Public Policy Analysis (POL SCI - 408)

Research Assistance Page

Of course please stop by the reference desk on the third floor (reference desk hours) if you are working in the library and have questions

1. General works & directories

• Congressional Quarterly Almanac, annual (REF JK1 .C66)
• Congress and the Nation (REF JK1001 .C66)
• Encyclopedia of Policy Studies 2nd ed. (REF H97 .E6 1994)
• Federal Regulatory Directory(REF JK610 .F29)*
• Government Agencies  (REF JK421 .G65 1983)
• State of Wisconsin Blue Book   (REF GVP WI A.1:)* -- http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/bb/
• U.S. Government Manual  (REF GVP US AE 2.108/2:)* --http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara001.html
• Washington Information Directory   (REF F192 W33)*

  * = Current edition kept at the reference desk
  

• Cofrin Library Catalog
  Find books and government documents available in the Cofrin Library.
  
• Worldcat
  Use the mega-catalog, Worldcat, to find books from other libraries. WorldCat will allow you to search over 15,000 libraries worldwide. Although the Cofrin Library may not own an item that you find in WorldCat, you can submit an interLibrary loan request from right inside the database. It can take from 7-10 days for the item to arrive so it is important that you start your research early to give yourself an opportunity to get the best resources for you research.

Background information

• CQ Researcher
  Description : The CQ Researcher explores a single "hot" issue in the news in depth each week. Topics range from social and teen issues to environment, health, education and science and technology. There are 44 reports produced each year including four expanded reports.
  Coverage: 1991-

• CQ Weekly
  Description : CQ Weekly is a weekly source of information on government, politics and public policy. CQ Weekly contains an unbiased and comprehensive roundup of all-important Capitol Hill activity from the previous week. CQ Weekly takes each legislative issue being debated and provides a clear explanation of its historical significance, how it’s evolving and what to look for in the future. Status of legislation, agendas of individual members and the appropriations process are all covered thoroughly and impartially.

2. Journal/periodical articles

Indexes

• Academic Search Complete from EbscoHost
  Premier contains indexing and abstracts for more than 8,200 journals, with full text for more than 4,500 of those titles. PDF backfiles to 1887 or further are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for nearly 1,000 titles. Academic Search Premier from EbscoHostcontains unmatched full text coverage in biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, psychology, religion & theology, etc.
  
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  Description: WPSA provides citations, abstracts and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, public administration, and public policy.
  Coverage: 1975 -
  
  
• Lexis Nexis Academic
  escription : Academic Universe provides access to nearly 5,000 publication on a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information.
  Coverage: 1990 -
  
  
• Social Sciences Full Text
  Description: Indexes and abstracts over 400 English language periodicals. Topics include planning and public administration, policy sciences, political science, and related subjects.
  Coverage: 1983 -
  
  
• JSTOR
  Description: JSTOR database is unique because the complete backfiles of core scholarly journals have been digitized, starting with the very first issues, many of which reach back to the 1800s. The database now contains over 2 million pages and new titles and fields are being added constantly (approximately 100,000 pages are added to the database each month).
  Coverage: varies from title to title, but approximately from the 1800s up until the last 3-5 years depending onthe journal. .
  

Relevant journals that the Cofrin Library subscribes to:

• Congressional Digest , 1922-1991 on microfilm; current 5 years in paper
• Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , 1981-present
• Journal of Public Policy , 1990-present
• National Journal , 1971-1973 on microfilm; 1975 - present, in paper
• Policy Sciences , 1970 -  present
• Policy Studies Journal , 1977- present
• Policy Studies Review , 1981 - present
• Public Interest, The , 1969 - present

3. Newspapers

• Lexis Nexis Academic
  Description : Academic Universe provides access to nearly 5,000 publication on a wide range of news, business, legal, and reference information.
  Coverage: 1990 -
  
  
• Historical New York Times
  Description: Historical Newspapers-The New York Times has full text and full image articles from the New York Times dating back to the 19th century.
  

4. Indexes

• Government Documents Catalog Service
  Description: Government Documents Catalog Service is a accumulation of the complete Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications with coverage 1976 to Present. The database contains over 400,000 citations to books, journals, reports, maps and other materials. Subject coverage includes agriculture, education, health, environment, defense, labor, energy, transportation, forests and fisheries, mining, manufacturing, domestic and foreign trade.
  Coverage: 1976 -
  Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1895-1995 (REF GVP US GP 3.8:)
  
  
• Lexis Nexis Congressional
  Description : Allows you to search the following: Hearing transcripts and submitted testimony, Committee reports, Bills, Public laws, Selected committee prints, Congressional documents, Congressional Record, Federal Register, Current Code of Federal Regulations, and the current US Code.
  Coverage: Varies from source to source
  
  
  

5. Legislative History

For additional information connect to a guide entitled Legislative Research Process: Finding Laws and Regulations at http://www.uwgb.edu/library/government/legis.asp

Congress

• Lexis Nexis Congressional * includes:
  • Committee hearings Y4's
  • Committee reports: House Y 1.1/8: Senate Y1.1/5:
• Congressional Index , 100^th Congress (1987) – present (REF GVP US LC 14.6/2X:) 100^th Congress (1987) – present (REF GVP US LC 14.6/2X:)
  • Index to current bills. THOMAS or GPO Access
  • Index current bills, see Internet sites for addresses.

