Introduction | Reference Sources | Indexes & Databases | Internet Resources | Citation Styles

If you have any questions about your research, please contact the public policy librarian, Bill Grubb, at bgrubb@usm.maine.edu, or at 780-4672. You can also go to one of the reference desks, call Gorham (780-5344); Portland (780-4272); Lewiston Auburn (753-6541); or use the Ask-A-Librarian service.

Comprising as it does so many separate disciplines and issues, public policy is a difficult field to quantify. Thus the range of resources you use for your research will be as varied as your curriculum, but those listed in this guide should get you started.

The library home page serves as a gateway to many valuable links to state, federal, and international government sources. (Click on “Government Information.”) There you will find, among others, the websites for all federal agencies, boards, and commissions, as well as all those for congressional, judicial, and legislative offices.

Because so much of public policy is based on statistics, you should familiarize yourself with a number of government websites that convey quantitative information. The following are some of the most useful.

• Census.gov reports the information gathered every ten years on the country’s population: everything from racial characteristics to housing costs to miles traveled to work. It also gives historical data for comparisons.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics site provides national, regional, and state-specific information, and gives access to employment data of all kinds: consumer price index, productivity, and the cost of doing business, for example.
• Bureau of Economic Analysis provides GDP information; industry accounts; an overview of the national, regional, and state economies; and information about international trade, among other economic analyses.
• The National Center for Education Statistics collates and compares educational statistics from around the county.
• The Center for Disease Control offers a huge variety of statistical information on the health of Americans.
• The National Center for Science and the Environment offers an extensive library of on-line information related to environmental issues. It also links to all Congressional Research Service publications on the environment.
• In addition to numerous other policy resources, the Library of Congress has a comprehensive guide to law that allows you to search the United States Code of Laws and the Code of Federal Regulations. It also provides several excellent guides to researching laws and treaties
• The Government Accountability Office , provides studies for members of Congress, archives its reports online.
• The National Bureau of Economic Research offers working papers, research reports, and studies on a variety of topics. Searchable by economic term or policy area.

Find other such statistical sources by clicking on “FedStats” on the library’s government information link. You can search the site by broad policy areas, which helps when you need to compile information from a number of federal agencies.

Glickman Library has several resources that will provide you with overviews of policy issues, as well as of the relatively short history of policy analysis as a discipline. Among those: Encyclopedia of American Public Policy (Ref JK468 P64 J33) and International Encyclopedia of Public Policy and Administration. (Ref H97 I574) Both those multi-volume sets will give you valuable background information on your particular area of interest.

For comparative information about state policies, see The Book of the States (Ref JK 2403 B6), or State Rankings, (Ref HA 214 S87) both of which are published annually. The Municipal Yearbook (Ref JS 344 C5 A24) provides an annual snapshot of trends and resources in the nation’s cities. Local and Regional Government Information (Ref Z 1223.5 L 63) and Tapping State Government Information Sources (Ref Z 1223.5 A.1 T36) are also valuable resources.

Familiarize yourself with URSUS, the on-line catalogue of the University of Maine system. Through URSUS, you can locate materials from all over the system, and have them delivered to you in about a week. URSUS also provides access to Maine InfoNet, which allows you to borrow from the Portland Public Library, as well as Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, Maine Maritime Academy, and the University of New England. (Maine InfoNet usually also gets materials to you within a week.) If the item you need, however, is not available through URSUS or Maine InfoNet, you will need to fill out an ILLiad (interlibrary loan request) form to request it. Sign up for an ILLiad account.

When searching URSUS, remember that the Library of Congress uses the words “policy sciences” as its subject heading, rather than “policy analysis.” “Policy analysis,” however, is the term to use if you are doing a keyword search. And a keyword search is the way to turn up things under “environmental policy,” “health policy,” or “financial policy.” “Public administration” works as both a subject and a keyword search as well. In other words, be open to lots of possibilities when searching for books.

Searching URUS in a specific policy topic is likely to yield reports and analyses published by the federal government, or by state, local, or county governments. The library does not contain every such document, of course, but does house most of those publications that support the curriculum at USM. If the library does not have a document you need, you may find it online at a departmental website, or get it through ILLiad.

In addition, URSUS provides you with full-text access to, among other policy journals, Public Administration Review, the Journal of Public Policy and Management, as well as abstracts from the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. (List of policy journals in the library)

Given the nature of public policy, databases are likely to be of significant help in your research endeavors. (N.B., DATABASES MARKED WITH AN (*) ARE AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS ONLY.) While many of the databases do provide full-text articles, often the more discipline-specific a database, the less full text it contains. Again, however, you can request any article in print through ILLiad, and have it delivered to you electronically.

Academic Search Premier
Provides full-text access to about 3500 peer-reviewed journals, and citation information for approximately 7000 journals, magazines, and newspapers in total. Coverage dates vary by resource.

Access UN
Index to United Nations’ documents and publications; provides some full-text access to reports from the General Assembly, the Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council. Coverage begins with 1998.

Alternative Press Index*
Indexes journals covering social, political, economic, and cultural change. Coverage dates vary by resource.

America: History and Life
Information about American and Canadian cultural, political, and social events and trends from prehistory to the present.

Business Source Premier
Business and Company Resource Center
Both provide citations and full-text articles about local, national, and international business and industry. Years of coverage vary by resource.

