Background Information
American Congressional Dictionary.
Quick reference for definitions and explanations of terms
and expressions in common use on Capital Hill.
Ref. JK 9 .K73 2001
Congress A to Z. Congressional Quarterly.
A ready reference encyclopedia for questions about Congress.
Ref. JK 1021 .C554 1999
Encyclopedia of the United States Congress. 4 vols. 1995.
Brief essays with bibliographies. An excellent, current resource.
Ref. JK 1067 E63 1995
Handbooks and Yearbooks
Almanac of American Politics.
Describes each state and congressional district in terms of
its political background, present climate, and political future.
Includes information on recent elections.
RRef. JK 1012 A44 [annual]
Congress and the Nation: A Review of Government and Politics
in the Post War Years. Congressional Quarterly. 9 volumes.
A comprehensive summary of presidential, legislative and political
developments from 1945-1992.
Ref. KF49 [q.]C65w
Congressional Directory.
Detailed information about Congress including biographical
sketches of members of Congress, committee lists, statistical
information and more. Contains "official" information on Congress
from the Government Printing Office. Also available on the
Web.
RRef. JK 1011 [current ed.]
Older editions: Gov Docs Y4.P93/1
Congressional Quarterly Almanac.
Each volume covers the important developments of a
congressional session.
Ref. JK 1 .C66 [current ed.]
Older editions in stacks.
CQ's Politics in America. Congressional Quarterly.
Assesses and evaluates members of Congress.
RRef. JK 1012 P64 [current ed.]
Older editions in stacks.
Congressional Quarterly's guide to Congress. 2 vols.
The standard Congressional guide. Covers the origins and history
of Congress, Congressional powers, Congressional procedures, the
relationship of Congress to the rest of government, and much more.
Ref. JK 1021 C559 2 vols. 2000 Older editions in stacks.
United States Government Manual.
The organization manual of the United States government.
Also available on the
Web.
RRef. JK 421 .A3 [current ed.]
Older editions: Gov Docs GS4.109 and AE2.108/2:
Washington Information Directory.
A very helpful guide to thousands of Washington agencies,
both of the federal government and the private sector.
RRef. JK 1012 .W3 [current ed.]
Older editions in the stacks.
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Finding Books
To find items owned by the library, search LUCIA. Try a Subject begins with search, for example, united states congress. LUCIA will list other subject headings (and subheadings), which may be of interest. For advanced research you should consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings, or LCSH, a guide to the terms commonly used in catalogs like ours. The LCSH can be found on top of the Ready Reference shelves behind the reference desk on the first floor of the library.
To combine terms for a different kind of search, try a Keyword Anywhere search. LUCIA will look for the terms you specify anywhere in the important areas of the cataloging records, and display a list of those records. Try a search for a phrase, like United States, by searching with quotation marks around the phrase, as in "united states". You can search for individual terms connected by logical operators like AND or OR. You might want to try searching for some of the terms you find in the LCSH. Try a search like united states congress and energy or "united states" and congress and elect* The asterisk acts as a truncation symbol and tells LUCIA to search for all words starting with elect: elect, election, elections, electorate, etc. You can target your keyword search even more by using the Subject Keyword option. This tells LUCIA to look for the terms in the subject area of the records only.
Books are arranged on the library's shelves by Library of Congress Classification. This is a system that organizes materials by general subjects. Once you have a call number from searching LUCIA, see this guide to call number locations at Mudd to find out where a book might be on the shelves.
Search LUCIA for materials in our library; try WorldCat to find materials beyond the Mudd. Make sure you've thoroughly searched our library before going to WorldCat. See a reference librarian if you need help.
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Finding Articles
The best index to use will depend on your topic. Be sure to check the Electronic Resources page for other options. Two of our resources, JSTOR and Project MUSE provide complete full text. Some of our indexes include the following.
Essential Indexes: these should be among your starting points for finding advanced materials.
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts.
Covers over 1000 journals from 1975- .
General and Multidisciplinary Indexes: include citations and some full text of materials from a broad variety of fields including gender studies and sociology. Some include current news articles.
Alternative Press Index.
Indexes journals covering cultural, economic, political & social change.
Contemporary Women's Issues.
Contemporary women's issues on health and human rights.
EBSCOhost.
Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. EBSCOhost provides a single Web source for multiple databases; you might want to select the Academic Search Elite or the Military & Government Collection. Contains broad and specialized coverage of academic and general periodicals, and will include articles from major newspapers. Use the Go or Back button on your browser after exiting EBSCOhost to leave the system.
Ethnic NewsWatch.
"An interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish) full text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press."
Expanded Academic ASAP and InfoTrac OneFile.
