Government 340 : International Politics
For some of your research topics, you may want to consult sources below marked specifically for Theorists, Conflicts, Countries and Power or Issues. For more information, try the following:
- For more on Theorists, look at the research guide on Biographical Information
- For more on Countries and Power look at the research guides for Government 140 : Introduction to International Relations and Government 245 : Comparative Politics of Developing Countries
- For more on Conflicts, look at the research guides on History
- For more on Issues, look at the research guides on Government
Background Information
Britannica Online
The electronic version of the classic reference work. You can either search for terms or browse the alphabetical list of entries. View the entries from the Encyclopaedia Britannica rather than the Britannica Student Encyclopedia, as the latter is written for elementary and high school students.
Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements. 3rd ed. 2003
Alphabetically arranged entries covering the structure of the UN, its specialized agencies, other international organizations which cooperate with the UN, several thousand international agreements, conventions and treaties and many terms related to the study of international organizations and politics.
Ref. [q.] JX 1977 .O8213 2003
Europa World Year Book. 2 vols.
Begins with basic descriptions and brief histories of international organizations. Countries are listed alphabetically; each entry contains an introductory survey of recent history, economic affairs, etc., followed by a statistical survey and a directory with names and addresses of officials and major organizations.
Ref. [q.] JN 1 q.E85 2003
The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World.
"A comprehensive guide to international relations and national domestic politics throughout the world." Includes entries on countries and regions of the world, specific conflicts (like the Gulf War), areas of conflict (like reproductive politics and anti-Semitism), groups (like African Americans) and individuals.
Ref. JA61 .O95 2001
Theorists
Biography and Genealogy Master
Index.
"A comprehensive index to nearly 12 million biographical sketches in more than 2700 volumes and editions of current and retrospective reference books, covering both contemporary and historical figures throughout the world." Available electronically for Lawrence campus researchers.
Literature Resource Center.
Use the Author search or the Advanced search. Provides personal data, career highlights, lists of writings, and works in progress on authors. The individuals included range from newspaper and television reporters to editors and columnists to novelists, screenwriters, and theorists.
Political Philosophy: Theories, Thinkers, Concepts. Seymour Martin Lipset, editor.
Ref. JA71 .P6226 2001
Countries and Power
Portals to the World
From the Library of Congress. Lists selective links providing authoritative, in-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world. Links are chosen by Area Specialists and other Library staff using Library of Congress selection criteria.
World Factbook.
Prepared by the CIA for the use of government officials. Current country
profiles and statistics.
Ref. [q.] G 123 .W6
Online: updated regularly
Conflicts
Encyclopedia of Conflict Resolution. Heidi Burgess and Guy M. Burgess.
Addresses all aspects of conflict resolution, broadly defined. Topics range from family mediation to international relations. Entries cover concepts, people, professional organizations, and more.
Ref. HM136 .B783 1997
The Encyclopedia of Military History from 3500 B.C. to the Present. R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy.
A survey of military affairs, arranged chronologically. Within chronological sections, arranged geographically. The chronology is based primarily on western events, but all areas of the world are considered at least in some degree.
Ref. D25.A2 D8 1986
International Conflict: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Conflicts and Their Management 1945-1995. Jacob Bercovitch and Richard Jackson.
Begins with sections on understanding and managing international conflict. Then, starting with the Chinese civil war, each conflict is described with attention being given to the history of the conflict and its connections with other conflicts, including cross-references to other entries.
Ref. D842 .B46 1997.
The People's Chronology: A Year-by-Year Record of Human Events form Prehistory to the Present. James Trager.
A useful source for understanding historical context. For each year lists events in the areas of politics, human rights, science, medicine, education, art, literature, agriculture, crime, population, and more.
Ref. D11 .T83 1994
Issues
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 25 vols.
Considered by some as the definitive encyclopedia covering the social sciences. Entries are the length of short articles, are signed, and include bibliographies. There is one index volume for subjects and another for names.
Ref. H41 .I58 2001
Many subject encyclopedias are available for specific issues and areas. These are just a few examples.
