History/PoliSci/Geography Web Resources

FirstGov The first-ever government website to provide the public with easy, one-stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources.
Student Gateway to the US Government  From the US Government.

World History Document Sources

• Africa Research Central  Links and information about repositories of African primary documents.
• Avalon Project  Documents from the 18th to the 20th century important to law, politics, diplomacy and government. Retrievable by century, title, or author.
• British Official Publications Current Awareness Service  Records of new British official publications from July 1995 to the present. Does not offer full text of documents, but does allow you to identify relevant documents.
• Conflict Archive on the Internet About Northern Ireland, an ever expanding documentary source.
• Constitution Finder  Links to over 100 online constitutions worldwide.
• Documents in Military History
• Duke Papyrus Archive  The Duke Papyrus Archive provides electronic access to texts about and images of 1,373 papyri from ancient Egypt.
• European Historical Documents
• Fourth World Documentation Project  Treaties, tribal resolutions, speeches, etc.
• Galileo Galilei's Notes on Motion  E-representation of Galileo's manuscript Ms. Gal. 72
• Hanover Historical Texts Project  Make primary texts readily available to students and faculty for use in history and humanities courses. Begun in 1995, it has already scanned in a sizable number of sources.
• Historical Text Archives, Mississippi State University
• Internet Modern History Sourcebook  From Prof. Paul Halsall at Fordham University. In all of them he has tracked down and linked hundreds of primary documents, and organized them in a thoughtful, usable arrangement. He has also included materials on historiography. historical method, and the theory of history. From this site you can link to his other outstanding sourcebooks on ancient and medieval history.
• Latin American Government Documents Project  Presidential, legislative, administrative, and constitutional documents online, though of course they are largely in Spanish and Portuguese.
• Political Documents  Speeches, Platforms, Constitutions, Treaties, etc.
• Official Documents of the United Kingdom--the Stationery Office
• Public Record Office, United Kingdom  Over 1,000 years of historic documents.

• World War I Documents

  Historical Image Files

• American Memory Project  From the Library of Congress. Projects include American architecture, civil war photographs, American vaudeville and variety shows, and more.
• Daguerrian Society  Collection of Daguerrotypes, and links to other online collections.

• Digital Image Access Project  Collection of images from various of Duke University's collections includes 1,000 images of "The Urban Landscape".
  

Historical Map Resources

• Historical Maps from the Perry-Castaneda Map Library
• Rare Map Collection at the Hargett Library, University of Georgia

Art and Architecture Images

• Architecture and Interior Design for 20th Century America  Gottscho-Schleisner collection of over 29,000 images.
• American Museum of Photography  Visit individual exhibits, like the Daguerrotype collection, or take a guided tour, or pick up technical information, such as how to preserve photographs.
• Art Guide  "A comprehensive guide to the art collections of Great Britain and Ireland. The site is divided into three main sections, allowing users to browse for exhibits by artist, museum, or geographic location. The Art Guide database currently contains over 1,900 artists, more than 650 museums, and over 4,500 individual listings." (courtesy Scout Report)
• Christus Rex  Site for Christian art and documents.
• Daguerrian Society  Collection of Daguerrotypes, and links to other online collections.
• Digital archive of American Architecture
• the Great Buildings Collection  Wide selection of buildings throughout the world, at the minimum there is descriptive and historical information about the building and its architect (when known); for many buildings there are also critical discussions, bibliographies, and links to photos online as well as to availability of 3-D models on the commercial CD-ROM product.
• Helios: National Museum of American Art Photography Online  Photography site for the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Art, and it is now showing it's inaugural exhibition: American Photographs: The First Century. It also links to another NMAA exhibit about daguerreotypes.
• Museums: World Wide Arts Resources
• MythMedia  Collection of depictions of mythical figures in western art.
• National Gallery of Art Virtual Tour
• Renaissance and Baroque Architecture  Extensive collection of slides.
• Society of Architectural Historians Image Exchange Project  Focuses on American architecture 1850-1899.
• SPIRO: Architecture Slide Library Catalog
• Subject Directory of Image Sites  From Paula Berinstein, author of Finding Images Online.
• Virtual Tour of Museums and Exhibits  Links to many museums that have online guided tours.

