Reference Sources for Background Information

Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy. Clapp Ref E 183.7 E52 2002 3 vols.

Encyclopedia of the American Military. Clapp Ref UA 23 E56 1994 3 vols.

Encyclopedia of War and American Society. Also Clapp Ref E 181 E634 2006 3 vols.

Encyclopedia of United States National Security.

Europa World Year Book [online = current only]. Clapp Ref JN 1 E85 2007 [earlier years in stacks] 2 vols.
Entries for individual countries include a country history, a short paragraph on defence, and statistics on defence expenditures.

Legal Systems of the World. Clapp Ref K 48 L44 2002 4 vols.
Brief country history and court structure for countries and U.S. states.

Oxford Companion to American Military History. Clapp Ref E 181 94 1999

SIPRI Yearbook. [Stockholm International Peace Research Institute] Clapp Ref UA 10 I55 1974-
Has chapters on the military, expenditures, and arms production and transfers.

World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers. Clapp Docs UA17 .U42 1965- and online.

Finding Books

Wellesley College Catalog - Use the Library catalog to find books and other materials (journal titles, NOT journal articles) we have here at Wellesley. Remember to start with "keyword" if you are beginning to research a topic, then when you find a useful title, see what its subject headings are. Then click on these subject headings to find more about your topic.

Or, once you have found a useful record in the catalog, click on the call number and then view the "extended display". This is as if you are looking at the books on the shelf.

A basic book on a country may be useful as an introduction. In our catalog, under title, look for [country name] a country study, or look for them online from the Library of Congress, or use Portals to the World. Note, the country studies may be dated.

Try the following subject headings and their subheadings:

civil-military relations
armed forces political activity
revolutions case studies
[country name] armed forces
[country name] military policy
[country name] politics and government
soldiers

WorldCat - Use WorldCat to find books and other materials not at Wellesley. Use the suggestions listed above. If you find a book you want that Wellesley does not own, use the ILL link within WorldCat to request the book.

Finding Articles

The following databases provide either full-text articles or citations (information about when and where the article was published). Once you have a citation for an article, use the Find It! @ Wellesleylink from each citation to search one or more electronic journal sources through the Wellesley College Library Catalog. Use the name of the journal as the title and make sure you look at the dates covered carefully! If Wellesley does not own the article, you can request it via Interlibrary Loan (ILL). See our A-Z list for additional databases; think of which database will have the information for the approach you want.

Look for ways to limit your search (by date, by subject headings, to scholarly or peer-reviewed sources).

Use Ulrich's Periodicals Directory to determine if a particular journal is scholarly or to to find out where to search for articles in a particular journal. In Ulrich's, search for the journal, look at the record, and click on the Indexing/Abstracting tab. Match the indexing/abstracting sources listed with the databases on our A-Z list. Then go to that database that indexes/abstracts your journal and put the journal title in the search box as a source along with your topic keywords.

Suggested databases for this class (listed in order of usefulness):

PAIS - articles about political, social & economic issues, public affairs from 1937+. Index and abstracts only.

Academic Search Premier and Expanded Academic ASAP - great starting points for scholarly & popular articles in every discipline. Dates vary, mostly 1980+, some full text.

CIAO [Columbia International Affairs Online] - theory and research in international affairs from 1991 onward. Includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs. Note: using the advanced search feature will yield much better results. Note: working papers and policy papers are full text. Books and journal articles are selected full text. Search for the book or journal title in our catalog to see if we have access to the full text. Otherwise, use Interlibrary Loan.

Military and Government Collection - cover-to-cover full text of nearly 300 journals and many historical documents. Dates of coverage vary.

Periodical Contents Index (PCI) - index to articles published in 4,698 periodicals in the humanities & social sciences in 40 languages. Full text available to over 200 journals. Best for earlier articles.

Web of Science (and Social Science) - 1965+. Interdisciplinary subject searching of scholarly articles in the social, physical, and life sciences. Search for articles that cite known journal articles or books.

ArticleFirst - an index to articles in all scholarly fields and popular culture from 1990+. Selected full text. This database is updated daily , so is useful for very current articles.

Historical Abstracts - articles on world history since 1450, excluding US & Canada, 1954+.

Alt-Press Watch - Full-text collection of newspapers, magazines and journals of the alternative and independent press from 1995-present. This isn't the most scholarly source, but it is full text and can give you some leads.

Law Review articles may be found in LexisNexis Academic Legal Research. Try searching in document sections (title) or use connectors. If you search the full text, connect your terms using w/5 (within 5 words of each other), or w/s (within the same sentence).

