Graduate Program - Research Facilities
Graduate students attending the University have ample research materials at their command. The MU library system is decentralized with a social sciences core at Ellis Library. Located centrally with more than two million volumes, Ellis Library includes numerous books, periodicals and government documents pertaining to the study of political science. The holdings in related social science disciplines are equally comprehensive. In recent years, special efforts have been made to increase international collections. A microfilm collection of newspapers and archival materials is available, and the Library includes state of the art computing and research facilities.
The University maintains computer labs at numerous sites across campus. Computing resources, software, email, and internet access are available to all Mizzou students. A computing lab available to Political Science students is located in the basement of the Professional Building, in which the Department is located.
For those interested in the government and politics of Missouri, the library at the State Historical Society offers additional materials, including a large collection of newspapers from throughout the state. In addition, the Western Historical Manuscript Collection contains the public papers of several notable Missouri political leaders, some of whom became important national figures.
MU is a member of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Graduate students have access to a large data library with numerous materials. The School of Journalism includes a facility specializing in survey research, the Center for Advanced Social Research. The MU European Union Center is one of only ten such organizations in the nation, and the only EU Center between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The EU Center and other institutes on campus sponsor academic conferences, assist with graduate student research efforts, and some provide research grants.
Since Columbia is only 30 miles from Jefferson City, the state capital, students interested in state government can easily keep in close contact with state governmental agencies and may have access to materials from such agencies. The Missouri State Library in Jefferson City is a depository library for all documents published by state agencies and also reciprocally collects documents from official libraries in other states. Graduate students have also used the Truman Presidential Library in Independence, MO, as a source for archival research. Other collections are available in St. Louis and Kansas City, each only about 120 miles from Columbia.