USNA LANGUAGE STUDIES DEPARTMENT
USNA INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS OFFICE (USNA ONLY)
CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST AND ISLAMIC STUDIES (USNA ONLY)
Contact:
DONNA GODA,
REFERENCE -- BIBLIOGRAPHER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
Please use this guide as a starting point for your research. Feel free to ask librarians at the Reference Desk to help you focus your search or find more resources for your research project, including obtaining items not owned by Nimitz Library. For more help, you can also contact the International Studies and Foreign Languages Librarian, Donna Goda, at extension 3-6938 or goda@usna.edu.
The non-proprietary web sites included below are but a small selection of freely available Internet sites sponsored by governmental and other non-commercial organizations (some databases listed are only available to students, faculty and staff of Nimitz Library). Please feel free to suggest a web site for inclusion by contacting Donna Goda at extension 3-6938 or goda@usna.edu.
Background information
On-line books at Nimitz Library Electronic books about individual countries, regions of the world, world biography, global industries; and world history, culture and religions are available through various databases |
LOOK FOR THESE RESOURCES | IN THIS DATABASE |
| Encyclopedia of Islam and Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures | Brill | |
| Large selection of online reference books on a variety of countries, regions, and topics | Gale Virtual Reference Library | |
| Global Studies Handbooks (selected countries available). (In lower right corner, under GEOGRAPHY, click on CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY and view list.) | ABC-CLIO |
Databases at Nimitz Library These three database provide country overviews: CIAO provides a thumbnail sketch, Europa provides more information, and Political Risk Yearbook provides information and analysis. |
CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online) - Current information from The Economist Intelligence Unit (See Atlas section) |
Europa World Plus covers political and economic information in more than 250 countries and territories (Also available in print in the Reference area of the Library) |
|
Political Risk Yearbook In-depth analysis of the current state of political, financial, and economic risk in 100 countries. Includes forecasts, political frameworks, investment overview, taxation and environmental trends (Also available in print in the Reference area of the Library) |
|
| CQ Global Researcher | Comprehensive reports on world issues, an excellent starting point for your research. |
SELECTED INTERNET WEB SITES |
| CIA World Factbook - maps and flags, economic and demographic statistics, natural resources, political environment, military |
Foreign Information by Country (via University of Colorado at Boulder) - a comprehensive collection of Internet sites |
Library of Congress Portals to the World - General Resources, Business, Commerce, Economy, Culture, Education, Embassies, Government, Politics, Law, Health, History, Language and Literature, Media and Communications, Organizations, Recreation and Travel, Religion and Philosophy, Search Engines |
State Department 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 sovereignty. |
Culture-Etiquette-Protocol. (1) Navy Knowledge Online (NKO), (2) Ebooks and (3) books from Nimitz Library.
(1) Navy Knowledge Online (NKO) (Register now, access from anywhere) |
|
| (2) Ebooks: Access a variety of "global studies handbooks" in lower right corner, under GEOGRAPHY, click on CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY to view list. (Selected countries available) |
(3) To find books at Nimitz Library: |
|
1. Go to the catalog (linked from the Nimitz Library home page)
2. Choose LC SUBJECT HEADING |
 |
3. Type business etiquette -OR- americans foreign countries -OR- national characteristics -OR- communication international |
 |
| 4. Books | will be found in General Collection arranged by call number. |
Current Events and Timelines (see also News, Television)
| LOOK FOR THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION | IN THIS SOURCE |
| Each monthly edition provides “concise, accurate and unbiased account of important developments in each of the world’s countries, major international organizations and within selected thematic topics” and is the result of the daily collection and review of over 1,000 news reports from all over the world by editorial staff based in Cambridge, UK. | Keesings (online database) Also found in Nimitz Library reference area at D410 .K4 |
| Weekly summaries of news and current information as reported in dozens of major newspapers and news magazines from around the world. Others resources are included as necessary for verification, with an emphasis on facts rather than opinion or analysis. | Facts on File Yearbook (not electronic) Found only in Nimitz Library reference area at D410 .F3 |
Databases provided by Nimitz Library (see also Journal Articles and Statistics)
Access the databases below (listed alphabetically by title) by clicking on the name of the database. They are also available under the Databases link on the Nimitz Library home page. Access to databases by subject area can be found under the Research Guides By Subject link, also on the Nimitz Library home page.
Information contained in these sources will be presented in a variety of formats, such as numerical data, journal articles, book chapters or reports.
