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History 608D: General Seminar: Middle East History

Dr. Peter Wien
Web Page created by Yelena Luckert, UM Libraries

This page contains links to electronic resources useful for researching the history of Middle East in modern times, as well as information about other relevant library resources. 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 resources and services, consult the UM Libraries' home page.

Because of licensing agreements, off-campus access to bibliographic databases and electronic journals is restricted to UM faculty, staff, and students. Consult Off-Campus Access to Library Resources for further information. Many databases and electronic journals can be accessed remotely through Research Port.

Transliteration Tables (Arabic, etc.) This link is to the scanned text of the 1997 edition of the "ALA-LC Romanization Tables: Transliteration Schemes for Non-Roman Scripts," approved by the Library of Congress and the American Library Association. These tables were developed for use when the consistent transliteration of non-Roman script (e.g. Arabic) into the Roman alphabet is needed, for example, in order to catalog non-Roman materials.

Secondary Sources

Primary Sources Helpful Guides

    Secondary Sources

    Reference Works

    ENCYCLOPEDIAS, DICTIONARIES, HANDBOOKS

    • Encyclopedia of Islam
      Reference to people, history, institutions, and countries related to religious, political, and historical aspects of Islam.

    • Oxford Islamic Studies Online
      The full text of more than 3,000 encyclopedia articles from major Oxford works on Islamic studies, as well as primary source documents, maps, images, and timelines and two full-text interpretations of the Qur'an (one in verse and one in prose). It also provides an electronic version of Hanna Kassis' Concordance of the Qur'an.

    • Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
      Contains the full-text of the 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica (plus thousands of additional articles and images not available in the print set); Webster's Third New International Dictionary Unabridged; and the Britannica Book of the Year. EB Online also features a searchable Internet directory including over 130,000 links to web sites selected, rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors.

    • Philip Mattar, ed., Encyclopedia of the modern Middle East & North Africa., 2004 : McKeldin reference DS43 .E53 2004

    • Lynn Walter, ed., The Greenwood encyclopedia of women's issues worldwide. The Middle East and North Africa , 2003: McKeldin reference HQ1115 .G74 2003

    • Oliver Leaman. Companion encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African film , 2001: McKeldin reference PN1993.5.A65 C66 2001

    • Azim A. Nanji, The Muslim almanac : a reference work on the history, faith, culture, and peoples of Islam 1996 : McKeldin reference BP40 .M83 1996

    • Alexander Motyl, Encyclopaedia of nationalism (2vols: v. 1. Fundamental themes -- v. 2. Leaders, movements, and concepts)., 2001 : McKeldin reference JC311 .E4996 2001

    • Frank Clements, The emergence of Arab nationalism from the nineteenth century to 1921., 1976 : McKeldin reference DS63.6 .C55

    • Frank Tachau, Political parties of the Middle East and North Africa 1994: McKeldin reference JQ1758.A979 P65 1994

    • Thomas K. Park, Historical dictionary of Morocco 2006 : McKeldin reference DT313.7 .P37 2006

    • Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabiʻ, ed., The Blackwell companion to contemporary Islamic thought 2006 : McKeldin reference BP161.3 .B56 2006

    • Abun-Nasr, Jamil M., A history of the Maghrib in the Islamic period 1987 : McKeldin Stacks DT194 .A23 1987

    • Paula Youngman Skreslet, ed., The literature of Islam : a guide to the primary sources in English translation 2006 : McKeldin reference Z7835.M6 S585 2006

    • Suad Joseph, Encyclopedia of women & Islamic cultures 2003 : McKeldin reference HQ1170 .E53 2003

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    BIBLIOGRAPHIES

    • Mary Beth Norton, general editorThe American Historical Association�s guide to historical literature 3rd. ed. New York : Oxford University Press, 1995: McKeldin Reference D20 .A43 1995

    • Sanford R. Silverburg, U.S. foreign relations with the Middle East and North Africa : a bibliography 1994 : McKeldin reference DS63.2.U5 S55 1994

