Political Science 339: The Policy Making Process

Tracking the news  |  Other Primary Sources
Secondary Sources |  Finding Interview Subjects
Getting Help

Tracking the news

New York Times (1980 - present) via LexisNexis Academic

Washington Post (1977 - present) via LexisNexis Academic

• Click on Guided News Search
• In the first box, select General News
• In the second box, select Major Papers. 
• Put search terms in boxes, with ‘and’ for multiple terms and * to truncate terms with different possible endings.  Use pull-down box to select whether to search in just the Headline, or in the Full Text of the articles.
• Specify date range.  Type “New York Times” or "Washington Post" in the bottom box.  Click Search.
• You may sort the resulting list by Relevance, or add terms to the FOCUS box at the top to narrow down the results list.

 

Historical New York Times (1851 - 2003)

• Enter search terms into top box.  Use “quotes” to find exact phrases.  Connect phrases or words with AND. 
• Set date limits. Click Search.
• Use the yellow Print button at the top of the results screen to get Acrobat to format long articles for printing.
• Check the Search Tips to get more information on how to make your search more effective.

CQ Weekly - via CQ Researcher (1983 - present)

• Provides articles and floor votes on all aspects of legislative activity. 
• Use Search Articles to find information on your topic.

Inside Washington - via LexisNexis Congressional

• Includes Roll Call (12/1989 - present), The Hill (1995 - present), and the Washington Post, Section A (1977 - present)
• Click Political News/Hot Topics to search.

National Journal - via National Journal Policy Central (1977 - present)

• Click Advanced Search for more options.

 

Finding other primary sources

GAO Reports database - click Reports and Testimony

• The GAO evaluates congressional programs and audits federal expenditures.  It's the investigative arm of Congress.
• Database contains all reports published since 1971
• Browse by topic or search by keyword

Congressional Hearings - via LexisNexis Congressional

• Abstracts and indexing for all published hearings held from 1970 forward
• Click Congressional Publications, Advanced Search, and check the box for Hearings.
• Type search terms in box and specify date range.
• Some full text of submitted testimony and hearing transcripts are available online. 
• Also check Tripod by hearing title; Swarthmore and Haverford collect the print versions of congressional hearings which can be borrowed.

 

Finding secondary sources (books, scholarly articles)

Tripod - books, journal subscriptions, videos, online databases held by Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore.  Try a keyword search for your topic.  Click Request button to order materials held on another campus.

WorldCat can be used to identify books we might not have in our collection. Use E-ZBorrow or ILL to request books not in Tripod.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts - A good source for journal articles in all fields of political science.  International in scope.  (1975 - present)

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) - A good source for public policy materials, including books, government documents, committee and private agency reports, and journal articles. (1972 - present).

See the library's subject page on Public Policy for more resources!

Finding interview subjects

Start here! 
Federal Directory: Executive, Legislative, Judicial.  Carroll Publishing. 
Latest edition: Winter, 2006 
Location: Canaday Reference (behind ref desk): JK 6 .F42

• Excellent source.  Current, detailed directory of federal staff members by agency, title, name.  Provides mailing address, email, and phone contact information.

Online sources:

• Congressional Directory 
• Presidential Appointee Directory
• United States Government Manual Online
• more from FirstGov: U.S. Government Telephone and Email Directories

 

Getting human help

If you need help: ASK A LIBRARIAN!!! Please come see us and we will walk you through your search.

Canaday Library Reference Desk Hours

Monday - Wednesday, 10 - 12n, 1 - 5pm, 7 - 10pm
Thursday - Friday, 10 - 12n, 1 - 5pm
Saturday - Sunday, 1 - 5pm

Reference Desk phone: (610) 526-5279

Ask a Librarian - Fill in the form, give us your email address, and we'll write back within 24 hours!