Skyline College Library

Elections Issues Links Page

Selected Web Sites
Databases for Finding Magazine & Journal Articles
Catalog for Finding Books

California Issues & Statistics Links Page

Recommended Web Sites:
2008 Elections General Elections Issues

2008 Elections:

SFGate.com: Campaign 2008: Coverage of the 2008 election, covering national and San Francisco Bay Area stories. Also includes blog entries, links to local registrars of voters, and election background. Guide to 2008 California State Initiatives. Guide to 2008 San Francisco Measures. From the website for the San Francisco Chronicle.

New York Times: Presidential Election of 2008: Extensive archive of news stories and op-ed columns on the 2008 U.S. presidential elections. Also features candidate profiles, where the candidates stand on issues (including abortion, immigration, and Iraq), campaign finance database and graphics, and photos. Keyword searching allows quick access to archived material on specific people and topics associated with the stories. Compare where the candidates stand: Abortion, Climate Change, Economy/Taxes, Energy, Health Care, Running Mates, Housing, Immigration, Iraq, Iran, Judges, Party Platforms. From The New York Times.

Barack Obama Campaign website John McCain Campaign website

University of Michigan Documents Center: Elections 2008: Extensive, annotated listing of websites related to the 2008 U.S. national election. Covers presidential and congressional candidates, debates, campaign finance, media coverage, advertising, policy issues (such as energy, gay marriage, and terrorism), elections and voting, and much more. Also includes relevant Library of Congress subject headings and keyword searching suggestions for databases and online search engines. Maintained by political science librarian Grace York and interns at the University of Michigan Library.

Facts for Features Special Edition: The 2008 Presidential Election: "To mark the start of the 2008 presidential election season, the Census Bureau has culled ... facts from previously released statistical reports." Data focuses on state and national voter turnout trends, including women, military veterans, registration methods, reasons for not voting, and related facts. From the U.S. Census Bureau.

U.S. Electoral College: 2008 Presidential Election: Background about the Electoral College and the 2008 presidential election. The Electoral College is a the process where "people of the United States vote for the electors who then vote for the President." View how votes are distributed among the states, state laws and requirements, and use the Electoral College calculator to predict who will win the election. Includes related links. From the Office of the Federal Register, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

General Election Information:

Easy Voter Guide: Nonpartisan information about the why, how and what of voting.
A collaboration of the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, the California State Library and the California Secretary of State's Office

Smart Voter: Voter information on current elections: polling information, FAQs about candidates and issues & more. From the League of Women Voters.

California Voter Foundation: Home of the California voter guide for past and upcoming elections, as well as the San Francisco Voter guide. Find information about statewide ballot measures as well as Presidential, congressional, legislative, and local candidates running in California. Also tracks donors to propositions and various campaign finance data, including link to CAL-ACCESS, the campaign contributions and expenditures database maintained by the Secretary of State.

California Secretary of State: Elections & Voter Information: Official voter information guide, candidate information, campaign finance information, voter registration cards, and campaign polling place information

Congress.org: Elections: Lists major candidates and their issue positions, state-by-state information on upcoming elections, links to Congressional and state legislative races by state.

Vote Smart: Voting records, issues information, and much more. Enter your zip code to get information on all your representatives, state and federal, including biographical, address, committee assignments, etc.

FactCheck.org: A nonpartisan "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics by monitoring the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players. A project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

Follow the Money: Monitors campaign contributions by individuals, businesses, special interest groups, and industry sectors for state elections held 1990 through 1998. Visitors may search the database for contributions by people or groups in one or more elections; view summary reports for selected states; or read analyses of specific elections and spending patterns by special interest groups (such as the National Rifle Association and the gambling industry). Data is not available for all states for all years. Data is supplied by government agencies within each state, then compiled by the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Field (California) Poll: California polling information from an independent, non-partisan, media-sponsored public opinion news service

California Political Precinct Index: “The first known attempt to rate the political ideology of nearly all California precincts.”

Public Agenda Online: This site addresses 18 controversial issues: abortion, America's global role, crime, the economy, education, the government, the family, the federal budget, gambling, health care, illegal drugs, immigration, Internet speech / privacy, Medicare, race, right to die, social security, and welfare. Extensive information on each issue includes an overview, facts and trends, different perspectives, links to news stories, and results of public opinion polls.

California Ballot Proposition Database (1911-Present): Searchable source of information on California ballot propositions from 1911 to the present. The database contains the full text of the propositions, accompanying material contained in the ballot pamphlets, related legal and legislative history, and digital images of the ballot pamphlets.

Introduction To Federal Voting Rights Laws: from the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section.

Magazine & Journal Databases (to access articles):

Gale PowerSearch databases on campus or off-campus w/ library card
articles from academic journals, popular magazines, newspapers and reference sources; excellent general periodical database.

o To narrow searches, use the Advanced search mode

o PLEASE NOTE: When search results are first displayed, only magazine articles are shown, if available for your search.
Click on the “Journals” tab to display academic journal articles on your topic; click on the "Books" tab for articles from books; click on the "News" tab for news articles.

Books:

The PLS Online Catalog is the online catalog to find books in Skyline Library and in all libraries in the Peninsula Library System. After clicking on the link above to access the catalog, follow the steps below:

• Type search words (title, author and/or subject) in the first search box & click Submit.
• The search results will show books and other materials in all libraries in the PLS system.
• To Limit your results to books at Skyline College Library, scroll down to Limit to: Location: pull-down menu below the search boxes, scroll down in the Location: pull-down menu, select Skyline College & then click the Submit button.

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last revised: 9-29-08 by Eric Brenner, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA