Research Guides: Political science, governance, and international affairs: Vendors' help/support sites

What's on this page

This page is divided into sections devoted to getting help

from the VT Libraries about our resources and services
directly from our vendors about platforms and interfaces that are used
1. by across many disciplines (eg, Ebsco, ProQuest, Gale, Adam Matthew, JSTOR, MUSE, SAGE)
2. by major ebook aggregators (ProQuest, Ebsco, HathiTrust, ACLS, Internet Archive)
3. to locate current and archived new sources
4. to locate government and legal information
5. to locate research data
6. to use our online mapping/GIS tools (Social Explorer, SimplyAnalytics, PolicyMap)
7. to access and use the features of streaming video
8. to measure scholarly impact.

But you might just do a keyword search on this page for the name of a vendor whose platform vexes you.

1. General help pages from widely used providers

About the ProQuest platform (libguide)
VT Libraries provide several dozen databases from ProQuest, including some essential resources for political science, business/nonprofits, and history researchers. Libguide pages from ProQuest provides detailed help for mastering searching, interpreting records, and managing search information.
- ProQuest search tips
- Search results
- Document view
- Searchable fields
- "My Research" accounts (results management)
- Using Accessibility Features on ProQuest Platform See also Clarivate's Accessibility Directory for information about individual ProQuest and Alexander Street products
- ProQuest individual database guides A-Z
- eBook Central
- O'Reilly online books
- AVON streaming video
EBSCO Connect
VT Libraries and our statewide consortium, VIVA, provide dozens of subject-oriented databases on the EBSCOhost platform for searching the literature in many social science and humanities fields. Many Ebsco databases provide direct access to the full text of articles and (with DRM restrictions) ebooks. This portal for training aids can help you with:
- Ebsco Accessibility Navigation Guide Index pertaining to EBSCO products and their use with assistive technologies
Ebsco Help also offers its own LibGuide and YouTube tutorials.
If you contact a VT librarian about a problem in one the the five-dozen individual databases Tech gets on the EbscoHost platform, please identify the problematic database by its names, not the merely generic "Ebsco" or "EbscoHost."
Gale Databases: Training

Portal to PDF tip sheets and videos for the many primary- and secondary-source databases provided by one of our major providers of content in humanities and current affairs -- including Gale products VT does not subscribe to.
AM [Adam Matthew Digital]support
Each Adam Matthew database has an extensive, detailed Help function built in and keyed to the content of that database.
The "page-by-page guides" address
- getting started and using "My archive" accounts
- working with document images
- searching
- using interactive maps, interpretive essays, and other supplemental materials
- Example: East India Company
- Example: Advertising America
The Frequently Asked Questions sections are mostly about terms of use. In the FAQ you should find the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) for that database, including keyboard shortcuts and accessibility features it supports.

Faculty may be interested in
- AM's Course alignment services in addition to the teaching tips in each database's Help menu:
- Digital humanities, text- and data-mining support.
- Usage case studies
JSTOR: Search Help: Resources & Overview
JSTOR provides lots of guidance about its archived journals, ebooks, and primary sources. In addition to the selected webpages below, look for how-to advice in JSTOR libguides and the JSTOR YouTube channel.
Project MUSE Resources
Information about MUSE ebooks and journals, personalizations, citing, MUSE content in various styles, and the MUSE search browser plug-in.
- User guides: basic information, often in video
- Research help: detailed advice about searching the MUSE platform
- Frequently asked questions about access, license terms, technical issues, and journal and book content
Sage Publications Libguides
Sage Publishing is a major publisher of books, journals, reference works, and numerical data in social science. Sage libguides describe the purpose and content and advise about using features of the resources. These libguides address Virginia Tech subscriptions:
- Sage Data (formerly DataPlanet)
- Sage Research Methods and modules
- CQ Press: CQ Researcher
- Sage Journals
Internet Archive general information

Internet Archive is a private, nonprofit digital library. Virginia Tech's only institutional involvement with it is to authorize access to IA collection by VT people with print disabilities; your Tech affiliation or login will not give you any special access to IA's holdings or services. Sidebar list of help topics includes accessing and downloading digitized books and other texts, Wayback Machine website archive, audio, video, and software, and managing user accounts.