Historical Images

• Around the World in the 1890's  Collection of over 900 images, another exhibit in the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress
• Costume: a Master Index  If you need to know what Viking footwear looks like, or how to make a kilt or chain mail, or a history of underwear through the ages. Links to these and every other kind of costume and fabric web site are available here.
• Digital Image Access Project  Collection of images from various of Duke University's collections includes 1,000 images of "The Urban Landscape."
• Silent Pictures Photo Gallery
• Smithsonian Photographs on Line  Searchable database of over 1,000 images. 

  Image Finders and All Purpose Picture Files
  

• AltaVista Photo Finder  Good search engine for not just photos, but art and other images. Results include compressed images (pages load quickly). Carole Leita of Librarians' Index to the Internet says it's currently the most comprehensive image finder on the web with the best search capabilities.
• Amazing Picture Machine  Search engine that finds pictures on the net for you, which also links you to major picture files that they routinely look for images in.
• Footage.Net  Searchable database of downloadable film footage on the net.
• Scour.Net  Multimedia search engine that takes you not to the web site but directly to the desired images, animations, videos, and recordings. It also compensates for bad spelling.
• Search by Content in Image Databases
• WebSeek  Subject listing and keyword searchable database of over 665,000 images and/or videos on the web.

Tennessee State Government & Officials

• State of Tennessee
• Tennessee General Assembly
• TennCare
• Governor:  Office of the Governer--currently, Don Sundquist.

Political Science Indexes

• FirstGov  US Government website
• Glossary of Political Economy Terms
• Glossary of Political Science Terms
• Government Jobs  Listings of jobs in city, county and state governments and quasi-official non-governmental agencies. Also links to other job hunting resources like state and city job lines, statewide newspapers, etc.
• Journals in Political Science and Related Areas
• Midwest Political Science Association  Links and information about membership.
• MuniSource--a master list of official municipal web sites, with additional links for education and associations.
• Political Science Sources  Resources for academic journals, area studies, human rights, defense, feminism, writing and research resources, and lots more.
• Political Science: a Net Station  Links, nicely organized; because it comes from a Canadian university, there is a wealth of Canadian sites as well as a somewhat more international focus than in many American-based indexes.
• Political Science Indexes, Abstracts, Bibliographies, and Table of Contents Services
• Political Science Resources  From the respected Documents Center of the University of Michigan Library. Allows you to search files of dissertations, area studies, political theory, election and polling data, grants, and more.
• Political Theory: Yahoo's Guide
• Political Thought  Links to a variety of classic and current texts.
• PolyCy  Web resources for political science.
• Princeton Survey Research Center  Guide to sites that present survey data or deal with survey methodology.
• Think Tanks and Political Research Institutes
• University of Central Oklahoma Political Science Research Links

• Web Guide to the Constitution

  International Politics and Human Rights

• 1996 Human Rights Reports from the Department of State
• Department of State Electronic Reading Room  Texts of most frequently requested documents.
• Department of State Home Page (DOSFAN) Fourth World Documentation Project  Treaties, tribal resolutions, speeches, etc.
• International Affairs Network
• Links to Sites on International Relations  Courtesy of Canadian Institute of International Affairs.
• Researching the European Union  Includes statistical information, treaties and legislation, pertinent web links, etc.

• United Nations Development Program 

  Research and Data Collections

• Almanac of Politics and Government online  Tons of data for U.S. and international politics, plus over 3000 Poly-Sci web site links.
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: 1774 - present  Search by state or position or name and includes a bibliography in the short descriptions found.
• BEARS  Brown Electronic Article Review Service, a bibliography and review of journal articles in moral and political philosophy.
• Centre for Applied Social Surveys Question Bank  Immense file of social science survey questions.
• Constitution Finder  Links to over 100 online constitutions worldwide.
• International Relations Research Archive  Clearinghouse for articles, statistics, dissertations, and other research.
• InterUniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research
• National Budget Simulator  Federal budget info, congressional budget proposals, so that you can try your hand at cutting the federal budget.
• Online Instructional Materials in Political Science
• Public Opinion Data  Gallup Organization Newsletter Archive.
• Poll Item Database  Survey questions on searchable subjects, for designing surveys.
• Resources for Social Researchers
• SocioNet  Searchable index of over 350 datasets, useful for research in political science, sociology, psychology, social work and education.
• Social Statistics Briefing Room  Government demographic, health, education, and crime statistics in brief, arranged for ease of use by non-statisticians from the White House Website.