An asterisk * indicates databases where you can find journal articles (either full text or citation only, or a combination of both). For help finding the full text of a journal article in the event you find only the article citation, librarians at the Reference Desk will gladly assist you.
| NAME OF DATABASE | HAS THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION | |
* |
Academic Search Premier | multidisciplinary journal articles |
* |
American History and Life (includes Canada) | journal articles, book chapters, and dissertations published since 1964 covering prehistory to the present |
| Brill | Encyclopaedia of Islam, Encyclopaedia of Judaism, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an, Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, Index Islamicus, The Brill Dictionary of Religion |
|
* |
CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online ) | working papers, occasional papers, foundation-funded research projects, conference proceedings, journal issues, and books in international affairs |
| DDRS (Declassified Documents Reference System) | over 75,000 declassified documents from numerous government agencies, covers nearly every major foreign and domestic event between late 1940's through the 1970's | |
| Digital National Security Archive | full-text access to 50 years of declassified documents related to U. S. foreign policy | |
* |
EconLit | journal articles, books, and dissertations covering economic theory and application contained in world economic literature |
| Europa World Plus | current text and statistical snapshots of more than 250 countries and territories (also available in print at Nimitz) | |
| FIRST: Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (in conjunction with SIPRI) | chronology, statistics and other reference data about international relations, security, armed conflicts, peace keeping, arms production and trade, military expenditures, armed forces, conventional weapons holding, and nuclear weapons | |
* |
Historical Abstracts | scholarly literature on world history (excluding the US and Canada) covering the period from 1450 to the present day and published since 1954 |
* |
multidisciplinary bibliography consisting of monograph and journal articles, alternates annually between the social sciences and the humanities (also available in print at Nimitz) | |
* |
Index Islamicus | index of the literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world consisting of journals, conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored works and book reviews |
| International Financial Statistics | time series data from 1948 to the present for more than 200 countries and areas | |
| Janes | military information, industry developments in transportation (air, land and sea) and defense markets, useful for tracking new aircraft and new ships, developments in foreign orders-of-battle, country studies and terrorism | |
* |
JSTOR | with most emphasis on humanities and social sciences, you can also find journal articles on African, Asian, Latin American, Middle East and Slavic Studies; Population Studies, and Geography |
* |
Military & Government Collection (EBSCO) | current periodicals, academic journals and other content pertinent to all branches of the military and government |
* |
Military Collection (ProQuest) | current and historical topics across all government and military branches, including international relations, political science, criminology, defense, aeronautics and space flight, communications, and civil engineering |
* |
Muse | see Project Muse |
* |
PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) | find journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, and Internet material; includes publications from over 120 countries, non-English language journals are indexed in English |
| Political Risk Yearbook | in-depth analysis of the current state of political, financial, and economic risk in 100 countries; includes forecasts, political frameworks, investment overview, taxation and environmental trends (also available in print in the Reference area of the Library) | |
| Praeger Security International | information on terrorism and security, counterinsurgency, weapons of mass destruction, armed forces, and military affairs, access to more than 1000 primary source documents and links to more than 500 full text books | |
* |
Project Muse | multidisciplinary selection of journal articles with strengths in African, Asian, Canadian, Caribbean, French, German, Iberian, Irish, Judaic, Latin American, Middle East and Pacific Studies; Population Studies, Geography, International Relations |
* |
Social Sciences Full Text | database of journal articles including coverage of Anthropology, Area Studies, Community Health & Medical Care, Economics, Environmental Studies, Ethics, Family Studies, Geography, , International Relations, Law, Minority Studies, Planning & Public Administration, Policy Sciences, Political Science, and Sociology |
* |
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts | covers political science and related fields, such as international relations, law, government, and public administration/policy, English abstracts for articles from non-English journals |
Elections
International Foundation for Electoral Systems - "world’s premiere election assistance organization," providing countries with technical advice and tools to run democratic elections, produces original research and publications
Embassies and Consulates
U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions from U.S. Department of State (also find travel advice)
Energy & Environment
Country Nuclear Power Profiles from the International Atomic Energy Agency
EarthTrends Environmental Information
Energy Information Administration (U.S. Department of Energy)
Foreign Governments
Constitution Finder from the University of Richmond
Foreign Government Resources on the Web from University of Michigan Documents Center
Links to official governmental web sites from Northwestern University
Foreign ministries, embassies and consulates
U.S. Embassies, Consulates, and Diplomatic Missions from U.S. Department of State (also find travel advice)
Health Information in multiple languages
Health information in languages other than English from the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Journal Articles
Access the journal article databases below (listed alphabetically by title) by clicking on the name of the database. They are also available under the Databases link on the Nimitz Library home page. Access to databases by subject area can be found under the Research Guides By Subject link, also on the Nimitz Library home page.
