Resources for
Political Science Research - POS 6934 (Schwerin)
Fall 2007
LIBRARIAN: Bruce Barron
Activities:
In this session we will examine resources for doing research on topics in
Political Science. These sources of information include the library catalog,
databases, and web sites.
Goals:
At the conclusion of this session you will be able to:
- Access the library's catalog and
other resources from home or campus;
- Locate useful databases and
web sites;
-
Find materials in the catalog;
-
Navigate selected databases and retrieve chosen records;
Accessing Information:
The address of the Library’s web site is
http://www.fau.edu/library. In order to access databases from home you
must use EZ Proxy. This can be done by going to Quick Links on the
homepage and then clicking
<Off Campus Connect>.
Selected
Resources:
FAU LIBRARIES CATALOG
Ø
Searches will find books and government
documents. More effective searches can be done using subject terms.
Ø
Some catalog entries have “purl”
addresses so they can be accessed directly as an electronic resource (Adobe
Acrobat Reader required).
Ø
If the library does not own a needed book,
ILLIAD
should be used
to request the item through
Interlibrary Loan.
RESOURCES FROM WEB SITES
Ø
The Library of Congress maintains a
web site containing useful links to electronic sources from around the world.
This resource is called
Portals to the World
Ø
GODORT has
produced the extensive directory
Frequently Requested Government Information. This can be found by
selecting Find - Government Resources from the Research option on
the Library homepage and then choosing Web Portals and Directories.
Choose
Foreign Countries/Comparative Politics to locate a wealth of
valuable resources.
Selected Databases:
You must use
EZ Proxy
to access databases from off campus.
Ø
Academic Search Premier
offers an extensive selection of articles from scholarly journals on a wide
range of topics. If only an abstract or citation is available, try SFX
to locate full text.
Ø
Access World News contains
articles in English from newspapers and newswires
from throughout the world. Search all sources from the
homepage or select a country and choose an individual source for needed
information.
Ø
Political Risk
Yearbook
is an excellent resource covering current political and
economic conditions in selected countries. Policy issues are discussed and
forecasts are presented in this database.
Ø
JSTOR contains
over 500 scholarly journals in disciplines such as Political Science and Asian
Studies. Many articles will be on
historical or research topics.
Ø
PAIS International
and
Political Science: A SAGE Full-Text Collection are good
sources for coverage of international comparative politics and foreign
policy developments.
Ø
CIAO
is the Columbia International Affairs Online database which provides a
comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. This
source includes journal articles, ebooks, policy briefs, and working papers.
Ø
Country Watch
is an additional source of news and general information on 192
countries. It includes material on political conditions, human rights, and
governmental structures.
Citing Sources:
A general resource for writing a paper and citing
sources correctly is
Nuts and
Bolts of College Writing
FINDING ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE
Ask-A-Librarian
email reference help
Reference desk phone number: 561-297-3785
Make an appointment with a librarian:
One-on-one reference consultation
