Finding Books |
Using Reference Sources |
Finding Journal and Newspaper Articles
Finding Government Documents |
Obtaining Information from Other Libraries
Other WWW Resources for Country and Regional Information |
Citing Sources
The following is some general information about resources and tools to assist researchers looking for demographic, economic, and social information and statistics for countries or regions of the world; many of these materials are available at the University Library. The research process for each researcher will be different, so this guide cannot cover every possibility. Please do not hesitate to contact the Reference Department staff at 603-862-1544 or at the Reference Desk on the main floor (Level 3) of Dimond Library should you have any questions regarding your individual research project.
The library's holdings are best accessed through our online catalog, called Triple I (III). This system can be searched by author, title, subject, journal title, or key word. Help in using the online catalog is available onscreen and at the Reference Desk. The library catalog can be accessed from any location.
You can use the list of Library of Congress subject headings to draw up a list of subject headings related to your topic. These are located in the Reference area on the main floor (Level 3) of Dimond Library. You can also use the "related subjects" entries, the "Show Similar Items" feature on the online catalog, or click on the subject links in the Web version of the catalog to extend your original subject search. Subject heading choices can involve: country name, geographic area or region, ethnic population, intergovernmental organization name, etc. Examples of possible subjects include:
The University Library's books are arranged by the Library of Congress classification system. In Dimond Library, the general collection is located on Level 4 (A through L call numbers) and Level 5 (M through Z call numbers).
WorldCat allows searching of authors, titles, and subjects across multiple library catalogs. Remote access to this database is limited to UNH students, faculty, or staff. Read these instructions for more information about accessing WorldCat from off campus. Interlibrary loan requests for books not owned by the UNH Library may also be placed through WorldCat; see Obtaining Information from Other Libraries below for additional information.
The reference collection not only has general encyclopedias and dictionaries such as the World Book Encyclopedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Webster's Dictionary, but also has many specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries as well. Other reference works include directories, statistical sources, atlases, and bibliographies. Reference works you may find useful for researching topics or looking for information on specific countries include:
General Reference ResourcesThe United States Government also publishes several series that provide information on various countries. These include:
Information about additional resources from the U.S. Government can be found below.
Regional Information Resources
In addition to text and illustrations, many of the general and regional reference resources contain statistical information in tables and graphs. There are additional resources that primarily contain detailed statistical data on countries and regions.
Many of the general and regional information resources noted above include maps (usually political maps). General encyclopedias are also very good sources for political and physical maps and occasionally thematic maps, such as population density. The following selection of resources offers a variety of maps: physical, political, thematic, etc.
The Library's collections includes maps or atlases for individual countries. There are several ways to search the online catalog to see if such materials are available for the country you are interested in:
The UNH Library's Documents Department manages the Library's map room, which has collections of useful country and regional maps from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and other government agencies. There are also numerous map resources online. Documents Department staff have compiled a convenient subject list of Cartographic Resources as a starting point.
Journal indexes are generally arranged by subject. Many indexes are subject-specific, while some are very general in nature. Be sure to check the library catalog by searching for the title of the journal to see if the Library has the journals you need and where they are located. In the Dimond Library, journals are located on Level 2: current periodicals are arranged by title, bound periodicals are organized by subject and shelved by Library of Congress classification numbers, and periodicals stored on microfiche or microfilm are found in the Microforms Room on Level 2. Increasingly, the Library is getting electronic versions of journals; links to these are included in the online catalog record for the journal.
Electronic SourcesMany of the Internet-accessible indexes the UNH Library subscribes to are limited to use by UNH faculty, students, and staff. Read these instructions for more information about accessing such restricted databases from outside the library.
While the above indexes are the ones most often used in identifying current and historical information on countries or regions, additional online indexes as well as print indexes are available for other areas of interest such as political economy and communications as well as other types of material such as general interest magazines and legal resources. The guide for Research Sources for Anthropology may also provide useful leads.
The United States maintains a complex array of historical, political, economic, and security relationships with other countries. Information about the policy and financial aspects of many of these relations is available through publications from various U.S. government departments and agencies as well as from Congress and the President.
The University Library is a federal government depository library, and as such receives many (but not all) publications of the U.S. government. The Documents Department's Reference Desk and reference collection are located on the main floor (Level 3) of Dimond Library with its circulating collection accessible on Level 1. Many government publications come in microfiche and are available in the Microforms Room on Level 2. Both the paper and microfiche collections are organized by the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) classification scheme which is based on originating agency and document type, rather than on subject like the other library collections.
The library's holdings of federal documents published after 1976 are shown on the online catalog; additional indexes to this material include:
As a federal depository, the Library receives passworded access to the following two databases from the U.S. government:
In the past several years, many government agencies and bodies have begun putting publications, summaries, directories, program information, statistics, etc. on the WWW. The extent, depth, and currency of information available online varies greatly depending on the agency maintaining the site. Useful materials available to those looking for information on a country or region include:
The UNH Library is also a depository for publications of the Canadian government and receives such useful items as Canadian census materials, statistical resources such as Annual Demographic Statistics and Historical Statistics of Canada, and journals such as Canadian Economic Observer. As a Canadian depository, the Library also receives access to many electronic publications of the Canadian government. Anyone may access these electronic publications from the Library. However, access from off campus is limited to UNH faculty, staff, and students. Read these instructions for more information about accessing such restricted databases from outside the Library.
Librarians and staff who specialize in locating and identifying U.S. and international government documents are available to help you at the Documents Reference Desk on the main floor (Level 3) of Dimond Library.
If you allow enough time for your research (i.e. begin your research well in advance of the due date for your paper or presentation), you may be able to take advantage of the library's Interlibrary Loan service to obtain books, journal articles, and other materials not available at the University Library. Interlibrary Loan requests are submitted online through a system called ILLiad. The first time you use ILLiad, you must set up your individual account. After that you simply need to login to ILLiad and complete the form for the type of material you are requesting. Please include as much information as you can for each item you request. Interlibrary Loan materials are generally received within 10 days to 4 weeks; the average time is about 2.5 weeks (but can take longer). Undergraduates are limited to six requests (books and articles) per week. This service is available only to UNH students, faculty, and staff.
You may also request a book (not journal articles) that our library does not own by using the ILL (InterLibrary Loan) icon when searching WorldCat. Submit a search in WorldCat and if our library does not own the book, click the ILL icon on the screen and fill out the ILL request. For further help with this library service, ask a librarian at the Reference desk.
There is a wealth of information (and sometimes misinformation) available on the WWW. Any researcher must use critical thinking skills to evaluate Web resources just they would any other source, whether in print, on television, or through personal communication. See the research guide on Evaluating Web Sites for Quality for some guidelines. The following listings are just a sample of some sites on the WWW focusing on country and regional information:
Appropriate citation of sources and references is an important part of the research process. The Reference Department website has a page of examples of footnotes, endnotes, and bibliography entries for books and periodicals following the style of Kate L. Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Other style manuals, such as the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, and The Chicago Manual of Styleare available at the Reference Desk. Citing electronic sources can be difficult and is a developing area at this time. There is some online guidance for citing electronic resources in MLA style and APA style. Also, Electronic Styles: A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information is located at the Reference Desk and provides many additional examples. Also useful is the The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources, copies of which are located at both the Reference and Documents Reference Desks.