POLI SCI 999: UCDC American Presidency

Since you are away from your library, electronic books become even more convenient for your research.  All campuses purchase ebooks, and there are various ways you can find them, but these differ by campus. 

A basic approach is to use your library's catalog.  Limit your search results to online resources-- this usually requires an advanced search.  Here's an example, using the Santa Barbara catalog [quick video]

You can also use Melvyl and limit the results to your own campus. 

How can you get books in Washington DC?  Not from your campus library, sorry to say.

But you do have access to academic and professional libraries in DC:

• Collections at your internship can be helpful

• The Library of Congress is open to you.  It's very big and has a lot, but you have to go there to use materials-- Library of Congress basic facts.

• You can read [not borrow] books from academic libraries in the DC area, including Howard University, American University, Georgetown University and George Washington University. 

• To find books in these and other DC libraries, use Melvyl.   How-to video

Google Books contains millions of scanned books, from libraries and publishers worldwide. You can search the entire text of the books, view previews or "snippets" from books that are still in copyright, and read the full text of out-of-copyright (pre-1923) books.  Want to read the entire text of an in-copyright book?  Use Google Books' Find in a Library link to locate the book in a UC Berkeley library, or search OskiCat to see if UC Berkeley owns the book.

Why use Google Books?

Library catalogs (like OskiCat) don't search inside books; using a library catalog, you can search only information about the book (title, author, Library of Congress subject headings, etc.).  Google Books will let you search inside books, which can be very useful for hard-to-find information.  Try it now:

To use library databases from DC you have to set up your campus proxy server or VPN. Once you do so, you'll be able to get articles from the databases in pdf form after logging with your campus ID.

Click your campus name below for set-up instructions:

• berkeley
• davis
• irvine
• merced
• riverside
• san diego
• santa barbara
• santa cruz
• ucla

What sort of articles and data do you need to find for your paper?  Scholarly, for sure, but there are many others:

• news
• laws and statutes
• statistics
• interviews
• 'primary sources'

It's helpful when doing your research to think about how you will use what you find.  The acronym BEAM helps you make sure you find materials that will do the job you need in your paper. Research papers need materials in all four categories.  

B = Background information.    Do you know the seminal works, major scholars and theories in your topical area?  What about the actual definitions of the disciplinary jargon you're using?  Scholarly encyclopedias are the best source of background information: look in Oskicat under your discipline, with the word encyclopedias, [sociology encyclopedias]. Could also use Wikipedia, a textbook, a newspaper, or any source that fills you in on your big topic. 

E = Evidence   Often called primary sources, evidence is the stuff you are studying in your research.  Evidence could be news coverage, laws, court cases, personal interviews, statistics or data... whatever helps you prove your thesis.

A = Analysis  Here are the secondary sources-- analysis is usually written by faculty scholars or technical experts, who are themselves analyzing evidence that they may include or cite.  As a student writing a paper, you are doing analysis, so it's important to refer to the work of others studying the same topic

M = Methodology  This means the methods and questions you will use to analyze your evidence.  Each discipline has its own favorite ways of asking questions and its own ideas about what sort of information can serve as evidence.  You must know which methods are suitable to the disciplines you are working within.  To find methodology, search for books by using the name of the discipline and the word methodology.  E.g. Sociology method*.

[Bizup, Joseph.  "BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing." Rhetoric Review Vol. 27, Iss. 1, 2008]

• Academic Search Complete
  A multidisciplinary index to articles
  
• America: History and Life
  Indexes over 2,000 journals published worldwide on the history of the US and Canada
  
• Historical Abstracts
  Indexes over 2,000 journals, about all aspects of world history (excluding US and Canada) from 1450 to the present.
  
• Sociological Abstracts
  social sciences as well as selected anthropology, criminology, demography, law, social psychology, and urban development.
  
• Business Source Complete
  scholarly business journals including management, economics, finance, accounting, international business.
  
• EconLit
  scholarly journal articles in economics.
  
• LegalTrac
  legal research and commentary on case studies, government regulations, the practice of law, statutes, taxation, and international law.
  
• LexisNexis Academic
  international, national and local newspapers and wire services; radio and television transcripts; and business, medical, industry, and legislative magazines, journals, and newsletters.
  
• PolicyFile
  economics, politics, the environment, and social issues,
  
• Urban Studies and Planning: A SAGE Full-Text Collection
  Economic Development, Planning Practice and Theory, Policy Analysis, Political Science, Public Administration, Regional Geography, Residential and Community Development, Sociology, Urban and Regional Planning, Urban Policy, and Welfare Economics.
  
• Project MUSE
  humanities and social sciences including literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics and many others.
  

The following selected journals from both sides of the aisle are good sources for possible topics/research questions.

• The New Republic Centrist news and analysis. 
• The National Review Right leaning news and analysis.  
• The Weekly Standard Right leaning news and analysis.
• The Nation Left leaning news and analysis.
• The Economist Centrist news and analysis
  
• The American Prospect Left leaning analysis 
  

Use these databases as a starting point in political science research.

• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  political science, international relations, law and politics, political economy, public administration, and public policy.
  
• PAIS International
  public policy, politics, economics, and social issues worldwide.
  
• CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
  Indexes journals, books, policy briefs, working papers, and conference proceedings from research institutes worldwide related to international affairs analysis and advocacy materials.
  
• Political Science: A SAGE Full-Text Collection
  American Government and Politics, Policy Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies and International Relations.
  
• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)
  economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology .
  

Google Scholar is an easy way to do interdisciplinary research, and with some settings changes can become even more useful.  You need a Google account to use these features.

• Set up a Google Scholar Alert to be automatically notified when new articles are added to Google on topics of interest: 

Do your search in Google Scholar. Look in the green toolbar for the envelope icon, and click it.  New items will be sent to your email account as they are found by Google.

• Make Google display links to full text of articles that Berkeley subscribes to:

Open Scholar.  Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner, and choose 'scholar preferences'. In the new window, scroll down to 'Library Links', type the word Berkeley.  Choose University of California, Berkeley-- UC eLinks, and Open Worldcat Search.

• Ever wanted to trace an article’s impact? Google now permits searching within citing articles.

Do a Google Scholar search. Click on the "Cited by" link under a citation and select the "Search within articles citing..." checkbox.

Melvyl has become a good place to start your search for scholarly articles because it displays the contents of some article databases.  While it does not include as many articles as the databases like Academic Search Complete or JSTOR, it is easy to use, because it is a one-stop search.

Within Melvyl you can turn on or turn off specific databases if you find the results aren't relevant.

• American Presidency Project
  Contains all major publications of the U.S. Office of the President, including: Public Papers of the President, Inaugural Addresses, Executive Orders, Signing Statements, and other information such as radio addresses, party platforms, videos of debates, and popularity polling data. This project was developed by two political science professors at UCSB.
  
• Hein Online
  Provides full text to many presidential documents. Click on Presidential Library to see the list of publications.
  
• CQ Voting and Elections Collection
  Offers documents and data, authoritative analyses, background information and definitions, chronology, and historical material related to specific elections (Congressional,presidential, and gubernatorial) and the electoral process in America. A data set of voting/election statistics is available for exporting/downloading. Part of the CQ Electronic Library collection.
  
• Living Room Candidate: Historical Presidential Campaign Commercials
  An archive of historic and current political advertisements from television and the internet. Most clips include transcripts.
  

• ProQuest Congressional
  One stop shopping for U.S. congressional publications. Provides index and abstracts of congressional publications back to 1789, including full text Congressional Hearings from 1824-present, full text Committee Prints from 1830-present, full text Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports from 1916-present, full text United States Congressional Serial Set from 1789-1969, and legislative histories from 1970-present. For more information on how to find hearings, consult the Congressional Tutorials homepage
  
• CQ Congress Collection
  Provides an historical analysis of members of Congress, their legislative voting behavior, interest group ratings, public policy legislation, current committees, background information and definitions, and chronology related to US Congress. Part of the CQ Electronic Library collection.
  
• CQ Congress and the Nation
  Provides detailed coverage of the events, trends, and controversies of the US Congress and Presidency from 1945 to 2004. Includes analysis of bills that passed/did not pass Congress, historical context for legislation, and brief histories of key legislation. Part of the CQ Electronic Library collection.
  
• CQ Voting and Elections Collection
  Offers documents and data, authoritative analyses, background information and definitions, chronology, and historical material related to specific elections (Congressional,presidential, and gubernatorial) and the electoral process in America. A data set of voting/election statistics is available for exporting/downloading. Part of the CQ Electronic Library collection.
  

• Oyez Project
  A multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. Contains all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955, and summaries of major cases going back to the courts founding. The Project also provides biographical information on all justices and offers a virtual reality 'tour' of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.
  
• LexisNexis Academic
  Includes over 6,000 individual titles of international, national and local newspapers and wire services; radio and television transcripts; and business, medical, industry, and legislative magazines, journals, and newsletters. Wide geographic coverage and translations from foreign-language sources, as well as news services like the Associated Press, Agence France Press, El Pais and Xinhua (New China) News Agency.
  
• CQ Supreme Court Collection
  Combines historical analysis with updates and commentary of US Supreme Court decisions, biographies of Supreme Court justices, Supreme Court institutional history and the US Constitution. Also includes background and commentary on constitutions from over 100 countries. Part of the CQ Electronic Library collection.
  

• GPO U.S. Government Publications
  Indexes government documents printed by the US Government Printing Office since July 1976; documents include Congressional committee hearings, congressional debates and records, judiciary material, documents issued by departments such as Defense, State, Labor, and the Office of the President. Also includes links to Federal agency online resources.
  
• Government Periodicals Index
  Indexes over 170 periodicals published by agencies of the US Government.
  
• CQ Weekly
  Provides nonpartisan information about US government and congressional affairs and subjects of concern. This online version also provides access to some articles prior to when they appear in the print version of CQ Weekly. Part of the CQ Electronic Library collection.
  
