LibGuides: Master of Public Administration & Master of Urban Leadership: Welcome New Grad Students!

Urban Affairs Librarian

Email Me

Contact:

UNLV Libraries
Lied Library
4505 S. Maryland Parkway
Box 457014
Las Vegas, NV 89154-7014
susie.skarl@unlv.edu

702-895-2141

Subjects: Communication Studies, Couple & Family Therapy, Criminal Justice, Crisis & Emergency Management, Government Information, Journalism & Media Studies, Public Administration, Social Work, Urban Studies

Welcome!

Welcome to the Master of Public Administration/Master of Urban Leadership Library Research Guide!

Welcome from UNLV Libraries!

Your UNLV ACE account can be used on the library website to access online library materials including databases, journal articles, and streaming videos.

To begin, view the UNLV Libraries tutorials.

Need more help? Contact your librarian, Susie Skarl: susie.skarl@unlv.edu

The Inquiry Process

MPA & Urban Leadership-Related Databases

UNLV Libraries Quick Search

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
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Searchable articles from academic and professional journals and magazines covering every academic discipline.
Update frequency: Updated daily
This excellent one-stop resource lets you search citations and summaries by keyword and then instantly retrieve the full text of articles from journals online. The Get Text button helps you locate any article without linked full text in alternate online sources or in UNLV's print journal collection.
America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
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Journal articles and books about the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
Scope: U.S. and Canada only
Languages: Abstracts of articles in 40 different languages
This index includes almost 400,000 bibliographic entries from over 2,000 journals published worldwide. Books, media reviews, and dissertations are also covered, and approximately 16,000 entries are added each year. The Get Text button links to online full text when available and offers access to UNLV print collections and document delivery options for books and articles not available online.
Congressional Publications (ProQuest Congressional) This link opens in a new window
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1789-
U.S. legislative information, including access to many full-text Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, committee information, and more. Includes the U.S. Serial Set.
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information, including access to many full-text Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, committee information, and more. Additionally, searchers can retrieve CIS Legislative Histories for public laws. Contains an index of congressional publications from 1789 to the present and locate information about members and committees. Statutes at Large and Congressional Indexes from 1789-1969 are included.
CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
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Resources on public policy and American government, including deep dives into hot topics for policymakers in CQ Researcher Plus Archive and brief legislative analysis in the CQ Magazine (formerly CQ Weekly).
CQ Magazine This link opens in a new window
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1983-
Comprehensive roundup of virtually all Capitol Hill activity from the previous week.
Excellent source of current information on hot legislative topics in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
Education Full Text This link opens in a new window
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1996-
Full text journal articles in education published after 1996. Limited to 20 simultaneous users.
Education Full Text indexes, abstracts and supplies the full text of articles from education-related English-language periodicals and yearbooks published in the United States and elsewhere. English-language books relating to education published in 1996 or later are also indexed. Abstracts are available for items published 1994-1996. Subjects include: Adult Education, Arts, Athletics, Comparative Education, Competency-based Education, Computers in Education, Continuing Education, Educational Technology, Elementary Education, Government Funding, Higher Education, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Library Science, Literacy Standards, Multicultural/Ethnic Education, Parent-Teacher Relations, Prayer in Public Schools, Preschool Education, Religious Education, School Administration, Science and Mathematics, Secondary Education, Special Education, Student Counseling, Teacher Education, Teacher Evaluation, Teaching Methods, Vocational Education
Las Vegas Review Journal (NewsBank) This link opens in a new window
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1996-
Full text of articles, not including images.
PAIS International This link opens in a new window
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1972-
Index to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general.
From the Public Affairs Information Service, this database provides access to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general. It includes records from journals, books, conference proceedings, research and government reports, and directories.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
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1960-
Scopus is an index to peer-reviewed scientific, medical, technical, and social science literature.
Scopus also features a citation index, allowing you to find the papers that cite a specific piece of research.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
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1895-
Indexes the literature of sociology and related disciplines.
Includes full text for selected journals, monographs, and conference papers and contains full text for over 325 journals dating back to 1895. Encompasses all subdisciplines of sociology, including abortion, anthropology, criminology, criminal justice, marriage & family, politics, religion, rural sociology, social psychology, social structure, social work, sociological theory, sociology of education, substance abuse, urban studies, and many others.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
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1963-
Citations and abstracts from journal articles, books, and association papers in sociology.
Update frequency: Updated quarterly
Sociological Abstracts provides access to worldwide findings in theoretical and applied sociology, social science, and policy science. Included are citations and abstracts from journal articles, books, and association papers. The database includes research within the following topics: anthropology, business, collective behavior, community development, disaster studies, education, environmental studies, gender studies, gerontology, law and penology, marriage and family studies, medicine and health, racial interactions, social psychology, social work, sociological theory, stratification, substance abuse, urban studies, and violence.
US Newsstream This link opens in a new window
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1980s-
Searchable current and recent articles from newspapers, including Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Full text of articles from major national newspapers: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, USA Today. Also included are the New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, and the Las Vegas Review Journal.

