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Contents:
For more assistance in researching your topic, contact Margaret
Schaus.
Choosing and Refining an Issue
Use one or more of the following sources to identify a policy
issue of current interest and begin to get a sense of the public debate
surrounding it. Make note of specific events and legislation, key legislators
and other interested parties (think tanks, advocacy groups, etc.), as
well as such important publications as major studies, reports and position
papers.
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- CQ Library (access via Tripod)
- CQ Library includes CQ Weekly and CQ Researcher. The
CQ Weekly provides current, comprehensive, and non-partisan
legislative news and analysis. The web archive includes access to
the full text of all articles published since1983.
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- The CQ Researcher is a good place to begin research
on current U. S. policy topics. This weekly publication covers specific
political and policy issues with complete summaries, insight into
all sides of the issues, bibliographies and more. For world issues,
use the new title, CQ Global Researcher, which also treats
regional questions and American actions abroad. Recent issues include
"Energy Nationalism" (July 2007) and "Anti-Americanism"
( March 2007).
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- National Journal (access via Tripod)
- This weekly journal covers the activities of Congress
and the executive branch concerning all areas of U.S. foreign and
domestic policy. The web site also includes directories, reports,
poll information, and other features.
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- Moving Ideas
- Moving Ideas, formerly the Electronic Policy Network,
presents ideas and resources from progessive research institutes and
advocacy organizations organized by public policy topics.
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- PolicyFile (access via Tripod)
- Provides abstracts and links to full-text research
reports and studies from think tanks, university research programs,
research organizations and policy publishers. 1990 to the present.
Updated weekly.
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- Public Agenda Online (access via Tripod)
- Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion
research and citizen education organization helping leaders better
understand the public's point of view on major policy issues and helping
citizens better understand critical policy issues. In addition to
information about Public Agenda publications, the website provides
guides to specific policy issues which give an overview of the issue
and the public debate surrounding it. Of special interest is the feature
"Red Flags" which provides cautionary notes about misinterpretation
of survey findings.
Return to Overview
Gathering Background Information
The following sources summarize national legislative and
political activities and provide a good overview of the national policy
debate on specific issues. They provide an excellent resource for quickly
and easily identifying relevant legislation, key players, terminology,
and points of view and providing a brief summary of the historical context
of the current debate on a policy issue.
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- CQ Almanac Plus (print location via Tripod)
- Reviews major legislation and political events of a
given year. Provides a summary discussion of legislative action on
policy questions for the year covered. Updated by the CQWeekly
Report (available as part of CQ Library (access
via Tripod).
- Handbook of Public Policy (2006) (print location via Tripod)
- A guide, both theoretical and practical, to public
policy issues across the world. Check the relevant section/s for your
topic in Part Two Substantive Policy Areas for a broad overview of
the research area. More information on policy issues can be found
in The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy (print location via Tripod).
- Political
Science Resources on the Web (University of Michigan)
- A cluster of web sites which covers many different
aspects including foreign politics, news media, state governments,
and U.S. politics and elections. Links include many sites analyzing
policy issues.
When using these publications, make note of the titles and
numbers of bills and public laws mentioned. To find how to obtain the
related congressional reports, hearings, and other materials, see Finding Congressional Materials.
Return to Overview
Finding In-depth Information and
Analysis
Finding Books
Tri-College Collections
Use the Tripod
Library Catalog to look for books and government publications on public
policy owned by Haverford, Swarthmore, and Bryn Mawr.
The following suggested subject searches are only a sampling
of possibilities. To find materials on a topic not listed below, try doing
a keyword search in
the Tripod Library Catalog to find relevant materials and then using the
subject headings assigned to those materials to find more.
Sample Searches: Using Subject and Keyword
Beyond the Tri-College Libraries
- WorldCat (access via Tripod)
- A good first place to look for materials not owned
by the Tri-College Libraries, this combined library catalog contains
more than 41 million records describing items owned by libraries around
the world.
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- Other Library Catalogs
- Another useful way to find materials not owned by the
Tri-College Libraries is to search the catalog of a large research
library, e.g., University of Pennsylvania, New York Public Library,
the University of California libraries, etc.
