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POS 280- Issues Before the United Nations

Introduction | Reference Sources | Indexes & Databases | Internet Resources | Writing the Paper

Contact Information

For further research assistance, please contact Barb Mann (bmann@usm.maine.edu; 780-4672), Political Science Liaison, USM Libraries, University of Southern Maine.

Introduction

In order to find books, journal titles, videos, government documents and other materials held in the University of Maine System consult URSUS, the online catalog. Because journal article citations are not individually included in URSUS use a discipline-specific index to find this information (see Resources by Subject). To find materials located elsewhere in Maine, check Maine Info Net.

To find materials pertaining to the United Nations, perform a SUBJECT search on the term, United Nations.

To find materials pertaining to a particular country, perform a SUBJECT search using the phrase [name of the country] description and travel; [name of the country] politics and government.

To obtain materials not located at your USM campus, but located using URSUS, click on the Request button on the URSUS screen and enter your name and barcode number (found under the barcode on your USM Card, always beginning with 25022....). Your barcode will first need to be activated at the Circulation Desk.

To find books, journal titles, videos, government documents and other materials not available through the University of Maine System or MaineInfoNet, please check WorldCat, which includes bibliographic records for more than 36 million items held at OCLC member libraries throughout the world and is updated daily.

If the item is not available through the University of Maine System (URSUS) or Maine Info Net you can request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad)

Reference Sources

Reference sources are useful tools to obtain background information and to develop a vocabulary of possible search terms. The following items are print and electronic resources available within the University of Southern Maine system.

Annual Review of United Nations Affairs
POR Reference JX1977 .A1A5 2003/04
This four volume set includes coverage of the principal UN organs during the 58th session, including reprinting of full-text documents, as well as selected reports of intergovernmental bodies and expert groups.

CIA World Factbook (1986-2005)
POR Reference JA 51.W675 2004

Encyclopedia of Human Rights
POR Reference JC571 .E67 1998

Encyclopedia of International Development
POR Reference HD82 .E547 2005

Europa World Year Book
POR Reference JN1 .E85 2005
GOR Reference JN1 .E85 2004
LEW Reference JN1 .E85 2003
Previous editions available in the POR stacks with call number JN1 .E85.

Guide to Country Information in International Governmental Organization Publications
POR Reference HN25 .A12 G85 1996
This annotated bibliography, although dates, still contains useful information regarding publications of world regions and individual countries.

Human Development Reports
Published by the United Nations Development Programme. Included on this site are also Regional Human Development Reports and National Human Development Reports.

International Government Information and Country Information: A Subject Guide
POR and LEW Reference ZA5050 .M67 2004
Arranged by subjects, this publication provides a wealth of information pertaining to the United Nations and individual countries.

Political Handbook of the World
POR Reference JF37 .P6 2000-02
Previous editions available in the POR stacks with call number JF37 .P6.

The Stateman's Yearbook: The Politics, Culture and Economics of the World
POR and GOR Reference JA51 .S7 2005
Previous editions in POR and GOR stacks with call number JA51 .S7.

Statistics Sources, 28th edition
POR Reference Z7551 .S83 2005
GOR Reference Z7551 .S83 2004
"A subject guide to data on industrial, business, social, educational, financial, and other topics for the United States and internationally. "

The United Nations: An Introduction
POR Reference JZ4984.5 .G3713 2005

World Almanac
POR Reference AY67 .N57W7 2005
LEW Reference AY67 .N57W7 2005
Previous editions available in the POR and GOR stacks with call number AY67 .N57W7 .

World Development Reports
Published by the World Bank.

Yearbook of the United Nations
POR Reference JX1977 .A37Y4 2003
Previous editions available in the POR stacks under call number JX1977 .A37Y4 .

Indexes and Databases

Because of the lengthy publishing cycle for a book, information in a book is not always current. Periodical articles are current sources of information. There are two main types of periodicals: scholarly and popular. Scholarly periodicals are usually referred to as journals. Articles in journals contain reports of primary research; the articles are written by experts in the field and for other researchers/scholars; use terms and language specific to that discipline; may include graphs, charts, etc. related to the topic; most often are peer reviewed via an editorial board; are published by professional organization or society, university, research centers, scholarly presses; and often include a bibliography. Popular periodical articles contain general information; are written using easily understood language that appeals to a varied audience; are usually written by journalists or others who are not experts in the field; do not include citations; has a limited or non-existent editorial review board; and may contain glossy photographs. The Finding Articles tutorial provides more information on how to find articles.

