LibGuides: URST 101: Brookings, Introduction to Public Policy (Beavers): Library Guides

URST 101 Slides

URST 101 Slides

General Policy-Related Resources & Databases (Newspapers, Reports, Articles, Other Think Tanks, etc.)

UNLV Libraries Quick Search
Google-like research discovery engine that provides instant search access to a high proportion of the University Libraries’ resources, including journal and newspaper articles, e-books, etc.

Las Vegas Review Journal (NewsBank)
Good for: Searching the text of articles published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Contains: Article text (no images).
Dates covered: 1996-present.

PAIS International
Good for: Finding information on public policy, social policy, and the social sciences.
Contains: Index to literature.
Dates covered: 1972-present.

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. Use it to locate journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, and web content.
Academic Search Premier
Good for: Conducting academic research on all subjects.
Contains: Journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.
CQ Researcher
Good for: Controversial topics in social issues, environment, health, education, science, and technology.
Contains: Reports with information about all sides of an issue, including comments from experts in the field, charts and graphs, a pro-con feature, a chronology, a bibliography for additional research, and a list of advocacy organizations.
Dates covered: 1923-present.
Nexis Uni
Good for: Researching published news, legal, medical, patents, and business information.
Contains: News, legal, medical, and business information.

The news section delivers the full text of international, national and regional newspapers along with wire services, broadcast transcripts, magazines, and non-English language sources. The legal section contains U.S. Federal and state case law, codes, regulations, legal news, law reviews and international legal information. This includes Shepard's Citations for all U.S. Supreme Court cases back to 1789. The medical section supplies information from news and medical journals, and provides abstracts to medical news from Medline. The business section includes business news journals, company financial information, SEC filings and reports, and industry and market news.
ProQuest One Academic
Good for: Conducting academic research on all subjects.
Contains: Journal articles, streaming media, e-books and dissertations and theses.
RAND Reports
Good for: Researching social and political issues.
Contains: Think tank reports and documents.

Searches the RAND archive of over 17,000 titles dating back to 1948. RAND publications deal with such issues as national defense, education and training, health care, criminal and civil justice, labor and population, science and technology, community development, international relations, and regional studies.

Harvard Think Tank Search Guide
A Google Custom Search of more than 1200 think tanks and research centers.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar Settings

Subject-Specific Databases

From our A to Z list of Databases, go to the dropdown menu and find your topic of interest (such as Education, Health, Criminal Justice, Environment, etc.)

A to Z List of Databases
From our A to Z list of Databases, go to the dropdown menu and find your topic of interest (such as Education, Health, Criminal Justice, Environment, etc.)

Policy-Related Web Resources

Nevada Electronic Legislative Information System (NELIS)
Information about the Nevada legislative current session as well as past sessions, search for your representatives, and more.
PolicyArchive
PolicyArchive is a comprehensive digital library of public policy research containing over 17,000 documents, from about 500 organizations.
Stateline
Stateline is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service of the Pew Center on the States. Since 1999, it has reported and analyzed trends in state policy.
Pew Research Center: U.S. Politics & Policy
Includes research reports, surveys, data, and more focusing on US politics & policy.
U.S. State Policy | The Pew Charitable Trusts
Resources on US state policy, fiscal & economic policy, etc.

Finding Government Information & Statistics

Did you know it is relatively easy to find federal, state, and local information right on Google?
After you type your keywords in on Google, then type in site:.gov

For example:

crime statistics site:.gov
high school dropout rate and Clark County Nevada site:.gov

Finding Legislation

Nevada Electronic Legislative Information System (NELIS)
Information about the Nevada legislative current session as well as past sessions, search for your representatives, and more.

Congressional Publications (ProQuest Congressional)
Good for: Researching U.S. legislative information.
Contains: Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, committee information, and more.
Dates covered: 1789-present.

Nevada Laws, Codes, and Court Rules
Congress.gov
Presented by the Library of Congress, Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information.

White Paper Resources

Writing Editorials

How to Write an Op-Ed Column (Harvard Kennedy School)
Provides detailed guidelines on how to write an op-ed column.
The Op-Ed Project
Resource for anyone looking to strengthen their op-ed writing. It provides tips on op-ed writing, suggestions about basic op-ed structure, guidelines on how to pitch op-ed pieces to publications, and information about top outlets that publish op-eds.
How to Write Op-Ed Columns
Prepared by The Earth Institute at Columbia University, this is a guide to writing op-eds and contains a useful list of op-ed guidelines for top-circulation US newspapers.

Citing Your Sources Using Refworks

RefWorks
Good for: Saving, organizing and formatting citations in your personal database.
Contains: Bibliography manager.

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. Learn more on the RefWorks Basics page.

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

Mendeley

Mendeley is a reference manager, academic collaboration network and crowdsourced database with a unique layer of social information research. Mendeley Desktop is available on Mac, Windows and Linux. Mendeley Web functions on all major browsers. Mobile versions of Mendeley are available for Ipad, Iphone and Android devices.

Using Mendeley
Check out great tutorials, resources, and more from Engineering Librarian Sue Wainscott's guide!

Zotero

Zotero
"Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you
collect, organize, cite", and share research."

Citation Manager Showdown: Comparison of Mendeley, Refworks, and Zotero

Citation Manager Showdown: Comparison of Mendeley, Refworks, and Zotero
Great overview & details of three different citation managers available through UNLV Libraries!

Help with APA Citation Style

Citing Legislation

Bill/Chapter Example:
California Fostering Connections to Success Act, Cal. Assemb. B. 12 (2010-2011), Chapter 559 (Cal. Stat. 2010)

Congressional Bill:
Equitable Health Care for Severe Mental Illnesses Act of 1993, S. 671, 103d Cong., 1st Sess. (1993).

Urban Affairs Librarian

Susie Skarl, 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

URST 101: Brookings, Introduction to Public Policy (Beavers): Library Guides

Brookings Institution