Government & Politics of the Middle East

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Selected Reference Materials

Europa world year book. (2008).  London, England: Europa Publications Limited.
Ready Reference 341.1 E89
Note: Older editions (1966- ) in Main Collection at same call number.

Felton, J.  (2008).  The contemporary Middle East: A documentary history.  Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Reference 956.04 F326c

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

Mattar, P. (Ed.). (2004).  Encyclopedia of the modern Middle East and North Africa (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA.
Reference 956.003 E56o v.1-4

National Geographic Society.  (2008).  Atlas of the Middle East (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.
Reference 912.56 A881of

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

Political handbook of the world. (2008).  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.
Ready Reference 329 P769
Note: Older editions (1928- ) in Main Collection at same call number.

Reich, B. (Ed.). (1996).  An historical encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Reference 956.9405 R347h

Smith, D.  (2006). The state of the middle east: An atlas of conflict and resolution.  Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Reference Atlases 327.56061 S645s

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."


Selected Websites

GENERAL

UN News Centre: Middle East
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=70&Body=Palestin&Body1=

US Department of State: Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
http://www.state.gov/p/nea/

IGOs

Search Engine -- Government Information: International Documents (Indiana University, Bloomington)
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=4173

***

International Monetary Fund
http://www.imf.org/

United Nations
http://www.un.org/

World Bank
http://www.worldbank.org/

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

ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS AND THINKTANKS

Directory -- Political Science Resources on the Web / Think Tanks (University of Michigan Library)
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/psthink.html

***

Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/

Cato Institute
http://www.cato.org/

Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation
http://www.centerpeace.org/

Middle East Institute (Columbia University)
http://sipa.columbia.edu/REGIONAL/MEI/index.shtml

Middle East Policy Council
http://www.mepc.org/main/main.asp

Washington Institute for Near East Policy
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/


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  --  Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box)  --  Trexler Library Catalog

For tips on searching the catalog, use the Help link above the search boxes.

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  --  Books, Videos, Music, ... (in Find box)  --  Other Library Catalogs -- WorldCat

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  --  ILL (in the Services & Forms box)


Finding Articles: Databases & Indexes

SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES

Topical Databases: International Relations and Political Science

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.

Topical Databases: Other Disciplines

See a list of all databases at via the Library Homepage  --  Articles A-Z (in the Find box).

Economic Literature (Econ Lit)
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.

Sociological Abstracts (SocAbs)
The main indexing source for journal articles in Sociology.

Health Source
Covers health topics and contains some full-text journal articles. Useful for searching for public health topics.

Interdisciplinary and News 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.

JSTOR
Searchable collections of full-text journals. JSTOR contains the full text of many Political Science journals and many others from a wide variety of possibly relevant disciplines.

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
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.
    • Most databases have a Get It! 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  --  ILL (in the Services & Forms box)  --  Articles request form). Fill out the form with as much information as possible.

Government Documents

UNITED STATES

Muhlenberg College receives about 30% 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.

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."

OTHER

Governments on the World Wide Web
http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/

World Legal Information Institute: Countries
http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/215.html


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 --  Citation Guides (in the Research Help box).

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


© Muhlenberg College
Last modified: 27 May 2009