    • Michael E. Bonine, The Middle Eastern city and Islamic urbanism : an annotated bibliography of Western literature 1994 : McKeldin reference HT147.N4 M54 1994

    • Ruud Strijp, Cultural anthropology of the Middle East : a bibliography, 2 vols, 1992- : McKeldin reference GN640 .S77 1992

    • The Middle East in conflict : a historical bibliography. , 1985 : McKeldin reference DS62.4 .M53 1985

    • [Door] Christianus Fr. de SchnurrerBibliotheca Arabica , 1968 (Facsimile reprint of Halle ed., 1811) : McKeldin reference Z7052 .S36

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    BIOGRAPHIES

    • Paul Auchterlonie, Arabic biographical dictionaries : a summary guide and bibliography, 1987 : McKeldin reference DS39.2.A2 A83 1986

    • Michael R. Fischbach, Biographical encyclopedia of the modern Middle East and North Africa, 2008 : McKeldin reference CT1866 .B56 2008

    • Yaacov Shimoni, The Biographical dictionary of the Middle East, 1991 : McKeldin reference DS62.4 .B56 1991

    • Bernard Reich, Political leaders of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa : a biographical dictionary, 1990 : McKeldin reference DS61.5 .P65 1990

      For additional information, see UM Libraries: Electronic Resources: Online Reference Shelf: Biographical.

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    ATLASES

    • Atlas of the Middle East. 2nd ed., 2006 : McKeldin Stacks G2205 .N34 2008

    • Dan Smith The state of the Middle East : an atlas of conflict and resolution 2nd ed., 2008 : McKeldin Stacks G2205 .S6 2008

    • Malise Ruthven, Historical atlas of Islam 2006 : McKeldin reference G1786.S1 R9 2004

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    COUNTRY GUIDES

    • Background Notes. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State.
      Brief overview of most of the countries of the world.

    • Countries and Their Cultures
      Includes essays on over 200 countries that document the myriad ways in which culture defines and separates the nations of the world as much as geographical borders do. Surveys each country's shared values, behaviors and cultural variations from foods and rituals to pastimes and arts.

    • Country Studies
      The Country Studies are prepared by the Library of Congress and sponsored by the Department of the Army. They are available for most major countries of the world and provide a comprehensive analysis of each country's history, politics, and economics from the perspective of the people who live there. Updated irregularly.
      LOCATION (Print version): McKeldin Reference Stacks
      CALL NUMBER: Varies by country. To find source for country of interest do a keyword search in the Library Catalog, country handbook iraq.

    • EIU ViewsWire.
      EIU ViewsWire is a full-text country news daily that provides analysis and forecast information on worldwide politics, economics, business strategies & conditions and market trends in almost 200 countries.

    • World Factbook.
      Gives social, political and demographic descriptions for all countries of the world.
    • VBIC
      This site include links to Internet resources with substantial free offerings and fee-based commercial services that are available to University of Maryland community. Although this is a business database, it contains considerable important information on countries of the world, including, for example, CIA -- The World Factbook , Country Commercial Guides , demographics, statistics, etc.

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    STATISTICS

    • Arab women in ESCWA member states : statistics, indicators and trends. 1994: MCKREF STACKS HQ1726.5 .A724 1994

    • Justin McCarthy, The Arab world, Turkey, and the Balkans (1878-1914) : a handbook of historical statistics. 1982: MCKREF STACKS HA4556 .M35 1982

    For additional information, see UM Libraries: Electronic Resources: Online Reference Shelf: Statistics. or search the Libraries' Catalog return to top

    Books: UM Libraries

    • UM Libraries' Catalog
      The Libraries' catalog provides information about books and other holdings of all libraries at the University of Maryland. Use multi-campus search to see what is owned by other University System of Maryland libraries. Books owned by other libraries in the system can be ordered at the computer for delivery to College Park (or elsewhere), click on "Request."

