This guide provides library research tools and general information for public affairs students.
Selected Reference Sources
Selected Reference Sources
Use these sources to learn about the historical context of a topic that may be new to you. Find authoritative research by subject.
- Oxford Handbooks OnlineOxford Handbooks contain peer-reviewed scholarly review articles in Archaeology, Business and Management, Classical Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics and Finance, History, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Religion. Included are classic works of scholarship along with newly-published works. Each handbook offers a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in a particular field of study. Individual articles by leading scholars review key issues and major debates, and discuss how those debates might evolve.
- Oxford BibliographiesSearch expert commentary and detailed annotated bibliographies to find high quality sources of information in these areas: African American Studies, African Studies, American Literature, Anthropology, Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Art History, Atlantic History, Biblical Studies, British and Irish Literature, Buddhism, Childhood Studies, Chinese Studies, Cinema and Media Studies, Classics, Communication, Criminology, Ecology, Education, Environmental Science, Evolutionary Biology, Geography, Hinduism, International Law, International Relations, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies, Latino Studies, Linguistics, Literary and Critical Theory, Management, Medieval Studies, Military History, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health, Renaissance and Reformation, Social Work, Sociology, Urban Studies, Victorian Literature
- Sage KnowledgeSearches all library subscriptions from Sage Publishing including scholarly monographs, reference works, handbooks, series, professional development titles, and more.
Learn about Research Methods
Research Methods, Process, Literature Reviews and More!
- Sage Research MethodsSAGE Research Methods is a tool designed to help scholars of all levels create research projects in their specific discipline and understand the methods behind them.
- Research Methods in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management byISBN: 9780765631305Publication Date: 2012-10-15Designed for both students and practitioners, the new edition of this popular text has been thoroughly revised. It incorporates the latest thinking in public administration and nonprofit management. The book integrates both quantitative and qualitative approaches to research, and also provides specific instruction in the use of commonly available statistical software programs such as Excel and SPSS. The book is exceptionally well illustrated, with plentiful exhibits, tables, figures, and exercises.
Selected Research Journal Databases
Research Articles, Selected Resources
Multi-disciplinary Sources
- Web of ScienceA comprehensive interdisciplinary collection of journal article citations. Subjects generally covered are within science and technology, arts and humanities, and social sciences. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- ScopusSearch for information from scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Covers the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
- Google Scholar (Setup connection to get to PDFs)Use Google Scholar to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, research institutes, and scholarly repositories from colleges and universities. If you are using from off-campus access, change the "Library Settings" to University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Look for the "FindIt@U of M Twin Cities" links in your Google Scholar search results to access full text and PDFs. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Annual ReviewsThe Annual Reviews collection offers comprehensive, timely critical reviews written by leading scientists. This collection provides the worldwide scientific community with a useful and intelligent synthesis of the primary research literature for a broad spectrum of disciplines. Annual Reviews volumes are published each year for 40 focused disciplines within the Biomedical, Life, Physical, and Social Sciences including Economics and Financial Economics.
Subject or Disciplinary Focused Journals
- PubMedSearches MEDLINE, which is the primary source of journal articles for the health sciences (fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, public health, health care systems, and basic sciences). Coverage is from the 1940s to the present. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Education SourceSearch full-text education journals covering all levels of education--from early childhood to higher education--as well as all educational specialties, such as multilingual education, health education and testing.
- PAIS Index (Political Science and Public Policy)PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) searches journals and other sources on issues of political science and public policy. This includes government, politics, international relations, human rights and more.
- ProQuest Art Design and Architecture CollectionA comprehensive survey of current publications in the fields of visual and applied arts. This collection includes the specialist indexes ARTbibliographies Modern (covering modern and contemporary art), Design and Applied Arts Index (for all aspects of design and crafts) and the International Bibliography of Art (covering scholarship on Western art history), together with a complementary collection of current full-text journals, Arts and Humanities Full Text.
- APA PsycInfoFind articles in thousands of psychology journals, from 1806 to current. View this tutorial to learn how to go from a general idea to a very precise set of results of journal articles and scholarly materials.
- Sociological AbstractsThis core database for the field of sociology contains information on sociology and social policy worldwide. Sociological Abstracts includes citations from the 1952-present. It provides abstracting and indexing of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of journal publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers.
- Worldwide Political Science AbstractsThe database provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration & public policy from1975 to the present.
- Business Source PremierFind business articles from journals and magazines in marketing, management, information technology, operations, human resources, accounting, finance and economics dating back to 1965.
Find National & Foreign News
News Sources
Search hundreds of news sources at once
- Access World NewsFull-text news from over 9,000 news sources in the U.S. and international newspapers, major wire services, and hundreds of local broadcasting outlets and blogs. There are over 100 Minnesota sources. Mostly English language news coverage with some 200 titles in Spanish, French, Afrikaans and other languages.
- FactivaSearch millions of newspapers, business magazines, and newswires with international and foreign language coverage with all editions of the Wall Street Journal. Financial information for publicly traded companies, stocks, funds, currencies, and common market indexes. Limited to 7 simultaneous users.
- Ethnic NewsWatchEthnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press from 1990, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives.
- NK NewsNews and analysis of North Korean media along with other secondary data. Captures news and television from the North Korean Central Agency.
- WestlawNext Campus Research (News)Search thousands of news sources from the U.S. and around the world. Includes major newspapers, newswires, and foreign language news. Most sources include the latest 10-20 years, with select titles going back to the 1980s. This link goes directly to news content in WestlawNext; switching to "all content" in the database will include legal sources.
Get your own access using the library subscription
- Economist, 1997-currentAccess to "The Economist" from July 1997 to the most recent issue.
- Financial Times (FT.com)News, analysis and comment from the Financial Times, a leading global business publication. Current students, faculty, and staff must register and create personal accounts using University of Minnesota e-mail addresses at the link above.
- Wall Street Journal (WSJ.COM) This link opens in a new windowGet WSJ.com subscription through the library. Sign up for a personal account at the link above. Access to the articles, photographs, charts, podcasts, videos and other premium content available on the WSJ.COM website back to the 2010. Mobile app access is included in the subscription.
- Chronicle of PhilanthropyNews, resources, advice, and commentary about the nonprofit world. Includes full access to GrantStation's searchable database of grant makers, deadlines, and other funding information.
Link to a full collection of News sources available through the library.
US & Foreign Government Information
Government Information & Publications
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowThe ProQuest Congressional Research Digital Collection (CRDC) provides full-text access to more than 5,000 Congressional committee prints published from 2004 to present and more than 23,000 Congressional Research Service reports published from 2004-present. Includes citations for bills, public laws, and Statutes at Large, and analytical abstracts of the documents. Also includes links to political parties and organizations and news sources. Coverage 1789-present.
- Legislative Insight This link opens in a new windowFind compilations of digital full-text publications relevant to enacted United States public laws.
- OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new windowOECD iLibrary is the online publications portal of the 38-country Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (https://www.oecd.org/about/members-and-partners/). OECD iLibrary contains thousands of e-books, chapters, tables and graphs, papers, articles, summaries, indicators, databases, and podcasts. All content will be Open Access beginning in July 2024. Content is also indexed via Policy Commons.
Coverage: OECD Books, Papers and Statistics, International Energy Agency (IEA) Statistical Databases, & International Trade by Commodity Statistics
- State bill tracking (NCSL)Find comprehensive 50-state information in NCSL's searchable bill tracking databases. The status of bills listed in these databases is updated every week.
- PluralFollow existing and introduced federal and state legislation across the country or in your state. Plural streamlines how you discover, track, and organize the bills you care about. The platform allows individuals and teams to see what’s happening with similar legislation across the country, find out where bill language reappears over time, and even predict which bills are starting to gain momentum.
- Voxgov This link opens in a new windowSearch publications, press releases, and social media activity of U.S. government agencies and legislative unites including legislators, department chiefs, and other branches in the federal government. Social media includes Twitter feeds, YouTube videos and other output by government entities. Congressional documents such as hearings are also available.
- Federal Funds Information for States (FFIS) This link opens in a new windowFFIS provides rigorous research and analysis of the impact on states of federal budget actions. The cornerstone of FFIS’s work is its grants database, which tracks more than 90% of federal funds flowing to state and local governments.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new windowHuge legal search tool with full-text of legal journals, legal histories, government documents, state and federal cases, international law and includes coverage of many older legal materials. Contains the Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports (Supreme Court) back to 1754.
Data Sets & Sources
Data & Statistics Worldwide
- Sage Data This link opens in a new windowProvides access to statistical data produced by U.S. Federal agencies, States, private organizations, and major intergovernmental organizations. There are up to 2 billion charts, maps, views, rankings, time series and tables available for use in the Data-Planet repository.
- Statistical Insight This link opens in a new windowSearch statistical publications from US and state government agencies, international intergovernmental organizations, professional and trade organizations, business organizations, commercial publishers, independent research organizations, and universities.
- Statista This link opens in a new windowStatista provides statistical data on many topics including media, business, politics, society, technology and education. Sources include market reports, trade publications, scientific journals, and government databases. Data can be accessed by searching or browsing by industry, topic, country, digital market or infographic. The Global Consumer Survey offers a global perspective on consumption and media usage, covering the offline and online world of the consumer. It is designed to help marketers, planners and product managers understand consumer behavior and consumer interactions with brands.
- World Development Indicators This link opens in a new windowFind annual economic, social, educational, environmental and health data from many of the World Bank's major statistical publications.
- UNdata This link opens in a new windowThis database provides international statistics on all major social and economic subjects.
- OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new windowOECD iLibrary is the online publications portal of the 38-country Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (https://www.oecd.org/about/members-and-partners/). OECD iLibrary contains thousands of e-books, chapters, tables and graphs, papers, articles, summaries, indicators, databases, and podcasts. All content will be Open Access beginning in July 2024. Content is also indexed via Policy Commons.
