Librarian's Top Picks
Congress.gov
Congressional Digest Debates Online
CQ Congress Collection
National Journal
ProQuest Congressional
International coverage, including US
Political Science Complete (EBSCO) (PubPol + PolSci)
ProQuest Political Science (PubPol + PolSci)
PAIS (Public Policy)
CIAO (
Nexis Uni (for news)
JSTOR (archive, not current; for known citations)
From the Start: record and refine your search strategies by keeping a research log (ex. below); saving your search histories in databases; and/or taking screen shots of your searches.
Remember to cite sources as you go.
Start with an overview of your issue by searching for news and scholarly analysis with the databases listed throughout this guide. To explore other databases:
Click on the Databases tab from the Libraries homepage. Enter database name or use the Browse by Subject function. Tips:
Understand how the US government works--see the US Govt. tab for some refresher sources, esp. the Legislative Process guide
Google smart:
Add site:.gov to restrict your Google search to US government sites.
Use Google Search Tips: Notice how similar the advanced strategies are to those used in databases!
Use the Think Tanks search engine on the interest groups page of this guide.
For books and more:
Use the Duke Libraries catalog to search for print and reference sources
Tips
Dig deeper see my Public Policy subject guide (linked from my profile here), and the Related Guides tab in it.