Use the E-Z Borrow, Article Delivery,
and Interlibrary Loan Request forms on Tripod to request items that
are not available in the three colleges. Note that E-Z Borrow is the
first place to look for books not in Tripod. It usually takes just three
days for E-Z Borrow books to arrive. Books not in E-Z Borrow can come
from Interlibrary Loan (ILL) which may take up to 10 days to arrive.
For journal articles not available in the three colleges,
use the Article Delivery form. Most will come in digital form. You will
receive a PIN number by e-mail to access the articles.
Return to Overview
Finding Articles
Journal articles and similar periodical publications provide
current information on policy issues. The following indexes are key
sources for finding periodical literature.
Good Starting Points
- ProQuest Research Library (access via Tripod)
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- ProQuest indexes over 2600 journals, magazines,
and news sources in the social sciences, humanities, and sciences
starting with 1971. About two-thirds of the journals include the
full-text of the article.
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- LexisNexis Academic (access via Tripod; choose
"News" from the main menu and click the button "Terms and
Connectors")
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- Lexis-Nexis Universe provides full-text access
to information in a wide range of subject areas from a variety
of sources: news articles and newswires from both US and non-US
sources, magazine and journal articles, and television and radio
transcripts.
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- PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)
(access via
Tripod)
- Index to policy-oriented literature (books, journal
articles and U.S. and foreign government documents). International
coverage; a good source for information about political, economic
and social issues and events in specific countries. 1972 to the
present. Updated quarterly.
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- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (access via Tripod)
- CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts provides
citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international journal
literature in political science and its complementary fields,
including international relations, law, and public administration/policy.
Over 1000 journals are monitored for coverage from 1975 to the
present.
Discipline-specific Indexes
These indexes are particularly good for
accessing the scholarly literature of specific disciplines, i.e.,
articles written by economists, lawyers, sociologists, etc.
Once you have found citations to journal articles,
do a journal title search in Tripod to see if the Tri-College libraries
own the title. If the journal is not held by the Tri-Colleges, use
the Interlibrary Loan Request
Form on Tripod to request a copy of the article from another
library.
Full-text News Sources
- Access World News (access via Tripod)
- Access World News provides the full-text of articles
published in many newspapers including The Philadelphia Inquirer
since 1981 and the Philadelphia Daily News since 1978.
It also contains articles from many other regional U.S. newspapers
as well as papers from other countries. It is a particularly useful
source of information about public policy issues on the state
and local levels.
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- Ethnic NewsWatch (access via Tripod)
- Ethnic NewsWatch is a full-text collection of the
newspapers, magazines and journals of the U.S. ethnic, minority
and native press. A rich collection of articles, editorials, columns,
reviews, etc. provide a broad diversity of perspectives and viewpoints
-- the other sides of the stories.
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- LexisNexis Academic (access via Tripod; choose
"News" from the main menu and then click "Connectors and
Terms")
- Lexis-Nexis Universe provides full-text access
to information in a wide range of subject areas from a variety
of sources: news articles and newswires from both US and non-US
sources, magazine and journal articles, and television and radio
transcripts.
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- Return to Overview
Finding Congressional Materials
Even if a bill does not become law, the Congressional
debate surrounding it and the publications which are produced, especially
hearings, can be very useful sources of information for policy analysis
of an issue.
Using a Bill or Law
First, use one of the Congressional Quarterly publications
(see Gathering Background Information) to
identify the titles and numbers of specific bills and/or public laws
relating to an issue.
Then use these numbers or titles to search for related
hearings, reports and other materials:
- Public Laws
- Use the P.L. number, e.g., P.L. 105-89, or title,
e.g., Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, to search the Legislative
Histories section of Lexis Nexis Congressional (access
via Tripod; choose "CIS Index" from the main menu).
A legislative history provides a list of all Congressional publications
associated with the debate and passage of a public law. Please note:
Legislative histories are available for laws passed from 1970 onwards;
those starting in 1984 are more complete.
- Bills
- If a bill did not become law, use the bill number,
e.g., S. 254, or title, e.g. Violent and Repeat Juvenile Offender
Accountability and Rehabilitation Act of 1999, to search for a bill
tracking report on Lexis Nexis Congressional (access via Tripod; choose
"Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws" from the main
menu). Legislative histories are especially useful for identifying
the associated reports and other publications which concern the bill.
A bill tracking report provides a summary of the bill and all Congressional
activity associated with it. Please note: Bill tracking reports are
available for bills introduced in the 101st Congress or later (1989
or later).
Searching by Subject
You can also identify Congressional materials relevant
to a particular issue by searching by keyword in Lexis Nexis Congressional
(access via Tripod). On the
Basic Search screen enter search terms. You can also do keyword searching
limited to the various types of Congressional publications (e.g., bills,
hearing, reports, laws, etc.).
Given both the volume of congressional activity and the
fact that narrowing a search is difficult since most major public policy
issues are dealt with in some way in almost every Congress, it is easier
to use background sources to identify more precise search terms, i.e.,
specific bill, law or report numbers, specific legislators, individual
witnesses at hearings, etc.
Return to Overview
Identifying and Locating
Experts and Organizations
For doing primary research or finding certain kinds of
material, the most efficient way of tracking down information may be
to contact an organization which focuses on a specific issue or a person
who has published on a topic, works in a government agency, corporation
or trade association, or otherwise has access to specialized information.
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- The Capital Source (access via Tripod)
- The Capital Source provides contact information for
"the 7,000 most important people and institutions in Washington."
It includes sections on the House, Senate, White House, corporations,
the news media, trade associations, law and lobbying firms, interest
groups and think tanks.
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- Political
Advocacy Groups on the Web
- Find links to lobby groups at the list maintained
by California State University, Chico.
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- Public Interest Group Profiles (print location via Tripod)
- A directory of public interest groups, defined as
nonprofit entities that pursue their own conviction without paid
clients, employ full-time staffs, lobby, litigate, have grassroots
capability, participate in nonpartisan electoral politics, and produce
publications and other vehicles to advance their policy or value
positions. For each group, it provides: directory information, purpose,
staff, director, tax status, budget, funding sources, scope, PAC,
method of operation, current concerns, publications, effectiveness,
and political orientation.
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- Think
Tanks
- A directory that provides brief descriptions and
links to individual policy-oriented think tanks as well as to a
selection of other directories of think tanks.
Return to Overview
Finding Statistics
Statistics and demographic information often play a key
role in policy analysis. A vast and complex array of statistical information
is available online and in the print collections of libraries. Before
attempting to use the more specific and complicated statistical sources,
it is good to check one of the statistical compilations published regularly
by both the government and commercial publishers. Compilations are especially
good for finding a single statistic, e.g., the number of elementary
school children in the U.S., the ten most populated cities in the United
States, the percentage of the U.S. population which is of Hispanic origin,
etc.
Good Starting Points
- Statistical Abstract of the United States
(access and
print location via Tripod)
- As the National Data Book, this annual government
publication contains a collection of statistics on social and
economic conditions in the United States. Selected international
data are also included. The Abstract is also your Guide to Sources
of other data from the Census Bureau, other Federal agencies,
and private organizations. The 1999 edition includes a new section,
20th Century Statistics, which presents data beginning in 1900
where available on a broad range of subjects such as population,
education, income and labor force.
- Other Compilations
- Business Statistics of the United States
(print location
via Tripod)
- County and City Data Book (access and print
location via Tripod)
- Digest of Educational Statistics (access and print
location via Tripod)
- Energy Information Administration
(access)
- Handbook of U.S. Labor Statistics (print location via Tripod)
- State and Metropolitan Area Data Book (access and print location via
Tripod)
- Statistical Sources on the Web: Environment
(access) University of Michigan
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- FedStats (access via Tripod)
- Provides links to key statistics available online
from more than 70 U.S. government agencies. Includes a Fast Facts
section, an A-Z index, a section of regional statistics, MapStats
profiles of states and counties and a searchable (title, keyword,
full-text keyword) database of statistical sources.
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More Extensive and Specialized Statistical Sources
- LexisNexis Statistical (access via Tripod)
- Indexes and abstracts U.S. government statistical
sources. Links to full text of many publications or to a specific
table or chart. Especially useful when it is unclear which agency
or department would collect and publish information on a specific
topic or when looking for a particular geographic, economic or
demographic category or breakdown. 1973-date. Updated monthly.
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