Finding Background Information--Reference Books

Reference books provide brief background information. They include encyclopedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, etc. Below are a few reference books you may find useful for this research project. They are shelved in the Reference stacks near the Information/Reference Desk on the first floor. Links are provided for those which are also available online.

The Europa World Year Book revised annually. 2 volumes.

Good overview of each county which includes information on a wide variety of topics including: climate, languages, recent history, government, defense, economic affairs, education, a statistical survey, general information about the constitution, human rights, political organizations, and more.

This is an excellent starting place. Coverage is current and thorough.

Call number: REF JN1 .E85 yr.

Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations 2002. 4 volumes.

Brief review of Afghanistan: the historic to present relations and foreign policy.

REF JZ1160 .N65 2002 vols.

Shelved in the Reference Stacks.

Legal Systems of the World: A Political, Social, and Cultural Encyclopedia 2002. 4 volumes.

Brief country information, history, legal concepts, judicial structure, and substantial list of "further readings".

REF K48 .L44 2002 vols.

Shelved in the Reference Stacks.

Also available online: updated to be current

Political Handbook of the World, 2007

Section one includes information about each county and their government officials. It includes political background, political parties and groups, political movements. Section two includes information about intergovernmental organizations.

REF JF37 .P6 2007.

Shelved in the Reference Stacks.

Yearbook of the United Nations 1946+ annual.

Review of the activities and resulting documents of the United Nations for the year. Good index allows you to search for specific countries. This covers major events of the General Assembly, Security Council, and other UN bodies.

Use this book to identify important UN documents. United Nations documents are available full-text online.

REF JX1977 .A37 Y4 year volume.

2003 and 2004 shelved in the Reference Stacks; earlier volumes shelved at the remote storage -- request volumes at the Circulation Desk.

• Official Document System of the United Nations
  • Connect to the Official Document System to locate full-text versions UN documents mentioned in the Yearbook.
  • EXAMPLE: To find the Economic and Social Council resolution 2003/43 cited in the Yearbook, click on the Official Document System Link above. Select  Resolutions under the Economic and Social Council. Select Economic and Social Council Resolutions 2003. Browse the Resolutions which are listed in numerical order until you find number 43. Double click on 43 to bring up the full-text of the Resolution.

Finding Books

Books give you greater in-depth background than encyclopedias and dictionaries and may help you refine your literature review. Often footnotes and bibliographies in books lead you to additional relevant sources.

BGSU Libraries Catalog

Start with the BGSU Libraries Catalog (BGLink) to search for items owned by the BGSU Libraries. Items in the catalog include books, journal titles, newspapers, government documents, and more. If your aren't finding what you want in the catalog, ask a library staff member for help.

Word Searches:

• The Word Index includes terms from the titles, contents, and subject headings of the catalog records.
• Use single terms, phrases, or combined terms:
  • Afghanistan and government
  • Politics Afghanistan
  • NGOs or non-governmental organizations
  • Taliban
  • Al Qaeda

Subject Headings:

• Subject headings are terms that assigned by librarians to describe the book.
• It is not always easy to figure out what terms are valid. Below are some subject headings:
  • Afghanistan--politics and government--history
  • Islam and state -- Afghanistan
  • Qaida (Organization)

Guide to using boolean operators to refine your search.

OhioLINK Central Catalog

The OhioLINK Central Catalog lets you search the combined catalogs of all academic libraries in Ohio. You can borrow books from other OhioLINK libraries over the computer, and have them delivered to BGSU in two to three days time. Or, you can visit the libraries in person, and check books out with your valid BGSU ID card. There are online instructions for ordering materials over OhioLINK. Remember, you must be registered with BGSU's Library before you can order books from OhioLINK.

Finding Government Information

University libraries has been a selective federal depository since 1933. We have over 700,000 U.S. documents in our collection. Many (perhaps as much as 70% of the publications we receive are also available full-text online. Search for documents in the online catalog just like you search for books and other library materials. Below are a few electronic government documents which you may find useful.

Country Studies:

Afghanistan

Iraq

Mounted at the Library of Congress.

Background Notes

Afghanistan

Iraq

Burma

Mounted by the State Department.

World Factbook

Afghanistan

Iraq

Burma

Updated every six months. Brief overview and facts about each country. Issued by the CIA.

2006 County Reports on Human Rights

Afghanistan

Iraq

Burma

Issued by the State Department.

International Religious Freedom Report, 2007

Afghanistan

Iraq

Burma

Annual Report issued by the State Department.

Library of Congress Portals to the World

Afghanistan

Iraq

Burma

This is probably the most extensive and authoritative web resource available. It includes sections on general resources, business, culture, education, geography, government politics and law, health, history, libraries, national security, and much more.

Finding Journal Articles

What's a scholarly journal article?

Scholarly Journals, Popular Magazines, and Trade Publications

This is a guide created by our Instruction Coordinator, Cathi Cardwell. It explains the differences between journals and when it's appropriate to use each type of resource.

