This selective guide contains a bibliography of titles and electronic resources that will assist the students in locating materials on political and social issues. It outlines a general approach to finding materials and resources housed in the F.D. Bluford Library and also electronic sources that may be on the Internet or on CD-Roms. This guide will help students organize their research and at the same time give them some tips on research strategy. Remember that researching any topic can seem overwhelming.

· Using the INNOPAC

Establishing what resources the library owns on the subject you are researching should be your first priority. In order to find that information the student must use the online catalog called the INNOPAC in our library. The INNOPAC can be searched by AUTHOR, TITLE, KEYWORD, JOURNAL TITLE and by SUBJECT HEADING. If you are going to do a keyword search, you can enter a word that may appear in either the title or in the description of the work. If you are going to do a subject search, you should use the Library of Congress Subject Headings located next to the computer workstations to help you determine the correct heading to use. There are several other options on narrowing or limiting your search and on identifying similar titles. Please refer to the INNOPAC Handout at the Information Center for more detailed instruction or ask for assistance from a Reference Librarian.

· Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias are also a good place to start, especially if you are unfamiliar with the topic. Articles in encyclopedias are often written by recognized authorities and tend to provide established facts and ideas about the topic, its history, basic theories, and important persons who have written related articles. Also, most encyclopedia articles close with a bibliography that may help you to establish your literature search.

Note: When using encyclopedias, first consult the index volume, usually the last volume of the set. This will tell you if your topic has an article devoted entirely to it or if it is discussed within an article on a related subject.

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Institutions - A&T Ref JA61B56

Clements' Encyclopedia of World Governments - A&T Ref JF37.C53

Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy – A&T Ref JX1407 E53

Encyclopedia of Democracy - A&T Ref JC423.E53

Encyclopedia of Governmental Advisory Organizations - A&T Ref JK468.C7E5

Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions – A&T Ref JC491 E63

Encyclopedia of the American Legislative System -A&T Ref JF501.E53

Encyclopedia of the Republican & Democratic Party - A&T Ref JK2352.K87

Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America – A&T Ref JK2261.E474 2000

Guide to American Law: Everyone's Legal Encyclopedia - A&T Ref KF156.G77

Political Parties and Elections in the United States: An Encyclopedia –

A&T Ref JK2261.P633 1991

Taylor's Encyclopedia of Governmental Officials - A&T Ref JK6.T36

· Almanacs, Handbooks and Dictionaries

Almanacs are useful statistical and factual sources that have current information on a broad range of topics and subjects. Handbooks and dictionaries can help you throughout your research by providing quick, factual information that you may need to support your ideas. The coverage in handbooks is generally limited to a specific area of information (such as political parties, governmental institutions, or cities of the United States), giving brief overviews with statistical data. This information is usually more current than that in an encyclopedia. Dictionaries provide brief entries that are quick and helpful sources for the definition or identification of a term, movement, or person in political science.

Agency Voter Registration: A Reference Guide /North Carolina – A&T GSM Microforms H1 6:A26

Amendments to the Constitution of North Carolina, 1776-1989 – A&T LRC KFN7800.S27 1990

America At The Polls 2: A Handbook of American Presidential Election Statistics, 1968-1984 – A&T Ref JK524.S22 1988

American Almanac: Statistical Abstract of the United States - A&T Ref HA202.A54 (Current edition on Ready Reference)

American National Election studies Data Sourcebook, 1952-1986 – A&T Stacks JK1967.M54 1989

Atlas of African-American History and Politics: from the Slave Trade to Modern Times – A&T Ref E185.S574 1998

Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A Documentary Sourcebook – A&T Ref E185.6.B623 2002

Carl B. Stokes and the Rise of Black Political Power – A&T Ref F499.C653 S866 2002

Civil Rights Since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle – A&T Ref E184.6.C595 2000