• Voting and Registration Data--Historical Time Series Tables  Adobe PDF format from the Census Bureau.
  

Information on Candidates, Legislators and Issues

• 400 Top Political Contributors
• 1998 Congressional Candidate Profiles  From the Center for Responsive Politics, info on PAC contributions and top donors to political candidates, and total dollars accumulated and spent in last campaign.
• All Politics  From CNN and Time. Current political news and searchable backfile.
• Campaign Web Review  Biweekly magazine that plans to analyze how the net is used in political campaigns.
• Federal Election Commission Information  Want to know who the top 100 contributors are in every state? How the campaign warchests for 1998 are looking? What the $100,000-and-up-income-zip-codes are (your candidates do)? What PACs are the biggest givers, and to whom? Check this out.
• The Hill  Weekly report on Congressional activity.
• Project Vote-Smart  Supplies background on current office-holders, voting records, rankings by interest groups, legislative updates, texts of legislation and Congressional Record, and more.
• Public Citizen's Congress Watch  Read about how congress is dealing with some of Public Citizen's agenda issues, like campaign finance reform, the tobacco deal, and protection of the environment. Not an unbiased source, but they put their agenda right up front for you to click on, and the information is valid.
• Roll Call  Regular magazine devoted to Congressional activities.
• Voting Records of Members of Congress  Library of Congress's annotated links to a variety of web sites that keep track of Congress.

• White House  Texts of speeches, press releases available,etc.

  Political Parties and Philosophies

• Communitarian Network  Source for documents, bibliographies, forums, and more about communitarian principles.
• Democratic National Committee
• Green Parties of North America
• Libertarian Party
• New Party  Where many progressives have gone now that the Democratic Party is moving to the right.

• Republican National Committee

  Tell Them What You Think

• E-the People  Got a complaint or idea for city, state or federal government but don't know who to send it to? E-the-People lets you search by issue to identify the officials dealing with your subject at each level of government and write an e-mail online that will be forwarded to your choice of up to three of them.
• Mr. Smith E-Mails Washington and the Media  Links to e-mail your congressional representative, senator, president, or media outlets. Up to the minute with the current congress.

Government Functions, Laws, Taxes

• 1998-99 US Government Manual  Guide to every agency of the US government, why it exists, what it does, and where it can be found. Keyword searchable. View or download in pdf format.
• Alliance for Redesigning Government  About innovations in state, local and regional governments. A rich idea source for voters and for other governments.
• American News Service  Wire service dedicated to finding news about what works--how people and governments at all levels are solving problems. Stories will run here in full for free after a one week delay. Or you can register for the full subscription for a fee.
• Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance  Guide to government welfare and assistance programs, updated June, 1998.
• Core Documents of American Government  From the GPO, documents include The Constitution, The Bill of Rights, selected Supreme Court Decisions, the Budget, Census Catalog, and the US Government Manual.
• Digital Daily Tax Info  The IRS answers your most frequently asked questions about taxes, with links to tax forms, and answers to specific questions by e-mail.
• Federal Internet Guide  From the Washington Post not only links you to federal agencies, it links you to news stories they've written about those agencies DO.
• Forms from the Feds  Want to apply for a passport, a home loan, student aid, a government job? Forms for these and many other kinds of transactions with the government are here.
• Government Information XChange  Site designed for the exchange of information between federal, state and local government about common problems.
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety  1998 state laws on DUI, child restraints, seatbelts, speed limits, helmet laws, etc. Also 1997 traffic fatality statistics, crashworthiness tests, etc.
• TaxBites  From the Tax Foundation about tax burdens by state and income class, where your tax dollar goes, Federal Tax & Expenditure Ratio By State, State Tax Comparisons, State Excise Taxes, etc., as well as the text of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.
• Tax Form Retrieval  Every IRS document is downloadable here.
• US Government Documents Ready Reference Collection  Major government data collections, law, and handbooks, arranged by broad subject area. Incredibly useful.

• Vital Records  Where to get copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc., both national and international. Ordinary People Making the World a Better Place.