Learn Effective Database Search Strategies

Learn Effective Database Search Strategies

(The following are suggestions to improve your search results)

Use different search terms or key words

a. Try using other words to describe your topic, it will give you better results.

b. Examples: urban and leadership, cities and administration, leadership and nonprofit

Truncation or wildcard (*)

a. This will locate alternate endings for your search term.

b. Example - lead* to find leaders, leader, leadership, etc.

c. Note: Some databases use different symbols; consult the help page for the correct symbol

Try different databases

a. Each database contains unique material, so searching a different database may yield more relevant research.

Help page

a. Each database has a page with tips to help you effectively search that resource.

Choosing & Narrowing Your Topic

You will have to narrow down your research topic whether the topic comes from your professor or you choose it yourself. You may know the aspect of a topic you want to research; however, if you need help with this, below are some tips on how to do this.

For example, you have to write a paper on high school dropouts; there are various aspects of this issue to write about. To narrow down this topic, ask the basic questions:

Who? - Race, ethnicity, age, gender, students, etc.
What? - Social issues, ethical considerations, medical concerns, discrimination, etc.
When? - Historical overview, current developments, future progress, etc.
Where? - Regional, nationally, workplace, college, etc.

By applying one or two questions, you can narrow down your topic.

If you are still having trouble narrowing down your topic, search the internet to see what is being discussed. At this point, you are not looking for resources. You are just looking on the web to generate ideas for your research topic.

UNLV Libraries Data & Statistics Portal

To obtain official data sources on Google, remember to type in site:.gov after your keywords. Search example: "teen pregnancy statistics" site:.gov

UNLV Libraries Data & Statistics Portal

Sage Data This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to the extensive Data-Planet repository of standardized and structured statistical data.
Through a single platform, users can search and browse 25 billion data points in over 4.3 billion datasets sourced from over 75 authoritative government and private sources. The platform’s powerful functionality allows users to manipulate datasets, compare multiple indicators, chart trends over time and spatially represent data without requiring additional software programs. Multiple export options are provided. For more information on specific datasets and how to use Data-Planet, visit the Data-Planet LibGuide
ICPSR This link opens in a new window
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is an organization of member institutions working together to: acquire and preserve social science data; provide open and equitable access to these data; and promote effective data management.
Users must have an account with ICPSR to download datasets.

To register, you must be affiliated with UNLV, which is a member institution of ICPSR, and you must access the site from a recognized UNLV IP address.

Register for an account from off campus (you will be prompted to login with your ACE account or activated RebelCard barcode and PIN).
Statista This link opens in a new window
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Statista provides statistical data from thousands of institutions and sources. It provides access to data from market and opinion research institutions, as well as from business organizations and government agencies.
Statista includes data on more than 85,000 topics from 18,000 sources. About 20 percent of the total data in Statista comes from sources available free online, such as the World Bank and the U.S. Census, but the data also includes numerous exclusive sources which include industry, marketing, and trade groups. Much of the data is related to marketing, demographic, government and industry information, and is international in scope. Data can be downloaded in JPG, PowerPoint and Excel.
SAGE U.S. Political Stats
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U.S. Political Stats has been retired. Content has been migrated to DataPlanet
SAGE Business Stats
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SAGE Business Stats has been retired. Content has been migrated to DataPlanet
WRDS This link opens in a new window
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Limited to UNLV affiliated users. Users must request an account.The Wharton Research Data Service provides World Wide Web access to CRSP, ISSM and Global Insight (Basic Economics).

Use Time-saving Library Services

Use Time-saving Library Services

UNLV Interlibrary Loan: Use this account to get articles, books, and other resources from our interlibrary loan system that are not available through UNLV Libraries for free by clicking HERE to set up an account.

Google Scholar is a subset of Google that is designed to search for academic and scholarly articles and books online.

Follow UNLV Libraries on Twitter & Like Us on Facebook: For library news, research assistance, schedules, resource updates, and more, follow us on Twitter: @unlvlibraries & Like Us on Facebook.

Suggest a Purchase for the UNLV Libraries: Do you have a suggestion for an item that we should add to the library collections? Click here to make your request.

UNLV Graduate Workshops: Check out the wide variety of workshops we will be having throughout the semester for grads!

Research Consultations: If you would like to schedule a time that is convenient for your schedule to discuss your research, please contact me at susie.skarl@unlv.edu or 702-895-2141.