• CQ Electronic Library
  A reference source on American politics and government that includes the following modules: CQ Vital Statistics on American Politics, CQ Political Handbook of the World, CQ Researcher Plus Archive. Access individual modules or search across all CQ collections.
  

Here are some general news and newsmedia databases.  For a full listing of the Library's news resources, check this list.

• Access World News
  Provides full-text information and perspectives from over 600 U.S. and over 700 international sources. Offers strong regional coverage, indexing more than California newspapers such as Contra Costa Times (1995-current), Sacramento Bee (1984-current), San Francisco Chronicle (1985-current), and San Jose Mercury News (1985-current). Search categories include: California newspapers (121 titles), Greater Los Angeles (54 titles), major metropolitan titles (13 titles), Spanish-language news sources (48 titles), the World (almost 2000 titles), US (855 titles).
  
• Factiva
  Provides general and business news and information from more than 9,000 sources in 22 languages, including influential local, national and international newspapers, leading business magazines, trade publications, and news wires. Includes the exclusive combination of The Wall Street Journal (1979-present), the Financial Times, Dow Jones and Reuters newswires and the Associated Press, as well as Reuters Fundamentals, and Bureau van Dijk company profiles.
  
• LexisNexis Academic
  Includes over 6,000 individual titles of international, national and local newspapers and wire services; radio and television transcripts; and business, medical, industry, and legislative magazines, journals, and newsletters. Wide geographic coverage and translations from foreign-language sources, as well as news services like the Associated Press, Agence France Press, El Pais and Xinhua (New China) News Agency.
  
• ProQuest Newspapers
  Indexes the New York Times (1999-present), Los Angeles Times (1985-present), Wall Street Journal (1982-present).
  
• Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
  Indexes articles from Chicago Defender (1905-1975), Chicago Tribune (1849-1986), Los Angeles Times (1881-1986), New York Times (1851-2004), San Francisco Chronicle (1865-1922), Wall Street Journal (1889-1990), and Washington Post (1877-1991).
  

The following resources will provide information on polls and public opinion across the United States.

• Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
  Contains domestic and international survey data. The Center's Public Opinion Location Library (iPOLL) gives online access to a database including poll questions asked in US from 1936 to present.
  
• Field Poll
  An independent, non-partisan, media-sponsored public opinion news service. Each year the poll covers a wide range of political and social topics examining California public opinion.
  
• National Journal Group's Policy Central
  Indexes National Journal, The Hotline which tracks American politics and campaigns with coverage of each day's events, Congress Daily, Technology Daily, Almanac of American Politics, Poll Track and others to provide a comprehensive resource on politics and policy.
  

One of the largest hurdles of using Google is the amount you must weed through.  Some searches result in thousands of pages; who has time to go through all that?  You dont need to.  Did you know you can manipulate a regular Google search with a couple hacks to your search.  Its true!  Try these search "tricks" during your next google search.

• site:XXXXX  This search tells google to limit your search to a particular site or domain.  For instance, if you limit to site:berkeley.edu you would only search the Berkeley site.  Similarly site:.gov would search only sites ending in .gov, and site:.edu would search only sites ending in .edu.

• -XXXXX  Adding a minus/hyphen sign "-" to a term will remove results with that term.  This can be very helpfull when removing common words associated with your topic.

• filetype:XXXX  Using filetype: will only find certain file extentions (.doc, .pdf, .xcl, etc)

• "XXX XXXX" Putting double quotes around a phrase will find only that phrase.

You can also combine some of these search hacks, such as adding -site:nytimes.com to remove results from the New York Times website.  More search tricks can be found here.

Google Scholar is an easy way to do interdisciplinary research, and with some settings changes can become even more useful.  You need a Google account to use these features.

• Set up a Google Scholar Alert to be automatically notified when new articles are added to Google on topics of interest: 

Do your search in Google Scholar. Look in the green toolbar for the envelope icon, and click it.  New items will be sent to your email account as they are found by Google.

• Make Google display links to full text of articles that Berkeley subscribes to:

Open Scholar.  Click on scholar preferences [next to the search box]. Under Library Links, enter the word Berkeley.  Choose up to three database providers we subscribe to: Full Text@IngentaConnect; UC eLinks; and Read article via OCLC.

• Ever wanted to trace an article’s impact? Google now permits searching within citing articles.

Do a Google Scholar search. Click on the "Cited by" link under a citation and select the "Search within articles citing..." checkbox.

If you've never used Zotero before, use the QuickStart Guide to get started.

Change your preferences if you want  Zotero to

• set your default citation style
• search the full text of pdfs you save
• Automatically attach associated PDFs and other files when saving items

To use Zotero to find specific articles in our library's databases, set up the Open URL resolver with this link: http://ucelinks.cdlib.org:8888/sfx_local? 

An in-depth discussion of the relative virtues of Endnote and Zotero,

• Library Subject Guides
• Library Course Guides