IR 90 : Basic Research Tools
Locating Articles in periodicals and scholarly journals
The library makes over 150 different types of databases available for students and faculty use. Many of them will serve as your gateway into the literature of international relations and political science. Often the articles they index are available electronically in full text. To see the complete list of Lehigh's Databases, use the Database Finder.
Your MyLibrary gateway, which you can access from the Lehigh Portal, is also designed to help you identify the important databases and resources in your major. It can be adapted and customized as you progress through your career at Lehigh.
Useful databases in International Relations and Political Science include:
Database Sources of International News
- Factiva While this database specializes in business information it provides good international news coverage and you can specify the region and country of the world where the coverage originates.
- Lexis Nexis Academic Use Lexis World News to locate articles from and about particular world regions.
- World News Connection This database provides translated texts of newspaper and broadcast reports from around the world. The translations are produced by the U.S. Government Foreign Broadcast Information Service.
Useful tips about research strategies and library resources. Use these tools to gain a better understanding of how to locate and retrieve information, evaluate the resources you’ve found, as well as how to properly use the information once you’ve got it.
United Nations - selected web sites
Permanent Missions of Members http://www.un.int/index-en/webs.html
United Nations Bibliographic Information System UNBISNET http://unbisnet.un.org/
United Nations general website http://www.un.org/english/
United Nations Security Council http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/
United Nations Official Documents System http://databases.lib.lehigh.edu/finder/dbfull.asp?DBID=165
Selected Resources for Basic Country Information
- Country Studies http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
"On-line versions of books previously published in hard copy by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Army. The Country Studies Series presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world." While some of these books are dated ( check the title page for the date of publication) they are a good source for information on geograpy, culture, history. The library also has most of these titles in print in our collection.
- CIA World Factbook FM Reference 910 W927 2005 Latest edition online http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
A useful source of quick information on the geography, people, economy and political situation in countries of the world. Includes basic map of each country.
- LexisNexis Academic - Walden Country Reports http://databases.lib.lehigh.edu/finder/dbfull.asp?DBID=88 Access the Walden Country Reports from within Lexis by following this path: connect to Lexis Academic, select Reference from list on left side of screen; choose "Country Profiles"; select "Walden Country Reports" from the drop down Source menu. These reports include the following categories of information: key facts, introduction, political structure, political situation, membership of international organizations,industry, banking and finance, companies, investment, stock exchange, natural resources, energy, agriculture, transport, communications, armed forces, education, health and welfare, geography and climate, visitors' guide,useful business addresses.
Additional Print Resources
- Africa South of the Sahara, 2002 London, England: Europa Publications Ltd FM Reference (Mini Lind)
916.7 A258
- Europa World Year Book 2005. London, England : Europa Publications Ltd FM Reference (Mini Lind) 914 E89a
- Far East and Australasia 2002. London : Europa Publications FM Reference (Mini Lind)915.03 F219
- Middle East and North Africa 2005 London: Europa Publications FM Reference (Mini Lind)
950 M627 2005
- South Asia 2005 London: Europa Publications FM Reference (Mini Lind)
950 S726
- Whitakers Almanack, 2005 London: J. Whitaker FM Reference 314.2 W57a
Maps
Maps can be found in any of a number of atlases housed in the Atlas cases in Government Documents area in Fairchild Library, 2nd Floor, South Wing.
Also, the Government Documents Department in Fairchild library has a collection of useful boundary maps with major geographic and political features that are produced by the CIA. They can be found under the Superintendent of Documents Classification number: PREX 3.10/4: Ask the staff of the Goverment Documents Department for assistance locating them.
For further assistance, contact:
Roseann Bowerman, Social Sciences Librarian
Fairchild Library Room 621, 758-3053
email: rb04@lehigh.edu
February 2006
