Country Information

1. Library Catalog - Find Books, Media and Pamphlets

PCC's online catalog is a database of books, media, pamphlets and course reserves located in the library's collection. To find resources in the library by subject, you will need a call number which is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification System and leads you to the specific item on the shelf. To find the call number, use the library catalog.

Basic Search

Use the Basic Search to look for an item using its exact subject heading, title or author's name (last, first). Select the type in the words.

To find information about a person, use Basic Search by subject.
To find information on a topic, use Basic Search by subject.

To search by subject, select 'Subject Search', then type in the subject heading.

Examples of subject headings:

  • Political science
  • Developing countries - Encyclopedias
  • Ethnology - Encyclopedias

Check related subjects too:

  • Europe - Social life and customs
  • Africa - Social life and customs
  • Southeast Asia - Periodicals

To search by title, select 'Title', then type in the first few words of the title. Skip the first word of the title if it is an article, e.g. 'a', 'an' or 'the'.

To search by author, select 'Author', then type in the author's last name, then first name, e.g. 'Dalby, Andrew'.

Advanced Search

If Basic Search is unsuccessful use Advanced Search to combine topics.

Use the KEYWORD Search to look for an item using part of the title or to combine topics:
To search by keyword, type in the words you want to search for then select from the menu whether you want to search for ALL THE WORDS, ANY OF THE WORDS (e.g., RNA or ribonucleic acid), or the WORDS AS A PHRASE (e.g., chemical elements). You can also use the KEYWORD search to combine topics.

Examples of combined searches:

Search for: Africa[all of these], Search in: [ Subject]
AND
Search for: culture language [any of these words],
Search in: [Keyword Anywhere]

Search for: politics government [any of these], Search in: [Keyword Anywhere]
AND
Search for: Latin America [as a phrase], Search in: [Keyword anywhere]

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2. Reference Books

Basically, there are two kinds of reference books: general resources, which are broad in scope and deal with all fields; and specialized resources, which deal with specific disciplines such as political science or geography. The titles cited below are only a representative sample of many specialized reference books that are available in the library.

General Reference Books

  • Leonard, Thomas M. Encyclopedia of the Developing World. 3 vols. New York: Routledge, 2006.
    • REF 909.09724 E 1, v. 1-3.
    • Includes information on developing countries, as well as subjects such as civil rights, refugees, etc.
  • Turner, Barry, ed. The Statesman’s Yearbook: The Politics, Cultures, and Economies of the World 2002. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2007.
    • REF 311 S 1 2008 (Reference Desk)
    • Includes information on territory, population, constitution, government and energy resources.
  • World Today Series (In call number order)

    Western Europe. REF 940.558 W 1 2007
    Nordic, Central, and Southeastern Europe. REF 940.56 N 1 2007
    Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. REF 947.086 R 3 2007
    East and Southeast Asia. REF 950.428 E 1 2007
    The Middle East and South Asia. REF 950.428 M 1 2007
    Africa. REF 960.328 A 1 2007
    Canada. REF 971.064 C 1 2007
    The USA and the World. REF 973 U 6 2007
    Latin America. REF 980.038 L 1 2007

Education

  • Kurian, George Thomas, ed. World Education Encyclopedia. 3 vols. New York: Facts on File Publications, 2002.
    • REF 370.3 W 1 2002 v. 1-3
    • While somewhat dated, there is useful information on the history and background of the educational system of each country. Check the table of contents to find your country. Countries are arranged in order by the categories: major, middle and minor.
  • Statistical Yearbook. Paris: UNESCO Publishing & Bernan Press, 1999.
    • REF 370.9 S 1 1999
    • Variety of statistics on education, science, technology, culture and communication. Examples: illiteracy rate, illiterate population, educational attainment.

Language and Culture

  • Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.
    • REF 420 C 2, 2003
    • See Chapter 7: World English. Information on the use of English in different regions of the world.
  • Dalby, Andrew. Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Guide to more than 400 Languages.
    London: Bloomsbury, 1998.
    • REF 410.3 D 1
    • Check the index to look up a country and its languages. Each entry gives a history of the language.
  • Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 10 vols. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1995.
    • REF 306.03 E 1 v. 1-10
    • Each volume focuses on a different region of the world. Use the index (Volume 10) to look up a country and its cultural groups. Entries include history, settlements, economy, kinship, marriage, family, sociopolitical organization, religion and expressive culture.

Politics

  • Banks, Arthur S, Thomas C. Muller and William R. Overstreet, eds. Political Handbook of the World. Washington, D.C.: CQ Pr., 2007.
    • REF 329 P 1 2007
    • Information on government and politics.
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3. Databases and Indexes - Find Articles

  • To access databases from the library Web page look under "Find Articles" and select Databases by Name or Databases by Subject (http://www.pasadena.edu/library/dbsubject.htm)
  • Use Proquest Direct, a database of periodical articles, to find articles about countries. As with the catalog, search under a variety of terms.
  • Use SIRS, a database of both periodicals and government resources.
  • Use CountryWatch to find political, economic, business information and current news about a country.
  • Use Encyclopedia Britannica to find basic articles as well as Web links relating to countries.
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4. Resources on the World Wide Web

Finding reliable information on the web can be difficult.
Use the Librarians' Internet Index www.lii.org or see recommended websites below.

Country Studies
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
The Library of Congress Federal Research Division
Foreign Government Resources on the Web
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/foreign.html
University of Michigan Documents Center
Governments on the WWW
http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en
Anzinger, Gunmar
Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html
University of Texas at Austin
The World Factbook
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
Central Intelligence Agency
World Leaders
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/index.html
Central Intelligence Agency
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last updated: 10/06/2008 by D. Potter; P. Johnson revision #1