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Laying Down the Law
In this guide, you will find a collection of resources on local and national law, federal government, and Oklahoma state government. This is a good starting place if you’re looking for legal information or for official statistics.
If you have trouble finding what you need, contact the research librarian for assistance.
Quick Links
- NWOSU Library Catalog
The WorldCat library catalog system for Northwestern.
- Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
Search engine for government documents.
- National Archives
Repository of historical documents.
- U.S. Government Publishing Office
Repository for government documents.
Government & Law Databases
Although not necessarily an exhaustive list, the following databases are relevant to the subject of Government & Law:
Multidisciplinary Databases
- Academic Search Complete
Academic Search Complete is the world’s most valuable and comprehensive scholarly, multidisciplinary full-text database, with more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals.
- Directory of Open Access Journals
DOAJ is a community-curated online directory that indexes and provides access to high-quality open-access, peer-reviewed journals.
- JSTOR
JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students.
We subscribe to three multidisciplinary collections through JSTOR. Select See more info to learn about these collections. - TOPICsearch
This current-events database allows researchers to explore social, political, and economic issues, scientific discoveries, and other popular topics discussed in today’s classrooms.
Legal Information
- Civil Rights & Social Justice
HeinOnline’s Civil Rights database brings together a diverse offering of publications covering civil rights in the United States as their legal protections and definitions are expanded to cover more and more Americans.
- Environment Complete
Environment Complete offers deep coverage in applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more.
- Gun Regulation and Legislation in America
This timely database brings together essential periodicals, compiled legislative histories, CRS reports, Congressional hearings, United States Supreme Court briefs, monographs, and other related materials on the difficult and controversial topic of regulating firearms in the United States.
- Legal Collection
Centered on the discipline of law and legal topics, Legal Collection is a collection of respected, scholarly, peer-reviewed publications including law journals, documents, and case studies.
- Legal Information Reference Center
Providing exclusive online full text for many of the top consumer legal reference books, Legal Information Reference Center contains more than 225 full-text publications and thousands of legal forms, with more content being added on a regular basis.
Federal & National Information
- Catalog of Government Publications
The CGP is the finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive information for historical and current publications as well as direct links to the full document, when available.
- Data.gov
Data.gov is primarily a federal open government data site. However, state, local, and tribal governments can also syndicate metadata describing their open data resources on Data.gov for greater discoverability.
- Govinfo
Govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
- GPO Advanced Search
Covers all types of U.S. government documents, including Congressional reports, hearings, debates, and records; judiciary materials; and documents issued by executive departments (Defense, State, Labor, Office of the President, etc.).
- GreenFILE
GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government, and general-interest titles includes content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local / national governments, and what can be done at each level to minimize these effects.
- Military & Government Collection
Designed to offer current news pertaining to all branches of the military, this database offers a thorough collection of periodicals, academic journals, and other content pertinent to the increasing needs of those sites.
- Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law
This HeinOnline collection brings together a multitude of essential legal materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world. It includes every statute passed by every colony and state on slavery, every federal statute dealing with slavery, and all reported state and federal cases on slavery.
Oklahoma State Information
- Data.ok.gov
Data.ok.gov is a service designed to provide Oklahomans with deep access to data and statistics about the activities of Oklahoma’s government. It’s a simple way to explore data about the economy, public health, transportation, the environment, and more.
- Oklahoma Digital Prairie
Oklahoma Digital Prairie provides visitors unique digital content spanning more than 100 years of rich, vibrant history from the 46th state.
- SoonerSearch
SoonerSearch is your quick search to locate information from the websites of nearly 200 Oklahoma state government agencies, higher ed., programs, and portals.
eBooks
- Directory of Open Access Books
The primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books.
The directory links to thousands of full-text, peer-reviewed books from hundreds of publishers. - eBook Academic Collection
This multidisciplinary collection includes thousands of eBooks covering a large selection of academic subjects and features eBooks from leading publishers and university presses.
- eBook Collection
Search and view the full text of eBooks.
- Gale eBooks
Gale eBooks is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
- MAS Reference eBook Collection
This eBook reference collection offers a rich selection of eBook titles covering a broad range of general reference subjects for high-school students.
- MasterFILE Reference eBook Collection
This eBook reference collection offers a rich selection of eBook titles covering a broad range of general reference subjects.
Programs at NWOSU
These links will take you to official NWOSU university pages.
- School of Arts & Sciences
The departments within the school offer a total of fifteen majors and twenty minors at the undergraduate level and a master of arts in American studies at the graduate level.
- Department of Social Sciences
The Department of Social Sciences is a multi-disciplinary department consisting of degree programs in criminal justice (law enforcement and corrections), global studies, history, political science, public administration, social science education, and sociology.
- Criminal Justice—Law Enforcement & Corrections
Under the Department of Social Sciences in the School of Arts & Sciences, the Criminal Justice major has two tracks, one focusing on law enforcement and one on corrections.
- History & Global Studies
The History degree program is a generalist program that provides coursework to students wishing to pursue study in American history and European history. The Global Studies degree program was designed to prepare students for exciting careers in global business and government service.
- Political Science & Public Administration
The Department of Social Sciences under the School of Arts & Sciences offers a major in Political Science and a minor in Public Administration, both designed to prepare students for government service.