Congressional Districts in the 1990's - A&T Ref JK 1341.C64

Congressional Quarterly Almanacs - A&T Ref JK1.C66

Congressional Quarterly’s Guide to U.S. Election – A&T Ref JK1967.C662 1985

Constitutions of the Countries of the World - A&T Ref K3157.A2B58 (Index Table next to Computer Workstations)

Dictionary of 20th-Century World Politics - A&T Ref JA61.S53

Directory of State & County Officials of North Carolina – A&T Ref JK4130 D474

Election Data Book: A Statistical Portrait of Voting in America – A&T Ref JK1967.E44 1992

Electoral Politics Dictionary – A&T Ref JK1971.R46 1989

Europa World Yearbook - A&T Ref JN1.E85 (Current edition in Ready Reference)

Gold-plated Politics: Running for Congress in the 1990s – A&T Stacks JK1991.F74 1992

Guide to the Presidency – A&T Ref JK516 C57

HarperCollins Dictionary of American Government and Politics - A&T Ref JK9.S43

Historic Documents on Presidential Elections – A&T Ref JK1965.H56 1991

Information Please Almanac - A&T Ref AY64I55 (Current edition in Ready Reference)

North Carolina Manual – A&T Ref JK4130 N6

North Carolina Voter Registration Statistics – A&T GSM Microforms H1 14:R33 1994

Oxford Companion to Politics of the World - A&T Ref JA61.O95

Political Handbook of the World - A&T Ref JF37P6

Presidential Elections since 1789 – A&T Ref JK524.C65 1979

Statesman's Year-Book - A&T Ref JA51.S7

· Indexes and Abstracts (Printed)

To locate articles that are pertinent to your research, you need to use indexes and abstracts to journal and newspaper literature.

CIS Annual: Legislative History of U.S. Public Laws - Indexes A&T Ref KF49.C62

PAIS International In Print - Indexes A&T Ref HB1.A1P9

Social Sciences Index - Indexes A&T Ref AI3.S62

What They Said In 1975 to the present: The Yearbook of World Opinion - Indexes A&T RefD410.W46

· Journal List

The following list of journals identifies publications of opinion on national policies and issues. Journals are located on the lower level of the library and current issues are located next to the service desk in alphabetical order. Bound issues are arranged by call number. Some titles are on microform. Be sure to use the INNOPAC to determine the exact location and format of a particular title.

Christian Century	Humanist	Progressive
Christianity Today	Journal of Social Issues	Review of Black Political Economy
Commentary	National Review	Social Forces
Commonweal	New Republic	Social Problems
Economist	Newsweek	Time
Foreign Affairs	Partisan Review	Western Journal of Black Studies

· Government Documents

Government Documents cover a broad range of topics including criminal justice; laws and regulations; congressional hearings; Supreme Court opinions; and economic, demographic and agricultural statistics. You can access our Government Documents Collection several ways: through the INNOPAC Catalog; using GPO Access; the printed Monthly Catalog housed in the Index Area; GPO on NC-LIVE; and using the Internet. These items are classified by the Superintendent of Documents Classification scheme and must be retrieved using that call number. The library's Government Documents Department is located on the lower level of the library. On the first floor of the library is a workstation dedicated solely to accessing government documents using CD-ROMs. Governmental agencies may be accessed through the Internet.

· Statistical Sources

Statistics provide a factual basis for your ideas. Most of the handbooks and electronic resources listed will give some general statistics. The following resources can provide information on very specific topics, either giving the actual data or listing citations to books, articles, or reports that will have the needed information.

American Statistics Index - Index Ref Z7554.U5A46

LexisNexis Statistical – Electronic Resources

Statistical Abstract of the United States - A&T Ref HA202.A384 (Current edition on Ready Reference)

Statistical Abstract of the World - A&T Ref HA154.S68 (Current edition on Ready Reference)

Statistical Handbook on Adolescents in America - A&T Ref HQ796.S8237

Statistical Handbook on Aging Americans - A&T Ref HQ1064.U5S738

Statistical Handbook on the American Family - A&T RefHQ536.S727

Statistical Handbook on Violence in America - A&T Ref HN90.V5S833

Statistical Handbook on Women in America - A&T Ref HQ1420.T34

Statistical Record of Women Worldwide - A&T Ref HQ 1150.S73

Statistical Reference Index - Indexes A&T Ref Z7554.U5S79

Vital Statistics on American Politics - A&T Ref JK274.S74

· Electronic Resources (CD-ROMS & WEB Subscription Databases)

Academic Search Elite via EBSCOhost – WEB – provides abstracts and indexing for over 1,320 scholarly journals covering a wide variety of subject areas from 1984 to present. Academic Search can be accessed through the library's homepage, under Electronic Resources.

