Library Guides: PLSC 210N: Rights in America: Library Databases

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Helpful Databases for Civil Rights Issues in American Life.

Background Resources

CQ Researcher
The CQ Researcher is a collection of reports covering political and social issues.
The CQ Researcher is a 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. Keywords: hot topics, current events, social issues, social trends, archive, English 15, CAS 100, background information, general interest, contemporary issues, overviews. CQ Global Researcher (formerly a stand alone DB) content was merged into CQ Researcher.
CQ Almanac
A yearly survey of the work of Congress that includes discussion, debates and bills passed.
CQ Almanac was the definitive reference for studying the U.S. Congress. Arranged thematically, each annual volume organizes, distills, and cross-indexes the full year in Congress and in national politics. The online edition allows users to navigate through more than 60 years of Congressional coverage; access tables, graphs, and charts; and browse by subject, decade, or by a particular year's table of contents. 1945-2020.

Encyclopedia of the American Constitution
Reference work that "Contains new and updated original articles covering recent concepts (i.e. adoption, race, the Constitution, birthright citizenship) and court cases since 1992 offering comprehensive coverage of all aspects of constitutional law, as well as biographies of people who have had an impact on our government's legal framework (Supreme Court Justices, Presidents, Cabinet Members, Lawyers, and more). Also covers judicial decisions handed down by the Supreme Court.."

Policy Papers

Congressional Research Service Reports
From specialists at the Library of Congress, these reports have in-depth analysis of policy issues prepared for the use of Congress.
Research papers written by the Library of Congress for the use of Congress. Provide objective, non-partisan analysis of public policy issues before the legislature. Full text PDF of reports.
Policy Commons
Database 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.
Database 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.

Helpful Databases

America: History & Life with Full Text
Search for articles on all aspects of the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Search for articles on all aspects of the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Articles from national, state and local historical journals are covered, as well as historical articles in major humanities and social science journals. Also includes citations to reviews, books, and dissertations. Keywords: African-American, Afro-American, Black, Hispanic, Latino, Colonial, Pennsylvania, Native Americans, women, gender, revolution, revolutionary war, civil war, Vietnam War, Cold War, World War I, World War II, Immigration, Immigrants, labor, agriculture, culture, society, politics, religion, economic, military, historiography.
JSTOR
Includes more than two thousand journals in the humanities, social sciences, and the sciences.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization that provides a trusted archive of important scholarly journals and a selection of scholarly books. Content in JSTOR spans many disciplines, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. While indexing for JSTOR articles is covered in LionSearch, the full text of the articles is not searched in LionSearch. Search JSTOR itself to ensure detailed coverage of full texts.
Project MUSE
Use the Social Sciences section of Project MUSE to find online books and scholarly journal articles on your topic.
Project MUSE is a unique collaboration between libraries and publishers providing 100% full-text, affordable and user-friendly online access to high quality humanities, arts, and social sciences journals from scholarly publishers. MUSE began in 1993 as a pioneering joint project of the Johns Hopkins University Press and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library at JHU. Grants from the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities allowed MUSE to go live with JHU Press journals in 1995. Journals from other publishers were first incorporated in 2000, with additional university press and scholarly society publishers joining in each subsequent year.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Database focused on literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts is building on the merged backfiles of Political Science Abstracts, published by IFI / Plenum, 1975-2000, and ABC POL SCI, published by ABC-CLIO, 1984-2000. The 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. The serials list of the new database is actively under construction, with a focus on expanding international coverage. As of February 2004 approximately 1,432 titles are being monitored for coverage; this list will continue to grow.
Index to Legal Periodicals & Books Full Text
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books indexes legal journals, law reviews, yearbooks, and bar association publications from 1918 to the present.
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books indexes legal journals, law reviews, yearbooks, and bar association publications from 1918 to the present. Coverage also includes books and full-text of selected articles from the early 1990s to the present.
HeinOnline
"A full-text research collection offering more than 900 legal journals; federal publications such as the Federal Register, U.S. treaties and agreements, U.S. Supreme Court opinions, federal legislative histories, presidential documents" and other resources.
Hein Online is a full-text research collection offering more than 900 legal journals; federal publications such as the Federal Register, U.S. treaties and agreements, U.S. Supreme Court opinions, federal legislative histories, presidential documents; a collection of legal classics; and Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court competition materials.

Related Library Guides

PSU Libraries Political Science Subject Guide
Resources for political science research and related disciplines.
PSU Libraries Guide to Government Information
A guide to finding U.S. federal, Pennsylvania state, and foreign/international government information.
PSU Libraries Guide to the Constitution of the United States
A guide to resources for researching the United States Constitution.
PSU Libraries Guide to Finding US Government Information: Administration Transitions
This guide focuses on resources related to the "end of term" for the US president and Congress.
PSU Libraries Guide to Public Policy
A guide to resources for researching public policy.
PSU Libraries Guide U. S. Government: Executive Branch
A guide to resources for finding publications and information about the Executive Branch of the U.S. government.
PSU Libraries Guide U.S. Government: Judicial Branch
A guide to resources for researching the Judicial Branch of the U.S. government.
PSU Libraries Guide U.S. Government: Legislative Branch
A guide to resources for researching legislative branch (Congressional) publications.