, psychology, public affairs, sociology, women's studies, from 1988 to the present.  For scholarly journals, click on "Databases selected" at top, clear all databases and select PA Research II Periodicals, click on "Continue" at top, and select Advanced Search.

Social Sciences Abstracts
Abstracts for journal articles on anthropology, business, community health, economics, foreign affairs, geography, international relations, law and criminology, medical care, political science, politics, psychiatry, psychology, public welfare, social work, and sociology, 1983 to the present.

Social Sciences Citation Index Expanded
Cited references, bibliographic information, and abstracts, with some links to full-text articles, in various areas including anthropology, communication, criminology & penology, demography, economics, education, ethnic studies, health policy & services, industrial relations & labor, international relations, planning & development, political science, psychology, public administration, public health, social sciences, transportation, urban studies, and womens studies, 1973 to the present.  Useful for tracing which authors cited a given article or book

Women's Resources International
Citations for articles on women's studies, gender studies, employment, family planning, feminism, feminist studies, feminist theory & history, gender, gender studies, international feminism, political/social activism, racial/ethnic studies, reproductive rights, sex discrimination, women’s studies, 1972 to the present.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts of books and articles from professional journals and major news magazines, devoted to North American and international politics, 1976 to the present; to find articles about American politics, specify UNITED STATES in the DESCRIPTOR field.

 

E-JOURNALS
Some scholarly journals are available on the Web as stand-alone online journals.  Others are available in searchable collections of journals supplied by the publisher or by another vendor.  These collections are included on the list of Databases on the Barnard Library home page.

Searchable Journal Collections:

JSTOR
An archive of full-text articles from more than 320 scholarly journals on anthropology, economics, education, finance, history, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology, statistics, etc., from each journal’s first issue up to 2 to 6 years ago.  Contains 10 political science journals, including American Journal of Political Science (1973-1998), American Political Science Review (1906-1996), Philosophy and Public Affairs (1971-1994), Political Science Quarterly (1886-1995), and World Politics (1948-1995). 

Project Muse
Full-text articles from more than 100 scholarly journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press in the humanities and social sciences.  Political science journals include Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Human Rights Quarterly, Journal of Democracy, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Washington Quarterly, World Politics.

ScienceDirect
Journals in the areas of physical, medical, technical, and social sciences, published by Elsevier Science.  Political science journals include Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Electoral Studies, Food Policy, Government Information Quarterly.

 

Lists of E-Journals Available at Columbia
These lists include both stand-alone journals and those included in collections

 

OTHER FULL TEXT RESOURCES ON-LINE
Here are some of the databases available through the Columbia Library system which provide access to full-text resources like government bills, hearings and reports, statistics, etc.  They are all on the list of Databases on the Barnard Library home page.

The Almanac of American Politics
Provides a brief political history of each state and Congressional district in the U.S., with profiles of each of the incumbent Governors, Senators and Representatives.

Lexis-Nexis Congressional
U.S. Congressional materials: bills, laws, documents, hearing transcripts, committee prints, the Congressional Record, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Code, Statutes at Large.

CQ.com on Congress
A legislative tracking and news service for the U.S. Congress, including Congressional Quarterly.

FactSearch
Facts and statistics about current social, economic, environmental, and political issues, 1984 to the present.

 

GUIDES TO SECONDARY SOURCES
Both the Barnard and Columbia Library home pages have guides to doing research using both online and print resources:

 

PRIMARY SOURCES

CLIO
To find primary materials in CLIO, look for these subdivisions in the subject field:
     --ARCHIVES
     --BIOGRAPHY (this includes autobiographies)
     --CORRESPONDENCE
     --DIARIES
     --INTERVIEWS
     --SOURCES
For example:
DU BOIS, W. E. B. (WILLIAM EDWARD BURGHARDT), 1868-1963--CORRESPONDENCE
JEWS--UNITED STATES--HISTORY--SOURCES
 

Researching U.S. Government Legislation
U.S. Government Documents at Lehman Library provides some useful guides to government documents, on the page U.S. Government Documents: Subject Guides & Internet Resources, including a guide to tracking legislation, titled The Legislative Process.
 

Web Sites
These Web pages include primary materials, or links to primary materials, like government documents, transcripts of speeches and interviews, letters and diaries:

Afro-American Almanac 
Historical documents relating to African American history.

American Memory Collections: Topics: Political Science and Law 
Library of Congress documents online relating to political science and law.

AMDOCS 
A collection of links to online documents for the study of American history, including the Federalist Papers.

The Herbert H. Lehman Suite & Papers, Columbia University 
The Lehman Suite (International Affairs, Room 406) houses the personal and official papers of Governor Herbert H. Lehman, as well as fifteen related collections, which include primary materials on McCarthyism, African American history, social work, and women's history.

KY Virtual Library: History > U.S. -- Primary Sources 
Lists collections of primary documents online for the study of U.S. history.

NARA (The National Archives and Records Administration) 
Links to historical and legislative documents online, including an online exhibit, Treasures of Congress; and a research guide to using archives, Getting Started.

Oral History Research Office, Columbia University  (Butler Library, Room 801)
This collection contains tapes and transcripts of interviews, with a focus on United States political and cultural history.

Source Documents in U.S. History 
This page from Duke University lists online documents for primary research.

UC Berkeley Primary Sources on the Web 
Provides a list of Websites containing primary source materials.

United States Constitution
Guide to historical texts, commentaries and judicial decisions online from the Law Library of Congress.

 

OTHER BARNARD LIBRARY SERVICES 

Consultation with a Reference Librarian
Click here to complete a form you can e-mail to the library requesting a consultation on your research, or come to the Reference Desk on the second floor.  We'll be happy to help you find additional information.

Contact a reference librarian: e-mail refdesk@barnard.edu or call 212-854-3953.

Updated 1/16/04
Lois Coleman
Reference Librarian
Barnard College Library