MU Libraries SourcepackSocial Work 8300:
Advanced Social Policy for Planning & Administration

• Encyclopedia Of Social Work (Ready REF HV 35 .S6)
• Social Worker's Desk Reference (Ready REF HV 40 .S6464 2002)

Newspapers can be an excellent source of information, especially for an emerging phenomenon or local issues. Although usually brief, newspaper articles can often lead you to experts on a topic, advocacy groups, or help identify key incidents and players. From the MU Libraries Databases page, click on the category Newspapers for a listing of choices.

First try the following general databases

• Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost)
  Index to major journals and magazines in all subject areas. Many articles are full-text. Updated continually. Generally, coverage is 1984 to date. Click on Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals to limit search results to research articles.
• CQ Researcher
  Provides extensive background information and discussion of the pros and cons of current issues of the day.

For more in-depth research, search subject specialized journal article databases

Begin at the MU Libraries' Gateway. Click on Databases , and click on the subject area Social Sciences; Then choose Social Work or choose the subject(s) that seem most closely related to your topic. Many databases contain policy articles; however, you may find the databases listed under Public Policy to be especially useful. From the subject list, select one of the databases and follow instructions on how to conduct a search. Every database has a slightly different interface, but all have help pages that contain tips and/or tutorials.

Following is a selected list of subject-related databases that may be of interest:

• Social Services Abstracts
  Provides bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and community development. The database abstracts and indexes over 1,406 serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations, and citations to book reviews. Some links to full text.
• Social Work Abstracts
  Indexes research articles in social work and related fields. Coverage is 1977 to date.  Links to some full-text.
• ERIC
  Provides access to the educational and related literature available in periodicals published worldwide and in the ERIC documents microfiche collection. Covers 1966 to date. Some full-text.
• P.A. I. S. (Public Affairs Information Service)
  Covers the range of the social sciences, with emphasis on national and international economic, political, and public policy issues. The database provides indexing to periodical articles, books, federal, state and local documents, agency publications, yearbooks, and directories. Coverage is 1972 to date. Some links to full-text.
• PsycINFO
  Indexes and abstracts books, journal articles and technical reports dealing with psychology. Coverage is 1887 to date. Some links to full-text.
• Sociological Abstracts
  Indexes and abstracts journals in sociology as well as books, dissertations and sociological association papers. Coverage is 1974 to date. Some links to full-text.

After locating citations for journal articles, determine whether they are available in MU Libraries. First check http://proxy.mul.missouri.edu:2048/login?url=http://mulibraries.1cate.com/, the Library's database of electronic journals, to see if we have online access to a journal title. If you are on the MU Libraries' Gateway page, just click on the Electronic Journals link in the upper right hand side of the screen to enter Find it @ MU. Next check the MERLIN catalog to see if we have a print subscription to the journal. If neither is available, you may order the item from our Interlibrary Loan service, ILL@MU.

Sources of Government Information

Finding Government Agencies

This can be as easy as using a Google or Google UncleSam (federal government sites with .gov or .mil domain names) search for your program. Try typing in "school lunch."  You'll find the first hit is the U. S. Department of Agriculture's School Lunch Home Page. You might also try FirstGov, a directory of federal and state government agencies with a very advanced search engine.

Another way to find government agencies and understand the organization of a particular jurisdiction is to look in the appropriate government manual. Most governments have them. Browse the United States Government Manual online or look at the paper version in the library. Missouri's government manual, popularly known as the Blue Book is also online or available in Ellis Library.

If you are looking for organizational charts for state agencies, the State and Local Government on the Net web site is easy to navigate.  Missouri has a Guide to Missouri State Government which gives brief synopses of state departments and divisions.

Finding Government Publications

Most government publications can be found by searching in the MERLIN catalog; however, listed below are a number of specialized databases that you should consider. Additional sources of government information can be found here.

• Lexis Nexis Congressional
  This is the best place to find publications of the United States Congress, going back to 1789, as well as federal laws and regulations. Especially useful is a form that allows you to search for Legislative histories, a compilation of publications used to discern the intent of Congress on a particular statute, and that can also be used to identify proponents and opponents and their arguments for or against that statute. A content chart for Lexis Nexis Congressional (including information on full-text available through the database) is available here.
• Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
  Published every Monday, this the official publication of presidential statements, messages, remarks, and other materials released by the White House Press Secretary. Look here for speeches, executive orders, veto messages, and presidential signing statements.
• Lexis Nexis Academic
  While often thought of as a newspaper database (which it is), Lexis Nexis Academic is also an important source of statutes, regulations and legal materials. Look here for state statutes and regulations, and for federal court cases.
• GAO Reports
  This full-trext database contains reports and testimony from the Government Accountability Office, the agency within the United States Congress charged with studying the programs and expenditures of the federal government. GAO reports are an excellent source of independent and nonpartisan policy analysis.

Finding Government Budgets

It is not always easy to find a simple dollar amount showing the amount of government spending on a particular program.  Sometimes several levels of government contribute funds to a single program. Also, note that budgets not only tell the plan for spending for the upcoming fiscal year, but they also give figures for actual spending in past years.

• Federal budget: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/
• Missouri budget: http://www.oa.mo.gov/bp/execbudgets.htm

House Ways and Means Committee Green Book

Known informally as the Green Book, "Background Material and Data on Programs Within the Jurisdiction of the House Committee on Ways and Means" provides program descriptions and historical data on a wide variety of social and economic topics, including Social Security, employment, earnings, welfare, child support, health insurance, the elderly, families with children, poverty and taxation. It has become a standard reference work for those interested in the direction of social policy in the United States. The most recent edition is 2004 and a print copy is available in Ellis Library.

Getting Help

Having trouble finding what you need? Please don't hesitate to ask for assistance from one of Ellis Library's professional reference librarians:

• Nancy Turner Myers (Social Work): 164 Ellis Library; (573) 882-3342; mailto:myersn@missouri.edu
• Marie Concannon (Government Information): 106B Ellis Library; (573) 882-0748; mailto:concannonm@missouri.edu