Best Database Choices for Politics Databases
Journal Databases & Other Sources
- Academic Search Complete Large general database of articles from scholarly journals and a few newspapers covering a wide range of topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images.
- AccessUN - 1944 to presentLocate documents in the United Nations Official Documents System on microfiche in Alderman's Government Information Resources department. Includes draft resolutions, meeting records, and the UN Treaty Series ciations. Some of the documents are online.
- American History in VideoOver 5000 films, commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and documentaries showing historical events and their presentation over time.
- British Parliamentary PapersThis guide is meant for those beginning research in British Parliamentary Papers. It focuses on Alderman Library's 19th and 20th century holdings and lists indexes and finding aids for Sessional papers, Journals, and Debates.
- CIAO: Columbia International Affairs OnlineIncludes working papers from research institutes, occasional papers series from NGO's, conference proceedings, current tables of contents and article abstracts from selected journals, and full-text of selected books.
- Congressional RecordSearchable full text access to the Congressional Record and its predecessors (1789-present). Also includes American State Papers (1789-1838) and Journals of the Continental Congress (1774-1789).
- CQ Press Political Reference Suite Congressional Quarterly publications on the U.S. government (click on i button for titles covered). Emphasis is on recent information, but US document coverage begins in 1972 and legislative histories in 1945.
- CQ Weekly 1983-presentIn depth coverage of the U.S. Congress: status of bills, votes and amendments, floor and committee activity, and backroom maneuvering.
- Declassified Documents Reference SystemSearchable collection of declassified U.S. documents, from the 1940’s to the 1970’s, taken from the CIA, FBI, presidential libraries, etc. Covers the Cold War, the Vietnam era, the civil rights movement, and other events.
- Digital National Security ArchiveSearchable declassified documents used in foreign policy decision-making by the U.S. government since the 1940’s. The documents have been gathered through the Freedom of Information Act.
- Dissertations & Theses: Full Text -1861-presentFull text (PDF) of most dissertations from 1997 on, some earlier works and some master's theses. Also lists all dissertations and theses from 1861 on at US and some other universities. Abstracts included after July, 1980.
- FBIS: Foreign Broadcast Information ServiceInformation gathered by the U.S. government from thousands of foreign media sources, including political speeches, television and radio broadcasts, and articles from newspapers, periodicals, and books. In paper and microformat. Succeeded by the online "World News Connection" (above).
- Fuente AcademicaScholarly journal articles from Latin America, Portugal and Spain. Covers most subjects, but special emphasis on economics, history, law, philosophy, public administration, religion, and sociology.
- Government Information Resources DepartmentGovernment Information Resources, on Alderman's 3rd floor, collects publications by the U.S. government, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and many international organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union, the IMF, etc.
- Historical Statistics of the United StatesQuantitative historical data covering American population, work and welfare, economic structure, governance, and international relations from colonial times to the present.
- Hotline 1985-presentExpert daily analysis of the American political scene.
- JSTOR Journal Storage Project 1985-present Full-text backfiles of many important scholarly journals. Coverage is usually from the first issue to 3-5 years before the present.
- Legislative InsightFollow the history of a bill as it moves through the legislative process on its way to becoming a law. This legislative history includes a compilation of all full text primary sources associated with the bill’s progress, such as the Public Law, all versions of enacted and related bills, Congressional Record excerpts, committee prints, CRS reports, and committee hearings, reports, and documents. Presidential signing statements are also included.
- LexisNexis AcademicNews and business information from sources around the world; book reviews, biographical, and other reference sources; U.S. Code, constitution, and court cases. Includes many newspapers. Most entries are full-text, some updated daily.
- Making of Modern Law: U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978Over 240,000 Supreme Court documents from the final years of John Marshall through the early years of Warren Burger.
- PAIS International 1915-present International database covering public and social policy. Includes journal articles, books, government documents, statistics, and reports from organizations and abstracts from 1985. Newer book entries include tables of contents.
- Politico.comPolitical journalism that focuses on background news about Congress, political campaigns, and lobbying.
- ProQuest Congressional Full-text information by and about the U.S. Congress including publications, legislative histories of laws, biographical information on members, and testimony from congressional hearings.
- Vietnam War and American Foreign Policy, 1960-1975 (ProQuest History Vault)Primary source documents (many previously classified) from the CIA, the State Department, the National Security Council, and various presidential files, from the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations. Also includes material about US policy in other regions of the world, such as the Suez Crisis, the Bay of Pigs, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Arab-Israeli Six Day War, etc.
- Web of Knowledege / Web of Science 1981-present Includes Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index which can be searched together or separately.
- World News Connection 1995-present Information from thousands of foreign media sources, including speeches, radio and television broadcasts, newspaper articles, periodicals, and books. Preceded by Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Translations.
Polls and Public Opinion Surveys
- iPOLLiPOLL contains nearly a half-million questions from surveys conducted since 1935 by academic, commercial, and media survey organizations, including CNN, Gallup, AP, the Wall Street Journal, and many others.
- Pollster.comA variety of recent national polls - political, economic, social - from NationalJournal.com
- Polling the NationsText of and responses to over 35,000 survey questions from over 14,000 polls taken in the US and 80 other countries since 1986.
- Best Databases for Surveys and PollsA guide that includes additional sources for polls and opinion surveys.
Statistics and Data
In addition to the resources below, further data and statistics sources can be found on the Data and Statistics research guide.
- ICPSRThe Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction. Users may view documentation, download raw data, and search a bibliography of data-related literature.
- Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential ElectionsDetailed national results of US Presidential Elections from 1789 through the present, including state and county results from 1892 through the present. Also includes information for congressional and gubernatorial elections.
- Scholars' LabThe Library's Scholars' Lab provides access to online demographic, geospatial, and statistical data.
- Statistical Abstract of the United StatesThe Statistical Abstract of the United States is a one-volume, comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. Use the Abstract as a convenient volume for statistical reference, and as a guide to sources of more information both in print and on the Web.
- ProQuest Statistical InsightStatistical information of all kinds, current and historical, US and international.
- NationMasterA large central data source that allows you to generate maps and graphs to compare nations. Data compiled from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD.
- World Development IndicatorsWorld Bank database provides direct access to more than 700 development indicators, with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups from 1960 to the present, where data are available.
- IMF International Financial StatisticsThousands of time series covering more than 200 countries and areas. Includes all series appearing on the IFS Country Pages; exchange rate series; major Fund accounts series; and most other world, area, and country series from the IFS World Tables.
- UNdataMore than 450 statistical time series for countries from around the world covering a wide range of economic and socio-demographic topics.
Subject Librarian |
Gary Treadway, Librarian for Politics and History Links: Profile & Guides |
Statistics and Data, Data Consulting, GIS
The Data & Geographical Information Librarian can provide assistance with locating statistical and data sources, accessing datasets, understanding data documentation/codebooks, acquiring data in a desired format (ASCII, SAS, etc.), and citing data. The Social Science Statistical Consultant provides advice and training in data analysis and statistical methods to faculty and graduate students who are doing original quantitative research. Assists with study design, consults on the choice and application of statistical methods and models, assists with statistical analysis, and helps with data preservation. The Scholars' Lab Geographic Information Systems (GIS) group provides full service GIS support, including insturction, spatial data curation, ArcGIS and other GIS software support, and GIS project and research consultation.
Politics Department
Microforms Collections
These subject lists are not comprehensive. If you do not find a title you are looking for check VIRGO or consult library staff.
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