Finding Articles about Countries Web Resources for Countries Using Reference Books and Picking a Topic Finding Books Use interlibrary loan Citing Sources

 

Finding Articles about Countries

 

• These databases are for finding journal articles
• They are available 24/7 ONLY to Ramapo students
• Off campus use requires login: Ramapo email and password
• Some useful Databases for your projects:

Country Information Database
Country Watch	Provides political and economic articles, surveys, and statistics for more than 191 countries. Tip: Scroll down and select a country in the drop down menu
Political Science Database
PAIS International and Archive	Contains references to more than 550,000 journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, and more. Tip: Use the "Check Availability at Ramapo" link to find the fulltext of an article.
History Databases
Historical Abstracts	History of the world from 1450 to the present. Excludes the United States and Canada. Tip: Links to JSTOR and Ebsco. When only a citation is included, click on the "Primary Catalog" link to see if the full text of the article is available in our collection.
JSTOR	Entirely full-text. Cannot email articles-email yourself the stable url. Tip: Do not print from browser print button. Use the JSTOR print option

 

 

Strategies for searching the databases

 

• Always switch to the Advance Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
• Always use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT when running a search. For Example: democracy and iraq
• Always check your Spelling if the database results are Zero.
• To look for full-text use the: check availablity at Ramapo, primary catalog, or check availability links in the databases
• Use the Subject Terms or Thesaurus link in databases to find the best search terms to use

 

---

Web Resources for Countries

 

• US State Department Country Background Notes: These publications include facts about the land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations of independent states, some dependencies, and areas of special soverignty.
• CIA World Factbook: provides basic country information

 

Evaluating Websites: determine if the site you found is authoratative enough to use

---

 

Using Reference Books and Picking a Topic

 

• Selecting a topic for a research paper or project can be very challenging. You will want to select a topic that is of interest to you. This will make the research , reading and writing less of a chore. (**TIP: Always start with a broad topic. It is easier to eliminate information as you write than it is to try an bulk up your paper.) It is a good idea to wait to decide on a topic until you do some preliminary searching for books, articles, and web-based resources. If you can't find enough, you will want the flexibility to select a new topic. A great start to preliminary research is browsing the REFERENCE SECTION in the library (located on the 3rd floor).

 

 

 

Suggested Reference Sources:
World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties	Ref JF 2011. W67 1999	Alphabetically arranged by country, the set covers the governments and political parties in 196 nations. There are 66 expert contributors, half of whom also contributed to the third edition. Some of the entries have been totally rewritten by new authors, and those that have been revised list the names of both the original author and the reviser. Each entry begins with an introduction or basic description of the country. Next, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches are discussed as well as the regional and local government structure. A section on the electoral system discusses suffrage, voter registration, balloting procedures, and voter turnout.
Political Handbook of the World: 2000-2002	Ref JF 37.P65 2003	provides all one expects in an encyclopedic work that covers every country of the world: data on population, monetary units, natural resources, languages, etc. PHW goes beyond the routine to add extensive political background, information on economics and social movements, the history and leadership of political parties, and current issues of domestic and international importance. Also included are separate entries on more than 100 major intergovernmental organizations.
Europa World Yearbook (located behind the reference desk)	Ref JN 1. E85	Provides detailed country surveys containing the latest analytical, statistical and directory data available for over 250 countries and territories. Volume I contains a comprehensive listing of some 1,900 International Organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union, the International Organization for Migration and the World Trade Organization, and provides details of countries arranged alphabetically from Afghanistan to Jordan. Volume II covers countries from Kazakhstan to Zimbabwe.
Political Parties of the World	Ref JF 2051.D39 2002	Information about countries and their political parties. Organized by alphabetically by country.

---

 

Finding Books

 

Find Books at our library

 

• Catalog:use this link to find Books, government documents, reserve items, music, movies and journal titles (NOT JOURNAL ARTICLES) in our library

 

 

• Search the catalog using keywords to find materials
  • Write out a few keywords on your topics and enter them into the search box.
  • Don't write out a sentence. You will get zero results.

 

• For Example: I am writing a paper on democracy in Iraq
  • my FIRST search might be: democracy Iraq

 

 

 

 

---

Use interlibrary loan

 

• Use Interlibrary Loan if we don't have a book or article that you need

 

• Fill out the online form using your Ramapo Email (it will not be processed without that email address)

 

• WARNING**: give yourself time (it can take longer than 2 weeks in some cases)

 

---

Citing Sources 

 

• Use Citing Sources for examples of "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"
• Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources to get call numbers for paper copies of syle manuals.