      Note that when searching in the catalog, it is useful to consult the "subjects" listed in catalog records, these can give you ideas about other words or terms to use in your search.

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    Books: Other Libraries

    • WorldCat
      Combined catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide. Items not owned by University System of Maryland libraries can be ordered at the computer for borrowing through interlibrary loan.

    • WorldCat UM (WorldCat Local)
      OCLC's catalog of books, serial publications, media, visual materials, musical scores, and archival materials in libraries worldwide plus holdings of UM Libraries, UM System and partners. Article citations from NLM Medline (medicine and health), ERIC (education), GPO (U.S. government publications, ArticleFirst and British Library serials

    • Steven R. Dorr, Scholars' guide to Washington, D.C., for Middle Eastern studies : Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, The Arabian Peninsula, Israel, Turkey, Iran. 1981: MCKREF STACKS DS61.9.U6 D677

    • Thomas J. Martin, North American collections of Islamic manuscripts. 1977: MCKREF STACKS Z6605.A6 M37

    • Center for Research Libraries Catalog
      CRL holds over four million newspapers, journals, dissertations, archives, government publications, and other traditional and digital resources for research and teaching. Holdings include such diverse materials as international doctoral dissertations, international newspapers, including many from the Middle East and North Africa; collections of primary materials, including foreign government documents. These holdings are available for use by students, scholars and other researchers affiliated with CRL member institutions. They are in the vernacular languages, not translations into English. For more information see http://www.crl.edu/content.asp?l1=5.
      Although University of Maryland is not longer a CRL member, items not owned by University System of Maryland libraries can still be ordered through interlibrary loan with some restrictions.
      USE THIS CATALOG TO FIND ADDITIONAL PRIMARY SOURCES.
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    Scholarly Journal Articles and Related Publications

      ONLINE DATABASES

      When accessing subscription databases from off-campus, you will have to login using your university directory ID.
      The databases below are selected for their relevance to historical research in the area of Middle Eastern history in general. Depending on your specific topic you might need to consult other databases in a variety of subject areas. Please see the complete list of databases by subjects in Research Port, including under "Middle East Studies."

      • Index Islamicus
        An international bibliography of publications in European languages on all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world. It covers their history, beliefs, societies, cultures, languages and literatures. It includes material published by Western orientalists, social scientists and Muslims writing in European languages. The file contains indexing for 3,470 titles with coverage dating back to 1906.

      • Historical Abstracts
        Information on articles, books, and dissertations about non-U.S. and non-Canadian history from 1450 to the present. To locate an item, click on the "find it" button.

      • America: History and Life
        Information about articles, books, and dissertations on U.S. and Canadian history, with some links to complete articles. In this class will be useful to those who are trying to research US - Middle East relations. To locate an item, click on the "find it" button.

      • ATLA Religion Index
        Provides abstracts and indexing for articles, essays, and book reviews dealing with religious and theological scholarship. International in scope and language coverage. Covers all types of religions and a wide range of academic areas including anthropology, philosophy, business, psychology, history, religion, law, sociology, medicine, and theology. Time span is 1949 to present. Selected records going back to 1818.

      • RAMBI: Reshimat Ma'amarim Be'mada'e Ha-yahadut/Index of Articles on Jewish Studies
        Bibliography of articles in the various fields of Jewish studies and in the study of Eretz Israel. Will be useful in research Arab-Israeli relations.
        Once you have identified an article, check the Libraries' catalog to see if the Libraries own the periodical in which it appears. Articles described in the database not available in the University of Maryland Libraries can generally be ordered through interlibrary loan.

      • PAIS International
        Coverage is international and multidisciplinary on a wide range of public affairs topics, including: the environment, business, education, government, health, international relations, law & legislation, criminal justice, political science, social issues, public policy and public administration.

      • Women's Studies International
        International in scope, including Middle East and North Africa. Covers issues in women's studies including feminist theory and history, family, mental & physical health, prejudice & gender discrimination, law & legislation, employment.

      • Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
        International coverage of political science, international relations, law, and public administration and policy.

      • Anthropological Literature
        Comprehensive international resource for the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and related interdisciplinary research from the 19th century to the present.

      • SocIndex with Full Text
        The index features more than 1,300,000 records with subject headings from a 15,600 term sociology-specific thesaurus designed by expert lexicographers. This product also contains informative abstracts for more than 620 "core" coverage journals dating back to 1895. In addition, this file provides data mined from more than 500 "priority" coverage journals as well as over 1,390 "selective" coverage journals. Further, extensive indexing for books, monographs, conference papers, and other sources is included.

      PRINT INDEXES

      • The Middle East, abstracts and index.., 1978- : McKeldin Library Periodicals Stacks DS41.M44
        In our Library it is available only in print. An extensive bibliography of scholarship on issues related to Middle East.
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      Primary Sources

      Using the Libraries Catalog to find primary sources

      In many cases, although it might be challenging for this particular course, it is possible to identify primary sources in the UM Libraries' Catalog by adding to your search words such terms as archival resources, archives, sources, manuscripts, correspondence, diaries, personal narratives, etc. Another way is to find writings by important political, cultural, or religious leaders.

      Examples:

      • arab israeli conflict sources (search under basic "word/s anyware")
      • Sadat, Anwar (search under "author beginning with....")

      Another strategy is to use the advanced search and specify particular years to limit a search to books and other materials contemporary with the event or phenomenon you are interested in. In more specific searches it often helps to combine the dates search with subject searching.

      Example:

      • morocco (subject), (year/s) 1900 to 1969

      Finally University of Maryland Libraries owe huge microform collections, many of which would be considered primary sources. Again in the advanced search specify your topic and limit it by format "microform." By the way this method could be used in finding periodicals, non-print materials, reference sources, and other types of format.

      Example:

      • middle east, (format) Microform
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      Periodicals

      • PAIS Archive
        Coverage is international and multidisciplinary on a wide range of public affairs topics, including: the environment, business, education, government, health, international relations, law & legislation, criminal justice, political science, social issues, public policy and public administration. Goes back to 1915. This is a back run for PAIS International.
      • Periodicals Index Online
        Information about articles published in more than 3,000 humanities and social sciences periodicals, from as early as the eighteenth century to the 1990s, with some links to complete articles. It might give you articles published in the West dealing with the Middle Eastern and North African countries and issues.
        Once you have identified an article, check the Libraries' catalog to see if the Libraries own the periodical in which it appears. Articles described in the database not available in the University of Maryland Libraries can generally be ordered through interlibrary loan.

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      Magazines

      Selective list of The University of Maryland Libraries'holdings:

      • Arab observer and the scribe. (1965-66): McKeldin Library Periodical Stacks AP9 .A68.
      • Majallat Kulliyat al-Adab (Cairo, Egypt). (1933-1936,1944,1947-1959): McKeldin Library Periodical Stacks AS693 .C25.
      • Le'Egypte contemporaine. (1910-1968): McKeldin Library Periodicals Stacks HC531 .E4
      • Al-Ahram (Cairo, Egypt) (1974-1976) and latest month only : McKeldin Library Periodicals Rm - Microfilm AN261.7.C3 A5. AND McKeldin Library Periodicals Rm - Current Periodicals No call number for latest month only.
      • Maghreb labor digest. (1963): Off-Site Shelving Place a Request to Obtain DT181 .M3
      • Hesperis tamuda. (1960-1964): Off-Site Shelving Place a Request to Obtain DT301 .H45
      • Hesperis : archives berberes et bulletin de l'Institut des hautes-etudes marocaines (1921-1959): Off-Site Shelving Place a Request to Obtain DT181 .H4
      • France-Maroc : revue mensuelle. (1917-1922): Off-Site Shelving Place a Request to Obtain DT324 .F7
      • Archives marocaines. (1904-1917,1926-1936): Off-Site Shelving Place a Request to Obtain DT301 .A7
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      Newspapers