Generally speaking, you will want to find scholarly journal articles for your literature review. BGSU Libraries subscribes to a wide range of journals--some print, many electronic. To find relevent articles search our Research Databases.

BGSU's Research Databases

Research Databases let you search for citations to articles in journal, magazines, and newpapers. Many of the research databases contain full-text articles, so you can print out the item in its entirety. Currently, there are over 100 research databases. Search the databases under--Law and Political Science--to identify the ones most relevent to your research. If you have trouble determining which database to choose, ask a library staff member. Below are several Political Science Databases that will be most useful for your research.

Academic Search Complete

This resource indexes over 4300 periodicals and contains full text for over 3400 scholarly publications. This scholarly collection provides full text journal coverage for nearly all academic areas of study - including political science. Coverage is 1984 – to the present.

• Search strategy: BURMA OR MYANMAR as subject and POLITICS as Default Fields
• Limit your search: Check the box for Full Text and check the box for Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals

PAIS International

PAIS International is an index to the literature of public affairs -- current issues and actions which affect the world communities, countries, people, and governments. This database covers important political, economic, and social issues. Coverage is 1972 – to the present. It indexes books, journal articles, and government documents.

• Search Burma--government and politics as a subject
• Limit to English Language
• Limit to articles
• Limit years to 2003-2005

Lexis-Nexis Academic

Search the News:

• Select World News, Middle East/African Sources
• Set the time frame: for example Previous six months
• Search afghanistan in headline, lead paragraph
• Search Loya Jirga in full text
• Or search constitution in headline, lead paragraph

This is a good source for searching very specific terms and/or names.

Find It! How to Use

Entries in the results of searches for many databases include OLinks, Find It!, or OLinks Find a Copy links.

This How to Use It guide explains how to successfully follow Find It links to locate articles.

Finding Web Resources

Evaluating Web Pages

This is section four of the WebWizard Tutorial Created by BGSU University librarians, Cathi Cardwell, Kelly Broughton, and Colleen Boff.

Foreign Government Resources on the Web

Created and maintained by Documents Librarian, Grace York, at University of Michigan, Documents Center.

IRIN News.org

The Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) is a humanitarian news agency covering sub-Saharan Africa, eight countries in central Asia and Iraq.

Maintained by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Afghanistan On-line

This is an extensive website which includes biographies, economy, history, politics and government. The government section includes a directory of government officials, current status, versions of the constitution, links to official government web sites, links to political groups, and more.

Afghan News Network

Includes brief English-language news from international sources about Afghanistan.

Embassy of Afghanistan

Includes Annual Reports of the Embassy, the Embassy newsletters, information about the country, and more.

Joint Election Management Body JEMB

The JEMB is an independent body mandated to administer, regulate and oversee the electoral process during the transitional period in Afghanistan. The JEMB is responsible for establishing policy guidelines, approving procedures, and exercising oversight over the electoral process. It was established by the Electoral Law and Presidential Decree.

Iraqi Draft Constitution (Aug. 24, 2005)

Full text of constitution translated from Arabic into English. Distributed by the Associated Press in pdf format

Government, Politics, Law : Myanmar (Burma)

One of the most useful pages on Portals of the World: Burma website.

Burma Report

Published by the American Humanist Association.

Search their site for additional information about Burma or Myanma

Time for Change: Report of an Independent Task Force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, 2003.

Substantial report (72 pages) published by the Council on Foreign Relations

U.S. Embassy in Iraq

Iraq Study Group

The Iraq Study Group made a forward-looking, independent assessment of the current and prospective situation on the ground in Iraq and how it affects the surrounding region as well as U.S. interests.

Iraq Study Group Final Report to Congress

Iraq Website on the U.S. Department of State pages

Includes key documents, press releases, fact sheets, and links

Al-Bawaba

It is a major portal site that links a number of other websites on all the Arab countries. It contains up-to-date information on the political, business, social, cultural and religious aspects of a particular country. Just click on the name of the country for information in English and Arabic

Citing Sources

Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper

Created and maintained by Duke University's Library.

A wonderful guide to citation which is arranged by type of citation, the information presented includes how to cite articles from journals, magazines, books, book reviews government documents, newspapers, primary sources, web pages and online postings.

Each section presents an example of a citation in the following formats: APA, Chicago Style, MLA and Turabian.

CITATION STYLE FOR RESEARCH PAPERS

Or check out this site created by Robert Delaney at the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library.

Mr. Delaney has created brief guides to several style manuals including:

• APA
• Turabian
• MLA
• Chicago
• and AMA
• He also includes a general guide to citing internet resources.

Getting Help

You can stop by the Jerome Library Research and Information Desk. This service desk is open most of the hours that the library is open. See Library Hours for an exact listing, including holidays and intersessions.

If you have a brief question that can be answered over the phone, call the Research and Information Desk at 372-2362.

For online assistance: Ask-A-Librarian

If you feel you need in depth assistance, you can call Mrs. Parmer at 372-7826 or email her parmer@bgnet.bgsu.edu and schedule an appointment.