Need help with your research? Contact:

Jen Jarson Social Sciences Reference Librarian phone: x3552 email: jarson [at] muhlenberg [dot] edu IM (AIM, Yahoo, MSN): jjarson1 Note: Add @hotmail.com for MSN.

Need help after hours? IM the Library at TalkToTrexler (for AIM, Yahoo, and MSN)! Note: Add @hotmail.com for MSN. Online Sunday-Thursday 1pm-9pm. See http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/forms/ask.html for more information.

Selected Reference Materials

Central Intelligence Agency. Atlas of the Middle East. Washington, DC: 1993.
Reference Atlases 912.56 A881o

Europa World Year Book. London, England: Europa Publications Limited, 2006.
Ready Reference 341.1 E89
Note: Older editions (1966- ) in Main Collection at same call number.

Freeman-Grenville, G. S. P. Historical Atlas of the Middle East. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Reference 911.56 F855h

Hiro, Dilip. Dictionary of the Middle East. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.
Reference 956.003 H668d

Mattar, Philip, ed. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, 2nd ed. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004.
Reference 956.003 E56o v.1-4

The Middle East, 9th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2000.
Reference 956.05 M627e

Political Handbook of the Middle East. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2006.
Reference 320.95603 P769h

Political Handbook of the World. New York: Published for the Center for Comparative Political Research of the State University of New York at Binghamton and for the Council on Foreign Relations by McGraw-Hill Book Co., 2007.
Ready Reference 329 P769
Note: Older editions (1928- ) in Main Collection at same call number.

Reich, Bernard, ed. An Historical Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Reference 956.9405 R347h

Reich, Bernard, ed. Handbook of Political Science Research on the Middle East and North Africa. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998.
Reference 956.0072 R347h

Reich, Bernard and David H. Goldberg. Political Dictionary of Israel. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2000.
Reference 956.94003 R347p

Online

The following online resources might be useful providing overviews, history, and data on individual countries.

CIA World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
A standard source for current data on countries of the world.

Library of Congress Country Portals to the World
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/portals.html
A gateway to recommended sources on specific countries.
From the site: "Portals to the World contains selective links providing authoritative, in-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world. They are arranged by country or area with the links for each sorted into a wide range of broad categories. The links were selected by Area Specialists and other Library staff using Library of Congress selection criteria."

Library of Congress Country Studies: Area Handbook Series
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/
From the site: "The Country Studies Series 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." Note that some of the entries have not been updated in recent years. Check for currency.

US Department of State: Background Notes
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn
Great for current information on specific countries, particularly relevant to U.S. foreign relations.
From the site: "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. The Background Notes are updated/revised by the Office of Electronic Information and Publications of the Bureau of Public Affairs as they are received from the Department's regional bureaus and are added to the database of the Department of State website you are now using."

Finding Articles: Databases & Indexes

SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES

See a list of all Social Sciences databases at http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/articles/databases/social_sciences.html.

Get to this list, and more: Library Homepage    Finding Articles    Periodical Databases and Indexes    Social Sciences.

Need help with your keywords and search strategy? Try the Keyword Searching (Combining Concepts) worksheet.  [ PDF | Word ] 

International Relations, Political Science and Specialized Databases

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)
Top source for International Relations, Comparative Politics, and Public Affairs resources. Indexes select articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, statistical directories, 1972 to present.

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)
Scholarly source for theory and research in international affairs since 1991. Includes working papers, conference proceedings, books, journals, policy briefs, maps and country data.

Contemporary Women's Issues (CWI)
Provides indexing to global information on women in over 150 countries. Indexes books, journals, newsletters, research reports from non-profit groups, government and international agencies, and fact sheets.

Economic Literature (EconLit)
Index to select articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, statistical directories, 1972 to present. Especially useful for research on a country's economic policies, development issues, and trade.

General / Interdisciplinary Databases

Academic Search Premier
Large and diverse database that covers most academic disciplines, including International Relations and Comparative Politics. Contains both scholarly and non-academic resources. Includes many articles in full text.

OmniFile (WilsonWeb)
Multi-disciplinary database providing the complete content–indexing, abstracts, and full text–from six of Wilson's full-text databases. Includes resources from Political Science subject areas.

Lexis Nexis Academic Universe
Indexes and provides full-text of major national and international newspapers, newswires, select journals and magazines, and legal publications. Updated daily. Coverage from as early as 1980 to the present. Special section for country information.

GETTING THE ARTICLES

1. When searching for articles, you may find the full-text of an article linked in the database.


2. If not, you need to search the Trexler Library Catalog to see if we own the journal in which the article is published.
   • Some databases have a Search Trexler Library for this title link embedded. Click the link to check our holdings.
   • Otherwise, search the catalog by journal title. Verify that we have online, print, or microform access to the year/volume you need.


3. If we do not own the journal you need, request the article via Interlibrary Loan.
   • Some databases have a Request on Interlibrary Loan link embedded. Click the link to fill out the form. Click Submit.
   • Otherwise, use the Interlibrary Loan Journal Article Request Form (Library Homepage    Finding Articles    Getting a Copy of an Article). Fill out the form with as much information as possible. Ask for help, if you have questions.