      • New York Times Historical (1851-2001

      • Washington Post Historical (1877-1988)

      • The Libraries also own many newspapers on microfilm, which can be found in the current periodicals room on the first floor of McKeldin Library. A complete list of such newspapers is kept at the desk there.
      • Le Monde. 1944- : McKeldin Periodicals Rm - Microfilm : AN194.P3 M6
      • La Depeche de Toulouse. 1885-1940 : McKeldin Periodicals Rm - Microfilm : AN193.T6 D4
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      Government Documents

      The University of Maryland Libraries contains many U.S. government publications (generally called government documents) in its Government Documents & Maps collection, located on the fourth floor of McKeldin Library. Government documents from the mid-1990's on are listed in the Libraries' catalog. Use the following resources to find older documents related to your topic:

      • Congressional Record (1789- ): Government Documents Reference X 1.1
        The official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress, published daily when Congress is in session. Older years must be searched using the index at the end of each year. Full-text available through LexisNexis Congressional from 1985 on.
      • Department of State Bulletin (1939-1989): Government Documents SU Docs S 1.3
        Weekly Department of State publication on foreign policy. Search the index at the end of each volume.
      • Foreign Relations of the United States (1861-1960), (1945-1972): Government Documents Reference S 1.1
        Department of State publication containing documents relating to U.S. foreign policy, including items from the President, Departments of State and Defense, CIA, and other foreign affairs agencies. Organized by year through 1932, then by area of the world for a range of years (e.g. The Soviet Union 1933-1939) or by specific event (e.g. The Conference at Malta and Yalta).
      • LexisNexis Congressional
        Search for Congressional documents from 1789 to the present. Includes full-text of U.S. Congressional Serial Set from 1789-1969 and most other documents from 1980's on. Find full-text of older documents on microfiche in the Government Documents Computer Room using the CIS number (CIS-No) listed in the database record.
      • Public Papers of the President: Government Documents Reference GS 4.113 and E 806.R749 (for FDR)
        Select papers and speeches of the President of the United States.
      • Translations of foreign news broadcasts
        • Foreign Broadcasting Information Service (FBIS) (1941- ): Library of Congress Microform Reading Room, (1964-1996): Government Documents Microfiche & SU Docs PREX 7.10
        • Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) (1957-1994): Government Documents Microfilm AS36.U, Government Documents Microfiche & SU Docs PREX 7.13-PREX 7.22
        • World News Connection (1995-)
        • FBIS, JPRS Indexes: Government Documents Reference AS 36.R49-DT 348.D353
        U.S. government translations of foreign broadcasts, news agency transmissions, and some periodical and newspaper articles. JPRS's early years concentrate on scientific and technical material. FBIS and JPRS joined as World News Collection in 1995. No FBIS indexes exist prior to 1974, earlier years must be searched by area of the world and then by date.

      Government Documents & Maps' resources that will help you find government information include:

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      Manuscript and Primary Source Collections in the Libraries

      The UM Libraries own many primary sources on microfilm, in print, online and other formats. Although not complete because of the difficulties in keeping up, Microform Collections in the UM Libraries list might be of some help particularly since each of the collections included there contains a very informative description.
      However all of our microform collections are found in the Catalog, and can be searched for as described above. Most of them are located in the current periodicals room on the first floor of McKeldin Library. Many of Government Documents listed above in this guide could also be considered primary documents for your research in this area and are located on the 4th floor of McKeldin Library.
      Here are some examples of primary document collections relevant to North Africa and Middle East at the UM Libraries:

        BOUND COLLECTIONS

        • Israele's foreign relations. Jerusalem : Ministry for Foreign Affairs, 1976- : McKeldin Library Periodical Stacks DS119.6 .I87

        MICROFORM COLLECTIONS

        • CIA Research Reports, Middle East, 1946-1976. . McKeldin Periodicals Microfilm DS63. M515
          You can find a guide to this collection in McK Reference under the same call number.

