Montgomery College Libraries > Pat Semple, Librarian > PS102 State and Local Government, Prof. Gail Ewing

As we discussed in the library instruction session, here are some reminders about how to locate the articles and Web sites that you will need for this course. Should you have any trouble in the weeks ahead, I hope you will send me an e-mail (pat.semple@montgomerycollege.edu) and let me know the nature of your problem. I will do my best to reply to you within 24 hours.

Here are a few good places to start your search for information about any topic that might come before one of Maryland's state or local legislatures:

National Newspapers

Includes complete articles from The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun. This is a subscription product for the exclusive use of Montgomery College students; you will be asked to provide your last name and your College ID number.

The Capital

This is a newspaper published in Annapolis and is an great source of information about issues before the legislature. To get to the articles contained in past issues, go to their Archives screen and then scroll down and find the section entitled "If you already have an account" and click on the link for "The Capital Archives." You will be asked for a user name ( ps102ewing ) and a password ( montcoll ).
NOTE FROM MRS. SEMPLE: I need to correct the information that I gave you in class. Instead of copying and pasting search expressions into the search field, try this: (1) use the fewest number of keywords that you can, (2) use the drop-down menu to the right of the search box to specify "all these words", and (3) expand the date range so that you are covering the last two years.

The Gazette

Includes editions for many Maryland communities.

The Washington Examiner

Formerly The Montgomery County Journal. Includes information about regions in the DC-MD-VA area.

Here are a three databases (collections of digitized articles) that will contain general articles on the topics you have selected:

Opposing Viewpoints

Two options: (1) Use the Directory to find your topic, or (2) select "Search by Keyword" and enter your search expression. For statistics and data, use the "Reference" or "Statistics" tabs. "Viewpoints" tab is for persuasive essays.

SIRS Researcher

Again, two options: (1) Use Leading Issues directory to find your topic, or (2) select "Keyword/Natural Language" and enter your search expression. Note the many ways to sort your results.

Academic Search Premier

A large collection of digitized articles that covers countless subject areas.

Expanded Academic ASAP

A large collection that covers countless subject areas. To arrange results by relevance, you will have to select Relevance Search in the blue menu bar before starting your search.

CQ Researcher

Weekly reports on a range of current social issues; tends to be national in scope.

Different search engines arrange their results in different ways. Your results may be sorted by date (most recent first) or relevance (highest occurrence of keywords). Some search engines will allow you to select how you want the results arranged.

Here are some sample searches using keywords (they tend to be nouns) and Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT):

"provisional license" OR "teenage drivers"

smoking AND restaurants

"property taxes" AND "montgomery county"

"voter registration" AND deadline

"child abuse" AND neglect

icc AND "montgomery county"

"sex offender" AND registration

(water OR groundwater) AND contamination AND management

Montgomery County Council

This is their home page. In the table at the bottom, you will see a link for Legislation that will take you to the bills as they were enacted. (Montgomery County, MD)

Maryland.gov

In the menu on the left you will see a link for the Maryland General Assembly. Once at that page, you can search for legislation using keywords at their Bill Index page. If you know your bill number, go to the Bill Number page. (State of Maryland)

Semple Links: State & Local Governments

Web pages I have collected in past semesters; features our hometown, Montgomery County, and the great state of Maryland.

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