Welcome to the Research Guide for your course in Government
In the PHC Library catalog, you can search a variety of resources by title, author, keyword, or phrase, linking you to ebooks, print books in the on-campus collection, and journal articles from both general and subject specific databases. The more specific your search terms, the more specific the results will be. For our Distance Learning (DL) students, excerpts from print items held in the on campus library can be provided on request.
If you are accessing electronic resources from off-campus and are required to log in, use your student portal user name and password to gain access. If you have difficulty with the website or accessing any resources, please let library staff know by email at askalibrarian@phc.edu or library@phc.edu.
Professional library assistance is available on campus, by phone at 540-441-8400, or by email at askalibrarian@phc.edu.
American political dictionary - C1997. JK9 .P55 1997
Encyclopedia of American public policy - Ref JK468 .P64 J33 1999
Oxford guide to the United States government - Ref JK9 .P384 2001
Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC) is a single point of contact for information about Federal agencies, programs, and services.
Federal Judicial Center accesses information on the federal court systems and includes educational materials about the courts and their history.
A service of the National Criminal Justice Reference Service - extensive source of information on criminal and juvenile justice issues.
Library of Congress (LOC) catalogs the collection and links to a variety of primary source items and collections.
National Agricultural Library Indexes of agricultural information--books, serials, and journal articles.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) preserves items important in the nation's history and manages all federal records.
National Center For Health Statistics: Rates and statistics on birth, death, and other health information.
U.S. Census Bureau - Census information both current and past can be viewed by state and county.
U.S. House of Representatives - Session and committee schedules, member directories, and links to related sites.
U.S. Senate - Information on Senate sessions and committee meetings and links to the websites of individual senators.
U.S. Supreme Court - accesses all Supreme Court cases and decisions.
White House - the official presidential web site.
World FactBook is the CIA's profile of each country containing general and specific information about geography, population, government, weather, and travel advisories. Includes maps.
Academic Search Premier and ProQuest provide access to a substantial number of scholarly journal articles that may be helpful in your research.
You can search for specific sources using any of the following terms as "Subject":
Christianity and politics
Conservatism
Constitutional law--U.S.
Democracy--United States
Executive departments--U.S.
Executive Power--U.S.
International relations
Judicial process--U.S.
National characteristics, American Political participation--U.S.
Political Science
Public administration--U.S.
United Nations
United States--civilization
U.S.--politics and government
U.S. Supreme Court
You can search for journal articles by title, author, or keyword, or you can browse a subject specific journal like the ones listed below by using the library's link to Periodical Listing.
Almanac of American Politics (Online 7/5/1992-Present)
Congress & the Presidency (Online 4/1/1997-Present)
Congressional Digest (Print 10/2000 and Online 1998-Present)
CQ Researcher (Print 2000-Present and Online 1923-Present)
CQ Weekly (Print and Online 4/18/1998-Present)
Government Leader (Online 3/5/2005-Present)
Hill (Online 1995-Present)
Presidential Studies Quarterly (Online 1/1/1994-Present)
Public Management (Online 1/1/1994-Present)
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (Online 3/24/1979)
U.S. News and World Report (Print 9/3/2001-Present and Online 1/6/1975-Present)
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (Online 1/6/1992-Present)
Citation help needed? Try OWL (Online Writing Lab) for Chicago/Turabian, MLA, and APA styling formats. Help in citing legal cases? Try Georgetown Law's Legal "Blue Book."
Search by subject: Once you have located one item in the catalog, you may click on the search term within the record to find other items on the same or similar, subjects. Once you have located a helpful source, additional potential sources may be found in the item's bibliography.
Interlibrary loan (ILL): If you are unable to locate an item in the PHC collection, you may request resources through Interlibrary loan. ILL requests may be made directly in the library catalog.
