CPSP 118N: College Park Scholars International Studies Colloquium
Web page created by Diane Harvey and Travis Johnson, UM Libraries
Instructor: Dr. Dorith Grant-Wisdom
The University of Maryland Libraries have many resources that will help
with research for your Scholars IS colloquium project. If you need additional
information, please contact Diane Harvey, Travis Johnson , or speak with a Reference Librarian at McKeldin Library's
Service Plus Information Desk.
Because of licensing agreements, access to bibliographic databases
and electronic journals is restricted to UM faculty, staff, and
students. These may be accessed from off campus; consult Remote
access for further information. For a complete list of electronic resources available to University of Maryland faculty, staff, and students, as well as information about the full range of library materials and services, consult the UM Libraries' home page.
This section is borrowed, with permission, from the GVPT 100 tutorial prepared by Gerri Foudy.
It is useful when beginning your research to first consult reference
sources which will give you an introduction to your topic, and often times
provide historical context, examples of application, and a bibliography
of suggestions for further reading. The following dictionaries and encyclopedias
will provide you with information about the concepts of state,
recognition, power, authority, and legitimacy,
as they are defined by political scientists, political philosophers, and
international legal scholars. It is recommended that you consult several
reference works to give yourself a more comprehensive understanding of
these concepts.
The following resources will help you identify and find information on
political structures and governments of the world's nation-states, territories,
protectorates, colonies, dependencies, and semi-sovereign states.
Note: To access subscription databases on campus,
simply click on the links below. Otherwise, click on the "Off-Campus Access"
link below and log in to Research Port using your 14-digit campus identification
number (on the back of your campus ID card) and your last name.
National governments collect and disseminate a wide variety of 'official' information on their countries. Use this material to understand how a country views its role in a region, and to see how a country is dealing with a particular issue. Compare and contrast this information with material from other information producers such as regional and international organizations, NGOs, advocacy groups, and scholars.
Table of Contents
STEP ONE: Find Information on Terms and Concepts
Includes bibliographical references.
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JA61 .E85 1990
Includes lengthy essays on "Conceptions of the State," "Conceptions
of Power," and "Conceptions of Legitimacy," as well as writings on "Contemporary
Political Systems," and "Political Institutions."
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JA61 .C66 2004 v. 1 and 2
Arranged alphabetically with entries on "countries, geographic regions,
historical eras, philosophical concepts, and many other issues important
to the understanding of democracy."
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JC423 .E53 1995 v. 1-4
Each essay provides principal terms, an overview, applications, context,
and a bibliography. The index has listings for entries on "Local and
Regional Governments," "Political Philosophy," and "Types of Government."
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JC423 .E53 1995 v. 1-4
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JX1226 .P33 1986
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JA61 .S53 1993
STEP TWO: Prepare Regional Profile
Information included under "goverment" for each nation: government type,
dependency status, administrative divisions, dependent areas, independence,
constitution, etc. Annual.
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Annual publication (latest volume, number 15 (2002-2003), is in binder
in McKeldin Reference Stacks. Arranged by independent countries of the
world, then territories and protectorates.
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JF37 .C53
Background information on 192 sovereign nations, plus profiles of existing
colonies and dependencies. Also includes chapters on "Understanding
Political Systems" and "Constitutions." The authors "have sought to
distinguish between those nations whose citizens have a completely free
choice of which people should control the levers of political power
and those where that choice is limited."
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JF51 .D467 1996
Good source for up-to-date information, news, and analysis on 195 countries.
First choose a country home page, then go under Categories - Politics,
for information on political structure, key developments, etc.
Annual publication. Each country chapter includes information on recent
history, government, diplomatic representation, etc.
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JN1 .E85 v. 1-2
"An annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and
civil liberties in 192 countries and 18 related and disputed territories."
http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/index.htm
"Articles about countries that either classify themselves as federations,
or incorporate enough elements to make it useful to include them in
a study of federations." Part One - "Country Articles," Part Two - "Comparative
Articles."
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JC355 .H35 2002
Table of Contents is arranged by "States of the World," and "Dependent
States and Territories."
LOCATION: MCKELDIN REFERENCE STACKS
CALL NUMBER: JA51.I57
Summaries of constitutions, constitutional histories, and types of governments
of 100 nations.