To find scholarly articles it is necessary to consult a discipline-specific electronic or print index/database. The following are electronic indexing sources available to the University of Southern Maine community.

Contemporary Women's Issues
Contemporary Women's Issues (CWI) is a multidisciplinary, full-text database that brings together relevant content from mainstream periodicals, gray literature, and the alternative press -- with a focus on the critical issues and events that influence women's lives in more than 190 countries. Contemporary Women's Issues includes English-language titles from East and West Africa, Asia, and South and Central America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe. Updated weekly.

Directory of Open Access Journals
Provides full-text articles from over 1145 free peer-reviewed journals covering all scholarly and scientific subjects. Over 310 journals can be searched by article title. Most articles are in English. Law and Political Science are a major grouping.

EconLit
Date coverage: 1969-present
Subject indexing and abstracts of journals, books, dissertations, and working papers.

FactSearch
Date coverage: 1984-present
Facts and statistics on current issues. Guide to statistical statements on current social, economic, political, environmental and health issues. Includes information from Christian Science Monitor, Congressional Record, congressional hearings, White House Press briefings, and briefings from the U.S. departments of state and defense, as well as debates in the Australian, British, and Canadian Parliaments.

HeinOnline
Date coverage: dates vary be resource
Full text online access to legal journals.

Historical Abstracts
Date coverage: 1969-present
Index to articles, dissertations, and books on the history of the world, except the United States and Canada, from 1450 to the present. Works on U.S. and Canadian history are covered in America: History and Life.

IngentaConnect
Date coverage: 1988-present
Indexes 17,000 English-language periodicals. Updated daily.

New York Times Article Archive
Date coverage: 1851-present
Provides indexing for the New York Times from 1851 to the present. Related resources: online full text and indexing of the New York Times is available through the database ProQuest Newspapers for 1999 to present; The New York Times Index (POR Reference AI21.N44) covers 1851 to 1988.

Official Documents of the United Nations
Date coverage: 1993-present and selected earlier coverage
Official Document System of the United Nations(ODS)covers all types of official United Nations documentation. To find citations to UN documents search UNBISNET (United Nations Bibliographic Information System).

PAIS International
Date coverage: 1972-present
Citations for articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, and book chapters. The print index is available in the POR Reference collection at call number POR Reference Z7163 .P9 (1915-1990).

Press Releases (Dag Hammarskjöld Library)
Full-text of press releases (1995-present), which provide summaries of meetings.

Proquest Newspapers
Date coverage: Varies according to source
Full text of more than 500 U.S. and international news sources. Includes the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and the Times of London, plus hundreds of other news sources and news wires.

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
Date coverage: 1861-present; abstracts 1980-present; thesis abstracts 1988-present
Source for current research and trends.

United Nations Document Index
Law Library JZ4935 .U539 1950-1961
Law Library JZ4935 .U54 1962-1982

SCOPUS
Date coverage: 1966-present
Provides coverage in the sciences and social sciences through abstracts and cited references from over 14,000 journals and from more than 4000 international publishers. Subjects covered include chemistry, biology, environmental sciences, mathematics, physics, engineering, health and life sciences, social sciences, psychology and economics. SCOPUS also provides citation analysis (back to 1996). With registration for a personal account, SCOPUS can provide saved search functionality and email alerts.

World Trade Organization Documents Online
"...access to official documents of the World Trade Organization, including the legal texts of WTO agreements."

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Date coverage: 1975-present
This database supplies citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law and public administration/policy.

Internet Resources

There is no authority control for the Internet. In choosing Internet resources it is imperative to evaluate the authenticity of the source. Thinking Critically about Discipline-Based World Wide Web Resources (UCLA College Library) provides excellent evaluation criteria. The following selected resources have been chosen because of authenticity and comprehensiveness of coverage.

United Nations | Other International Organizations | Foreign Country/Government Information

United Nations

United Nations Association of the United States of America
"The United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization that supports the work of the United Nations and encourages active civic participation in the most important social and economic issues facing the world today."

