Three of the editors of Doing Archival Research in Political Science, Sean Q Kelly, Scott Frisch, and David C. W. Parker, will be at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress to discuss their book, which has been published just in time for the conference.

Doing Archival Research in Political Science by Scott A. Frisch, Douglas B. Harris, Sean Q Kelly, and David C.W. Parker has won praise from leading experts and is hailed as “simply the best treatment that we have of the practical logistics of conducting archival research about the national legislature” by C. Lawrence Evans, Newton Family Professor of Government at the College of William and Mary.

Dr. Raymond Smock (director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies; former historian, U. S. House of Representatives; and past president of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress) also praises this pioneering work, stating that “this excellent, timely, and cogently written book boldly challenges political scientists to expand their research methods to include extensive use of the rich, largely untapped, political archives of this nation” and that “this book could help bring about a revolution in the way political scientists do their work.”

This first-of-its-kind book—traversing political science and library and information science—challenges political scientists’ reliance on “easy data” promising in return “better data.” The editors propose that the archival record is replete with data that are often superior to current, available public data, both quantitative and qualitative. Substantive chapters in Doing Archival Research in Political Science illustrate how archival data improve understanding across the array of subfields in American politics. It also challenges archivists to rethink their collections through the prism of political science.

Doing Archival Research in Political Science holds tremendous cross-disciplinary appeal. Students and faculty in political science are exposed to a fertile but underutilized source of empirical data. Political scientists will benefit from the methodological perspectives, the practical advice about doing archival work, and the concrete examples of archives-based research across the subfields in American politics (e.g., congressional studies, presidential studies, public opinion, national security, interest groups, and public policy).

Students and faculty in library and archival studies will benefit greatly from the candid discussion of the unique theoretical and methodological concerns inherent in political science, improving their ability to reach out and promote their collections to political scientists. Examples of archives-based political science research will help library faculty better understand how their collections are being utilized by users.

A Q&A session will be posted after the conference for those who were not able to attend. A special ACSC discount is being offered to conference attendees.

Recommend this book to your librarian today! They can order it directly from Cambria Press or they can order through their preferred academic book wholesaler (Cambria Press is on the approval list of premier wholesalers like YBP).

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