Politics Junior Paper Workshops

Resources for JP #8: America & the Developing World

• Dictionary of Development: Third World Economy, Environment, Society.
  Publisher: New York: Garland Pub., 1990.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HC59.7 .D513 1990
   
• Directory of International Economic Organizations.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1997.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HF1418.5 .S37 1997
   
• Guide to Country Information in International Governmental Organization Publications.
  Publisher: Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1996.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: Z7164.G7 G842 1996
   
• Handbook of Development Economics.
  Publisher: Amsterdam; New York: North-Holland, 1988-1995.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HD82 .H275 1988
   
• Historical Dictionary of Aid and Development Organizations.
  Publisher: Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1996.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HC60 .A738 1996
   
• The International Development Dictionary.
  Publisher: Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1991.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HF1359 .F79 1991
   
• The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics.
  Publisher: New York: Stockton Press, 1987.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HB61 .N49 1987
   

• Background Notes
  URL: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn
  Factual publications prepared by the staff of the U.S. State Department that contain information on all the countries of the world with which the United States has relations. Each report contains information about the country's people, history, government, political conditions, economy, foreign relations, relations with the U.S., and travel and business. These reports are updated periodically.
   
• EIU Country Reports & Profiles (PU only)
  Annual reports by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which is considered to be a definitive source of business intelligence, provide detailed information on political and economic trends for 180 countries worldwide. Each report includes annual and quarterly economic indicators; economic forecasts; and information on domestic politics, international relations, economic growth, and foreign trade. Annual reports are updated by monthly EIU Country Profiles. Reports and profiles from 1996 forward are available online with earlier reports in paper are held in Firestone, see the catalog for more information.
   
• Encyclopedia of the Third World.
  Publisher: New York: Facts on File, 1992.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HC59.7 .K87 1992
  Provides a compact description of the dominant political, economic and social systems of 122 developing countries. While the information presented here is up to date as of September 1991, the encyclopedia provides useful background information. It begins with a explanation of common acronyms and brief descriptions of organizations including publications where appropriate. Country entries include a chronology that begins generally from the year of independence up to 1991, along with a brief bibliography and listing of official publications where appropriate.
   
• Europa World (PU only)
  The online version of the indispensable Europa World Year Book published since 1926. Europa provides detailed up-to-date surveys of over 250 countries and territories, a comprehensive listing of over 1,650 international organizations, directory information, and current analysis. Includes essential names and addresses and other information covering such areas as a country's constitution, government, legislature, political organizations, diplomatic representation, religion, media, finance, trade, industry, transport, and tourism.
   
• Global Development Finance.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: World Bank. Annual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: HG4517 .I51
  Library Has: 1975-present
  Current Volume: Social Science Ready Reference (SSRC)
  Formerly the World Debt Tables, this is the World Bank’s annual review of trends of financial flows to developing countries, as well as projections of the global outlook in light of current global geopolitical uncertainties. The Summary and Country Tables provide comprehensive statistical data for 138 countries that report debt under the World Bank Debtor Reporting System, and summary data for regions and income groups. The data are also available online, see GDF Online below under "statistical sources" for more information.
   
• Human Development Report.
  Publisher: New York: Oxford University Press. Annual.
  Location: United Nations Collection (UN)
  Call Number: HD72 .H85
  Library Has: 1990-present
  Produced by the United Nations Development Programme, the HDR series advocates a shift in the development debate away from a sole concern with economic growth toward a balanced concern for equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment. The report's Human Development Index (HDI), offers an alternative to GNP as a measure of development. In addition to the global report, there are national, subnational, and regional reports for 135 countries. See the UNDP's Human Development Report page for more details.
   
• Political Handbook of the World.
  Publisher: Binghamton, NY: CSA Publications. Annual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: 7560.729
  Library Has: 1928-1970
  Call Number: JF37 .P6
  Library Has: 1975-present
  Current Volume: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Provides essential political information about every country in the world, including heads of government, cabinet members, leaders and programs of political parties, representation in national legislatures, news media, and membership in international organizations. The handbook's primary focus is on government and development of the country's political climate.
   
