Barnard College Library Research Guide

V1501 Intro to Comparative Politics

Professor Mona El-Ghobashy
Librarian Jenna Freedman
 


Trizone.
This guide is intended as a starting point in your research; the databases and reference tools listed here are a selective list. Always remember that you can ask for assistance at the Barnard Reference Desk at any point in your research, and you can always request a consultation.
Databases | CLIO | Web Sites | Reference | Etc.

DATABASES

  • Access indexes and databases from the Find Databases interface

  • Using these resources to find journal articles is sometimes a two-step process

    1. find citations in the index

    2. click onto get to the full text online if it's available or to search for the article in CLIO to find out if CUL has an electronic or a print copy.   

Recommended databases:

A note on E-Journals: Many scholarly journals are available on the Web. The journal often is included in a searchable collection of journals supplied as a package by the publisher or by another vendor. These collections are included on the list of Databases linked from the Barnard Library home page. If you have a particular journal that you want to access electronically:

  • Enter the title in CLIO, omitting the initial article (a, an, the, la, le, un, etc.)

  • In the Quick Limits box below the Search For field

  • Select Electronic Journals/Magazines/Serials

  • Click search

  • If we have an online subscription or database access, one or more links will be provided in the record

See also the statistical reference works cited below in the REFERENCE RESOURCES section.

CLIO

CLIO (Columbia Libraries Information Online) is the on-line catalog for materials added to the Columbia University Libraries since 1981.  

  • For a title search, leave off the initial article (the, an, le, etc.)

  • For an author search, put last name, then first name

  • For a keyword search, you must use OR or NOT between the terms, or quotes for a phrase. If you indicate nothing, AND is implied.  

  • You can limit to books in the Barnard library using the Pre-set Limits and Post Limit options

  • For zines, type zine? AND keywords, e.g. <zine? AND protest?> yields 11 results.  


Other Library Catalogs
Those with Columbia ID have access to the libraries of the Columbia Law School, the Jewish Theological Seminary, Teachers’ College, and Union Theological Seminary, but they are not included in CLIO. CUID also provides access to the libraries of New York University. Anyone who lives, works, or goes to school in New York is entitled to a New York Public Library card. Use the Catalogs list on CU LibraryWeb, or the following links:

  • ALEPH for the Jewish Theological Seminary

  • BobCatPlus for NYU libraries

  • CATNYP for New York Public Library research libraries. NYPL Databases--require library card number for access.

  • Pegasus for Columbia Law Library

  • RLG Union Catalog a catalog of records describing books, serials, archival collections, manuscripts, maps, music scores, sound recordings, films, photographs, posters, electronic resources, and more held in research libraries

  • WorldCat a catalog of catalogs, has holdings from libraries all over the world

 

USEFUL WEB RESOURCES

Barnard Subject Guides
Politics/Government
 Women's Studies

Columbia Subject Guides
 American History & American Studies
Foreign Countries
Foreign Press Translations
Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs: Information Resources
Latin American Studies
Middle East Studies
Political Science: Information Resources
Think Tanks and Policy Centers
U.S. Government Documents: U.S. Foreign Policy Resources

Americans & the World
"This website will report on US public opinion on a broad range of international policy issues, integrating all publicly available polling data." Topics covered include globalization, international trade, women's international issues, terrorism, human rights, global warming, the United Nations, population, biotechnology, and regional issues such as "Iraq Debate" and "Israel and the Palestinians." Searchable. From the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). (description from the Librarians' Index to the Internet)

Google Book Search
Each book includes an "About this book" page with basic bibliographic data like title, author, publication date, length and subject. For some books you may also see additional information like key terms and phrases, references to the book from scholarly publications or other books, chapter titles and a list of related books.

Google Scholar
retrieves references to books, abstracts, and e-journal articles from selected university and scholarly repositories

International Affairs Resources
An annotated directory of nearly 3,000 links to "information and analysis in a wide range of international affairs, international studies, and international relations topics." Topics include business and economics, human rights, international development, and public health. Also features links to maps, media sources, and organizations. A Virtual Library site. (description from the Librarians' Index to the Internet)    

International Crisis Group - Conflict prevention and resolution
The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, with 120 staff members on five continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict. (description from the site)

U.S. Department of State: International Information Programs (IIP)
IIP is an office of the U.S. Department of State which "conducts, develops, and distributes public diplomacy materials in support of U.S. foreign policy objectives." This searchable site offers information on country, regional, and international issues (terrorism, arms control, sustainable development, etc.); a daily press service (Washington File); publications; and more. In English with some material also available in Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese. (description from the Librarians' Index to the Internet)


 

REFERENCE RESOURCES

Reference Books
 Use for:

  • an overview of a topic

  • background information

  • bibliographies

 TITLE BARNARD REFERENCE
CALL NUMBER
Countries and their cultures  GN307 .C68 2001
Worldmark encyclopedia of cultures and daily life  GN333 .W67 1998
Encyclopedia of food and culture  GT2850 .E53 2003
Demographic yearbook  HA17 .D39
The Gallup poll  HN90.P8 G35
Routledge international encyclopedia of women : global women’s issues and knowledge, Volume 1 online  HQ1115 .R69 2000
The Greenwood encyclopedia of women’s issues worldwide  HQ1154 .G74x 2003
Encyclopedia of urban cultures : cities and cultures around the world  HT108.5 .E53 2002
Macmillan encyclopedia of world slavery  HT861 .M24 1998
Encyclopedia of world terrorism  HV6431 .E53 2003
World police encyclopedia  HV7901 .W64 2006
Yearbook of the United Nations  JX1977.A37 Un33
Country profiles from the Library of Congress
The world factbook
 

ETC

Style Guides

Bedford Handbook Online provides information and examples on using APA, Chicago, CSE, and MLA formatting. We also have documentation books in the reference section of the library and at the reference desk.

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association BF76.7 .P83 2001
MLA handbook for writers of research papers LB2369 .G53 2003
The Chicago manual of style  Z253 .U69 2003


RefWorks and EndNote

RefWorks requires you to create a user account from within the campus network or by going through our proxy server. This will happen automatically if you follow this link, and enter your UNI and password if prompted.

EndNote bibliographic software is available for downloading, free of charge, to all current Barnard and Columbia students from the AcIS software server. 

Consult the RefWorks and EndNote at Barnard and Columbia page for more details.
 

Last Modified 03/30/2007
Jenna Freedman
Coordinator of Reference Services / Zine Librarian