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts – WEB – assembles a library of multidisciplinary scientific and technical bibliographic databases in a single resource. Databases available from Cambridge in the political and social sciences are: SAGE Full-Text Collections' Politics and International Relations, ERIC, and Sociological Abstracts. Cambridge, SAGE, Politics and International Relations, ERIC, or Sociological Abstracts can be accessed through the library’s homepage, under Electronic Resources.

Census of Population and Housing CD-ROM or WEB – Population items include age, race, sex, marital status, Spanish origin, household type, and household relationship. Population items are cross‑tabulated by age, race, Spanish origin, or sex. Housing items includes occupancy/vacancy status, tenure, units in structure, contract rent, meals included in rent, value, and number of rooms in housing unit.

Country Watch - WEB - is a world leader in providing country specific geopolitical intelligence on each of the 192 countries of the world.

County and City Data Book CD-ROM presents a variety of information on States, counties, cities, and places in the United States. These statistics represent useful summary measures that are generally available in comparable form for the geographic areas covered.

Economic Census CD-ROM or WEB – provides a detailed portrait of the nation's economy every five years. The census describes industries and geographic areas, including the nation, states, metropolitan areas, counties, cities, and, for some sectors, data for ZIP Codes.

Ethnic NewsWatch – WEB – An electronic database, located on the library's Homepage under Electronic Resources, indexes major minority newspapers throughout the country. (1990-present)

InfoTrac OneFile – WEB – An electronic database, available from the library’s homepage under Electronic Resources, provides indexing, abstracts and some text articles for scholarly and general periodicals in the humanities and social sciences, with selected coverage in the fields of science and technology. (1980 to present)

JSTOR – WEB – The JSTOR database is unique because the complete archives of over 320 core scholarly journals have been digitized, starting with the very first issues, many of which date from the 1800s. Current issues are not included, but historical journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences are available in full text.

Global Newsbank – WEB – Indexes with full-text articles from the major international newspapers. Global Newsbank can be accessed through the library's homepage, under Electronic Resources. (1996 to the present)

Lexis-Nexis® Academic– WEB – provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information. It couples the convenience of the Internet with the power of LEXIS-NEXIS® services so you can quickly and easily retrieve documents that meet your specific research needs. Academic Universe can be accessed through the library's homepage, under Electronic Resources.

Lexis-Nexis® Congressional– WEB – provides access to U.S. legislative information from Congressional Information Service, Inc. With Congressional Universe, you can: search an index of congressional publications from 1970 to the present; retrieve CIS Legislative Histories for public laws going back to 1970; find testimony from congressional hearings; track bills as they move through the House and Senate; search the Congressional Record and Federal Register; locate information about members and committees; search the National Journal. Congressional Universe can be accessed through the library's homepage, under Electronic Resources.

Lexis-Nexis® Current Issues– WEB – LexisNexis Current Issues, with Web-based access to more than 8,000 full-text publications, leads you directly to multiple perspectives on today’s hottest topics.

Lexis-Nexis® Environmental– WEB – LexisNexis Environmental provides abstracts to journals and conference proceedings and selected full-text documents. Also included are news articles, federal and state codes and regulatory agency regulations, federal and state case law and agency decisions, and federal and state waste site data and hazardous materials information.

Lexis-Nexis® Primary Sources in U. S. History– WEB – Primary and secondary sources include scholarly and reference articles, contemporary accounts, manuscripts, laws, court cases, speeches, photographs, and political cartoons.

