Countries: Finding Information

Find information about countries of the world from the Library's databases, Internet resources, and reference books located in the Library's Reference Room.

Databases and Indexes | Internet Resources | Books

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Databases and Indexes

About off-campus access

Use the databases to look up countries and find general background information. These databases are available to St. Kate's students on and off campus.

• LexisNexis Academic
  From the main LexisNexis screen, click on Reference and then use Country Profiles to find country information.
   
• Oxford Reference Online
  An online reference source that includes encyclopedia resources and other quick reference materials. Full-text available online.

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Internet Resources

These resources have been complied by St. Kate's librarians. They represent just some of the information available on the Internet. Most reliable sources are from governments, international organizations, and non-profit organizations.

• The World Factbook
  http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
  Contains entries for 268 countries, 4 oceans, and a cumulative entry for the world. Find country profiles, flags of the world, and maps. Search or browse by country
   
• Governments on the Web
  http://www.gksoft.com/govt/
  A wealth of information for over 200 countries, including legislative bodies, courts, embassies and more.
   
• Country Studies
  http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
  102 countries and regions covered. Emphasis on areas where US forces maybe deployed. Information provided may include basic geographical information, in-depth historical, political, social and economic coverage. Some graphics. From the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress.
   
• US Department of State Background Notes
  http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
  Published by the U.S. State Department, these guides cover geographic entities and international organizations. Includes information about the land, people, history, politics, and economy.
  
  
• U.S. Census Bureau: International Data Base (IDB)
  http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html
  A database of digital data on demographic and socio-economic information for countries and areas of the world. Go to the Display Mode of the IDB.

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Books

Find books by using CLICnet, the online catalog.

Reference books are a good place to start to find general, background information. You can use the reference books in the library or make photocopies; they cannot be checked out. See also the Atlas Stands #1 and #2 in the Reference Room at St. Paul campus for atlases and maps. Browse the shelves for more or ask a reference librarian for assistance.

• Columbia Gazetteer of the World, Ref G103.5 .C645 1998 (3 vols.)
  Find specific geographic information and place names.
   
• World Factbook, Ref G122 .U56a 2002
  Print version of the online CIA World Factbook.
   
• Maps on File, Ref G1021 .M33 (2 vols.)
  Maps and geographic information.