These databases provide access to journal articles (some provide access to book chapters), either full text or citation only, or a combination of both. For help finding the full text of a journal article in the event you find only the article citation, librarians at the Reference Desk will gladly assist you.
| NAME OF DATABASE | HAS THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION |
| Academic Search Premier | multidisciplinary journal articles |
| American History and Life (includes Canada) | journal articles, book chapters, and dissertations published since 1964 covering prehistory to the present |
| Bibliography of Asian Studies | citations to primarily western-language articles and book chapters on all parts of Asia |
| CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online) | working papers, occasional papers, foundation-funded research projects, conference proceedings, journal issues, and books in international affairs |
| EconLit | journal articles, books, and dissertations covering economic theory and application contained in world economic literature |
| Historical Abstracts | scholarly literature on world history (excluding the US and Canada) covering the period from 1450 to the present day and published since 1954 |
| multidisciplinary bibliography consisting of monograph and journal articles, alternates annually between the social sciences and the humanities (also available in print at Nimitz) | |
| Index Islamicus | index of the literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world consisting of journals, conference proceedings, monographs, multi-authored works and book reviews |
| JSTOR | with most emphasis on humanities and social sciences, you can also find journal articles on African, Asian, Latin American, Middle East and Slavic Studies; Population Studies, and Geography |
| Military & Government Collection (EBSCO) | current periodicals, academic journals and other content pertinent to all branches of the military and government |
| Military Collection (ProQuest) | current and historical topics across all government and military branches, including international relations, political science, criminology, defense, aeronautics and space flight, communications, and civil engineering |
| Muse | see Project Muse |
| PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) | find journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, grey literature, research reports, conference reports, publications of international agencies, microfiche, and Internet material; includes publications from over 120 countries, non-English language journals are indexed in English |
| Project Muse | multidisciplinary selection of journal articles with strengths in African, Asian, Canadian, Caribbean, French, German, Iberian, Irish, Judaic, Latin American, Middle East and Pacific Studies; Population Studies, Geography, International Relations |
| Social Sciences Full Text | database of journal articles including coverage of Anthropology, Area Studies, Community Health & Medical Care, Economics, Environmental Studies, Ethics, Family Studies, Geography, , International Relations, Law, Minority Studies, Planning & Public Administration, Policy Sciences, Political Science, and Sociology |
| Worldwide Political Science Abstracts | covers political science and related fields, such as international relations, law, government, and public administration/policy, English abstracts for articles from non-English journals |
Language Learning Resources - The following language learning and culture resources are available in a variety of electronic formats, many are interactive and/or downloadable. You will need to create passwords but as long as you are affiliated with the US Navy, you will have access from anywhere in the world.
Note about passwords: You will be asked to change your passwords on a regular basis. Develop a method to access your passwords, such as e-mailing a current list to yourself and keeping it in a folder in your e-mail account.
LEVEL |
RESOURCE |
FEATURES |
| Beginner | Navy Knowledge OnLine (NKO) (https://wwwa.nko.navy.mil) | Audio books and e-books for download Under Reference link, in left column go to eContent, then Audio & Books, look for Download eBooks, then Foreign Language Study |
| Some previous instruction | Defense Language Institute (http://fieldsupport.lingnet.org) |
Mission-specific and other vocabulary lists in a variety of download formats, Field Support Modules |
Joint Language University (JLU) (http://jlu.wbtrain.com - also available through Navy Knowledge Online (NKO)
Create an account in box on left side of page. Any problems or questions are quickly handled upon contacting JLU_Admin@wbtrain.com |
Click on CATALOG to see the list of languages supported and the training available for each language.
Click on RESOURCES to get to items such as:
CL-150 Transparent Language – mission specific and other vocabulary lists for download, pronunciation checker
DLPT 5 –like assessments found in LangNet Assessment Objects
Intelligence Community Area Studies (ICAS) - interactive short seminars on topics of current high interest to government language professionals
LingNet - provided by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, materials include "Countries in Perspective" series and Global Language Online Support System (GLOSS).
