WU Libraries Government, Etc.: Reference Sources

Subject librarian: Barbara Rehkop
Office Hours: By Appointment
Email: brehkop@wustl.edu
Phone: 314/935-7465
Fax: 314/935-4919

Link to Main Government page 

Reference Works in Political Science, by Type:

Encyclopedias

Britannica Online
Full-text, general-purpose encyclopedia.

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Dictionaries

Oxford English Dictionary
Full-text. Second edition, updated quarterly. Click on 'Sign In' to access the dictionary.

Oxford Reference Online (1 concurrent user allowed)
Full-text. Contains about 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.

U.S. Census Glossary
Maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau. Definition and explanation of terms used in the American Community Survey, the Current Population Survey, and the Decennial Census. Explanation of selected abbreviations and acronyms.

Statistics Glossary /p
'Entries in the Statistical Glossary are taken from the Electronic Manual of STATISTICA and may contain elements that refer to specific features of the STATISTICA system.'

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Biographies, Directories and Registers

Biography Index (1984 - ) 1 concurrent user allowed)
Includes autobiographies, bibliographies, biographies, critical studies, fiction and drama, pictorial works, poetry, juvenile literature, obituaries, journals, collections of letters, book reviews, and interviews. Updated monthly.

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present
A Who's Who of all Representatives and Senators. The simple search engine is case insensitive, and allows searching by last name, first name, office held, and/or state represented.

Almanac of American Politics
Exhaustive biographies and political standings of all Members of Congress and the areas (states or districts) they represent. The paper copies at JK 1012 go back to 1980.

Congressional Directory
Congress creates its own telephone directory to the Congress and the rest of the U.S. federal government annually. Also includes names, addresses, and telephone numbers to the mass media, state governments, and foreign diplomats in the U.S. Provides biographical data on members of congress and socio-economic demographic variables about the states and districts. The print counterpart goes back to the Civil War.

Taylor's Encyclopedia of Government Officials: Federal & State
Updates the print version of this encyclopedia. Userid and password required; ask at Help Desk; click on Member Login at top-left of screen.

Associations Unlimited (1 concurrent user allowed)
Contains information for more than 120,000 international and U.S. regional, state, and local nonprofit membership organizations in all fields.

USPS ZIP Code Look-Up
Look up zip codes for any address in the U.S.

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Atlases and Gazeteers

Library of Congress Country Studies
'This website contains the on-line versions of books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Army. Because the original intent of the Series' sponsor was to focus primarily on lesser known areas of the world or regions in which U.S. forces might be deployed, the series is not all-inclusive. At present, 102 countries and regions are covered. Notable omissions include Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and other Western nations, as well as a number of African nations. The date of information for each country appears on the title page of each country and at the end of each section of text.'

CIA World Factbook
'The World Factbook printed version provides a "snapshot" of the world as of January 1st. The online Factbook is updated regularly - generally weekly - throughout the year.'

Background Notes
'Background Notes are factual publications that contain information on all the countries of the world with which the United States has relations. They include facts on the country's land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and its relations with other countries and the United States.' Produced by the Department of State.

USGS Geographic Name Information Service (GNIS)
'The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the USGS in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), contains information about almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and its territories. The Federally recognized name of each feature described in the data base is identified, and references are made to a feature's location by State, county, and geographic coordinates. The GNIS is our Nation's official repository of domestic geographic names information.'

National Atlas of the US
The National Map is a consistent framework for geographic knowledge needed by the Nation. It provides public access to high-quality, geospatial data and information from multiple partners to help inform decisionmaking by resource managers and the public. The National Map is the product of a consortium of Federal, State, and local partners who provide geospatial data to enhance America's ability to access, integrate, and apply geospatial data at global, national, and local scales.'

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Statistics

Statistical Abstract of the United States
"As the National Data Book, it contains a collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States. Selected international data are also included. The Abstract is also your Guide to Sources of other data from the Census Bureau, other Federal agencies, and private organizations." A print copy is also available in the library's reference collection.

Statistical Abstract of the United States
Facster.com provides an easier interface to Stat. Abstracts. They also offer an increasing number of other statistical series as well.

FedStats
'More than 70 agencies in the United States Federal Government produce statistics of interest to the public. The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by these agencies for public use.'

FRASER
Selected historical economics statistics, provided by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank.

NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service) Abstracts Database(1970- )
Covers corrections, courts, drugs and crime, law enforcement, juvenile justice, crime statistics, domestic preparedness, and victims of crime.

Polling the Nations (1986 - ) (4 concurrent users allowed)
Full-text. A compilation of more than 14,000 surveys conducted by more than 700 polling organizations in the United States and more than 80 other countries.

STAT-USA
'STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is the site for the U.S. business, economic and trade community, providing authoritative information from the Federal government.'

LexisNexis Statistical
Abstracts and index to U.S., state, international governments and privately published statistical sources (ASI, SRI and IIS).

Pollster.com
"A statistical heaven for political junkies, with charts, tables, and maps showing the ever-changing preferences of voters as the 2008 presidential election approaches. Also check out the Pollster blog, whose blogroll includes poll links to public pollsters, academic surveys, survey research organizations, and other poll blogs and sites." (from NeatNews)

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Almanacs

Almanac of American Politics
Provided by the National Journal.

Information Please Almanac
A print copy is also available in the library's reference collection.

World Almanacs
Includes the contents of: the World Almanac and Book of Facts, the World Almanac of the U.S.A., the World Almanac of U.S. Politics, and the World Almanac for Kids.

Almanac of Policy Issues
A free resource that provides basic background information on various policy issues.

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