Google Scholar - searches the scholarly journal literature, will link to full text at Wellesley if we have access. Don't pay for articles, but request them through Interlibrary Loan.

Newspaper Articles

• LexisNexis Academic News - U.S. and global sources, English and other languages, foreign news transcripts
  • Use the "Sources" tab to limit your sources to a particular area of the world
  • Use w/s or w/p to search for your terms in the same sentence or the same paragraph

U.S. Government Information

• U.S. Department of Defense and DoD Web sites.
• Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (1976+). Ask me about earlier documents.
• LexisNexis Congressional - Congressional reports, hearings, and laws (statutes). Index from 1790 onward; full text from 1988 onward. Caution: sometimes the full text of Congressional hearings you find online is not really the entire hearing as published in print. The print hearing may have supporting information (reports, article reprints, statistics, etc.) that is not in the online version. You can also search LexisNexis Congressional by witness if you want to find out if someone has testified before Congress.
• United Nations documents. Of particular interest to this class may be reports submitted under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights CCPR/C/[country abbreviation]. These reports describe the rights of a country's citizens under the constitution.
  • Access UN (1945 onward, full text for recent years)
  • UN BISnet (from the UN, 1993 onward)
• Congressional Research Service Reports on national security and foreign policy, and terrorism and homeland security. Use this site for more CRS reports.
• Homeland Security Digital Library (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Preparedness Directorate, FEMA and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security) - important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources such as theses and reports from various universities, organizations and local and state agencies.

Key Scholarly Web Resources

NOTE: Use the following criteria to evaluate any websites:

• Who is the author of the information?
• Can you find information about the author? What are his/her credentials?
• How current is the information? Is there a "last updated" date?
• Who is the intended audience for the information?
• Is the content objective or is it coming from a certain viewpoint?
• Is the information advocating a cause?

  Mostly United States

Center for Defense Information - a private, independent organization "dedicated to strengthening security through: international cooperation; reduced reliance on unilateral military power to resolve conflict; reduced reliance on nuclear weapons; a transformed and reformed military establishment; and, prudent oversight of, and spending on, defense programs."

Center for Military Readiness: promoting excellence in America's armed forces - an independent, non-partisan 501(c)(3) educational organization formed to take a leadership role in promoting sound military personnel policies in the armed forces. Issue topics focus on gays inthe military, women and the military, Congress, and foreign policy. More a news service than scholarly essays.

Center for Security Policy "has, since its founding in 1988, operated as a non-profit, non-partisan organization committed to the time-tested philosophy of promoting international peace through American strength".

National Defense Intelligence College - chartered by the Department of Defense in 1962, it has since served as a leading institution for intelligence education and research. All publications from the National Defense Inteligence College are online.

Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) - non-profit, nationally recognized think tank that informs the public about terrorism prevention and responder preparedness.

Mostly International

Einiras Database Network (EDN) [European Information Network on International Relations and Area Studies] - An index only. Can lead to articles on the military in specific European countries. Extensive thesaurus. See if Wellesley has the journal to locate the full text of articles.

Foreign Military Studies Office researches, writes and publishes from unclassified sources about the military establishments, doctrines and strategic, operational and tactical practices of selected foreign armed forces

Foreign Policy in Focus: A think tank without walls, "provides timely analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international affairs and recommends policy alternatives".

GlobalSecurity.org seeks to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons and the need for their use, especially during these new security challenges. Links to news, hot topics, and hot documents. Links to defense budget information.

Military Intelligence from Loyola University.

Project on Defense Alternatives - critical analysis of U.S. defense policy, as well as those of other nations; the Project on Defense Alternatives "has sought to adapt security policy to the challenges and opportunities of the post-Cold War era. Toward this end it promotes consideration of the broadest range of defense options".

World Policy Institute is a research and education policy center that seeks innovative solutions to critical problems facing the United States and the world. Look under Research Projects.

Use this link to foreign governments to find a country's defense department. Note that the information may not be in English and the site may not be up to date.

For more information on how to evaluate web pages or for specific search engines see our search the web page.

Citing your information

We have copies of various citation style guides on the Clapp reference desk or go to our online sources. Remember: if you find the full text online, whether an article in a database or info on the Web, you must cite the information from the online source. In a Wellesley database, look for a link to how to cite. Traditional citation style manuals will also include how to cite information found electronically.

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See also the Resources by Subject pages for Political Science and Legal Studies for more law and legislative information.

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