Locating
Information on Countries
Oklahoma State University Library
õ
Statistics-- Basic Data about Countries
Bibliography created by Helen Clements,
Associate Professor / Reference Librarian
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Online
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U.S.
Library of Congress. Global Gateway: Portals to the World—Prepared by subject
experts at our national library; includes links to selected information ranging
to business to embassies to cultures, many of them government, educational or
organization websites.
http://international.loc.gov/intldl/intldlhome.html
§ OSU Library,
Government Documents Department
Start with this page for links to some of the myriad sources of information
from world sources. OSU Library Government Documents
Webpage: http://www.library.okstate.edu/Govdocs/index.htm
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CIA World Factbook—Basic information
about a country and its people, geography, government, maps etc. Check the Library’s A-Z Database list (Under
W) or go directly to https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gb.html
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Statistical
Abstract of the United States--One of the best over-all sources, available
online and in print. Hundreds of
formatted tables of statistics, arranged by topic. This is a good place to start because sources
are identified and you can go to that particular government publication. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
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USA.gov—Use this U.S.
Government search engine for statistics of all kinds on the U.S. and other
world populations. HINT: use their Advanced Search feature to target
your search more precisely, and check the Search Tips for how-tos. I used the
single word, “population”, to get general categories for further
searching. http://www.usa.gov/
Reference Books (Encyclopedias, Handbooks,
etc.)
Reference Books in Print
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International Year Book and Statesmen’s Who’s Who. 2009. London : Burke's Peerage Ltd. A standard
source for basic information about world nations. Compare to the CIA World Factbook. Older
editions will be available for check-out, found on 3rd Floor. Latest edition in General Reference on 1st
Floor: 320.58 I61
v Appiah, Kwame
Anthony, and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., eds. Africana:
the Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. 2nd
ed. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 909.0496003 A258
2005
General Reference (5 volumes)
v Barnard, Alan and
Jonathan Spencer, eds. 1996. Encyclopedia
of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London, England: Routledge.
General Reference 301.203 E556
v Bolaffi, Guido, et al., Eds. 2003.
Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture. London: Sage Publications. General Reference 305.8003 D554
v Ember, Melvin and Carol
R. Ember, Eds. 2001. Countries
and Their Cultures. New York,
NY: Macmillan Reference. General Reference 306.03 C855 (4 volumes)
v Europa World Year
Book.
2006. For detailed summaries of data
about each country. London, England : Europa Publications Limited. in
General Reference on 1st Floor:
940.5058 E891 (2 volumes)
v Kanellos, Nicolás, and Claludio Esteva-Fabregat,
Eds. 1993-1994. Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United
States. 2005. Houston, TX: Arte Público Press. General Reference 973.0468 H236 (4 volumes)
v Palmer, Colin, A.,
ed. 2006. Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History: the Black experience in the Americas. Detroit,
MI: Macmillan Reference U.S.A. General Reference 973.0496073 E56 2006 (6 volumes)
v Schultz, Jeffrey,
et al., eds. 2000. Encyclopedia of Minorities in American
Politics. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. General
Reference 305. 2 volumes
v Hispanic
Databook: Detailed Statistics and
Rankings on the Hispanic Population, Including 23 Ethnic Backgrounds from
Argentinian to Venezuelan, for 1,266 U.S. Counties and Cities. 2004. 2nd
edition. Millerton, NY: Grey House Publishing. General Reference 305.868 H6725 2004
v Waldman, Carl, and
Catherine, Eds. 2006. Encyclopedia
of European Peoples. 2
vols. New York, NY: Facts on File. General Reference 305.80094
W164e.
v Skutsch, Carl,
Ed. 2005. Encyclopedia of the World’s Minorities. 2
vols. New York, NY: Routledge.
General Reference 305.8003 E563.
Reference Books Online
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Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology— Look here for
authoritative information on sociological theories and topics. Links appear in the Library Catalog or use
the A-Z Database List, under “Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology”, http://www.library.okstate.edu/database/index.cfm
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Sage E-Reference Online (new in
2007) Available in the Databases List,
under S. This is a collection of subject
encyclopedias, searchable either by
individual title or as a group. Sage is
offering a new set of titles each year, so I’d be very appreciative of input
about their usefulness. http://www.library.okstate.edu/database/index.cfm
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A tutorial is available at the Sage
E-Reference Website:
http://www.sage-ereference.com.argo.library.okstate.edu/public/tour1.php
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Oxford Reference Online—a collection of
online reference books, good for definitions (also synonyms) and short entries
about country information. Use this to
help choose terms for searching. Use the
Databases list. http://www.library.okstate.edu/database/index.cfm
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Wikipedia—Use this as a point of departure, but
don’t use it as one of your final sources unless your professor permits
it. The articles are not necessarily
written by experts!
Selected Journal Article
Databases
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JSTOR and Sociological Abstracts for scholarly
articles and research studies.
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Academic Search Elite (EBSCO) One of our best
basic databases; you can limit searches to scholarly journals. When looking at a “record”, click on the name
of a journal to see if it is peer reviewed.
Try the Subject Terms and the Visual Search features.
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Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest) This is a special
database within the ProQuest group that focuses on ethnic group magazines,
journals and other news sources. Select
it when searching in the ProQuest group of databases.
Searching Hints
and Tips
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Keywords
Make a list of the words you use to
search. Start with a general term, and
add others to narrow your search. Avoid
using long phrases—Think of key words instead. Think about alternative words and
phrases—“culture”, “subculture”, “ethnic”, “ethnicity”, “social groups” “group
cohesion”, minorities, names of groups, etc.
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Subject Headings When you find one
book or journal article that looks good, check the subjects or descriptors
for links to other books or articles on similar topics.
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Useful
subject headings (or parts of subject headings) include: “Social life and customs”, “Social
conditions”, “Ethnic relations”, “ethnology”,
and the names of groups—i.e. Mormons, Hispanic Americans, etc.
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Dewey Decimal
classes (Where those subjects fall in
the classification)
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280-299
includes Christianity and other world religions
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Politics
will be in the 320s; Economics will be in the 330s
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300-307
includes much material on social groups of all kinds, including ethnic and
cultural groups
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400s
are languages
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700s
are arts, music, etc.
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800s
are literature
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910s
are geography and travel
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940-999
includes history, and frequently information on ethnic and cultural groups