Lexis-Nexis® Statistical– WEB – LexisNexis Statistical lets you enjoy fast and easy access to statistics produced by federal agencies, states, and intergovernmental organizations with advanced PowerTables™ functionality. Over 30,000 statistical tables are available.

PAIS International (PAIS) – WEB – Includes articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs.

ProjectMuse– WEB – provides access to the full text of over 160 scholarly journals in the arts and humanities, social sciences and mathematics. Some titles from 1995 to the present.

Political Risk Services on CD-ROM contains complete reports for 100 countries, comprising of political, social and economic data. It is an invaluable source for anyone looking to invest or plan a business venture in another country. (Located at the Reference Desk)

Readers' Guide Full-Text via Wilson Web– WEB – This database is the electronic equivalent of the internationally known Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. Coverage includes the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and Canada. Full-text coverage begins in 1994. Subjects covered include African-Americans, automobiles, biography, children, consumer education, current events, fashion, film, fine arts, food, hobbies, leisure activities, music, news, nutrition, religion, sports, and television.

ScienceDirect – WEB – offers access to the Elsevier Science journal collection (over 1,200 titles), along with journals from a host of prestigious societies and STM publishers. The full text collection of over 1 million articles from 1995 to present covers a wide of subject areas and disciplines. Electronic journals that can be accessed through ScienceDirect for political and social issues are:

Social Sciences Citation Index– WEB – This bibliographic index allows cited reference searching in the social sciences and provides citations and abstracts for more than 1725 journals covering 50 social sciences disciplines.

Social Sciences Full-Text via Wilson Web– WEB – This database is the electronic equivalent of the internationally known Social Sciences Index. Coverage includes includes a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of social sciences journals. Abstracting begins in 1994 and Full-text coverage begins in 1995. Subjects covered include anthropology, area studies, criminal justice, ethics, family studies, gender studies, geography, gerontology, international relations, law, minority studies, planning & public administration, political science, psychology, social work, sociology, and urban studies.

Statistical Abstract of the United States CD-ROM or WEB – contains statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the country. Provides over 1,400 tables from over 250 different governmental, private, and international organizations.

USA Counties CD-ROM is a time series county database available only on compact disc. Containing over 3,400 variables or items from 13 different federal and private organizations.

Web of Science – WEB – provides access to the ISI citation databases – multidisciplinary, high quality research information from the world’s leading professional science, social sciences, and arts and humanities journals. Web of Science can be accessed through the library's homepage, under Electronic Resources.

World Factbook CD-ROM or WEB – produced annually by the Central Intelligence Agency for the use of US Government officials. Contains statistics and data on countries of the world.

Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget ‑ Federal Budget Publications and the Economic Report of the President. Access: http://w3.access.gpo.gov/usbudget/index.html

Government Information Locator Service (GILS) ‑ GILS help people find information resources throughout the U.S. Federal Government. Access: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/gils/

NASCIO State Profiles (National Association of State Chief Information Officers) ‑ A service of NASCIO and is designed to serve as a topical clearinghouse to state government information on the Internet. Access: https://www.nascio.org/aboutNascio/profiles/

North Carolina General Assembly ‑ Access to bill status, bill history, full text of bills, committee reports, research publications, and other reports. Access: http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/

Social Statistics Briefing Room ‑ provides easy access to current Federal social statistics through links to information produced by a number of Federal agencies. All of the information included in the Social Statistics Briefing Room is maintained and updated by the statistical units of those agencies. All the estimates for the indicators presented in the Federal Statistics Briefing Rooms are the most currently available values. Access: http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/ssbr.html

THOMAS: U.S. Congress on the Internet ‑ Provide full text access to bills, Congressional Record, bill summary and status, the constitution, historical congressional documents, and links to many other governmental sources. Access: http://thomas.loc.gov/

The White House - Provide access to all the government information and services that are available on the Internet.Access: http://www.whitehouse.gov/