• The Statesman's Yearbook.
  Publisher: New York: St. Martin's Press. Annual.
  Location: Firestone (F)
  Call Number: JA51 .S7
  Library Has: 1876-present
  Current Volume: General and Humanities Reference (DR)
  Similar to the Political Handbook above, Statesman's Yearbook also provides detailed information about all the countries of the world. The yearbook's focus is more on social and development indicators. Each entry includes a small map for quick geographical orientation, as well as a list of references for further reading.
   
• World Development Report.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: World Bank. Annual.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Call Number: HC59.7 .W6
  Library Has: 1978-present
  This annual report discusses the state of the world economy and prospects for the next decade. Recent volumes have been dedicated to particular themes such as the environment, health investment, and poverty. The statistical appendix World Development Indicators, now published separately, provides tables of economic data that allow the researcher to compare the low, middle, and high-income economies of the world, see WDI Online below under "statistical sources" for more information.
   

In addition to the main Politics databases we've already discussed, there are several other databases that are useful for locating journal articles, book chapters, working papers, etc.

• America: History & Life (PU only)
  Indexes books and journal articles on the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Covers works published 1954-present.
   
• CIAO - Columbia International Affairs Online (PU only)
  CIAO publishes online a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, NGO occasional papers, foundation-funded research projects, conference proceedings, books, journals, and policy briefs.
   
• EconLit (PU only)
  Provides citations and selected abstracts of journal articles, books, dissertations, working papers, conference proceedings and book reviews dating back to 1969. Covers topics including regional and international economics, urban economics, economic development, fiscal and monetary theory, business and public finance.
   
• Historical Abstracts (PU only)
  This database has long been recognized as the leading bibliography providing unmatched coverage of world history (excluding North America) dealing with time periods from 1450 to the present. It covers approximately 2,000 journals, as well as books and dissertations published worldwide since the mid 1950s in history and related areas, including anthropology, genealogy, multicultural studies, political science, and sociology.
   
• JOLIS Library Catalog
  URL: http://jolis.worldbankimflib.org/uhtbin/webcat
  JOLIS is the joint library network catalog of the 13 World Bank and International Monetary Fund libraries in Washington, DC, and provides detailed coverage of literature in the fields of international economics, development, and finance. This catalog includes references to books, journal titles, journal articles, working papers, conference proceedings, and technical reports, with links to full-text items when available.
   
• Lexis Nexis Congressional (PU only)
  A web-based indexing and abstracting service for Congressional publications including hearings, committee prints, reports, House and Senate documents, and public laws. It includes the full text and status of recent bills, selected testimony, regulations, and full-text access to the Congressional Record. L-N Congressional is the web equivalent to the print CIS Index located in the SSRC. This database provides indexing for the corresponding CIS microfiche sets located in Microform Services on Level C in Firestone.
   
• Policyfile (PU only)
  Provides indexing and abstracts of research publications addressing the complete range of public policy research. PolicyFile draws its content from public policy think tanks, university research programs, research organizations, and trade publishers. The database consists of over 50,000 abstracts dating from 1990 to present, with some full-text where available and links to organizational home pages.
   
• RAND Publications
  URL: http://www.rand.org/Abstracts/abstracts.html
  A nonprofit public policy research institution established after World War II to study national security, in the 1960s RAND added domestic policy problems to its research agenda. Current areas of research and analysis include national defense, education and training, health care, criminal and civil justice, labor and population, science and technology, community development, international relations, and regional studies. The publications database goes back to 1946, with online versions of many documents available generally as of 1998. See the RAND Publications Research Guide for more help in locating RAND publications held in Princeton libraries.
   
• Social Sciences Citation Index (PU only)
  Multidisciplinary index to the journal literature of the social sciences. Indexes more than 1,725 journals across 50 social sciences disciplines, and it indexes individually selected, relevant items from over 3,300 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals. Useful for cited reference searches. Covers works published 1956-present.
   