• Ashoka  Foundation dedicated to finding and supporting "social entrepreneurs"--people who are problem solvers, with both good ideas and the ability to put them in place. 
• Catholic Worker
• Center for Public Integrity  Non-partisan (read: equally disgusted with Democrats and Republicans) research group dedicated to stamping out the corruption in politics. Of interest to this geographic area: the study on power and money in Illinois.
• Chemical Scorecard  Wonderful interactive source from the Environmental Defense Fund allows you to type in your zip code and find out what companies are dumping how much of what chemical contaminants, what health effects, if known, these chemicals have, and how your county compares with other counties in the state. It also includes a form for faxing your questions or complaints directly to the companies.
• Churches at Work  Umbrella organization for church programs helping the poor become self-sufficient. Enables churches to share their good ideas.
• Civic Practices Network  Case studies on community renewal. "Civic Practices Network (CPN) is a collaborative and nonpartisan project bringing together a diverse array of organizations and perspectives within the new citizenship movement. We share a commitment to bring practical methods for public problem solving into every community and institutional setting in America."
• Co-Housing Network  A movement toward multigenerational communities in which the residents are committed to looking out for each other.
• Democracy Unlimited  Advocacy group that thinks corporations should not have greater rights than people do. If offers some history on how corporate power escaped public control, and some suggestions on ways to rein it back in.
• Grass-roots.org  "Telling the stories of the most innovative grass-roots programs." Gives state by state, or region by region links to programs, and explains the special excellence behind the programs that have won their "Johnny-Appleseed Awards."
• Habitat for Humanity
• Michael Moore  He's not just a funny man, he's a man who wants ordinary Americans to reclaim their government.

• Public Citizen  Group devoted to cleaner and safer energy sources, a cleaner environment, and a more open and democratic government.

Maps and Atlases

• Atlapedia  Contains full color physical and political maps as well as key facts and statistics on countries of the world.
• Avis Maps  The car rental company gives you state and city road maps online.
• Electronic Map Libraries  Links to map collections.
• Geography  Guide from the Mining Company
• Great Globe Gallery  More than 60 views of the globe, complete with geological data such as digital elevation models, sea surface temperatures, el Nino, ice caps and permafrost formation, crustal boundaries and ring of fire, and LOTS more. Enormous file is slow to download, though.
• Map Files  Yahoo's index.
• Map It!  Fill in the form with the name of a town, state, zip code, and it will show you a map of the town, with buttons for moving all directions and zooming in or out; if you fill in a specific address, it will pinpoint that address on the map.
• Maps in the News  Maps of places in the headlines.
• Maps on Us  According to Yahoo! Internet Life, this performed best of all the trip calculators in figuring both long and short distance driving directions.
• Oddens Bookmarks  Collection of map links and information on cartography.
• Perry-Castaneda Map Library

• U.S. Gazeteer of Place Names

  Travel Information, and Info on Specific Places

• American Community Network  Designed to help expanding businesses choose possible sites, this page gives access to statistical data on counties, cities, and standard metropolitan areas; it can be searched by state, SMSA, county or city, but can also be searched by key data elements such as workforce, education, etc.
• Country Studies and Area Handbooks  (Department of State)
• Department of State Background Notes
• Fodor's Travel Resources  One of the most respected travel publishers gives you hotel and restaurant guides here, and a few other goodies.
• Geographic Name Information System  Type in a name of an American town or feature (mountain, river, etc.) and it will locate it by state and county and give you latitude and longitude.
• Internet Country Codes  What the 2-letter country codes in domain names refer to.
• National Scenic Byways Online
• ParkNet  Official National Park Service site, it provides detailed maps and general information on national parks, searchable by name of park, theme and state.
• ParkSearch  Search by region, by park name, or by the kind of activity you want to take part in; for each park, it tells you when it's open and what services are available. Courtesy of L.L. Bean.
• Roadside America  Select the state you'll be traveling in and find out what roadside attractions you can see along the way, like the museum of nun dolls, or the Paul Bunyan made out of car parts
• U.S. Climate Data  For many U.S. cities, yearly and monthly averages of rainfall, snow, temperatures, in chart form.
• World Factbook, 1997  Published by the CIA, this has extensive profiles of every country.
• WorldTime  Interactive atlas that also tells you about time zones and public holidays for the various countries.
• Zip2  Database of over 16 million businesses, mapped, with directions to get from one to the next. Of great use for sales, delivery, and customer service staff.
• Zip Code LookUp  Official site from the US Post Office. You can also look up postal abbreviations.