- Environmental Encyclopedia. 2 vols. Ref. [q.] GE10 .E38 2003
- Encyclopedia of Genocide. 2 vols. Ref. HV6322.7 .E53 1999
- Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge. 4 vols. Ref. [q.] HQ1115 .R69 2000
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Finding Books
To find items owned by the library, search LUCIA. Try Title begins with, Author, Subject begins with or Keyword Anywhere searching.
Title begins with
These searches will let you see if we own an item whose title you already know.
Author
You can search the name of an author to find works by the person named. Be sure to enter the last name first.
Subject begins with
Search the name of a writer as a subject to find works about the person's life and works. Be sure to enter the last name first. You can also look for terms like international relations. You will be referred to more subject headings. Be specific; there's a lot out there all of these topics. You can also use the Library of Congress Subject Headings for ideas on subject search terms; the five volume LCSH in print is located behind the Reference Desk on the library's first floor.
A few ideas of the kinds of headings that might be helpful:
- Political science -- philosophy
- Postmodernism
- Names of particular theorists, last name first. Look for the subdivisions for particular works, or for the subdivision criticism and interpretation. Be careful when searching non-western or compound surnames.
- Power (Social sciences)
- Names of particular wars or conflicts. Dates may be used, as in the heading World War, 1939-1945 rather than World War II
- Non-governmental organizations
- Be prepared to use multiple searches for synonymous terms, for example, if researching international environmental policy, try any or all of the following:
- Environmental policy -- International cooperation
- Global warming -- Government policy
- Climatic changes -- Government policy
- Environmental economics nay
- History
- Relations
- Foreign relations
- Foreign economic relations
- Politics and government
- France -- History
- Japan -- Relations -- China
- Japan -- Foreign relations -- United States
- Japan -- Foreign economic relations
- Mexico -- Politics and government
For advanced research you should consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings, or LCSH, a guide to the terms commonly used in catalogs like ours. The LCSH can be found on top of the Ready Reference shelves behind the reference desk on the first floor of the library.
Keyword Anywhere
In this search, LUCIA will look for the terms you specify anywhere in the important areas of the cataloging records, and display a list of those records. Try a search like international and environment*. The asterisk acts as a truncation symbol and tells LUCIA to search for all words starting with environment: environment, environmental, environmentalism, etc. You might want to try searching for some of the terms you find in the LCSH, or target your keyword search by using the Subject Keyword option. This tells LUCIA to look for the terms in the subject area of the records only. You might want to try searching for some of the terms you find in the LCSH, or target your keyword search by using the Subject Keyword option. This tells LUCIA to look for the terms in the subject area of the records only.
Books are arranged on the library's shelves by Library of Congress Classification. This is a system which organizes materials by general subjects. Once you have a call number from searching LUCIA, see this guide to call number locations at Mudd and the library floor maps to find out where a book might be on the shelves.
Search LUCIA for materials in our library; try WorldCat to find materials beyond the Mudd. Make sure you've thoroughly searched our library before going to WorldCat. See a reference librarian if you need help.
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Finding Articles
The best index to use will depend on your topic. Be sure to check the Electronic Resources page for other options. Two of our resources, JSTOR and Project MUSE provide complete full text. If you are looking for titles in the library's collection to browse, you may want to look at the list of titles of interest for Government. Some of our indexes include:
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts 1975-
Contains the merged backfiles of Political Science Abstracts, 1975-2000, and ABC POL SCI, 1984-2000. Provides citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy.
ABC POL SCI dating from 1969-1995 is available in the Reference Indexes.
International Political Science Abstracts. 1951- .
Citations and abstracts of journal articles from the world's political science literature. Includes an author and subject index.
Reference Indexes
EBSCOhost.
A single Web source for multiple databases. Contains broad and specialized
coverage of academic and general periodicals. Follow the link for EBSCOhost Web. Academic Search Elite may be particularly useful.
Academic OneFile
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics. Includes full-text articles, many with images. 1980 - present; updated daily.
Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life.
The essential indexes to the scholarly literature of history, in books and
proceedings as well as journals. Includes short summaries of the works indexed.
Historical Abstracts includes citations of articles on African, Asian,
Latin American and European history. Beginning in 1971 the paper version was
divided into Modern History Abstracts and Twentieth Century Abstracts. Since
1964 America: History and Life provides corresponding access to
literature on the United States and Canada.
