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Modern Revolutions in the Middle East

Quick guide to resources on modern protests and insurrections

Journal Databases

  • Academic Search Complete 
    Large general database of articles from scholarly journals and a few newspapers covering a wide range of topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images.
  • AccessUN - 1944 to present
    Locate documents in the United Nations Official Documents System on microfiche in Alderman's Government Information Resources department. Includes draft resolutions, meeting records, and the UN Treaty Series ciations. Some of the documents are online.
  • British Parliamentary Papers
    This guide is meant for those beginning research in British Parliamentary Papers. It focuses on Alderman Library's 19th and 20th century holdings and lists indexes and finding aids for Sessional papers, Journals, and Debates.
  • CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online  Rating
    Includes working papers from research institutes, occasional papers series from NGO's, conference proceedings, current tables of contents and article abstracts from selected journals, and full-text of selected books.
  • Congressional Record  
    Searchable full text access to the Congressional Record and its predecessors (1789-present). Also includes American State Papers (1789-1838) and Journals of the Continental Congress (1774-1789).
  • CQ Press Political Reference Suite  
    Congressional Quarterly publications on the U.S. government (click on i button for titles covered). Emphasis is on recent information, but US document coverage begins in 1972 and legislative histories in 1945.
  • CQ Weekly 1983-present  
    In depth coverage of the U.S. Congress: status of bills, votes and amendments, floor and committee activity, and backroom maneuvering.
  • Declassified Documents Reference System
    Searchable collection of declassified U.S. documents, from the 1940’s to the 1970’s, taken from the CIA, FBI, presidential libraries, etc. Covers the Cold War, the Vietnam era, the civil rights movement, and other events.
  • Digital National Security Archive
    Searchable declassified documents used in foreign policy decision-making by the U.S. government since the 1940’s. The documents have been gathered through the Freedom of Information Act.
  • Dissertations & Theses: Full Text -1861-present
    Full text (PDF) of most dissertations from 1997 on, some earlier works and some master's theses. Also lists all dissertations and theses from 1861 on at US and some other universities. Abstracts included after July, 1980.
  • FBIS: Foreign Broadcast Information Service
    Information gathered by the U.S. government from thousands of foreign media sources, including political speeches, television and radio broadcasts, and articles from newspapers, periodicals, and books. In paper and microformat. Succeeded by the online "World News Connection" (below).
  • Hotline 1985-present  
    Expert daily analysis of the American political scene.
  • Index Islamicus  
    Search for books and articles in periodicals about Islam and the Muslim world. Also includes reviews.
  • JSTOR Journal Storage Project 1985-present  
    Full-text backfiles of many important scholarly journals. Coverage is usually from the first issue to 3-5 years before the present.
  • LexisNexis Academic  
    News and business information from sources around the world; book reviews, biographical, and other reference sources; U.S. Code, constitution, and court cases. Includes many newspapers. Most entries are full-text, some updated daily.
  • PAIS Archive 1915-1976  
    These older years of PAIS contain only English-language articles.
  • PAIS International 1915-present  
    International database covering public and social policy. Includes journal articles, books, government documents, statistics, and reports from organizations and abstracts from 1985. Newer book entries include tables of contents.
  • Politico.com
    Political journalism that focuses on background news about Congress, political campaigns, and lobbying.
  • Web of Knowledege / Web of Science 1981-present  
    Includes Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index which can be searched together or separately.
  • WorldCat: FirstSearch
    Online listing with locations of books, videos, manuscripts, and other materials in thousands of libraries worldwide. This version will move this summer to the WorldCat.org interface.
  • WorldCat.org
    Online listing with locations of books, videos, manuscripts, and other materials in thousands of libraries worldwide. Some UVa books are not included. UVa users will see full records and holdings; others will get brief information.
  • World News Connection 1995-present 
    Information from thousands of foreign media sources, including speeches, radio and television broadcasts, newspaper articles, periodicals, and books. Preceded by Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Translations.

Statistical Resources

  • ICPSR
    The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction. Users may view documentation, download raw data, and search a bibliography of data-related literature.
  • Lexis Nexis Statistical
    Statistical information of all kinds, current and historical, US and international.
  • NationMaster
    A large central data source that allows you to generate maps and graphs to compare nations. Data compiled from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD.
  • World Development Indicators
    World Bank database provides direct access to more than 700 development indicators, with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups from 1960 to the present, where data are available.
  • IMF International Financial Statistics
    Thousands of time series covering more than 200 countries and areas. Includes all series appearing on the IFS Country Pages; exchange rate series; major Fund accounts series; and most other world, area, and country series from the IFS World Tables.
  • UNdata
    More than 450 statistical time series for countries from around the world covering a wide range of economic and socio-demographic topics.