Broad coverage of academic periodicals. Includes full text of some articles.
Once you have a citation for an article on your topic, look in LUCIA for the title of the journal to see if the library owns it. You should also search BESS, an automated search of the library's fulltext databases, for electronic copies of articles.
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Current Events
In addition to the sources listed here, you might want to look at the library's guide to Current Events.
CQ Weekly. Congressional Quarterly. 1962 -
A thorough report on the activities of Congress. Former title:
CQ Weekly Report.
Periodicals.
National Journal. 1979 -
A weekly journal of government and politics.
Periodicals.
Lexis/Nexis Academic: Guided News Search
Various dates; the Christian Science Monitor and the New York
Times have indexing back to 1980, with full text added at later dates.
Other papers are added dating mostly from the mid 1990's.
New York Times. 1851-current.
The New York Times is on microfilm and on the web.
New York Times Index--Reference Indexes/Microform Area
New York Times (1851-2001)
Current issues available from many sources: see BESS
Newspapers from ProQuest
Indexing and some full text for international English-language, national, and regional newspapers.
Finding News Information
From the librarians here at Lawrence. Includes links to many newspapers on the Web, and to electronic news source subscriptions. You might be particularly interested in Newslink, which provides links to newspaper websites.
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
A weekly publication containing transcripts of the
President's news conferences, messages to Congress,
announcements, and other statements. Note the indexes
in each issue. Available on the
web
from 1993 until present.
Periodicals. 1969 - current.
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Biographical Information
American National Biography. 24 volumes. 1999.
The major national biography covering persons important
in the history of the United States.
Ref. CT213 .A68 1999
Biographical Dictionary of Congressional Women. 1999.
Provides biographical sketches of the 200 women who have served or
who are serving in Congress. Contains interviews and statistics on their
congressional service.
Ref. JK1012 .F57 1999
Biography and Genealogy Master Index
Contains citations to useful information in standard biographical sources. It is a great place to begin
searching for biographical information about anyone.
The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia.
Contains over 15,000 alphabetically arranged entries;
of international scope. Special sections labeled Ready
Reference, Connections, and Contemporaries are provided
to set the historical contexts for important persons.
Ref. CT103 .C26 1994
Current Biography. 1946 -
Contains articles on fairly well-known people.
Ref. CT 100 .C8.
Who's Who directories provide the following information for most entries: full name, present position, birth date, names of family members, career highlights, titles of publications, current address, and sometimes telephone and/or fax numbers. These sources usually only list individuals who were living when the books were published. Who's Who on the Web is an online version of Who's Who in America as well as several other versions, including Who’s Who in American Education and Who’s Who in the World. Additional specialized directories are available; ask a Reference Librarian for information.
To find biographical books about a certain person, search in LUCIA using the Subject begins with option. Browse through the subject headings to find the subheading which corresponds to your specific interests. For autobiographical books by and about a certain person, search in LUCIA for persons as Author.
Be sure to consult the library's guide on Biographical Information for further ideas and information.
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Finding U.S. Government Documents
Although documents from the state government of Wisconsin are listed in LUCIA, most United States Government Documents are not. There are several ways to search for government documents, but those listed below will be the most direct. You might also want to take a look at the library's Guide to Understanding the Government Document Numbering System before you head to the Documents shelves on the second floor. Many sources for government information are on the Web; be sure to look at the library's United States Government Documents page.
Congressional Universe
CIS: Congressional Information Service.
Contains the CIS Index, legislative histories, Congressional publications,
Congressional Record [from 1985 to present], testimony transcripts, bills,
US Code [laws], and the CFR: Code of Federal Regulations
[from 1981 to present]. Also includes information on committees and committee
members, links to hot topics, the National Journal [from January 1, 1977 to present],
Congress Daily [from January 1, 1991 to present], help links, committee
markups and votes, and more.
Google for Government
The popular and helpful Google search applied specifically to finding government information. Searches local, state, military, and national government Web pages.
GPO Monthly Catalog
Catalog of US government publications, covering 1976 - current. Searchable in many ways, via FirstSearch.
Specific documents of interest:
Code of Federal Regulations.
U.S. Office of the Federal Register. Annual.
A codification of the rules published in the Federal Register
by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government.
The Code is divided into 50 titles representing broad areas
subject to federal regulation. Updated by the daily Federal
Register.
Sample Citation: 30 CFR 256 [30 is the volume and 256 is the section/part].
GovDoc. AE2.106/3
Congressional Record.
The official daily record of the House and Senate. Includes words, actions, and debates
of Congress, although not verbatim transcripts.
Earlier issues of the Congressional Record are available in print on the second floor.