2. Ebook platform help

ProQuest eBook Central
Ebsco eBooks User Guide
HathiTrust topic guide
HathiTrust brings together and catalogs books digitized by Google and the Internet Archive. More information.
Digitalia Hispánica user guide
Textual help is in English, with Tutorial videos / in Spanish. English, and French.

3. News/journalism (including historical periodicals) databases help pages

Factiva user guide
Guide to using the powerful search and retrieval tools for our premier database of news reporting from around the world. Dow Jones created a new user interface in 2024 that puts two steps between the Factiva homepage and its most powerful tool for serious academic researchers, the search builder.
1. On the home page, select Switch Factiva in the upper right corner.
2. In the black page banner, select the Search menu, then choose Search Builder.
ProQuest, which markets Factiva in the higher education market, identifies some key features for academic research.
- Factiva's content. Some news stories may by indexed in Factiva but access may not be permitted under the academic license
- Using simple search
- Getting the benefits of search builder -- the most important part of Factiva for academic researchers
- Interpreting and managing search results
- Search tips: How to use Boolean and proximity operators .
- Factiva Accessibility Statement is a progress report with little actionable information
NewsBank support
In addition to many "How to" videos about searching, focusing, and managing/sharing results in the Access World News, NewsBank provides extensive Help Documentation in PDF that also applies to the historical primary-source databases from its Readex division.
- Training videos about teaching, learning, and engaging the public with AWN
- Recorded webinars about Access World News, the Newsbank-Readex Life in America collections of news from and about US racial and ethnic communities, as well as products not available through the VT libraries.
Readex videos: learn more
Readex is the historical-archive division of Newsbank. Its Help Documentation PDF offers illustrated guidance on search menus and syntax, managing search results lists, and working with archived documents.
Instructors may also be interested in overviews and applications of Readex academic engagement services:
- Course mapping services, available on request, provided visual representation of the relationship among selected Readex products and actual courses.
- Readex Lesson Plans: Teaching with Primary Sources each feature a primary source document, selected to align with key concepts addressed in undergraduate courses.
- On-demand training videos oriented around Readex individual Readex products and collections
- On-demand webinars videos about teaching, using Readex collections
- Event talks. Wide-ranging talks by scholars at Readex-hosted events
East View Russian-language serials: help
Tips for working in East View's archived Russian newspapers
Global Press Archive: help
Navigating and using the (mostly) open-access newspapers from around the world from the East View-Center for Research Libraries collaboration.

4. Law, policy, & government database help pages

HeinOnline Knowledge Base
Things to know to get the most from our primary provider of law reviews, primary sources in US and foreign public law, and the like. VT does not subscribe to all the Hein products that may be discussed in their support materials.
- HeinOnline YouTube channel, includes short videos about using the interface, individual Hein collections, and performing common legal-research tasks
- Lengthy PDF Comprehensive User's Guide.
- To improve the precision of your Hein searches, see also Advanced Search Syntax User’s Guide.
- Libguides provide detailed description of the content, searching and browsing tips, and support resources for each Hein collection, organized by collection title and by topic.
v|Lex Help
Voxgov Help
Connect via "Search syntax?" link beneath the search box. Illustrated guidance on using search and visualization interfaces; Boolean, phrase, wildcard, and proximity syntax; filters; comparisons, personalization, and more.
Policy Commons YouTube channel
Combines brief how-to demonstrations of using search features with lengthy presentations about "gray literature" vs traditional scholarly publications.
Channel does not appear to have been updated recently

5. Research data providers' help pages

The Virginia Tech Libraries belong to non-profit, university-based repositories like ICPSR (numerical data), QDR (qualitative data), and Roper Center (public opinion polls). Those repositories typically offer information more broadly about research methods, data-related issues, and instructional materials. We also buy data collections from commercial vendors.

Locally, the library's Data Services unit offers both expertise and facilities to support your data-related work across the research lifecycle.