• Congressional Record , 1909- present (GVP US X.)
• Congressional Record. *Files available in PDF format or as ASCII text. V. 140 (1994) contains no fields or section identifiers.
  • Floor debate in the House and Senate.
• CQ Weekly Report (4^th floor alphabetical by title) --  Available online via Academic Search Premierfrom 1998 forward. Most current 14 days are not available.
• Congressional Quarterly Almanac (REF JK1 C66)
• Congress and the Nation (REF JK1001 C6)
  • These last three summarize congressional activity for a
      particular time period, and include voting records.

Laws

• United States Statues at Large United States Statues at Large (REF GVP US AE 2.11: )
• United States statutes at large. -- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsl.html
  • Text of laws as passed, filed numerically by Public Law number.
• United States Code (REF GVP US Y 1.2/5: ) http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS2873
  • Current laws arranged by subject.
• Office of Law Revision Counsel http://uscode.house/gov/

Regulations

More specific than laws; may clarify who handles a program, and the conditions attached.

• Code of Federal Regulations   (CFR) (REF GVP US AE 2.106/3:) http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html
  

6. State and Local Level

WISCONSIN

• Use Cofrin Library Catalog (library's online catalog) to search for state and local documents.
• State of Wisconsin e-government portal; links to all state agencies http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/home
• Demographic Services Center http://www.doa.state.wi.us/dir/ Provides a variety of statistical files for Wisconsin, and coordinates the State Data Center program
• Law Library of Congress--Wisconsin links http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/us-wi.html
• Legislative Reference Bureau http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/pubs/index.htm
  Full-text of many of their recent publications, which are the substitute for legislative hearings on the state level.
• Wisconsin State Agency Libraries http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dltcl/rll/govlibs.html
• Wisconsin State Legislature http://www.legis.state.wi.us/ full-text of the state statutes, constitution, acts, bills, the Blue Book, the Blue Book, election statistics, etc.
• Wisconsin Supreme Court Decisions via WisBar http://www.wisbar.org/Wis/index.html
• Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA) http://wcca.wicourts.gov/index.xsl Search criminal, traffic, family, civil, and forfeiture case summaries county, type of action, or name.
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/
• Wisconsin Historical Society http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/
• Wisconsin Searchable Public Record Databases http://www.searchsystems.net/list.php?nid=59

LOCAL

• Wisconsin Cities, Towns, and Villages http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/wisconsin_cities_towns_and_villages.html
• Wisconsin Counties http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/core/wisconsin_counties.html 
• City of De Pere http://ci.de-pere.wi.us
• City of Green Bay http://www.ci.green-bay.wi.us/
• Town of Suamico http://www.suamico.org/

7. Statistical Sources (GVP US C3.134: ) *

• Budget of the United States (GVP US PrEx 2.8:) annual, 1967-present; current edition in the reference section for government documents. -- http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/
• State of Wisconsin Biennial Budget (GVP WI Bud.1: )
• Wisconsin State Budget: Summary of Budget Provisions (GVP WIS Leg 3.6/2:B B/3/year) 2001-2003 -- http://www.doa.state.wi.us/debf/sbo/state_budget/state_budget0103.asp
• Federal Expenditures by State (GVP US C 3.266 ) --
• Consolidated Federal Funds Report (GVP US C 3.266/2: ) --
• Significant Features of Fiscal Federalism (GVP US Y 3.Ad 9/18:18/year)
• Census of Governments (GVP US C 3.145/#) --http://www.census.gov/govs/www/

Federal

• GPO Access: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/index.html
• United States Congress:http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html
• FedStats: http://www.fedstats.gov/
• THOMAS: http://thomas.loc.gov
• State of Wisconsin: http://www.wisconsin.gov/state/home
• Wisconsin State Legislature: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/
• State and Local Government on the Net: http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm

Public Policy

• Public Agenda Online: http://publicagenda.org/
• Politics1.com: http://politics1.com/

News

• Newspapers on the Web: http://www.newspaperlinks.com/home.cfm