SHASTA COLLEGE LIBRARY 11555 Old Oregon Trail  *  PO Box 496006  *   Redding, CA 96049-6006

Political Science 2: American Government
Political Science 25: Global Politics

Locating Information: Books,  Videos, and Online eBooks

Locating Information: Journal Articles

Locating Information: Internet Resources

Citing Your Sources: MLA Style

Shasta College Library Information

federal government, government, politics, presidents, supreme court, women in politics

Favorite Political Science Reference Books

This list is a small sample.  Browse the reference shelves and book stacks at these call numbers for additional titles.

Dictionaries

• The Harper Collins Dictionary of American Government and Politics ed. by Jay M. Shafritz [Reference JK9 .S43 1992]

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of American Government by Joseph M. Bessette [Reference JK9 .E52 1998]

Encyclopedia of the U.S. Supreme Court by Thomas T. Lewis [Reference KF8742 .A35 E53 2001]

Encyclopedia of Women in American Politics by J. D. Schultz [Reference HQ1236.5 .U6 E53 1999]

Handbooks & Directories

• Congressional Quarterly's Washington Information Directory, 2000-2001

[Ready Reference F 192.3 .W33 2000/2001]
• Government Information on the Internet, 2nd ed. by Greg R. Notess [Ready Reference ZA 5075 .N68 1998]
• Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2002 [Ready Reference HA 202 .A1 2002]
• The United States Government Manual  [Ready Reference JK 421 .A3 2002/2003]

• Locating Political Science Videos
• Select Library Catalog from the Library's web page.
• Click on Search/Home and then click on Or Switch to Power Search.
• Enter politics in the words or phrase box.
• Scroll down and select VIDEOCASS from the type box.  Click on Search.
• Over 30 titles are retrieved.
• If you don't find the video you need, repeat your search with more specific search terms.

Registration for a netLibrary Online eBook account must be completed from an on-campus computer but the eBooks may be used from any where at any time. To create an account, visit the Library and  choose Online eBooks from our home page.  Ask for help at Reference!

• Locating Political Science Online eBooks:
• Select Library Catalog from the Library's web page.
• Click on Search/Home and then click on Or Switch to Power Search.
• Enter your search term in the words or phrase box.
• Scroll down and select Online Book from the type box.  Click on Search.
• Repeat search with different search terms.
• Online eBook is read by clicking on the URL button in the Full Details box.

The Library also subscribes to over 50 Articles & Databases to help you locate magazine and newspaper articles, on campus and also from your home computer. Click on Alphabetical List of Databases to view the complete selection available to you. Four of these databases are featured below, but please don't limit your research. Most of the databases provided through the Shasta College Library afford excellent coverage of current events and social issues.
 

To login on campus or from one of the extended ed sites,  click on the database's title.  If off campus, click on the satellite icon and follow instructions.  A Library Card is required to access databases from off campus. For information about acquiring a Library Card, see "How do I get a Library Card?" on the Library's Frequently Asked Questions web page.

• Masterfile Premier (formerly known as Ebsco)

General interest database that provides access to articles from over 1,900 general reference, current affairs, consumer health, and general science magazines. Masterfile Premier is a good first choice because it is updated daily, contains mostly full text articles, and is easily searched.
To limit to refereed articles:
• Click on Advanced Search
• Enter search strategy
Sample Search: democracy and "individual (freedom* or right*)"
• Scroll down to Limit your results, click on Peer Reviewed, and click on Search
To increase number of articles retrieved:
• Click on Advanced Search.  Scroll down to Search Options, Expand your search to
• Click on search within full text articles

• National Newspapers (Proquest)

Full text coverage of five major US newspapers (Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post), 1984 to present. The Historic New York Times collection goes back to the 1850's.

Search Tips:

• To limit to a particular date or time period, click on Search Methods and click on Guided Search.
• This is a great resource for help with those current events quizzes but there is a one day lag between the print edition and the database.  If you need today's news, go to the newspaper's database (ex. www.nytimes.com), it's print edition or another respected news sources such as www.cnn.com.

