Constitution of the United States: Home

Why Reference Sources?

Is your research topic too big to cover in a short paper?  Is your topic so specific that sources will be hard to find?

Before you even begin your research, start the process with reference sources-- in the Library's Reference Section or online in our databases.  Reference books, like subject encyclopedias, can give you a head start and make your research easier in the long run.  Use reference sources to:

• find a topic
• narrow your topic
• find keywords
• get background information on your topic

Use the menu below to find the reference tool that will best help you start the research process.

Collections of Many Online Reference Books in one place:

Credo Reference     and    Gale eBooks / Gale Virtual Reference Library    and   Salem Press

Oxford Reference and Sage Knowledge Reference also have thousands of scholarly, academic articles, but they are a bit more difficult to use.   Click here to find instructions on how to use these collections of reference books.

• The American Heritage History of the Bill of Rights.  Reference  KF 4558 1st .K 55 1991
• The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (U.S. Library of Congress)  Reference KF 4527 .U 54
• Constitutional Amendments Encyclopedia
• The Constitutional Convention of 1787: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of America's Founding. Reference KF 4520 .Z 9 V 55 2005
• Constitutional Historical Timeline.
• Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. Reference KF 101 .D4x
• Encyclopedia of Abortion in the United States. Reference HQ 767.5 .U 5 P 35 2002
• The Encyclopedia of American Political History. Reference E 183 .E 48 2001
• Encyclopedia of Civil Liberties in America. Reference JC 599 .U 5 E 53 2005
• Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789-1995. Reference KF 4557 .V 555 1996
• Encyclopedia of Democracy. Reference JC 423 .E 53 1995
• Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights. Reference HV 7436 .U 88 2000
• Encyclopedia of Political Science.
• Encyclopedia of the American Constitution. Reference KF 4548 .E 53 2000
• Equal Protection:  Documents Decoded
• The Evolving Constitution: How the Supreme Court has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning. Reference KF 4548 .L 54 1992
• Federalism:  A Reference Guide to the U.S. Constitution
• Freedom of Speech:  Documents Decoded  General  KF 4770 .F 765 2017
• The Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law
• The Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions. Reference KF 4548 .O 97 1999
• Political Theories for Students. Reference JA 81 .P 617 2002
• Powers of the U.S. Congress
• Presidential Power:  Documents Decoded   General  JK 516 .P 728 2016
• Privacy Rights in the Digital Age:  An Encyclopedia
• Supreme Court Drama: Cases That Changed America. Reference KF 4550 .Z 9 B 73 2001
• Using Government Information Sources. Reference J 83 S 4 2001

List of COD Library Databases on Statistics

Abortion

Constitutional Law

Death Penalty / Capital Punishment

Discrimination

Equal Employment

Gun Control

Religious Freedom

Voting Rights

Women's Rights

• COD CITIZENSHIP Continuing Education Courses
• The American Constitution: A Documentary Record.
• The Articles of Confederation.
• Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids, Historical Documents.
• Congress.Org. Directories of members of Congress and congressional committees.Find your representatives by zip code and send them e-mail. Look up current legislation.
• Constitution Day, Inc. This is the web site that helps sponsor and coordinate activities for this official celebration.
• Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789).
• Executive Branch Web Sites
• The Federal Courts and Constitution Day.
• The Federal Judiciary
• The Federal Register announcement of Constitution Day.
• The Federalist Papers.
• First Amendment Center for the Freedom of Speech. http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org
• Foreign Language Versions of the U.S. Constitution. (Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese)
• GPO Monthly Catalog (FirstSearch) (1976-present) Catalog of federal government publications.
• How Our Laws are Made.
• Interactive Constitution.
• The Magna Charta (1215).
• National Center for Constitutional Studies
• National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
• National Constitutions
• The Online Library of Liberty. This site has free online texts of hundreds of classic books and essays in the fields of government and political science. From the Liberty Fun.
• Public Law 108-477, official "Celebrating Constitution Day" Congressional authorization
• United States Legislative Branch
• U.S. Constitution in other Languages. (Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese)
• U.S. Constitution Net. This site has many links to a wide variety of information on this topic.
• U.S. Flag Etiquette.
• U.S. National Archives Resources on the Constitution.
• U.S. Senate Resources on the Constitution.