In-Class Activity
- Online Thinking ToolBrainstorming exercise to develop your topic and keywords
Librarian Contact Information
Meridith Wolnick
Cecelia Parks
Get 1-on-1 help with another librarian if Cecelia's or Meridith's schedules do not work for you: Schedule a Librarian Consultation
Learn more about library research
- Introduction to the UVA LibrariesInteractive module introducing you to using the UVA Library
- How Do I...Contains all library research tutorials
- Finding a Book in the LibraryThis video walks you through the process of finding a book on the Library shelves and checking it out.
Find Scholarly (Academic) Sources
Academic research about policy topics is done across many different disciplines, and you may need to look in more than one discipline-specific database to find research on your topic.
- Virgo: UVa Libraries Catalog This link opens in a new windowVirgo lists books, journals, videos, audio, manuscripts, and Internet resources owned or licensed by the University Library (Main, Brown, Clemons, etc.), Health Sciences Library, Law Library, and Darden School Library.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowLarge general database of articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers on many topics. Also includes reference books (World Almanac, American Heritage Dictionary), biographies, speeches, images, and other primary source documents.
- Political Science Complete This link opens in a new windowSearches journal articles in the field of political science.
- EconLit This link opens in a new windowInternational coverage of economics in journal articles, books, dissertations, book reviews.
- ERIC (EBSCO) This link opens in a new windowSearches journal articles about education-related topics, most of which are peer-reviewed, and other education-related materials.
- ProQuest SciTech Collection This link opens in a new windowSearches full text journals on natural sciences, engineering and technology. Areas covered include materials science, aerospace engineering, civil engineering, biology, aquatic sciences, environmental science, computer science and earth sciences in addition to many more.
- CINAHL: Cumulative Index to Nursing, Allied Health Literature This link opens in a new windowSearches articles about nursing and public health-related topics. Good for searching on medical topics as a non-doctor.
- America: History & Life (1964-present) This link opens in a new windowCovers the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to present with records from 2,000 English-language journals published worldwide. Includes book reviews.
Find Government Documents
These databases cover federal government documents. For Virginia government documents, you will likely need to use Virginia state government websites.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowInformation by and about the U.S. Congress: documents and reports, Legislative Histories, hearings, and members and committees. Search the Congressional Record, Federal Register, Federal Regulations, The Hill, and Roll Call. Formerly LexisNexis Congressional.
- ProQuest Regulatory Insight This link opens in a new windowRegulatory Insight creates regulatory histories for individual federal statutes and Executive Orders by compiling pertinent Federal Register articles into a research-friendly workspace similar to the workspace provided in Legislative Insight.
Find Gray Literature
Gray literature is written by scholars or practitioners with expertise in the field of public policy, but not published in traditional academic journals.
Examples include white papers, reports, and proposals from think tanks and other public policy organizations. Gray literature can be very useful in finding policy alternatives or getting background information on a policy topic.
- Policy Commons This link opens in a new windowDatabase for public policy. Includes more than 3 million reports, working papers, policy briefs, data sources, and media drawn from a directory of more than 21,000 IGOs, NGOs, think tanks, and research centers.
API available, more information here: APIs for Scholarly Research
- Think Tank Search at Harvard Kennedy SchoolSearch many think tank websites at once.
Find Statistics
- Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowInteractive Maps and Reports provide easy access to demographic information about the United States. Data comes from the Census beginning in 1790 and from the Religious Congregations and Membership Study beginning in 1980. Also has crime and health data.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista.com consolidates statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources.