Political Science

Area Studies Guides

This is a guide of Political Science resources available to students and faculty at the University of Minnesota. Use the "Getting Started" page for new researchers, and the other pages for more advanced content.

Background Information & Reference

Getting full text

When using Library resources, the FindIt link is your connection to accessing the full text of articles if a PDF link is not already visible.

This short video will show you how to get to the articles you need for your research paper or other University of Minnesota assignments. Never pay for articles! If we don't have it online, request it and we will get it for you. 

 

Common search modifiers and examples

AND
AND ASSOCIATES search terms

Image capturing a search for dogs and cats. AND dictates results must include both of these terms. So a source not mentioning the term dogs will not be in the search results

OR
OR finds MORE

Image capturing a search for dogs OR cats. OR dictates results can include either or both of these terms. So a source not mentioning the term dogs will be in the search results.

NOT
NOT DROPS

Image capturing a search for dogs NOT cats. NOT dictates results must not include the term following the NOT. So a source mentioning the term cats will not be in the search results

Truncation
Truncation works from the root of a word
(doesn’t work in Google Scholar)

Image capturing a search for cat-asterisk. Truncation commonly uses an asterisk to allow for any string of characters to complete the root of a term. In this example, cat would be returned as would catwoman and cat-scan

Phrase searching
Use quotes to tie words together

Image capturing a search for CAT scan in quotes. Quotes are used to tie terms together into a phrase. Otherwise a database search will break the terms apart yielding often unwanted results

Parentheses
Parentheses bring order to your awesome search

Image capturing a search with parenthesis around a portion of the search. Parenthesis are used to isolate parts of more complex search strategies. In this example, bed OR kennel are in parenthesis and dog AND are outside, meaning dog must be included in the results as do either bed or kennel

Off-Campus Access to Library Resources

Current University students, staff and faculty should be able to get full text and online access to the University Libraries from anywhere. Here are three ways to access the library full text from off campus.

  1. Search the University of Minnesota library website. Log in with your UMN Internet ID and password to access resources.
  2. Log in using the U of M Virtual Private Network (VPN). You will need to download it VPN software to your computer from campus OIT (Office of Information Technology).
  3. Install the Libraries' Proxy Bookmarklet to your browser and click it to reload the page with your U of M login to get access to full text. Watch a proxy bookmarklet video (3 min) to learn more. 

View examples and learn more on our How to get to full text from on and off campus Guide.

Last Updated: Jul 19, 2024 3:15 PM