CPSP 118N: College Park Scholars Colloquium I: International Studies

Web page created by Gerri Foudy, Social Sciences Team, UM Libraries
Instructor: Dr. James Glass

The University of Maryland Libraries has many resources that will help with research for this class. If you need additional information, please contact Gerri Foudy, the Government & Politics Librarian or speak with a Reference Librarian at McKeldin Library's Service Plus Information Desk.

Research is not a simple linear process; it is a complex and challenging set of tasks. It becomes easier if you break down the process into manageable steps.

RESEARCH OUTLINE

Get Organized!
Developing a Research Question
Research Resources: * Books * Journal Articles * News Articles * Primary Sources
Evaluate Findings
Cite Others' Work
Preparing an Annotated Bibliography

PLAN AHEAD
* Researching and writing a good paper requires time, planning and creativity
* Start early to avoid stress
* You may be competing with hundreds of other researchers for the same materials
* Do not be surprised if your research takes unexpected twists and turns

Need help planning your time wisely? Try using the Assignment Calculator.

TAKE CLEAR NOTES
* From the start, keep accurate notes of where you find information
* When you find a relevant source, record the complete citation immediately;
* Later it will be difficult to retrace your steps to find these details
* Eventually you will need to accurately cite all sources in your bibliography

KNOW THE ASSIGNMENT
* Understand the requirements and goals of the assignment
* Unsure? Ask your instructor to clarify
* From time to time, review the assignment parameters to make sure you are on track

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DEVELOPING A RESEARCH QUESTION

PICK A RESEARCH QUESTION and IDENTIFY CONCEPTS:


GENERATE or BRAINSTORM CONCEPTS, KEYWORDS, SYNONYMS:


* You can't count on finding articles about your exact topic, so think creatively
* Deconstruct your topic into component parts
* Examine each part and think of related concepts, terms & keywords
* Are there similar situations/issues/cases that I can learn about in order to help answer my research question?
*Identify perspectives (subject fields) that address your research question.

The goal is to end up with a list of terms to choose from when you begin searching

WHO IS THINKING & WRITING ABOUT YOUR TOPIC?

Who (person or organization) would care enough about your topic to produce informational materials?

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* Need help distinguishing between various types of publications? Use this guide to scholarly journals.

* Need help knowing what is a primary & secondary source? Use this guide to primary sources.

UM Libraries' online catalog
The Libraries' catalog provides information about the holdings of all libraries in the University System of Maryland.
To search all of the UM System libraries, click on "multi-campus search."
Books owned by other libraries in the system can be ordered at the computer for delivery to College Park (or elsewhere); click on the yellow "Request" button on the record's availability screen.

Search the online catalog for books or documents on your topic. Start with a "words anywhere" search.
Example: "North Korea*" and "nuclear weapons"

Once you have found some relevant records by using a keyword search, you can use the subject headings in the records to find more materials.
Example: Nuclear nonproliferation -- Korea (North)

You must also use the catalog to find out whether the Libraries subscribe to a particular journal. Type in the journal title (not the article title) under "Title beginning with" in the pull-down menu.
Example: Jane's International Defense Review

Call Numbers: Finding Library Items

The Library also has some reference books that can help you look for a topic to turn into a research question, or background information and information sources about your research question:

• Evans, Graham and Jeffrey Newnham. Dictionary of World Politics: A Reference Guide to Concepts, Ideas, and Institutions. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.
  Includes bibliographical references.
  LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
  CALL NUMBER: JA61 .E85 1990

• Forsyth, Tim, ed. Encyclopedia of International Development. London: Routledge, 2005.
  Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
  LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
  CALL NUMBER: HD82 .E547 2005

• Fry, Michael Graham, Erik Goldstein, and Richard Langhorne. Guide to International Relations and Diplomacy . London: Continuum, 2002.
  Location: McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  Call number: JZ1242 .G85 2002

• Griffiths, Martin, ed. Encyclopedia of International Relations and Global Politics . London: Routledge, 2005.
  Location: McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  Call number: JZ1160 .E53 2005

• Hawkesworth, Mary and Maurice Kogan, eds. Encyclopedia of Government and Politics. London: Routledge, 2004.
  Includes lengthy essays on "Conceptions of the State," "Conceptions of Power," and "Conceptions of Legitimacy," as well as writings on "Contemporary Political Systems," "Terrorism," and "Political Institutions."
  LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
  CALL NUMBER: JA61 .C66 2004 v. 1 and 2

• Leoussi, Athena S., ed. Encyclopaedia of Nationalism . New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2001.
  Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
  LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
  CALL NUMBER: JC311 .E499 2001

• Morrison, Andrea Marie. International Government Information and Country Information : A Subject Guide . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2004.
  Location: McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  Call number: ZA5050 .M67 2004

• Nolan, Cathal J. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations . Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2002.
  Location: McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  Call number: JZ1160 .N65 2002 vol. 1 - 4

• Osmanczyk, Edmund Jan. Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements . 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2003.
  Location: McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  Call number: KZ4968 .O84 2003

• World at Risk: A Global Issues Sourcebook. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2002.
  Location: McKeldin Library Reference Stacks
  Call number: JZ1242 .W67 2002

When accessing subscription databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your last name and the 14-digit number on the back of your UM student id card.