LOCATION: MCKELDIN GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS LC STACKS
CALL NUMBER: K3157.E5 M33 2001
Contains information on all the countries of the world with which the
United States has relations.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
STEP THREE: Find News Articles
LexisNexis is a great source for full text, recent (last 10 years or so) newspaper articles, including many large and influential international newspapers (primarily in English).
Factiva is more complicated to use, but includes a much larger number of international news publications which can be located by country. Click on the "+" next to "Source", then use the scroll box to select "publications by region" to focus your search on particular international news sources.
STEP FOUR: Find Information on National Governments
The Nationmaster site allows you to generate maps and graphs using national statistics.
Useful information on individual countries and regions in the "background notes" section; good coverage by subject under "international issues", including US diplomatic positions on many topics.
STEP FIVE: Find Information from International and Regional Organizations
There are a huge number of international and regional organizations, and they vary in size from small and focused regional organizations or cooperative trade groups, to huge international bodies like the United Nations or the World Bank.
Gerri Foudy's guide to Finding International Statistics Online will connect you with the data-gathering arms of many of these organizations.
Other sources that might be of particular use:- World Development Indicators (off-campus access)
Access to the World Bank's database of development statistics, covering almost every country and going back to 1960. - Source OECD (off-campus access)
Full text access to all publications of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, organized by subject area. - World Bank activities by country and region
- IMF reports and publications, by country
- United Nations
awkwardly organized site includes a wealth of information on areas that are UN priorities -- human rights, mideast peace, de-colonization, etc.
UN organizational chart (interactive) - Links to other organizations:
- International Governmental Organizations alphabetical list from Northwestern University.
- Intergovernmental Organizations list by subject from Duke University.
STEP SIX: Find Information from Nongovernmental Organizations, Think Tanks, and Advocacy Groups
Nongovernment actors such as NGOs, think tanks, and advocacy groups are usually focused on a particular issue, or present a particular point of view. It is important to know the mission of a group in order to understand how they are presenting information.
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Worldwide NGO Directory compiled by the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations.
-
NGO Research Guide from Duke University Library includes database of NGOs.
- Index of International Think-Tanks and Research Organizations
STEP SEVEN: Find Scholarly Information
Scholarly research provides a level of issue analysis that may be broader and deeper than the information produced by government agencies or nongovernmental actors.
Find scholarly books in the Libraries Catalog. You can do a "words anywhere" search using keywords such as your region and issue, or specific author or title searches.
To access databases from on or off campus, use the Research Port gateway. If you are off campus, log in using your last name and the 14-digit barcode number from the back of your University i.d. card.
In Research Port, you can find databases by name or by subject. Many of the databases that will help you locate scholarly materials for this colloquium are listed under the subject "Politics & Public Policy."
- PAIS: Public Affairs Information Service
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
- International Political Science Abstracts
- CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online
- Foreign Affairs Full Access
- Digital National Security Archive
- Social Sciences Abstracts
STEP EIGHT: Find Information from Business and Corporate Sources
Both those who wish to sell their product, and those who want to buy or invest have a significant interest in understanding the people, markets, risks, business climate, and resources of different countries and regions.
- EIU Viewswire (Off-campus Access)
EIU Viewswire is a great resource for general information and country profiles, but it is structured as a "business intelligence" product, designed to help businesses understand what is happening in international markets and regions. - Global Market Information Database (Euromonitor) (off campus access)
Good resource for information about consumer markets in countries and regions around the world -- coverage is uneven, some less developed areas are not covered well or at all. - ABI/Inform (off-campus access)
Good for searching the business press, including the Economist, Wall Street Journal, and scholarly and trade publications used by businesses and investors. Use "topic guide" to get focused results.
STEP NINE: Cite Your Sources
Both your written paper and your group presentation must include proper citations for material that you use for your research, and images that you reproduce. You have the choice of using APA or MLA citation format. Here are websites that will help you format your citations correctly.
-
APA Format Style Sheet prepared by the University of Minnesota, Crookston.
-
Using MLA Format from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab.
- According to Eighteenth Century England , a website prepared for students at the University of Michigan, images used in a PowerPoint presentation or written paper should be cited: "Provide a caption under the image itself, listing the author, title, and source of the image."
