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   SUBJECT RESEARCH GUIDE |
To start your research, use the resources below or begin with the the CSUDH Library web page found at : http://library.csudh.edu/ . Under the "Find Library Materials" column, select Journal Articles & Electronic Resources. You may either browse by subject area or go to the Alphabetical List if you already know the database resource that you want to use.
The Electronic Resources are available by remote access CSUDH students who have registered for access. Please bring your CSUDH picture ID along with proof of current registraiton to the Library Circulation Department on the 2nd floor of the library. Distance students may register online at https://library.csudh.edu/rparegform.php, but please allow 5 working days for the completion of the online registration process. Please note that ID information will only work using the links provided on the CSUDH Library's web pages.
The Library subscribes to approximately 85 databases covering a wide range of subject areas. To access these databases, go to http://library.csudh.edu and click on the “Journal Articles and Electronic Resources” button. You can then decide for check the alphabetical list or subject list for databases that might be useful for your specific topic. The list below is a selected list, and depending on your specific research needs, additional databases not listed below may also be useful for your topic.
Public Policy Databases
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications is a tool to use to find records of and full-text documents of federal publications.
CQ Researcher can be used to find information on current issues. The overview, background, current assessment , outlook, and chronology information make this a good source for beginning research on topics of interest.
CQ Weekly can be used to find out news on Congress, government, politics and public policy. Topics include defense, economics, foreign policy, health, education, welfare, and more. Look here for clear summaries of legislation. Use the Search Articles interface for a more accurate search.
OxResearch provides analytical articles covering world and regional economic and political developments of major significance. Articles evaluate issues and events within a coherent political, social, and economic framework.
PAIS International/PAIS Archive is a database that indexes journal articles and materials on public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations. The Archive database contains records dating back to 1915.
Rand California Library provides publications from the Rand Corporation, a nonprofit institution that conducts research and provides analyses to improve policy and decision making. Major research areas include child policy, civil justice, education, health, population and aging, and the workforce.
Social Sciences Full Text covers major journals in political science, public administration, sociology, economics, international relations and other areas of interest in the formulation of public policy.
General Databases
Academic Search Premier is a multi-disciplinary database that can be used to search for articles in a wide range of subject areas.
JSTOR is a database containing full-text articles including the area of political science. Coverage is usually from the first issue to a moving wall of 5 years ago.
Newpapers (Proquest) is a database of 150 local and international newspapers. It includes the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Washington Post, to name a few.
OmniFile Full Text Mega is a multi-disciplinary database that includes the Social Sciences Full-text and Readers' Guide Full-Text.
Locating a Specific Journal Title
If you have a reference or citation to a specific journal article, use the CSUDH Journals List to find out if subscribes to the needed journal. This list includes both print and online journals. The Library currently subscribes to over 27,000 journals online. When you click on the title, you will usually find a page that has separate links for the year of available volumes. Click on the year and then you will next be able to click on specific issues. CSUDH's list also includes links to the ToroFind catalog record for print subscription information.
Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy is a student-run journal published at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University . Its primary goal to provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of the interaction between public policy and the African-American experience.
Although the library provides access to over 27,000 print and electronic journals, the indexing databases provide citations to a large number of journals which are not available in our print and electronic holdings. If you would like to have the library find a copy of an article for you, you can transmit the request using the Interlibrary Loan Service. Please allow at least 10 days for the article to arrive. If at all possible, we will try to send the article to you via email. The files will be .pdf files and will require that you have space available to receive these large files. We are also able to request books through three different methods. Your options are listed on the Request Item from Another Library webpage.
When using information from the web for projects and research papers, you should evaluate the quality and reliability of the information. Here's a link to one of many websites which give you evaluation criteria: Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages. An outstanding search engine to use is Google. In addition, Google Scholar would enable you to search the scholarly literature, including peer reviewed articles, but note that you may not be able to access the full text of the article. For the scholarly literature, the databases listed above in the "Journal Articles & Newspapers" section will usually be a better option for beginning your research.
California
Bill Information: California Assembly and Senate Bills is an easy to use website to find the full text of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments, and their status, history, votes, analyses, and veto messages. For a bill, you can find the text, status, analyses, and votes.
California Courts: Opinions is a searchable web page for Califoria Supreme Court and Court of Appeal opinions from 1850 to present.
California Governor's Website can be used to find official updates from the office of the Governor.
California Law is a searchable site to access the text of the California Codes. The State Consitution and Statutes can also be searched.
California State Assembly provides information on names of Assembly members, Assembly bills, Committees and their membership, and other related information.
California State Budget features the documents that are presented as the Governor's budget. The California Department of Finance also provides a description of the Budget Process.
California State Senate provides information on Senate membership, committees, legislation, news, and schedules. It also includes a district map. The legislation link leads to bill information with text, status, analyses, and votes.
California's Redistricting Information contains a brief summary of the redistricting process and a link to a database containing ten years of election data overlayed on top of census data.
City of Los Angeles Office of the Mayor provides news and various executive directives for the city of Los Angeles.
Counting California gives California citizens' access to the growing range of social science and economic data produced by government agencies.
Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California , Berkeley contains useful information, including the California Policy Inbox of updates on what's new in California public policy research.
League of California Cities maintains a page with general information about charter cities, including a list of charter cities and a comparison of charter cities and general law cities.
Legislative Analyst's Office is California 's fiscal and policy advisor. This web page includes documents related to California government.
Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at UCLA has information on news and events. Some publications of potential use for California public policy issues are available free on the website.
Little Hoover Commission has a mission to promote economy, efficiency and service in the transaction of public business. Commission reports can be downloaded free on this website.
Local California Codes and Charters provides electronic editions of available codes and charters for California cities.
Los Angeles County Economic Corporation is a business leadership corporation whose mission is to attract, retain and grow businesses and jobs in the regions of LA County.
Official California Legislative Information is a source of information for California bills, laws and legislative information.
Public Policy Institute of California provides a wealth of information, including surveys and reports, specific to California public policy issues.
Federal and Other National Websites
American FactFinder from the U.S. Census Bureau is a source of detailed statistics on population, housing, economic and geographic data.
Centers for Research & Policy Development provides links to a large number of research centers and programs dealing with government, politics, leadership, and policy research.
FirstGov is the official U.S. gateway to all government information at the federal, state, and local levels.
Public Policy Issues and Groups from the Vanderbilt University Library is a good place to start to find websites on a wide range of public policy issues.
United States Senate provides information on the U.S. Senate but also it's Virtual Reference Desk provides information on numerous facets fo government. This website includes informaton on bills and resolutions, including how Senators voted.
When writing a paper or completing a project for a class, you will usually be asked to provide a bibliography of the materials that you used. There are several standard guides available in the Library to help you. Please come to the Reference Desk for assistance. In addition, the CSUDH Library has a summary of the formats most commonly used posted on the Library website. Take a look at this guide in advance so you'll know what information you need to jot down before you begin your research. It may be more difficult to retrace your steps than to make bibliographic note cards as you are working on your project.
Citing Your Sources. This web page on How to Cite Your Sources in a Research Paper has two links. The first link takes you to a download page for the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you will need to access the actual instruction page. The second link leads to a document that shows you how to cite books, articles, and web resources in APA, MLA, and Turabian formats. Always check with your professor to find out which citation format is preferred.