• International Political Science Abstracts
  Indexes and abstracts from international periodicals, 1989 to the present.

• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
  Abstracts of journal articles and dissertations from over 1,000 sources. Combined database of the former "Political Science Abstracts" and "ABC PolSci."

• PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) International
  Indexes a wide variety of journal articles, research reports, and government documents in the social sciences and public affairs fields from 1935 to the present.
  

• CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online
  Mostly full-text database which publishes a wide range of scholarship including working papers from research institutes, occasional paper series from NGOS, policy briefs, case studies, conference proceedings and papers, course packs, book chapters and journal articles. 1991 to the present.

• Foreign Affairs Full Access
  Full digital archives of Foreign Affairs back to 1973.

• Historical Abstracts
  Abstracts from historical journals covering non-U.S. and non-Canadian history, from 1964 to the present.

When accessing subscription databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your last name and the 14-digit number on the back of your UM student id card.

• World News Connection
  Online version of the federal government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS); full-text summaries and translations from foreign newspapers and news services.
  

• Ethnic News Watch
  Full-text bilingual (English/Spanish) database of 200 publications of the ethnic, minority, and native press. 1990 to the present.

• Keesing's Record of World Events Online
  Culled from the world's press and information services, Keesing's distills political, economic and social events from 1960 onward into concise, detailed reports.

• Lexis-Nexis Academic
  To search world news, go into "Guided News Search" and in "STEP ONE" select World News and in "STEP TWO" choose a region.

• National Newspapers
  Includes the full-text of the Baltimore Sun (1990- ), Washington Post (1997- ), New York Times (1999- ), Wall Street Journal (1984- ), and Christian Science Monitor (1990- ).

• Washington Post Historical
  The Washington Post Historical archive (1877-1988) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

• New York Times Historical (1851-2001)
  offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.

"Primary resources provide firsthand evidence of historical events. They are generally unpublished materials such as manuscripts, photographs, maps, artifacts, audio and video recordings, oral histories, postcards, and posters. In some instances, published materials can also be viewed as primary materials for the period in which they were written. In contrast, secondary materials, such as journal articles, synthesize and interpret primary materials." - UCLA Insitute on Primary Resources

Listed below are some resources that you will help you find primary source materials. Here is a primer and search guide for finding primary sources.

When accessing subscription databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your last name and the 14-digit number on the back of your UM student id card.

• (Lexis-Nexis) Congressional Universe
  Comprehensive access to US legislative information including legislative histories and an index of congressional publications from 1970 to the present, congressional hearing testimonies, bill tracking, full-text versions of the Federal Register and CFR, as well as full-text access to the U.S. Congressional Serial Set from 1789-1969.

• Avalon Project at Yale Law School
  Full text of documents on U.S. law, history, and diplomacy. Arranged by century, and can be searched by keyword, author, subject or title. List of major collections.

• Digital National Security Archive
  Most comprehensive collection available of significant primary documents central to US foreign and military policy since 1945. Nearly 40,000 of the most important, declassified documents - totaling more than 250,000 pages - are included in the database. Many are published now for the first time.

• Governments on the WWW: Multi-governmental Organizations
  Comprehensive listing. Arranged geographically.

• International Relations Data Sources
  Compiled by Paul Hensel, Department of Political Science, Florida State University.

• Multilaterals Project
  Tufts University site with the full-text of multilateral conventions and other instruments from 1899 to 150; searchable, with a subject index and a chronological listing.

• Peace Agreements Digital Collection
  United States Institute for Peace site has the full-text of selected recent bilateral and multilateral peace agreements, cease fire agreements, etc.
  http://www.usip.org/library/pa.html

• World Development Indicators Online
  Provides direct access to more than 550 development indicators, with time series for 200 countries and 18 country groups from 1960, where data are available. Data export options in Excel or ASCII. 1960 -.

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TAKE TIME TO EVALUATE YOUR REFERENCES:


* Thorough research = good bibliography = better grades
* Take time to critically evaluate the relevance and quality of your findings
* Do not settle on the first few articles you find
* If you use a search engine to surf the Web evaluate the pages you retrieve
* Review Evaluating Web Sites and Checklist for Evaluating Web Sites

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CITE WORK NOT ORIGINAL TO YOU:


* Style manuals give the rules for how books, articles, Web pages and other
   materials should be documented

* Researchers must cite the work of others, regardless of the format (print or online)
    and type of material (books, articles, interview, Web pages, etc.)

* Guides to Citation Systems and Style Manuals, e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian)

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?


* According to UM's Student Honor Council, plagiarism is:

   Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or areas of another as one's
   own in academic exercise.

AVOID PLAGIARIZING BY:


* Taking clear and accurate note about where you found ideas, paragraphs, etc.
* Separating your own ideas, your summaries of others'work and others'exact wording
* Recording the complete citation for each source you use
* Using quotation marks when using an author's exact words
* If you are unsure whether to cite ask a librarian or instructor for help
* All members of the University share in the responsibility to uphold the
   Code of Academic Integrity, and the Code of Student Conduct

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