• CQ Researcher

Originally created to brief lobbyists and policy wonks, CQ Resarcher covers the most current and controversial issues of the day with concise summaries, insight into all sides of the topic, chronological outlines, bibliographies, links to related websites, and more. Users may browse through articles in the current issue or search for past articles using words, dates or other criteria.

• Since CQ Researcher is a relatively small database, Browse by Topic or Browse by Date are also an effective search methods.
• Think broadly.  If you find too much information you can always try a more specific search later.
• Use quotation marks to retrieve exact phrases, for example "school violence" or "gun control".

• CountryWatch
 
This resource contains political, economic, and business information for over 190 countries including detailed geographical, political, economic, corporate, and environmental briefings. In addition, worldwide news and information updates via United Press International are provided.
 

Some assignments specify the use of refereed (also known as peer reviewed) articles.  The 11th edition of Magazines for Libraries (Ready Ref Z 6941 .M23 2002) defines a  refereed journal as one where "manuscripts submitted...are examined both by the editor  and one or more specialist in the individual field before approval is given to publish.  The readers (sometimes called an editorial board) apparently ensure a better chance  that the final product will be a contribution to knowledge.

Internet Links: Government and Political Science

Librarian's Internet Index (LII)
Anybody can publish anything on the web.  How can you rapidly find reliable information? The LII is a searchable, classified list of over 10,000 web sites. These sites have been previewed by librarians (and if you can't trust a librarian, who can you trust?) and are regularly updated.  A keyword search on government yields over 700 websites and is too broad to be useful.  You'll have better luck if you choose a more specific search term or scroll down and click on the Government and Law. Sample topics include immigration, elections, politics.  Some sites of interest include:
• California Ballot Propositions Database  [http://holmes.uchastings.edu]  Maintained by the Hastings College of Law, this database is a comprehensive, searchable source of information on California ballot propositions from 1911 to the present. The site contains the full text of the propositions, 1911 to the present, as well as accompanying material contained in the voters' pamphlets, related legal and legislative history.
• California Legislation [http://leginfo.public.ca.gov/] Maintained by the Legislative Council of California, this site tracks Senate and Assembly Bills and provides full text  access to California laws.
• CIA World Fact Book [http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html]  This site, maintained by  the Central Intelligence Agency, provides "the essential elements of basic intelligence on all areas of the world." Although the most recent print edition of the Fact Book dates to 202, webpage content is frequently updated.

 
• Core Documents of U.S. Democracy  [http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/locators/coredocs/index.html] This site, maintained by the US Government Printing office, includes full-text access to key documents in American government, from the Articles of Confederation to the 2000 census to the weekly compilation of Presidential documents.
• Famous American Trials - [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/ftrials.htm]  Site maintained by a University of Missouri Law professor includes background information and original documents on over 35 trials, colonial times to the present.
• Great American Speeches  [http://www.pbs.org/greatspeeches/timeline/index.html]  Speech archive from PBS includes text, background information, and audio clips for 80 years of American political speeches.

Books
• The official guide for this style is:

Joseph Gibaldi's MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 5th ed.  (Reference Desk LB2369 .G53 1999)
• Another helpful (if not official) book is:

Andrew Harnack's Online! : A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources  (Reference TK 5105.875 .I57 .H364 2000)
Websites
• Modern Language Association (MLA) Style Guide (official)
• Online (companion web site to Andrew Harnack's above mentioned book)
• Guide for Writing Research Papers based on MLA Style (Capital Community College)
• Modern Language Association (MLA) Style: examples (Monroe Community College)
• MLA Style Guide:examples (University of Southern Mississippi)
• Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgment (Dartmouth College)

Current hours are posted on the Library Hours web page.  Come visit!

All of the resources listed on this page are available via the Shasta College Library web site 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.