Department of Political Science, Queens College

Peter Liberman, Queens College Dept. of Political Science, September 2001

5. Political Science Research Resources available at Rosenthal Library and the New York Public Library
You can access QC's on-line database and journal subscriptions from computers in Rosenthal Library, or from home using a proxy server. Note that QC's subscriptions change from time to time as reference librarians at the College and CUNY seek out the best resources subject to budgetary constraints. Queens also has access to a number of online databases as well as many periodicals online. A broader guide to social science resources will also be available soon.

Book Catalogs
Students can search the online book catalog for the whole CUNY system.
CATNYP is the online book catalog for the NYPL research branch.

Article and Abstract Databases (QC only)
Wilson: Social Science Abstracts
Ebsco: Academic Search Premier

Hard-copy sources, available in Rosenthal Library
International Political Science Abstracts (QC has 1968-present)
Social Science Citation Index (QC only has 1966-1989)

Full-text On-line Journals
On-line, full-text journal databases can be searched just as easily as abstract or title databases, but they also provide easy access to the full journal, when available. They also allow searching the text of the articles themselves (rather than just the titles or abstracts), which can help you find discussions of issues in articles that have a different central focus. Note: some of these databases have full text only for some journals in recent years, but include abstracts or titles for prior years, before full text became available electronically.
Queens College has the following:
* EBSCO Academic Search Premier (ASP). The best at QC, including lots of scholarly and policy journals. Often includes abstracts or titles when the full text is unavailable.
* Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe: News Collection. A vast collection of newspaper, news-wire, and news magazines.
* JSTOR. Full-text scholarly journals, going back many years, but usually not recent years' issues.
* Project MUSE. Full-text scholarly journals, usually just recent years.

Public Library resources:
*ProQuest Direct. Comparable to Academic Search Premier, but contains some different journals. Available (from home) on the New York Public Library website (http://www.nypl.org/branch/umiproq/password.htm) to anyone with a New York Public Library ID.
*Gale's Expanded Academic. Similar to EBSCO's Academic Search, but with a smaller selection. Available (from home) on the New York Public Library website (click on "research databases) to anyone with a Queens Borough Public Library ID.
* History Resource Center. Historical journals, encyclopedias, and some primary documents. Queens College does not subscribe to this, but it is available online to anyone with an New York Public Library ID.

Law Research Resources
* Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe: Legal Research Collection (available through the QC Library). Full-text of U.S. court cases, law reviews, US codes and regulations, U.S. patents, etc.

Open Web Resources
* Compiled by QC's Social Sciences Reference Librarian, James Mellone, this web page has numerous links to governments' and political organizations' web pages.