Search Tools & Tips for PSC 231 Money in Politics Prepared by Ann Marshall February 5, 2013

Overview Tools (focus on subscription-based) Strategies (e.g. mine articles for new sources) Tricks & short cuts

Types of Sources Demographics – how does my state compare? Scholarly Literature (esp. case studies) Newspapers, Legal, & Statistical Resources

I. Demographic Data (Census)

Census State Data

Census State Legislative District Data

State Rankings PopulationPersons Below Poverty Level

II. Scholarly Literature (Articles and Books)

Political Science Complete (PSC) Just political science journals (& conference papers) 2900 titles (full text of 762). JSTOR has 152 titles Ebsco database (UR subscribes to 23+ Ebsco databases) Tricks: "Field" options, use of AND, use of *

Using "AND" and truncation (7 to 25)

Search the Abstract (40 to 16) Search the Full Text (40 to 185) Note: In PSC, only some articles are fulltext, so you're only searching the full text when it is available.

Limit to Scholarly (185 to 79) Also play with keywords: lobby*, money, "interest groups," etc.

Note: This article was not considered a "scholarly journal" by Ebsco because it was a conference paper. Check the Sources of the Articles You Find

Books: Voyager Catalog Advanced Search

WorldCat (Books at other libraries)

Google Books

E-books via Ebrary: (e.g. Legislative Branch of State Government) This particular book (linked from the Library Resources page in Blackboard) has sections on the legislative branch of government on each state.

E-books via Ebrary ** Ebrary limits 60 pages per browser session. To download a chapter, create and account and then sign in

III. Newspapers, Legal, & Statistical

Hint: Change "Major World Publications" to "Newspapers " LexisNexis News (via LexisNexis Academic)

LexisNexis All News

Check the Sources of the Articles You Find

(Search got 28 hits and I sorted oldest to newest). LexisNexis Law Reviews (via LexisNexis Academic)

From the 1976 book "Financing Politics" by Alexander (Rush Rhees Library also has 1980, 1984, and 1992 edition)

LexisNexis (ProQuest) Statistical 18 page report, available for at least 2 years

1. The book of the states. Supplement A. The legislators [electronic resource] : numbers, terms, and party affiliations, Book of the States (via Voyager and Online) 2. The book of the states Edition

A Few Websites

National Conference of State Legislatures

National Conference of State Legislatures

National Institute on Money in State Politics: Follow The Money

Ann's contact info. & links ( See also