America and the Global Economy

Professor Farrenkopf-Spring 2008

Sources for General Background on Foreign Policy

Oxford Reference Online [ebooks]
A searchable collection of over 150 specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries. Includes foreign languages. Also includes the full text of several Oxford commentaries--great for instant scholarly background information on almost any topic.

Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. (2004) [Ref. E 183.7 .H28]
Covers the diplomatic angle on major trade agreements, treaties, alliances, etc. Good discussions of NAFTA, the European Union, etc.

Dictionary of American History. 2003. 10 volumes. [Ref. E 174 .D52]
The standard source for brief to lengthy overviews on almost any topic in American history. Very good articles on Trade (Trade, Domestic and Trade, Foreign), economics, and all the history that surrounds the negotiations and implementation.

Globalization: Encyclopedia of Trade, Labor and Politics. 2006. 2 volumes. [Ref. JZ 1318 .G5816].
A very detailed and focused look at all of the topics mentioned in the title. Discusses how the economic system works, how it affects various industries, the organizations that support it, and a variety of issues it influences (copyright, sustainable development, etc.)
Encyclopedia of the European Union. (2000). [Ref. JN 30 .E52]
Very in-depth coverage of the history and inner workings of the EU.

Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. 6 vols. (2002). [Ref DS 4 .E53]
Long articles on countries, peoples and topics related to all areas of Asia. Maps are provided in the front of each volume.

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. (1996). 5 volumes. [Ref. F 1406 .E53]
Very good on Mexico and our other neighbors to the south. NAFTA had just been ratified as it was being written. Plus, the Mexican perspective on NAFTA is slightly different from ours.

Databases for Articles and Other Materials

These are available from the Library webpage under Research Databases, or you can search for them by name in the library catalog.

Off-campus access: use the links under Databases A to Z rather than these.

Articles

Academic Search Premier is the world's largest database of full text information. It covers over 6,000 magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals in all areas of study. Over 3,600 peer-reviewed titles. This database should always be your first stop if you need to find an article.

Business Source Premier covers thousands of more specialized business publications, both scholarly and practical. Includes company, industry, and regional profiles you could use to examine the effects of, say, NAFTA on companies and regions.

InfoTrac One File also covers thousands of magazines, journals, and newspapers. A little better for popular magazines and business trade publications than Academic Search Premier.

Lexis-Nexis covers news sources extensively and US law pretty completely.

Books

WorldCat is a joint library catalog for thousands of libraries worldwide. Not universal, but close to 50 million unique items.

Pascal Delivers is a statewide library catalog for South Carolina academic libraries...with its own delivery service. Like Netflix, only for several million books. Delivery in three days or less. Also available by clicking the Pascal Delivers button in the library catalog.

Web Resources

Office of the US Trade Representative provides a good overview of the US government's position on the WTO, NAFTA, etc.

The European Union and World Trade Organization both have websites with a huge amount of information about them and everything they're involved in. All the statistics anyone could possibly want.

Google News searches thousands of newspapers worldwide, with different sources for each language. Good for very current stories.

Get Help

In-Person
Any library staff member can help you. However, reference librarians are available at the Reference Desk (just to the right as you enter the library) during the following hours:

Monday-Thursday: 9 to 5 and 7 to 10
Friday: 9 to 5
Saturday: 10 to 5
Sunday: 1 to 6 and 7 to 10

Phone
On-campus: 4302
Off-campus: (843) 597-4302

Email
Use our Ask A Librarian service. Questions are normally answered within 24 hours--more quickly during business hours.

Chris Strauber Spring 2008