INTL 3300: Introduction to Comparative Politics: Home
Country Background Information and Analysis
If you are doing a case study, I suggest starting with these resources first to get background information.
Note: these databases are not indexed in the Multisearch!
Europa World: Contains detailed information about countries and international organizations worldwide.
Covers political and economic information in over 250 countries and territories, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Updated regularly!
NEW: Statista: A statistics portal that gathers data on more than 80,000 topics from a wide variety of sources. Includes market research, consumer and industry reports, and more.
IMF eLibrary: Contains documents published by the International Monetary Fund on all countries.
OECD iLibrary (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) : Contains extensive statistical data which can be downloaded into spreadsheets. The database is especially rich in annual economic surveys of member countries, industry reports, and statistical reports.
UN iLibrary: Searchable database of UN reports organized by country and theme.
UN Statistical Yearbook : Easy to navigate Yearbook of country statistics.
For more specific statistics (like education, finance), you can search the UNdata website. It includes links to the online statistical abstracts of most nations.
PDF Scans, GIL Express, and InterLibrary Loan
REQUESTING PDF SCANS
You can request pdf scans of book chapters and print articles which already reside in our collection. Fill out this form.
REQUESTING BOOK PURCHASES
You can request ebooks be purchased by the UGA Libraries for use for this research paper. Fill out this form. If we can get an ebook, we normally can turn on access within a business week.
GIL EXPRESS
You can borrow book from all 32 University System of Georgia institutions through a service called GIL Express.
First, search the GIL Catalog and find the book you want. Make sure you choose University System of Georgia from the dropdown menu. Click on the link to the catalog record of the book.
Second, if another university has the book, and it is not checked out, click on My Account at the top of the page to log in with your MyID and password.
After you log in, you will be able to click on the Request link. The book should arrive at the Library within four business days.
INTERLIBRARY LOAN
If the book you need is not owned by UGA or another USG institution, you can then place an ILLiad request, and we will borrow it from outside of the public university system. This takes longer, so be prepared to wait from two weeks to a month to get a book.
ILL will also get articles for you if we do not possess a print or electronic copy. They normally can email you a pdf within one business day.
Finding Articles
Using the Multi-search is a good place to find articles. Though not everything we own is in the Multi-search, it contains 1/2 of our online resources.
Because of the immense amount of information, using the Advanced search and limiters will cut down time reviewing materials about your topic.
Use the Advanced Search for complex searches:
Use Limiters on the left hand side of the page to refine your search even further.
Don't limit to just online, and don't limit only Scholarly. That will hide a lot of material that you can still use in your papers. Since you can use books as well, use the Format limiter and choose "Academic Journals" and "Books."
Databases
We have a lot of specific databases which a tailored to a single subject. These can be useful if you're getting too much back from a simple Multi-search search.
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
Dissertations focus on research of graduate students. Good for niche, specific questions.
International Security & Counter-Terrorism Reference Center
Articles, reports, and background summaries on security and terrorism.
Citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science and its complementary fields. Focuses on Academic Research.
ProQuest Political Science covers the literature of political science and international relations, including such topics as comparative politics, political economy, international development, environmental policy, and hundreds of related topics. Includes Academic Research, grey literature reports, trade publications, and relevant news articles.
Finding Books
All the world's information is organized by subject. If you know how it is organized, it is easy to find books and articles about your research. Below is an example of how to search for books in the Libraries Catalog:
Choose "subject" from the drop down menu, and then type in the following formula <country> foreign relations <different country>
This will narrow your search to just books about relations between those two countries. This formula can be used for any single country research as well. <country> economic conditions, for example, will bring back books about economy, and <country> social conditions will bring back books about societal issues.
If you want to limit your search to just ebooks, check "Full Access Online" in the left hand menu after you search.