Contemporary Women's Issues
Journals, newsletters, and research reports from non-profit groups, government and international agencies; covers 150 countries. Years of coverage vary by resource

CQ Researcher
Analysis on a variety of public policy issues. Forty-four single-issue reports yearly. Coverage starts with 1991

Criminal Justice Abstracts
Primary index for criminal justice research. Coverage starts with 1969.

EconLit
An index of economic literature. Subject indexing and abstracts from economic journals, books, dissertations, and working papers. Coverage starts with 1969

Electronic journals: Full Text (EBSCOhost Electronic Journals Service)
Full-text articles from nearly 700 disciplinary journals

ERIC - Education
Offers citations and some full-text articles related to education and educational policy. Coverage varies by resource, but generally begins with the late 1960s.

FactSearch*
Statistics on current social, economic, political, environmental and health issues from the Christian Science Monitor, the Congressional Record, Congressional hearings, White House, Department of State and Department of Defense daily press briefings, and Australian, British and Canadian parliamentary debates.

HeinOnline
Indexes and full-text access to legal and policy journals from around the world. Dates of coverage vary by resource

IngentaConnect
Indexes more than 27,000 academic and professional journals; offers full-text for 6,000. Coverage begins with 1988

MEDLINE
Medical and health policy articles from scholarly journals and government studies.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Offers abstracts—and the first 24 pages—of all U.S dissertations since 1997.

ProQuest Newspapers
Offers full-text access to hundreds of international, national, and regional newspapers and news services, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. Coverage dates vary by resource

PAIS International
Citations for articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs. Coverage starts with 1972; earlier print editions in the library.

Statistical Universe
A Lexis/Nexis database that compiles information from federal, state, and local governments, as well as from nonprofit and international organizations. Coverage varies by resource, but generally begins with the late 1970s.

STAT-USA*
Maintained by the Economics and Statistics Administration of the Department of Commerce, the site provides current and historical economic and financial data, as well as access to the National Trade Data Bank. Accessible in the library only; see a librarian for login.

Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts of articles from sociology and psychology journals. Coverage varies by source

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Citations, abstracts, and indexing of international journals of political science, international relations, law and public policy. Coverage starts with 1975.

Of the myriad resources on the web, the following are some of the most helpful. Each provides many links to other sites and resources.

Community and Rural Development
Community and Rural Development Institute
While much of the site has an international focus, it also has many links to policy research and working papers.

Economic Data
http://www.oswego.edu/%7Eeconomic/data.htm
Links to economic data from agriculture to transportation; a terrific resource.

Environmental News
The Envirolink Network
Site synthesizes environmental news and actions from all over the world. Links to advocacy groups and government initiatives

Health
Healthweb.org
One of the first gateways, the site is indexed by topic and links to hundreds of excellent sources in both health and health policy

Poverty
Institute for Research on Poverty
The site, from the University of Wisconsin, contains links to the institute’s own work, as well as to many other centers and universities. Excellent source for both background and research

Working Papers
Kennedy School Working Papers
Searchable by topic, year, or author.

Planning
AboutPlanning.org
Links to more than 300 sites dedicated to all aspects of city and regional planning

Cyburbia: The Urban Planning Portal
From the University of Buffalo, offers forums, news stories, job openings, and planning humor

Political Science
Univ of Michigan Government Document Center
The grandmother of them all; the best on the web.

Social Policy Resources
Internet Researcher: A Guide to Social Policy Resources
An excellent site maintained by Catholic University. Links to social policy organizations, current research, and historical perspectives on social policy.

Social Sciences
Social Science Information Gateway
Produced by the British Library of Political and Economic Science, site links to databases, journals, books, data, educational materials, government publications, news, organizations, and papers.

Sustainable Development
Smart Growth Online

Sustainable Communities Network, supported by US EPA.

Smart Communities Network
Maintained by the Department of Energy; links to research areas, local success stories, and funding opportunities, among others.
United Nations Sustainable development, human settlements and energy . From the United Nations, this one provides international perspective.

State and Local Governments
State and Local Government on the Net
Has more than 7,000 links to state governments and regional commissions, as well as to NGOs like the National League of Cities and the Council of State Governments. The Pew Center on the States maintains an excellent website as well.

Think Tanks and Public Interest Groups
InfoUSA: Think Tanks and Public Interest Organizations
An outstanding site!

Cascade Policy Institute
Maintained by the Cascade Policy Center at the University of Washington; links to state and local think-tanks and policy centers.

Professional Resources

You should also consider joining one or both the professional associations most often associated with your field: the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management or the American Society of Public Administration. Both have student rates, and both provide scholarly journals as part of your membership.

Sign up for electronic newsletters from such national organizations as the National Governors Association, state budget officers, or state environmental directors. Many think tanks also provide electronic newsletters, e.g., Brookings Institution, the Urban Institute, and the American Enterprise Institute. Such comparative information can also be invaluable in your studies

The libraries have a variety of style manuals that will guide you through the citation process for each of your classes. The website below offers tips on the citation styles of the American Psychological Association, the American Political Science Association; the American Sociological Association; and the University of Chicago. It also has guides to legal citation.
Douglas College Library Citations & Style Guides

Created by: Anne Ruffner Edwards
Created on: 08.15.2005
Last Updated: 09.24.2007