ICPSR [Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research]: Help & user guide
This guide focuses on the mechanics of using the repository.
ICPSR's site also includes broader advice on accessing, downloading, and using its datasets.
Qualitative Data Repository (QDR): Guidance & Resources
QDR's "diverse guidance and resources to help researchers to prepare their data for sharing via QDR, and to access and make use of data projects stored in QDR."
Roper Center Learn/Teach
How-to information about using Roper Center's own tools for research and classroom use, along with information about the fundamentals and history of public opinion polling
Sage Data Help
Sage 'libguide" covers processes for using the rich and varied content of Sage Data (originally Data Planet), our principal collection of numerical data for social scientists. A major portion of the database is devoted to training users about "Data basics."
- FAQs for students and researchers
- Accessibility. Using the platform's accessibility functions.
Economist Intelligence Unit [EIU] Tutorials
Video overviews of the content and functionalities of EIU products that the Tech library subscribes to. EIU reports combine country, regional, and global forecasts, analysis, and aggregate data for ~200 "geographies": Help page offers
- Getting started tours and videos and
- text FAQs.
Statista Help Center

6. Mapping and related visualization tools help pages

Social Explorer Guide
Video and animated learning modules for faculty, students, and librarians. Tabs important domains for using maps, including political science, history, and public health, point to curated maps, datasets, and "teach & learn" modules for classroom instruction. See also
- Help Center
- How-to Guides and Videos
SimplyAnalytics Support
How-to information is available in the Support menu in banner atop the SimplyAnalytics interface.
PolicyMap Help Docs
Most help for users is behind the Support menu in the databases page banner. Highlights:
- Academic quick start guide. .
- Curriculum resources
- Citing and embedding .
- Mapchats Blog.Case studies and the like applying PolicyMap to current and historical policy problems.
- Mapchats Webinars.Recorded "deep dives" about the application of GIS, data, and maps to analyze problems and policies.

7. Streaming video providers' help pages

Academic Video Online (AVON) and Alexander Street
In the homepage banner, the Learning Tools menu and For Educators menu offer guidance on many common tools an uses of the Alexander Street video platform (AVON is the largest of several channels.) Additional help is available in and outside the platform:
- Alexander Street Help Page. Exhaustive, plain-text document address finding, viewing, and sharing Alexander Street content.
- Using Alexander Street Multimedia Platform. Libguide includes videos, with transcripts, about searching. viewing, and teaching with this platform
- Alexander Street Multimedia Platform Features. Describes options for translation, browsing linking and embedding content.
- Search syntax identifies common search techniques that do not function in this platform along with effective search tricks.
Docuseek Help Wiki - for users
Films on Demand Product support
Parts of the FoD support center are directed at site administrators. Highlights for students and instructors:
- Searching & browsing
- Partner apps & integrations incluidng Canvas
- Tools & features.
- Accessibility &security. Compliance
Film Platform Support Center
Addresses login, search, sharing film links in Canvas, email, etc .
Kanopy Help Center: For Viewers
Articles and videos about using the Kanopy service, the interface, technology problems, viewing on different devices.
Swank FAQ
Address logging in, viewing, system requirements, accessibility
SAGE Video
Libguide to using the SAGE video platform also includes a tab addressed to instructors.

8. Research and impact metrics help

The following are vendors' own support resources. For advice on representing the significance of your work, see the Tell Your Story: Impact & Engagement guide.

Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science) Training Portal
Guide to Clarivate (formerly Thomson Reuters, formerly ISI) Analytics products, including Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports [impact factors], Essential Science Indicators [rankings], and also the EndNote reference manager. Points to text guides and videos. Don't overlook the built-in help link in each Clarivate product; you may need to drill down some to reach substantive help.
See also:
- Web of Science Core Collection Help.
- Master journal list. The journals indexed in the various Clarivate databases.
Scopus: access and use support center (from Elsevier)
This landing page addresses search techniques and syntax.
See also:

SciVal: support center (from Elsevier)

As other Elsevier support centers, this support site takes the form of clusters of frequently asked questions that use many words to point to actual help documents.

Funding Institutional support center (from Elsevier)

As other Elsevier support centers, this support site takes the form of clusters of frequently asked questions that use many words to point to actual help documents.

Political science, governance, and international affairs

Get help using VT Libraries

What's on this page

1. General help pages from widely used providers

About the ProQuest platform (libguide)

EBSCO Connect

Gale Databases: Training

AM [Adam Matthew Digital]support

JSTOR: Search Help: Resources & Overview

Project MUSE Resources

Internet Archive general information