Coverage: OECD Books, Papers and Statistics, International Energy Agency (IEA) Statistical Databases, & International Trade by Commodity Statistics - EV Data CenterThis database provides access to the global market information on electronically chargeable vehicles, including sales volumes, vehicle information, charging infrastructure, incentive schemes, and installed battery capacity by chemistry, supplier and vehicles in use.
Public & Foreign Policy Reports
Policy Reports & Documents
- Policy CommonsSearch millions of documents on thousands of topics from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, IGOs and NGOs as well as from North American cities. Featured topics include Black Lives Matter, COVID-19, Climate Change, Gender Equity, and reports from the 500 largest cities in North America. UMN access includes both the Global Think Tanks and North American City Reports modules.
- Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO)Comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs. Publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs.
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) ReportsCRS reports provide Congress with both anticipatory and on-demand research and analysis to support their legislative, oversight, and representational duties. All reports adhere to the core values of CRS; they are authoritative, objective and nonpartisan. Reports range in length from several pages to more than one-hundred pages and cover the full breadth of topics of interest to Congress. Currently, only the last year of reports is available freely through this website. See ProQuest Congressional below for full coverage of CRS reports.
- CQ Press Library This link opens in a new windowIn the CQ Press Library, search or browse resources on American government, current affairs, history, politics, public policy, and data analysis for the social sciences.
- IssueLab"IssueLab's mission is to more effectively archive, distribute, and promote the extensive and diverse body of research being produced by the nonprofit sector."
- PAIS Index (Political Science and Public Policy)PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) searches journals and other sources on issues of political science and public policy. This includes government, politics, international relations, human rights and more.
Networking Sources: Find Contacts
Find Contacts & Connections
- Leadership Connect (formerly: Leadership Library)Leadership Connect (formerly Leadership Library) allows screening for people, companies, and organizations by type, industry, job function, geographic location, size, or keyword. Ideal for searching NGOs, government agencies, board memberships, and not-for-profit organizations.
- Yearbook of International OrganizationsSearch over 66,000 international organizations including Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs) and International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGOs) in 300 countries and territories.
- Marquis Who's WhoOnline access to profiles on over 1.5 million of the most accomplished individuals from all fields of endeavor including: government, business, science & technology, the arts, entertainment and sports. Search by name, gender, occupation, geography, hobbies and interests, religion and much more. Access provides for 5 simultaneous users.
- American National BiographySearch for famous or influencial people on American history and culture. Find profiles of 19,000+ people from all walks of American life. Limited to 10 simultaneous users.
- Washington Information DirectoryThe Washington Information Directory is a one-stop source for information on U.S. governmental and nongovernmental agencies and organizations.
- Legis1Insightful profiles of members of congress, staff, committees, hearings, witnesses, legislation, issue areas, lobbyists, lobbying firms, and lobbying clients. Legis1's analytics provides unique insights into legislative effectiveness, staff turnover, staff experience, compensation, issue trends, lobbying clients and more. Limited to 5 simultaneous users.
Search for Public & Nonprofit Organizations
Organization Sources
Nonprofit Organizations
- GuideStar: The National Database of Nonprofit OrganizationsInformation on nonprofit organizations in the United States that register with the Internal Revenue Service. Includes financial information, mission, programs, board of directories and historical 990 tax returns filed with the IRS with more detail about expenditures and revenue. Search for nonprofits by location, size, and types of services.
- Foundation Directory OnlineFind grant makers, companies, grants or IRS 990 tax returns for U.S. organizations. Profiles of grant makers mission, analysis of expenses and revenue and other information. The Foundation Directory includes the publication Philanthropy News, current RFPs for grants, and literature on nonprofits from various research institutes.
- Giving USA - the annual report for philanthropy byPublication Date: 2022-
For-profit Companies (public & private)
- Mergent Intellect (Business)Mergent Intellect provides access to private and public U.S. and international business data, industry news, facts and figures, executive contact information, the ability to access industry profiles and much more. It also provides access to contact information for over 250 million U.S. consumers using WhitePages Pro data.
- Orbis (Company Research)Orbis delivers information on over 170 million public and private companies across the globe. The information includes: financial strength metrics and projected financials, associated news and independent research, extensive corporate ownership structures and beneficial ownership, original filed documents, individuals associated with companies, global M&A deals and rumors.
- PitchBookPitchbook is a mediated-access database. Please see Additional Information. Use PitchBook to search thousands of private equity and venture capital deals by hundreds of criteria. Establish benchmarks, find real time data on deals, identify and analyze comparables, and search investor details.
- PrivCoDatabase of financial data on major privately-held companies. Includes private financials and revenues; private M&A deals and deal multiples, private firm valuations, VC funding, private equity deal history; and private and family ownership data.
This resource requires creation of a personal account using U of MN e-mail address. - EMIS ProfessionalFind company and industry information, reports, statistics, proprietary mergers and acquisitions, credit analytics, benchmark indicators and trend comparisons to help understand emerging markets.
Last Updated: Jul 19, 2024 3:31 PM
URL: https://libguides.umn.edu/PA_Orientation