Use the indexes published with the Record in order to locate specific
material. Ask a librarian if you have difficultly finding it.
GovDoc X/ Published daily.
Federal Register.
The most extensive source for regulatory information. Contains
new and proposed regulations, notices of upcoming meetings, legal
notices from federal agencies and the president, and other announcements.
Includes a table entitled, "Code of Federal Regulations affected by new
or proposed regulations." Updates the Code of Federal Regulations.
Arranged by agency. The
Federal Register
is available on the Internet via the National Archives and Research Administration.
GovDoc AE 2.106
Statutes at Large, The United States
Compilation in book form of all the laws passed during a given session
of Congress. Includes lists of acts by bill
number and by public law number, a popular name index, and a subject index.
Sample Citation: 84 Stat.1590 (84 is the volume and 1590 is the page.) New
acts are published within a few weeks of enactment as "slip laws." Slip laws
are available via the Web.
GovDoc GS4.111: V. 18 (1873) - V. 97 (1983) with most dates available
and GovDoc AE 2.111: V.98 (1984) - current volume and date
United States Code.
The federal laws of the United States.
Contains a consolidation and codification of all the laws of the United
States which are in force. Arranged by subject. Sample Citation: 15 USC 1392
(15 is the volume and 1392 is the section/part.) Available through
GPO Access and
Cornell Law School's
Legal Information Institute. Both sites are based
on the 1994 version of the Code and include updates.
GovDoc Y1.2/5 (1976 - current) and GovDoc Y4.J89/i:UN3/3 (1946-1970)
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Web Resources
Core Documents of U.S. Democracy
Current and historical Documents that define the democratic process
including the Constitution, Declaration, Code of Federal Regulations,
Federal Register, The Statistical Abstract and more.
The House of Representatives Web site
Provides information about bills and resolutions being considered in Congress,
roll call votes, events on the House floor, and much more. Take a virtual tour
of the Capital building!
Information Sources for Legislative Research
From THOMAS. Includes links for government records & publications, issues, legislation, campaigns, news services,
partisan congressional sites, contacting members of congress, education resources, and voting records.
The Senate Web site
Links provided to Senators, Senate leadership, committees, committee members,
legislative activity, learning about the Senate, roll call vote, and much more.
THOMAS:
Legislative Information on the Internet.
Contains bills, committee reports, and the congressional record
for the 101st through the 107th Congresses. Search bills by topic, bill
number, or title. Committee reports are searchable by topic or committee
name.
Lawrence University Government Documents
From the librarians at the Seeley G. Mudd Library, Lawrence University. Includes information on documents in the Seeley G. Mudd Library and on the World Wide Web.
Of course, there are many more web resources available that might be useful in your research. You might want to try looking at sources that select the best of the Web, like these:
It's important to think carefully about any information you find in any format, and to evaluate resources for their accuracy, applicability, and so forth. Evaluation of web resources is especially important. You may want to consult this guide to Evaluating Internet Resources, or this bibliography on Evaluation of Information Sources. You can often learn a lot about a page (and a site) by parsing the URL.
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Style Manuals
Academic Citation and Writing
Style manuals of the humanities, physical sciences, and the social sciences in the Seeley G. Mudd Library.
Citing Electronic Documents
This page provides guidance on citing electronic documents and links to
other guides, some on specific styles of documentation.
The Chicago Manual of Style.
A standard source for bibliographic format.
RRef. Z253 .U69 2003
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About Research in Congressional Politics
Congressional politics is related to many other fields of study; be prepared to look at materials from related fields like economics and sociology, just to name two. In addition to consulting catalogs and indexes, be sure to look at bibliographies supplied at the end of relevant articles, chapters, and books, and to search library catalogs for book-length bibliographies.
Your sources must be fully documented in any written work you produce. It may help to look at the information on style before you start your research, so that you will have all the required documentation at hand when you need it. Then as you write, go back to the resources on style for details on the exact format of your citations.
The sources listed in this guide were chosen for the broad coverage they provide. Direct links are provided to Web resources and searchable databases, as well as links to LUCIA, the library's online catalog. Be sure to check the library's Electronic Resources page regularly to see new databases and indexes; some of these will only be available to users on the Lawrence campus. Also, you may want to take a look at guides on related topics from the Library Research Guides page.
Evaluating the resources you find is an essential part of the research process. See this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles and this guide to evaluating Internet resources.
As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.
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Definitions of terms and abbreviations:
Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready Reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
Reference Indexes = Alphabetically arranged at the end of the reference collection
Microform Area = Reading room east of the reference desk, near microform drawers
q. = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and scores; at end of classes in other collections
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