Policy Research (Public online resources)
- National Conference of State LegislaturesSearch by topic to find information about policy research and track current statuses of bills being passed in congress.
- GovInfo.govSearch for policies, including bills and legislation by topic or category. You can also browse acts, reports, and documents alphabetically.
- Center for Strategic & International StudiesThe Center for Strategic and International Studies is a bipartisan Washington, D.C., foreign policy think tank. The center conducts policy studies and strategic analyses on political, economic and security issues, focusing on technology, public policy, international trade and finance, and energy.
- Congressional Research ServiceCRS approaches complex topics and examines all sides of an issue. To search, type in a subject (immigration policy, student debt) or click search for a full index of products. Products you'll find are:
-reports on major policy issues
-tailored confidential memoranda, briefings and consultations
-seminars and workshops
-expert congressional testimony - Congress.govPublic source for information on all legislation, including bills, policies, and update on current legislative activities. Search by keyword or policy area using the advanced search.
- Brookings InstitutionBrookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.
Chat with a Specialist Librarian!
- Find a subject specialist!You may wish to speak with a specialist librarian who can help you find resources that are more specific to the policies you are researching. This list can point you in the right direction of who to contact for that subject area.
Campus Resources
- Writing CenterThe Writing Center assists with all writing projects, including multimedia projects, at any stage of development. Services are free and available to anyone in the University of Iowa community. The Writing Center helps you become a better writer, reader and critical thinker.
Introduction
This guide is for students working on the Diversity Research Project.
Here you will find resources you need to help you conduct policy research for your Diversity Research Project. Take a look through the page for databases, news, and web sources where you can find policies, congressional bills and legislation, articles, newspapers, and more.
Planning your Search
Think about your identity - who are you? What issues are you interested in or passionate about?
For example, if you identify as a First Generation College student, you might be interested in cost of college or graduation rates of first generation college students.
Identify any groups or communities you are a member of (this can be your own family, your city or town, an organization you belong to, anything).
- First-generation (tuition funding, higher education opportunity)
- TRIO student (financial support, mentorship, TRIO program funding)
- writer or poet (funding for arts & humanities, school programming)
Identify the key issues or concerns within your group or community. What do you care about? What are others in your community concerned about? Create a list of keywords and key phrases to describe your identity or topic.
Get Background Information on laws, rules, terminology, etc.
- CQ ResearcherGet background info and general overviews of current, hot issue topics. Read different viewpoints or Pros/Cons of a specific issue. CQ can also help you discover new terms and useful keywords to begin your research.
- Gale Opposing ViewpointsBrowse current topics & real world issues; gain background information, read diverse viewpoints, academic articles, watch videos, and more.
Locating Policies
Policy is a broad term to describe any set of principles, rules, regulations, or laws adopted by an organization, institution, or government body. Here are two places you can start to search for policies and legislation other than Google!
Begin with CQ Researcher and browse online newspapers (see list of Newspaper databases from the Libraries) to search for recent news regarding legislation or policies
Search GovInfo.gov by topic like higher education or first-generation student for hearings or bills.
Find your state legislator in Iowa. Find your US representative in Congress.
Scholarly Sources (UI Library Databases)
- Academic Search EliteThis database is good for finding scholarly articles on every subject or discipline. Most majors and students from all over generally use this database.
- SIRS Issues ResearcherRead articles on complex social issues with overviews, essential questions, viewpoints, and selected primary and secondary sources. All content is 100% full-text and selected from authoritative magazines, newspapers, photographs, books, statistics, infographics, websites, and more.
Newspaper and Media Sources (UI Library Databases)
- Access World NewsProvides full-text articles of over 600 U.S. and over 700 international newspapers. Includes the Chicago Tribune, and some Iowa newspapers. Search by broadly by topic or geographical region or refine your search by selecting "more search options".
- Alt-Press WatchAlt-PressWatch includes full-text newspapers and magazines from alternative, independent presses. You will find things on government, policy, culture, and local and national news.
- Ethnic NewsWatchEthnic Newswatch is great for finding articles, journals, magazines and newspapers that are written by journalists from ethnic, minority, and indigenous presses.
- Newspaper Source PlusUpdated daily, search over 200 regional U.S. newspapers, international newspapers, newswires and newspaper columns.
- New York TimesLibrary provided access to NYTimes.com full website. Register first using your uiowa.edu email & create a password at http://AccessNYT.com and then use https://www.nytimes.com/ for access afterwards.
- Nexis UniNexis Uni is a great place to look for legal and government information, such as federal and state court cases, statutes, and U.S. Supreme Court rulings and decisions going back to 1790 up until today.