Resources for GOVT 387, Fall 2006

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Resources for GOVT 387, Fall 2006

• Dr. Tony Fonseca
• Serials Librarian
• tony.fonseca_at_nicholls.edu

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Library Main Page
You will see the Power Search link below the main
search box
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The iLink Power Search
Here we have put in our search term, and limited
ourselves to books (under Type), which will weed
out government documents
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Results
This search was not helpful, but note the
sub-classifications on the right. One of them,
Political Institutions and Public Administration,
may be just the ticket. It is a link, so you can
click on it.
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Our new results list
Granted, this limited us to 11 hits, but we know
the relevancy is high. By clicking on Details, we
can see the Item Record for any of these books.
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Details (Item Record)
If we click on the tab that says Catalog Record
we can actually find out the correct Subject
Terms to use to do this search effectively, in
this case, policy sciences.
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Follow the Subject Links
Ilink has rerun the search as a Subject Heading
search policy sciences. It found 42 titles.
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A more relevant results list
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But Ellender isnt the only library in the world.
Go to Electronic Research Databases, and click on
WorldCat
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What if you could search EVERY catalog in the
world.
Guess what. WorldCat does that.
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What might you find?
You can limit those results by simply clicking on
the icon that says Limit (top left, below
Detailed Record)
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Here we limit by Subject Headings
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A total of 41,000 books to choose from, which can
be further limited to post 2000 titles
Again, use the Limit icon and choose Year.
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And they are all available through Interlibrary
Loan (ILLiad) if Ellender does not have them
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You can also find articles on political topics,
like public policy
Once again go to our Electronic Research Databases
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Notice they are arranged by subject (the third
link)
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Here are your Government databases
You can click on and search any one, for example
Military and Government Collection
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We can try the search term public policy, AND
limit our results to full-text articles
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We get 2055 Hits, all Full-Text
Notice the pdf full-text version of the 9th
article
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Basically, you get a photocopy delivered to your
desktop
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You can also limit your searches to titles
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This returns 191 hits. You may see some html
Full-Text
These are also legitimate forms of full-text.
They are just a little more difficult to cite.
Lets look at one (the 2nd article).
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When you cite these, you have to cite the
database. ?
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And remember.

• If we do not have an article as full-text, we may
  have it in print, and you can photocopy it. Ask a
  librarian how to determine this.
• If we do not have an article in full-text nor in
  print, we can always Interlibrary Loan it for
  you. Again, a librarian can tell you how to do
  this.

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• If you dont happen to be in the library by the
  way, all you have to do is call the Reference
  Desk, at 448-4625. The librarian on duty can talk
  you through the process of determining if we have
  something in print.
• Just make sure you have opened an Interlibrary
  Loan account with Nicholls.
• Start at the Library Mainpage.

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Under Services, click on Interlibrary Loan
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Go to the ILLiad link in the first paragraph
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Click on First Time Users, follow the directions,
and voila, you are done
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And it gets even easier.

• We now pay for a service called WebFeat, which is
  a federated search engine. What this means is
  that you can now search all our databases, or
  just databases in a certain subject area,
  simultaneously! And yes, WebFeat retrieves
  Full-Text articles, so you may not even have to
  photocopy.

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Click on WebFeat
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Put in your search terms and limiters
Notice the limiters for full-text and Social
Sciences are checked
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And patiently wait while WebFeat searches
everything
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You can scroll to see your hits
Here are the hits from International Political
Science Abstracts. They seem relevant, but you
may notice articles dealing with Europe, Russia,
etc.
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• Keep in mind that WebFeat is just a computerized
  product, and it cannot think critically. You may
  have to go back and refine your search, by adding
  keywords like United States and government.

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Here is our new group of hits from the database
International Political Science Abstracts
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And here are hits from the database called
Academic Search Premier. Number 6 may be near
and dear to our hearts.
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• So you see, thanks to WebFeat, other database
  interfaces, WorldCat, and the ability to perform
  Power Searches, articles are literally at your
  fingertips, and almost any book in the world
  could be in your hands in no time