UNCAPS (United Nations Shared Cataloguing and Public Access System)
"UNCAPS is the premier web site which provides a Web interface to the electronic resources of the libraries of UN system of organizations, and offers powerful search and retrieval functionality and provides a single point of access to library catalogs, indexes and abstract databases, library holdings, links to full-text resources, and archives."

United Nations (home page)

United Nations Dag Hammarskjold Library
A valuable source of research assistance.

United Nations Documentation Research Guide
A "how to" guide on UN research.

United Nations: International Law

United Nations Scholars' Workstation (Yale University)
"The United Nations Scholars' Workstation, developed by the Yale University Library and the Social Science Statistical Laboratory, is a collection of texts, finding aids, data sets, maps, and pointers to print and electronic information."

United Nations System of Organizations (Official Web Site Locator)
Includes both alphabetical and thematic indexes.

United Nations System Pathfinder
"The purpose of this Pathfinder is to identify major publications of the organizations comprising the United Nations system. Materials were selected with a view to currency, relevance and usefulness. Global studies and reports, handbooks and guides, bibliographies and indices, international statistical publications, compilations of treaties, resolutions and documents as well as annual reports of UN bodies and specialized agencies are included. "

UN Pulse: Connecting to UN Information (Dag Hammarskjold Library)
"The blog focuses on just-released UN system-wide online information, major reports, publications and documents. Created and maintained by a team of reference librarians, UN Pulse is updated as new information is published and received. A RSS feed is also available."

Other International Organizations

CURIA: Court of Justice of the European Communities

EUR-Lex: The Portal to European Union Law

Europa: Gateway to the European Union

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Organization of American States

Organization of American States: Secretariat for Legal Affairs

Foreign Country/Government Information

Adminet World
Arranged by world region with links to individual country information included for countries of that region.

Africa: Country Pages (African Studies Center-University of Pennsylvania)

Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library

Background Notes (U. S. State Department)
Arranged alphabetically by country, these reports contain information pertaining to that country's history, government, political conditions, economy, and foreign relations. Dates of reports vary by country.

Countries and Regions (World Bank)
Provides country brief and data.

Country Studies/Area Handbooks (Library of Congress)
This series, which includes 101 countries or regions, "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. " Publications are dated from 1988-1998 and may not be up-to-date. However, these are useful for historical information. Check the "research completed date."

Foreign Government Resource on the Web
Compiled by the University of Michigan.

Frequently Used Sites Related to U. S. Federal Government Information: Foreign Countries/Comparative Politics
Compiled by members of American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table, this guide provides access to Web sites related to publications, indexes and directories, agencies, research centers, statistics, elections, political parties, governments, etc.

Governments on the WWW
Contains links to governments and governmental bodies.

Handbook of Latin American Studies (Library of Congress)
Bibliography of materials relating to Latin America, providing citations and annotations.

Social Science Information Gateway: EuroStudies
Browsable by region, with individual countries listed under each region heading. SOSIG is a service of the UK Resource Discovery Network.

Social Science Information Gateway: Politics
From this main heading access sis available to various relevant subheadings including international relations, which then leads to international governmental information.

Statistical Agencies (International) (U. S. Census Bureau)
Contains links to the statistical agencies for countries of the world.

United Nations CyberSchoolbus

World Legal Information Institute

WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
Provides access to more than 2,600 annotated links about international affairs, international relations, and international studies.

WWW Virtual Library: Regional Studies

Writing the Paper

This category contains information on how to properly cite your sources. In using resources it is imperative that they be used ethically and legally. The sources listed here provide assistance in this process.

USM has a site license for EndNote, a personal reference database program. The main functions this program include maintenance of a database of reference, downloading reference from other databases, using the database to link to references in word-processed document, and generating a bibliography in the correct style for publications. See the EndNote Help for further information.

The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources, 3rd edition
POR Reference J9.5 .G37 2002

Citation Style: APA

APA Documentation (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)

APA Style.org

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition
POR and GOR Reference BF76.7 .P83 2001; LEW Reserve BF76.7 .P83 2001

Online: A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources

Using American Psychological Association (APA) Format (Updated to 5th Edition) (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)

Citation Style: Chicago

The Chicago Manual of Style
POR Reference Z253 .U69 2003

Chicago/Turabian Documentation (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center)

Online: A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources

Turabian and Chicago Styles Citations (University of California-Berkeley)