Librarian for Political Science, Policy Studies, and Government Information
Social Science Librarian
Stephen (Social Sciences) Woods
He/him/his
Contact:
Office: 208 Paterno Library, University Park
Phone: 814.865.0665
Reference and Instruction Librarian
Emily Reed
she/her
Contact:
Penn State Harrisburg Library, 306A
351 Olmsted Drive
Middletown, PA 17057
351 Olmsted Drive
Middletown, PA 17057
717-948-6373
Encyclopedias & Handbooks
Encyclopedias
Use these to get a broad overview of theories and issues.
Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public PolicyTheoretical and issue oriented discussion public policy and public administration. Heavily referenced for further exploration.
Handbooks and Texts
- Oxford Handbooks in Political Science
A collection of 78 handbooks that cover all aspects of political science, public policy, and administration. Search across the collection or browse the collection titles search within a particular title.
The Handbook of Social Policy by Publication Date: 2008The Handbook of Social Policy is an attempt to document the now substantial body of knowledge about government social policies that has been accumulated since the study of social policy first emerged as an organized field of academic endeavor about 50 years ago.
Public Finance and Public Policy by Publication Date: 2012The first textbook to truly reflect the way public policy is created, implement, and researched. Integrates real-world empirical work and coverage of transfer programs and social insurance into the traditional topics of public finance.
Databases
Key databases
- CQ Researcher This link opens in a new windowA collection of reports covering political and social issues, with regular reports on topics in health, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the U.S. economy.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new windowa wide variety of international sources including journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, web content, and more
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new windowThis database provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy.
- PolicyMap This link opens in a new windowAn online mapping application containing over 15,000 indicators related to housing, education, mortgage originations, jobs, and more. It’s fast, efficient, and captures data in visually powerful ways through custom maps, tables, and reports.
- Policy Commons This link opens in a new windowDatabase for public policy, with more than 3.2 million reports, working papers, policy briefs, data sources, and media drawn from a directory of more than 24,000 IGOs, NGOs, think tanks, and research centers.
- JSTOR : Public Policy and AdministrationFull-text journals covering public policy and administration. Years of coverage varies by journal titles. To access this collection, go to JSTOR Home; under the BROWSE tab, select by Subject; on the resulting page, scroll down to Social Sciences, and select Public Policy & Administration.
- CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online) This link opens in a new windowCIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online) is a comprehensive source for research in international affairs. It includes full text of selected books on international affairs, working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, and proceedings from conferences. It also contains abstracts and some full text of selected journal articles.
- PolicyArchiveA comprehensive digital library of public policy research containing more than 30,000 documents.
National Security Issues
- Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) This link opens in a new windowDeclassified documents on a wide range of issues.
- The National Security Archive [George Washington University]Archive of declassified U.S. documents. The Archive is also a public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information.
- Homeland Security Digital LibraryA broad range of documents related to terrorism. Search across all collections or focus in on a single type of document e.g. Presidential Directives.