Lake Forest College Library

Reference books

These reference books will provide information on U.S. foreign policy and countries. The reference collection is located on the first floor beyond the reference computers.

The Stateman's Yearbook: Location: REF JA 51 .S7 2006; Brief information on each country's location, population, constitutuion, recent elections, natural resources, etc.

The Europa World Year Book 2004: Location: REF JN 1 .E854 2004; Historical overviews of each country, essay on current political and economic outlook, lists of major media, education and cultural institutions, trade unions, etc.

Political Handbook of the World 2005-2006: Location: REF JF 37 .P6; Provides political information on each country of the world, including politcal background, foreign relations, current issues, political parties, and opposition parties.

CQ Researcher: Location: REF H35 .C672 2005; Use the index to look up issue; use "international relations" rather than "foreign policy."

Global Geopolitical Flashpoints: an Atlas of Conflict: Location: REF JC 319 .A53 2000; This resource describes the conflict and political instability for volatile areas around the world.

Encyclopedia of Nationalism: Location: REF JC 311 .E4996 2001; Provides thematic (national symbols, art & culture), disciplinary (political science, postmodernism), and geographic (North Africa, East Asia) overviews.

The Oxford Companion to Politics of the World: Location: REF JA 61 .O95 2001; Contains articles on various topics and countries, including terrorism, political violence and international law.

World at Risk: a Global Issues Sourcebook: Location: REF JZ 1242 .W67 2002; This far-ranging resource covers such issues as terrorism, biodiversity, epidemics, and the role of women.

U.S. Policy Toward Rogue Nations: Location: REF JZ 1480 .U15 2004; Presents yes/no essays on issues of the day such as the war in Iraq.

Locating books

Use I-Share to find books in the Lake Forest Library, as well as 64 other academic libraries in Illinois.

Find books on foreign and international relations by searching for "United States foreign relations" as a subject heading. Look through the list of subdivisions, which include bibliography, sources, historiography, etc.
If you are focusing on a specific country, do an advanced search and search for that country as a subject heading in addition.
If we have an available copy of the book you want, write down the call number and retrieve the book downstairs. Browse the shelves in that area to find more books on the same topic.
To search for books from other libraries, click "I-Share Catalog." When you find a book you want, click "request" and enter the 14-digit barcode number from the back of your ID card.

Databases for finding journal articles

Use databases to find articles from journals on your topic.

Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost): A good place to start - popular and scholarly articles on general topics.
Military & Government Collections: Current news pertaining to all branches of the military and government
JSTOR: Full-text academic journals
Project Muse: Full-text academic journals
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe: Contains full-text news articles, as well as legal research. Choose "congressional universe" to find laws, testimony, and hearings.
Sociological Abstracts: Scholarly articles focusing on sociological aspects.
Alternative Press Index: Articles from non-mainstream journals on political, cultural and social change; Useful for getting an alternative perspective on a topic; Call x5074 for the password
Current Contents: Research from current issues of scholarly research journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
Other Databases: Look for other available databases in the sections for Getting started, Social sciences, and News.

Government resources

GPO or Catalog of Government Publications: A database for searching government documents.
UN full-text documents: Provides access to online documents of the United Nations
Google Uncle Sam: A search engine that only searches government sites with the .gov domain

Useful government resources

U.S. State Department
U.S. State Department: International Information Programs
U.S. Senate Treaties page
Central Intelligence Agency
Library of Congress Country Studies

Web sites

Oklahoma State's resource page on U.S. Foreign Affiairs
University of Michigan United States Foreign Policy Resources
Columbia University's U.S. and International Treaties page
Links to Foreign Governments and International Organization
InfoUSA list of Think Tanks
Salon's DAOU Report on blogs (You may need to watch an ad first)
Google's Blog Search page
Wikipedia's U.S. Foreign Relations page (good as a starting point ONLY)