• Sociological Abstracts (PU only)
  Indexing and abstracting of the world's literature in sociology and related disciplines, both theoretical and applied. Covers 2,500 journals, conference papers, dissertations, and book reviews. Includes materials in 30 languages. Covers works published 1963-present.
   
• SourceOECD (PU only)
  This is the online library of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The database contains all the OECD's monographs, reports, and periodicals published from 1998 onwards, as well as the OECD's statistical databases. The books and reports are gathered into 20 thematic collections. The interface for SourceOECD can be somewhat difficult to navigate, so if you have trouble be sure to consult the staff at the Social Science Reference Center for help. Many earlier OECD publications are held in Firestone.
   
• World Bank e-Library (PU only)
  A full-text database of over 1,200 World Bank titles, including each new book as it is published. The publications are searchable by broad subject or by geographic regions.
   

For additional resources, be sure to consult the Newspaper Indexes page.

Contemporary News (mid-1980s to present):

• Lexis Nexis Academic (PU only)
  Provides full text access to news from across the U.S. and around the world. Coverage of most newspapers goes back to the mid 1980s, but varies widely. Also provides access to business, legal, and medical journals, as well as corporate financial information.
   
• Factiva (PU only)
  Database from Dow Jones & Reuters that provides full text access to various newspapers and news wire services.
   
• ProQuest Newspapers (PU only)
  Provides indexing and full text of the Wall Street Journal (1984- ) and the New York Times (1995- ) and abstracts only of USA Today (1989- ).
   

Historical News (back to mid-1800s):

• Historical New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the New York Times going back to the first issue (1851-2001) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Historical Wall Street Journal (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the Wall Street Journal going back to the first issue (1889-1986) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Historical Washington Post (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) (PU only)
  Provides retrospective coverage of the Washington Post going back to the first issue (1877-1987) in full text. Search by keywords and date.
   
• Reader's Guide Retrospective (PU only)
  This retrospective online version of the ever-popular Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature contains comprehensive indexing of the most popular general-interest periodicals published in the U.S. between the years 1890-1982.
   

Foreign News (1975-present):

• Foreign Broadcast Information Service Electronic Index (PU only)
  Provides indexing to the Daily Reports of the CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service. These reports include translated broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals, and government statements from nations around the world. Search by keyword, region and date.
  Note: This index only covers reports from 1975-1996, which are mostly available in microfiche with some in paper. Ask for help locating these reports at the Social Science Reference Center. For earlier material, contact me. For more recent material, see the World News Connection below.
   
• World News Connection (PU only)
  Continues coverage of the FBIS reports mentioned above from 1996 to present, and with full text. The search functions are similar (by keyword, region, and date) with a "latest headlines" feature for monitoring current news.
   

For more help finding economic statistics and data for specific countries, be sure to consult the Basic Sources of Economics Statistics page. For assistance in data analysis, see the folks at Data & Statistical Services.

• EIU Country Data (PU only)
  A service of the Economist Intelligence Unit that provides international economic data and forecasts on a time series basis. Data are derived from national governments, trade associations, BIS, IMF, IFC, OECD, the World Bank, and EIU's own researchers. A related product, EIU Market Indicators and Forecasts (formerly EIU Country Indicators) provides more social and political risk data. EIU also provides detailed cost comparisons of major international cities in EIU City Data.
   
• Foreign Statistical Abstracts Collection
  The library maintains a collection of current statistical yearbooks for various countries, arranged by country name, in the Social Science Reference Center. Some of these are available in English or in dual languages, but many are in the native language of the country. Earlier yearbooks will be available generally under the same call number in Firestone stacks. See the SSRC staff for more information.
   
• GDF Online
  URL: http://devdata.worldbank.org/apponline/default.asp?app=GF
  GDF Online is the web version of the data tables from the World Bank's annual Global Development Finance Report. Select data by region, country, series and years.
   
• WDI Online
  URL: http://devdata.worldbank.org/dataonline
  WDI Online is the web version of World Development Indicators, the World Bank's statistical appendix to the World Development Report. Select data by country, series and years.
   
• Statistical Abstract of the United States.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Annual.
  Location: Social Science Reference Center (SSRC)
  Library Has: 1865-present
  Current Volume: SSRC Ready Reference
  URL: http://www.census.gov/statab/www
  Statistical compendium that covers a wide variety of topics, including population, vital statistics, health and nutrition, education, law enforcement, environment, parks and recreation, elections, government finance and employment, defense, human services, labor, income and expenditures, prices, banking and finance, business, communications and information technology, energy, science and technology, transportation, agriculture, natural resources, construction and housing, manufactures and trade. Tables provide summary statistics with footnotes indicating sources for more detailed data.
   
• Statistical Universe (PU only)
  Provides indexing and abstracts to federal, state, and international statistical publications as well as selected business and professional publications containing statistics. Many statistical tables are available in full text, and direct links to many web-accessible statistical sources are also provided. Statistical Universe is the web equivalent of the print American Statistics Index, Statistical Reference Index, and Index to International Statistics; and provides indexing for the corresponding ASI, SRI and IIS microfiche sets located on the C-Floor of Firestone. IIS provides abstracts for reports and other statistical publications issued by IGOs such as the United Nations, IMF, World Bank, and OECD.
   

• United States Agency for International Development
  URL: http://www.usaid.gov
   
• Office of the United States Trade Representative
  URL: http://www.ustr.gov
   
• International Monetary Fund
  URL: http://www.imf.org
   
• World Bank
  URL: http://www.worldbank.org
   
• World Trade Organization
  URL: http://www.wto.org
   
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  URL: http://www.oecd.org/home
   
• United Nations Development Programme
  URL: http://www.undp.org
   
• United Nations Economic & Social Development
  URL: http://www.un.org/esa
  This site provides useful links to various organizational units of the UN related to economic and social development, including the five UN Economic Commissions: Africa (includes Egypt), Asia and the Pacific (includes many states of former Soviet Union), Western Asia (the Arab countries of the Middle East, includes Egypt), Europe (also includes many states of former Soviet Union), and Latin America and the Caribbean.
   
• British Library for Development Studies
  URL: http://www.ids.ac.uk/blds
  The home library of the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Sussex, the BLDS is Europe's largest research collection on economic and social change in developing countries.
   
• Development Organizations
  URL: http://www.oired.vt.edu/resanddev/links/dev_org.htm
  From Virginia Tech's Office of International Research, Education & Development, this page provides links to many development organizations, including NGOs, UN agencies, U.S. government sites, other national development organizations, and development institutes.
   
• ELDIS Gateway to Development Information
  URL: http://eldis.org
  Electronic Development and Environment Information System provides access to a variety of information on development issues, with summaries and links to online documents, a directory of websites, databases, library catalogues, and email discussion lists. ELDIS is hosted by the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex and is funded primarily by the Danish International Development Agency.
   
• International Affairs Resources - International Development
  URL: http://www.etown.edu/vl/intldev.html
  Useful list of links from the WWW Virtual Library.
   
• International Relations Resources by Topic: Political Economy & Development
  URL: http://www.library.yale.edu/ia-resources/polecon.html
  Courtesy of Sandra Peterson, Director of Social Science Libraries and Information Services at Yale University Library.
   
• OneWorld.net
  URL: http://www.oneworld.net
  OneWorld brings together more than 1,500 organizations from across the globe to promote sustainable development, social justice and human rights. The OneWorld network spans five continents and produces content in 11 different languages, published across its international site, regional editions, and thematic channels.
   

URL: http://firestone.princeton.edu/politics/guides/developingworld.html
Send suggestions and comments on this page to:
jhernand@princeton.edu