        • Great Britain. Foreign Office.Foreign Office, War of 1914-1918, Arab Bureau Papers, 1911-1920: Middle East: Series 2. . McKeldin Periodicals Microfilm DS63.2.G7G7.
          You can find a guide to this collection in McK Reference under the same call number.

        • Great Britain. Foreign Office. Foreign Office, War of 1914-1918, Jedda Agency Papers, 1913-1925: Middle East: Series 3.. McKeldin Periodicals Microfilm DS63.2.G76G72.
          You can find a guide to this collection in McK Reference under the same call number.

        • Middle East. McKeldin Periodicals Microfilm DS42.M54.
          You can find a guide to this collection in McK Reference under the same call number.

        • The Middle East: Special Studies, 1970-1980. AND The Middle East: Special Studies, 1980-1982. Supplement.. McKeldin Periodicals Microfilm DS63.M516 and DS63.M51 7 (supplement).
          You can find a guide to this collection in McK Reference under the same call number.

        • National Security Council (U.S.) Documents of the National Security Council, 1947-1977 5 Reels. McKeldin GovDocs Microfilm UA23.N371 1980.

        • National Security Council (U.S.)Minutes of Meetings of the National Security Council with Special Advisory Reports. 3 Reels. McKeldin GovDocs Microfilm UA23.N37 1982.

        • International Population Census Publications, 1945-1967: Africa.. McKeldin Periodicals Microfilm various call numbers.
          For more information please see a guide, International Population Census Publications, 1945-1967: Africa.
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        Online Primary Sources

        An increasing number of primary sources are being digitized and made available online. Some of the most impressive online collections of primary sources that can be used for the study of Middle East history include:

        • The Middle East Online: Iraq 1914-1974 / Gale
          Iraq 1914-1974, offers a broad range of original source material from the British Foreign Office, Colonial Office, War Office and Cabinet Papers covering the period from the Anglo-Indian landing in Basra in 1914 through the British Mandate in Iraq of 1920-32 to the rise of Saddam Hussein in 1974, including photographs, colour maps and contemporary film.

        • Digital National Security Arch / George Washington University
          Primary resources central to U.S. foreign and military policy since 1945. More than 43,000 declassified documents are included in the database.

        • Armed Conflict Database
          International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) database covers 70 armed conflicts, including data on terrorism, refugees and returnees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), weapons used and their flows, fatalities, costs ($US), historical backgrounds, annual updates and timelines. Users can generate reports and download data as well as browse through year-by-year analyses and fact time sheets online.

        • Oxford Islamic Studies Online
          The full text of more than 3,000 encyclopedia articles from major Oxford works on Islamic studies, as well as primary source documents, maps, images, and timelines and two full-text interpretations of the Qur'an (one in verse and one in prose). It also provides an electronic version of Hanna Kassis' Concordance of the Qur'an.

        • United Nations Official Documents System (ODS)
          The electronic repository for official documents published by the United Nations. ODS covers all types of official United Nations documentation, beginning in 1993. Older UN documents are, however, added to the system on a daily basis. ODS also provides access to the resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onwards. The full text of documents is accessible in PDF format in all official languages of the United Nations--Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

        • 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. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators.

        • The Middle East in Early Prints and Photographs / New York Public Library Digital Collectins
          More than 1,100 prints and photographs contained in works from the 17th-century to the beginning of the 20th century.

        • Internet Islamic History Sourcebook / Fordham University
          Contains huge amount of sources on various topics and time periods concerning Middle East, North Africa and Islam: government documents, historical documents, legal documents, maps, treaties, etc., as well as additional useful reference sources and list of websites.

        • Guide to International Documents Collections in the College Park Area
          This is a guide to libraries and institutions in the vicinity of the University of Maryland at College Park which house collections of documents published by international organizations and/or foreign governments, and which are open to the public. For further information on individual holdings, contact the individual libraries directly.

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        Helpful Guides

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Last modified: February 19, 2007

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