Government Documents

Muhlenberg College receives about 25% of all materials published by the Federal Government. These items cover a wide range of subject areas--from legal materials and the records of Congress to health and education information and in-depth research conducted by the Smithsonian. All of the government documents that we receive have records in the Trexler Library Catalog.

GPO Monthly Catalog
The most complete single source listing of Government Printing Office publications. It covers the period 1976 to present and includes a wide range of publications types including agency reports and congressional documents, providing the Superintendent of Document Number (SUDOC).

Google U.S. Government Search
Google's search tool for state and federal webpages.

LexisNexis Congressional
Provides access to detailed information about Congress. It includes The Congressional Record, congressional hearings, legislation, legislative histories, etc., from 1969 to the present.

Documents Center (University of Michigan Library)
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/
"The Documents Center is a central reference and referral point for government information, whether local, state, federal, foreign or international. Its web pages are a reference and instructional tool for government, political science, statistical data, and news."

Finding Books

TREXLER LIBRARY

Search the Trexler Library Catalog to find out what books, government publications, journals, videos, etc. the library owns.

GETTING THERE:      Use the shortcut search box on the Library Homepage or
                                      Library Homepage    Finding Books    Our Catalog

• For tips on searching the catalog, use the Help link above the search boxes. (Or click here.)


• Need help with your keywords and search strategy? Try the Keyword Searching (Combining Concepts) worksheet.  [ PDF | Word ] 

OTHER LIBRARIES

• WorldCat. To find books held by other libraries, search WorldCat, a database of over 60 million library records from around the country and world. Use the ILL button to request a book from another library. (ILL can take 10-14 days.)

            GETTING THERE:      Library Homepage    Finding Books    WorldCat

• E-ZBorrow. For quick delivery of books from many Pennsylvania and area academic libraries (including University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, University of Pittsburgh, and many more), use E-ZBorrow. (E-ZBorrow takes 2-4 business days.)

            GETTING THERE:      Library Homepage    Finding Books    E-ZBorrow

TIP: Check the E-ZBorrow catalog for any books you find in WorldCat. If not available there, then request via ILL.

• LVAIC. You can borrow books directly from LVAIC (Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges) Libraries.

            GETTING THERE:      Library Homepage    Finding Books    Other Libraries

• For more information on Interlibrary Loan options, see http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/more/ill/index.html or ask for help.

            GETTING THERE:      Library Homepage    Finding Books    Borrowing from Other Libraries

Finding Films

All films owned by the library (DVD and VHS) are listed in the library catalog. If you know the title of a film, simply search the catalog (http://library.muhlenberg.edu/) by title. To search for films more generally, consider the following options.

• From the Library Homepage (http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/), go Finding Media   Videos    Genre / Language / Academic Subject (or go directly to http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/media/videos_subjects.html).


• Go the advanced search screen of the library catalog (Library Homepage   Finding Books   Our Catalog    Display More Searches  Advanced Search or directly at http://library.muhlenberg.edu/search/X).
  • Enter terms in the search boxes that appropriately reflect what you hope to find (content matter). For example, a search for "Latin America" will retrieve any record that uses that phrase.
  • In the Location drop-down menu, choose Audio-Visual. Note that this limit option will retrieve results from our audiobook collection, as well as DVDs and VHS tapes. To avoid that, bypass the Location menu and instead choose from the Material Type drop-down (DVD or Videotape).
  • Apply other limits as necessary.


• For more information on individual titles, try The Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/).

Selected Websites

Dr. McRae's Recommended Websites
A list of sites selected by Dr. McRae that are relevant to all of her classes.

Arab League
http://www.arableagueonline.org/

CEN-SAD: Community of Sahel-Saharan States
http://www.cen-sad.org/

Chronology of the Persian Gulf Conflict
http://www.wwnorton.com/lenses/demo/dm_chronology.htm

Foreign Policy Research Institute: Bulletins on the Middle East & Africa
http://www.fpri.org/bysubject.html#middleeastafrica

Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Middle East Since 1914: Israel and Palestine
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook54.html#Israel and Palestine
This is largely a collection of primary source documents about the Middle East region in the early 20th century.

InterPress Service News Agency
http://www.ipsnews.net/

Iran-U.S. Relations: A Chronology
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-us-timeline.html

*** MENIC: Middle East Network Information Center
http://menic.utexas.edu/menic.html

Middle East Review of International Affairs
http://www.biu.ac.il/SOC/besa/meria/

Middle Eastern Studies Association
http://fp.arizona.edu/mesassoc/

Mideast Land of Conflict
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/mideast/

Myths and Facts Online: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/myths/mftoc.html

World Bank: Middle East & North Africa
http://www.worldbank.org/mena

Citing Your Sources

For help using Chicago style, consult the following resources:

The Chicago manual of style, 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Reference Desk Reserve 808.027 C632m (at Reference Desk)

Trexler Library handout on using Chicago style: http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/chicago_example.pdf
This and other style guide handouts available from the library website.  Library Homepage    Research Help    Citation Guides.

Writer's Handbook (Writing Center, University of Wisconsin--Madison)
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html