Once you have a citation for an article on your topic, try the 
button to see if that particular article is available. If you don't find it, you can confirm that we don't own it by searching in LUCIA for the title of the journal or newspaper. You should also search BESS, an automated search of the library's full text databases, for electronic copies of articles.
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Finding Newspaper Articles
Finding News Information
From the librarians here at Lawrence. Includes links to many newspapers on the Web, and to electronic news source subscriptions.
LexisNexis Academic
Includes national and international news sources, as well as up-to-the minute news wires.
New York Times. 1851-current.
Considered to be the American paper of record. Consulting the paper index to historical issues in the reference area may help focus your search in the online format.
New York Times (1851-2004)
Current issues of the New York Times are available from many sources: see BESS or ProQuest Newspapers below.
Times (London, England). 1941-current.
The leading British paper. The Times itself is held
on microfilm.
Times index--Reference Indexes/Microform Area
UMI ProQuest Direct
Provides access to local, national, and international
newspapers, most in full-text. Dates for backfiles vary by title.
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Finding Government Documents
Most United States Government Documents are not cataloged in LUCIA. There are several ways to search for government documents, but those listed below will be the most direct. Some documents will also be indexed in the Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) discussed here under Finding Articles. You might also want to take a look at the library's Guide to Understanding the Government Document Numbering System before you head to the Documents shelves on the second floor.
GPO Monthly Catalog
Catalog of US government publications, covering 1976 - current. Searchable in many ways, via FirstSearch.
Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications.
An annual index is included at the end of each yearly volume, or you can search the
Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government
Publications, 1900-197l.
Reference Indexes
Google for Government
The popular and helpful Google search applied specifically to finding government information. Searches local, state, military, and national government Web pages.
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Finding Web Resources
Internet Resources for Government
Chosen by the librarians here at Seeley G. Mudd Library.
Of course, there are many more web resources available that might be useful in your research. You might want to try looking at sources that select the best of the Web, like these:
It's important to think carefully about any information you find in any format, and to evaluate resources for their accuracy, applicability, and so forth. Evaluation of web resources is especially important. You may want to consult this guide to Evaluating Internet Resources. The library's Web Wise Guide to Searching give some helpful inside tips. You can often learn a lot about a page (and a site) by parsing the URL.
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Style Manuals
Academic Citation and Writing
Style manuals of the humanities, physical sciences, and the social sciences in the Seeley G. Mudd Library.
The Chicago Manual of Style.
A standard source for bibliographic format.
RRef. Z253 .U69
Citing Electronic Documents
This page provides guidance on citing electronic documents and links to other guides, some on specific styles of documentation.
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About Research in International Politics
Material related to the topic of this course will be drawn from many fields besides government; be prepared to look at materials from history, policy studies, and cultural studies, just to name a few. In addition to consulting catalogs and indexes, be sure to look at bibliographies supplied at the end of relevant articles, chapters, and books, and to search library catalogs for book-length bibliographies.
Your sources must be fully documented in any written work you produce. It may help to look at the information on style before you start your research, so that you will have all the required documentation at hand when you need it. Then as you write, go back to the resources on style for details on the exact format of your citations.
The sources listed in this guide were chosen for the broad coverage they provide. Direct links are provided to Internet resources and searchable databases, as well as links to LUCIA, the library's online catalog. Be sure to check the library's Electronic Resources page regularly to see new databases and indexes; some of these will only be available to users on the Lawrence campus. Also, you may want to take a look at guides on related topics from the Library Research Guides page.
Evaluating the resources you find is an essential part of the research process. See this guide to hints on evaluation of books and articles and this guide to evaluating Internet resources.
As always, if you have any questions be sure to ask a Reference Librarian.
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Definitions of terms and abbreviations:
Ref. = Reference collection, first floor
RRef.= Ready reference, shelves behind the reference desk
Periodicals = Level A
GovDoc = U.S. Government Documents, second floor
Reference Indexes = Alphabetically arranged at the end of the reference collection
Microform Area = Reading room east of the reference desk, near microform drawers
q. = Oversized books: interfiled in reference and scores; at end of classes in other collections
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