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Government Research Guide

The Government Research guide is intended to create a pathway to research tools and resources to assist you with your projects and assignments in both Federal and Texas Government courses.

Many research resources and tools are available to GC students in the library; knowing which resources are available for your program or course and how to use the resources can sometimes be overwhelming. The guide will help you navigate library resources whether you are an online student, dual credit, hybrid student, or attending in-person.

In this guide, you will find:

Databases - Federal Government

Here is a list of recommended databases for Government courses. For a complete list of databases, please visit the A-Z Databases page.

open access, open and free to use This symbol indicates an open-access resource, and a login is not required.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals and a total of 9,810 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc.
Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new window
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints is the premier online resource covering today's hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. This cross-curricular resource supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills and draw their own conclusions.
Opposing Viewpoints is a rich resource for debaters and includes viewpoints, reference articles, infographics, news, images, video, audio, and more. A category on the National Debate Topic provides quick and easy access to content on frequently studied and discussed issues. Periodical content covers current events, news and commentary, economics, environmental issues, political science, and more.
Opposing Viewpoints In Context is a rich resource for debaters and includes pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more. A category on the National Debate Topic provides quick and easy access to content on frequently studied and discussed issues. Periodical content covers current events, news and commentary, economics, environmental issues, political science, and more from sources such as The New York Times, Newsweek, Foreign Policy, American Scientist, and Education Week.
Power Search (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Cross-search content from select Gale products, including Gale's OneFile periodicals, In Context products, and/or eBooks.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts, and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites.
Legal Collection This link opens in a new window
This database contains full text for nearly 250 of the world's most respected, scholarly law journals. The Legal Collection is an authoritative source for information on current issues, studies, thoughts and trends of the legal world.
MasterFILE Complete This link opens in a new window
MasterFILE Complete provides full-text periodicals covering an extensive range of subject areas including business, health, education, fitness, sports and leisure, personal finance, general science, multicultural issues, DIY, and fashion.
This database also contains full text for more than 870 reference books, 73,000 primary source documents, 70,000 Associated Press videos, and an Image Collection of 1.6 million photos, maps & flags. MasterFILE Complete now offers PDF backfiles (as far back as 1975) for key publications including American Libraries, Foreign Affairs, History Today, Judaism, Library Journal, National Review, Saturday Evening Post, etc.

Databases - Texas Government

Here is a list of recommended databases for Government courses. For a complete list of databases, please visit the A-Z Databases page.

open access, open and free to use This symbol indicates an open-access resource, and a login is not required.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Complete is the world's most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary full-text database, with more than 5,300 full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for more than 9,300 journals and a total of 9,810 publications including monographs, reports, conference proceedings, etc.
Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new window
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints is the premier online resource covering today's hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. This cross-curricular resource supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills and draw their own conclusions.
Opposing Viewpoints is a rich resource for debaters and includes viewpoints, reference articles, infographics, news, images, video, audio, and more. A category on the National Debate Topic provides quick and easy access to content on frequently studied and discussed issues. Periodical content covers current events, news and commentary, economics, environmental issues, political science, and more.
Opposing Viewpoints In Context is a rich resource for debaters and includes pro/con viewpoints, reference articles, interactive maps, infographics, and more. A category on the National Debate Topic provides quick and easy access to content on frequently studied and discussed issues. Periodical content covers current events, news and commentary, economics, environmental issues, political science, and more from sources such as The New York Times, Newsweek, Foreign Policy, American Scientist, and Education Week.
Galveston and Texas History Center Online Collection This link opens in a new window
The Rosenberg Library offers access to a small collection of digitized primary sources such as manuscripts and photographs that pertain to the Galveston area.
Handbook of Texas This link opens in a new window
The Handbook of Texas is a digital state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) that is free and accessible on the Internet for students, teachers, scholars, and the general public. The Handbook consists of an overview, general, and biographical entries focused on the entire history of Texas from the indigenous Native Americans and the Prehistoric Era to the states diverse population and the Modern Age.
Texas Almanac (Archives) This link opens in a new window
The Texas State Historical Association is pleased to present the first 148 years of the Texas Almanac, hosted on the Portal to Texas History. The first 62 editions of the Texas Almanac are fully searchable with downloadable PDFs to aid researchers and students of Texas history. Search one edition at a time or enter your search term here for a complete search of all editions.
Texas Constitution This link opens in a new window
Transcription of the Texas Constitution from the Texas State Legislature.
Texas Reference Center
Texas Reference Center includes more than 80 full text journals and books about Texas history, ethnic & cultural diversity, gender studies, literature, public health, business as well as home & garden and sports & leisure. The database contains biographies portraying famous historical and contemporary Texans such as George Herbert Walker Bush, Lady Bird Johnson, Dan Moody, Susanna Dickinson and Sam Houston.

eJournals - Federal Government

Here is a list of recommended eJournals for Government courses.

Note: Not every article is available online. If the article you are looking for is unavailable through Galveston College Library, place a request via Interlibrary Loan.

open access, open and free to use This symbol indicates an open-access resource, and a login is not required.

eJournals - Texas Government

Here is a list of recommended eJournals for Government courses.

Note: Not every article is available online. If the article you are looking for is unavailable through Galveston College Library, place a request via Interlibrary Loan.

open access, open and free to use This symbol indicates an open-access resource, and a login is not required.

Texas Review of Law & Politics
Publishes thoughtful & intellectually rigorous conservative articles--articles that traditional law reviews often fail to publish--that can serve as blueprints for constructive legal reform.
Texas Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights
Focuses on current issues in civil rights & constitutional law.

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Government Research Guide

In this guide, you will find:

Recommended Databases & eJournals

Databases - Federal Government

Databases - Texas Government

eJournals - Federal Government

eJournals - Texas Government