Background and Reference Sources
- Reference Universe This link opens in a new window
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A good place to start, but note that it is an index to over 15 million articles in 11,000 subject encyclopedias and handbooks, both print and online and does not provide full-text articles. Instead, it will connect you to our catalog so you know where to find the appropriate encyclopedia, dictionary or other reference work. You will be linked to UCLA's holdings for any entries you find.
- WikipediaEntries may include lots of good starting points, names, dates, ... that you can verify using other sources.
- Separatist Movements: A Global Reference
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- World at Risk
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- International Military Alliances, 1648-2008
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- Handbook of International Rivalries: 1494-2010
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Background: US Perspective
While the following sources are from the US perspective, you can at times gain insight on positions of other coutries that may be mentioned in the analysis section of these reports and documents.
- U.S. Declassified Documents (Gale Primary Sources) This link opens in a new window
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Collection of over 70,000 primary source government documents, from the post-WWII period through the 1970's. Contains declassified documents from presidential libraries, the CIA, the FBI and a host of other agencies concerning major domestic and international events of the post-World War II era. Formerly known as Declassified Documents Reference System (DDRS). - Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) This link opens in a new window
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More than 80,000 declassified documents in collections such as Afghanistan, Berlin Crisis, China and the US, Cuban Missile Crisis, El Salvador, Iran-Contra Affair, Intelligence Community, Iran Revolution, Iraqgate, Japan and the US, Military Uses of Space, Nicaragua, Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Philippines, Presidential Directives, obtained through of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). - ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
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Contains full text of bills, resolutions, hearings, debates, and other legislative documents. Also contains Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, Serial Set 1789-present, and legislative histories (through Legislative Insight).
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
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Full-text searchable database of legal periodicals and other documents. Includes Foreign Relations of the United States. - CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
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Reference resource for research in American government, politics, legislation, history, public policy, and current affairs. UCLA Library has selected access that includes CQ Almanac, CQ Researcher Plus Archive, and CQ Magazine (For CQ Press e-books, see Sage Knowledge).
News Sources
This is only a selected list of sources. Many also include transcripts of radio and television news programs. We also have access to other news sources/archives from different countries and in different languages.
- Access World News — Historical and Current This link opens in a new window
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Full-text articles from over 4,756 US and international blogs, journals, newspapers, newswires, videos, and web sources. Date coverage varies with individual newspapers. Formerly called America's Newspapers or NewsBank. - Factiva This link opens in a new window
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Full-text business and general news content covering thousands of sources from more than 200 countries in 26 languages. Includes US and international newspapers, magazines, wire services, web sites, photographs, and trade and industry publications. Also: company and industry profiles; company-to-company/company-to-industry financial comparisons; stock price data; and stock charting.
NOTE: Text mining of Factiva is strictly prohibited.
- U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new window
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Contains full-text dating back to the 1980s for five of the nation’s major newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Wall Street Journal.
- Keesing's Worldwide Online This link opens in a new window
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Digest of political, social, and economic events for all countries of the world from 1931 to the present. Includes over 175,000 full text reports. - Facts on File World News Digest This link opens in a new window
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World news digest for 1940-present. Includes stories on people, stats, and world events from the top news stories for each decade.
- Area Studies Research GuidesFor additional scholarly sources, see individual regional/area studies resource guides. Alternatively, you can also browse online sources by subject.
Statistics
- UN ComtradeUnited Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database
- Direction of Trade Statistics
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Most member countries of the International Monetary Fund, current figures on the value of merchandise exports and imports disaggregated according to their most important trading partners. Data is available from 1980 onwards for annuals/quarters and months. Area and world aggregates showing trade flows between major areas of the world are presented as well. Reported data are supplemented by estimates whenever such data are not current or are not available in monthly frequency. - UnctadStat (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)provides free access to comprehensive statistical time series and indicators essential for the analysis of world trade, investment, international financial flows, and development.
- International Historical Statistics, 1750-2010 This link opens in a new window
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A three volume set, one for the Americas, one for Europe, and one for Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
Scholarly Analysis: International Affairs
- Center for Security Studies (ETH Zurich University)A one-stop information service in the fields of international relations and security. Among the services offered are: an annotated links library, a limited area search tool (ISN LASE), and a selection of resources on current world affairs.
- PAIS Index This link opens in a new window
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International coverage of articles, books, conference proceedings, and government documents on social and political policy, political science, public administration, current affairs, and related topics from 1972 to the present. Includes PAIS Archive, which covers 1915 to 1976.
Scholarly Analysis: Related Disciplines
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive business articles database covering more than 8,500 scholarly, professional, and trade periodicals in all areas of business. Coverages dates back to 1886. Content also includes books, case studies, Datamonitor company and industry profiles, conference proceedings, country reports (from CountryWatch, EIU, Icon International, and others), market research reports, SWOT analyses, profiles of the most-cited authors, and more. Sole electronic resource for full text of the Harvard Business Review and California Management Review. - Contemporary Women's Issues This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive coverage of issues that influence women’s lives across the globe on topics including civil rights, health, education, professional development, and entrepreneurship. Full-text access to journals, newsletters, and research reports from non-profit groups, government and international agencies. Information on women internationally includes cross-disciplinary methodology. - EconLit This link opens in a new window
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The fundamental research tool in economics with bibliographic citations, and some abstracts, to the international literature on economics since 1969. Subjects covered include book reviews, business, economics, finance, industry and statistics. - Family & Society Studies Worldwide This link opens in a new window
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Indexes articles, books, conference papers, and reports in the fields of family science, human ecology, human development, and social welfare. Covers research, policy, and practice literature from 1970 to the present. - GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
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Collection of scholarly, government, and general-interest titles which include content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations, and local/national governments and what can be done on each level to minimize negative impact. Topics: global warming, green building, ecology, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling. The database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 384,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,700 records. - RAND Publications This link opens in a new windowSearch the archive of over 17,000 RAND documents dating back to 1948.
- Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to citations for a wide range of topics in the study of women and gender, 1972-present.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts This link opens in a new window
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Citations, abstracts, and indexing of the international literature in political science, international relations, law, and public policy.
Scholarly Analysis: Multidisciplinary
- Google Scholar This link opens in a new windowSearches articles, theses, books, abstracts, patents, and court opinions from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other web sites.
- Alternative Press Index This link opens in a new window
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Alternative, radical, and left periodicals, newspapers, and magazines. The index is international and interdisciplinary, spanning the social sciences and humanities, with its central focus on the practice and theory of socialism, national liberation, labor, indigenous peoples, gays/lesbians, feminism, ecology, democracy, and anarchism. Link searches both Alternative Press Index (1991-present) and Alternative Press Index Archive (1969-1990). - RAND Publications This link opens in a new windowSearch the archive of over 17,000 RAND documents dating back to 1948.
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
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A multidisciplinary database that indexes over 10,000 publications, with the complete text of over 5,500 periodicals, including a mix of peer-reviewed journals, magazines, and newspapers.