RefWorks This link opens in a new window
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Bibliography manager saves your citations and formats them into APA, MLA, or other styles.
This web-based bibliography manager lets you save citations to journal articles, books, web sites and more into your personal online database. You'll be able to quickly link to online articles, organize and share your references, and automatically create formatted bibliographies in all the major citation formats, including APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. Off-campus users, see the Using RefWorks at UNLV page for special instructions.

Refworks

RefWorks This link opens in a new window
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Bibliography manager saves your citations and formats them into APA, MLA, or other styles.
This web-based bibliography manager lets you save citations to journal articles, books, web sites and more into your personal online database. You'll be able to quickly link to online articles, organize and share your references, and automatically create formatted bibliographies in all the major citation formats, including APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. Off-campus users, see the Using RefWorks at UNLV page for special instructions.

What is RefWorks?

RefWorks is a web-based bibliographic software package that enables you to:

Organize your research
Create a bibliography in a variety of citation styles, including APA, MLA and Chicago
Import references from many data sources
Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)
Include citations while you write your paper

"New" RefWorks Instructions

APA & MLA

MLA Examples and Guides
Models citations in the 7th ed. style
BibMe
Quickly finds and formats citations - no login required.
RefWorks
Good for keeping track of lots of citations. Creates APA, MLA and many other style bibliographies.

RefWorks This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Bibliography manager saves your citations and formats them into APA, MLA, or other styles.
This web-based bibliography manager lets you save citations to journal articles, books, web sites and more into your personal online database. You'll be able to quickly link to online articles, organize and share your references, and automatically create formatted bibliographies in all the major citation formats, including APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. Off-campus users, see the Using RefWorks at UNLV page for special instructions.

Tips for Searching on Google Scholar

A note about Google Scholar . . .

Although Google Scholar contains many resources, it does not contain access to all relevant resources for hospitality research. Researchers are strongly encouraged to look at the additional resources mentioned above to conduct a thorough literature review. You do not need to purchase articles via Google Scholar many are available for through the UNLV Libraries or via Interlibrary Loan.

For help connecting to UNLV Libraries' resources through Google Scholar see the following.

GoogleScholarcapture

Website | Feed

Leadership-Related Journals

Forbes
For corporate officers and other major executives in business interested in developing management insight through review of the nation's largest corporations.
Harvard Business Review
Presents analysis of management problems and helpful commentary on advanced thinking and practice in all fields of management and administration.
Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies
This journal publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles on leadership and organizational studies, focusing in particular on the intersection of these two areas of study. JLOS aims to provide scholarly understanding of the effective application of leadership and other issues in an organizational context.
Journal of Public Affairs
he Journal of Public Affairs is essential reading for those who need to keep abreast of the latest thinking around the continually-evolving discipline of public affairs.
Journal of Public Policy
This journal applies social science theories and concepts to significant political, economic and social issues and to the ways in which public policies are made.
Journal of Urban Affairs
Articles and book reviews about contemporary urban issues for social scientists. Information about public policies, programs, social change and administration.
Leader to Leader
Report on management, leadership, and strategy written by today's top leaders themselves.
Leadership
Leadership is designed to provide an ongoing forum for academic researchers to exchange information, insights and knowledge on both theoretical development and empirical research on leadership. It publishes original, high quality articles that contribute to the advancement of the study of leadership. The journal is global in orientation and focus.
Leadership Quarterly
This journal brings together a focus on leadership for scholars, consultants, practicing managers, executives and administrators, as well as those numerous university faculty members across the world who teach leadership as a college course. It provides timely publication of leadership research and applications and has a global reach. It also focuses on yearly reviews of a broad range of leadership topics on a rotating basis and emphasizes cutting edge areas through special issues.
Nonprofit Management & Leadership
Brings together knowledge about special needs, challenges, & opportunities of nonprofit organizations & offers insights on common concerns of nonprofit leaders in all settings.
Public Administration Quarterly
Public Administration Quarterly (PAQ) publishes articles and symposia of interest to academics and practitioners across the fields of public administration and public affairs.
Public Administration Review
Public Administration Review is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal the field of public administration.
Urban Affairs Review
Urban Affairs Review is a peer-reviewed, bi-monthly journal focused on questions of politics, governance, and public policy specifically as they relate to cities and/or their regions.

Sage Research Planner

Sage Research Methods--Project Planner

This tool is designed to guide you through your research project. First, think about what stage you're at in your research. If you've already gotten started, click on the stage below that best describes where you are. If you're just starting out, it might be helpful to read more about why we do research before getting started.

Online Movies & Streaming Videos

UNLV Libraries Online Movies & Streaming Videos

Master of Public Administration & Master of Urban Leadership: Welcome New Grad Students!