Political Science Resources

Reference Books
Searching the Catalog for Books
Searching the Databases for Articles
Full-text Online Journals
Useful Links

Reference Books

Start your research by looking at reference books. When you are just beginning a research project, you need basic, factual information that will give you an overview of the topic. Reference books will give you a good starting point and are also a great source for developing ideas for papers if you haven't decided on a topic.

Searching the Catalog for Books

Next, look for books in CONSULS. A good place to start is with a keyword search, which allows you to combine concepts, such as "Connecticut and elections" or "Paraguay and politics."

Remember that CONSULS is the catalog for all of the CSU campuses, so before you go to the shelf make sure the catalog says the item you want is at SCSU. Every item in the catalog has a letter code for its location. S = SCSU, W= WCSU, E= ECSU, C=CCSU, and SL = State Library.

If you see an item at any of the other campuses that you need, you can request it by clicking on "Request Book" and entering your Social Security Number and Library PIN number. The book will be shipped here within 3-5 working days. The State Library in Hartford will not send books to Southern but it is open to the public.

Searching the Databases for Articles

There is no one database specific to Polical Science, but all of the following databases contain Political Science content. All databases are accessed through the database page. If you are connecting from off campus for the first time, you will have to set up a library PIN number to access the databases. To see whether Buley Library subscribes to a particular journal in print, go to CONSULS and do a journal title search.

Academic Search Premiere (EBSCO)	Scholarly journals and trade magazines. Some full text.
America: History and Life	Mainly abstracts. Some links to full text.
CIAO - Columbia International Affairs Online	Mostly full text.
Historical Abstracts	Mainly abstracts. Some links to full text.
JSTOR	Scholarly journals. All full text.
Newsstand (ICONN)	Full text.
Project Muse	Scholarly journals. All full text.
Request	Catalog of materials in Connecticut libraries.
Social Sciences Index	Social sciences publications. Index only.
Westlaw	Articles from major and local newspapers.
WorldCat	Catalog of materials in libraries worldwide.

Journals

To see whether a journal is available in the various databases in full text or at Buley Library in print format, enter the journal title in the JOURNAL LOCATOR, accessed from Buley Library's home page.