Russian Language Mentor - “self-paced language maintenance and development curriculum intended for intermediate to advanced Russian linguists”
SCOLA - receives and re-transmits television programming from around the world in a wide range of native languages |
|
Voice of America Pronunciation Guide (http://names.voa.gov) |
Pronunciation of foreign-language names | |
| Varies | Large variety of e-books for download dealing with topics such as grammar and colloquial speech
On left side, under News & Community, go to Library. In middle of page, click on Visit the Online Library Resources, find MyiLibrary at bottom of list, then Language & Literatures |
Maps
From the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin
Also see the CIA World Factbook
Military sites dealing with foreign relations topics
| Air Force | Culture & Language Center |
| Army | Combating Terrorism Center |
| Marines | COACL - Center For Advanced Operational Culture Learning |
| Military Education Research Library Network | MERLN - find Military Policy Awareness Links |
| Navy | CMEIS - Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies |
News (see also Current Events, Television)
| FOR THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION | SEE THIS DATABASE |
| Searchable archive of newspapers in Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian and Spanish | Lexis Nexis (search with foreign language terms, check box "major world publications non-English" |
| English translation of foreign print and electronic media | Open Source Center (formerly known as FBIS) |
| Latest 3 months (exceptions may exist) of more than 650 national and international newspapers from 77 countries in 37 languages... color PDFs allow reading like a real newspaper | Press Display |
| Print news available in Nimitz Library | Language Studies Research Guides Click on your language, then click on News and see item 1. |
Research Centers
REGION |
NAME |
FEATURES |
Eastern Europe and Russia |
REENIC (Russian and East European Network Information Center) |
From University of Texas/Austin, a searchable collection of documents and web sites on a wide variety of topics. |
Latin America |
LANIC (Latin American Network Information Center) |
From University of Texas/Austin, supports English, Spanish and Portuguese, “one of the largest guides for Latin American content on Internet.” Sites are evaluated and cataloged. Includes some content from Caribbean and Castro speech database. |
Middle East |
Virtual library of Arab Institute for Studies and Communication, serves as a gateway for Arab social scientists and others studying the Arab world. |
|
From Georgetown, this site is the “only academic center in the United States focusing essentially on the Arab world--the region from Morocco to the Gulf. “ |
||
The GRC is a "non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to independent research on the Gulf region." |
||
| MENIC (Middle East Network Information Center) | From University of Texas/Austin, searchable collection of links to “high-quality (resources) suitable for scholars, researchers and scientists with interests in the Middle East." | |
Multiple |
Index of international relations research centers. |
|
American think tanks and research centers. |
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| Stockholm International Peace Research Institute | Nimitz Library has many of their conflict and cooperation research publications research; some data available on website. | |
Professor Wayne A. Selcher’s comprehensive collection of links. |
Statistics
|
(USNA Database, ask for password at Reference Desk) |
State of the Nation provides current and historical federal economic and financial data. GLOBUS & NTDB provides current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities and country analysis |
Internet Resources |
|
| Criminal Justice | International Justice Statistics from U. S. Department of Justice |
| Demographics | International Data Base from U.S. Census Bureau Global Distribution of Poverty Population Reference Bureau - find data on 95 demographic variables for more than 220 countries, 28 world regions and sub-regions and the world as a whole |
| Development | World Development Indicators from the World Bank provide direct access to more than 600 development indicators, with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups from 1960 to 2005 Global Distribution of Poverty OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) publications are available in print only in Nimitz Library at call number HC59.15 .O22 |
| Economics | BEA (Bureau of Economic Analysis) International Economic Accounts Global Economic indicators from Federal Reserve Bank of New York International Economic Indicators from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis International Financial Statistics from the IMF provides time series data from 1948 to the present for more than 200 countries and areas (USNA database) |
| Education | Global Education Database - a repository of international education statistics compiled from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Demographic and Health Surveys International Comparisons in Education - from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) International Education Indicators: a compilation of indicators from a multitude of data sources from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) World Data on Education from UNESCO |
| Energy | International energy statistics (covering 1980-2005) from Energy Information Administration: Included are data on energy consumption and production; overviews of petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity, carbon dioxide emissions from the use of fossil fuels, petroleum prices, energy reserves, and population |
| Foreign Statistics Sources | |
| Military | Janes (USNA database) |
| Social Indicators | From United Nations Contains statistical tables for key social topics |
An index to more Internet resources |
|
| University of Michigan | Statistical Resources on the Web is THE site for statistics on the Web: "Meta-index to statistical web sites and individual statistical publications arranged by broad subject category from the University of Michigan Documents Center." Covered subjects include: agriculture; business and industry; consumer; cost of living; demographics; economics; education; energy; environment; finance and currency; foreign economics; foreign governments; foreign trade; US government finances; health; housing; labor; military; politics; science; sociology; transportation; weather." |
Television and radio - Find current news, on-demand and downloadable files; some sites offer language lessons
LINK |
FEATURES |
| 24/7 live web coverage of Australia, Asian, and Pacific in numerous Southeast Asian languages | |
| programming in 33 languages | |
| 24 hour broadcasting in 30 languages, "slowly spoken" German news available | |
| also known as Radio Tehran, English language broadcasting from Iran, plus other languages | |
| MEMRI | Middle East Media Research Institute provides "timely translations of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu-Pashtu media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East" |
| Japan's sole public broadcaster | |
| broadcasting in 17 languages, coverage of Asian and African affairs, "slowly spoken" French news available | |
| directory of international radio broadcasts, some available on Internet | |
| 24/7 live TV, web and radio | |
| broadcasts news and features in 40 languages | |
| formerly known as Radio Moscow, English and Russian programming | |
| directory of international public radio programming |
With the exception of MEMRI, the sites listed above were reviewed in the March 2008 C&RL News Internet Resources section
Treaties
From Library of Congress, searchable by date, Congress, subject or treaty number
Treaties in Force 2007 from U.S. Department of State
Comments or suggestions?
http://www.usna.edu/Library/Language/Langmain.html
Last updated: 24 September 2008