Research Guide for Government 1101:
Islam and Development in the Comparative Perspective

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/govt1101tp.html

Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai Flickr photo by patrick boury. Used under Creative Commons license.

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Using the Library Catalog Periodical Article Indexes Evaluating Your Sources Citing Your Sources Research and Reference Help

About Islam

The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism. Oliver Roy & Antoine Sfeir, eds. New York: Columbia UP, 2007.

Olin Ref BP 40 .D5313 2007+

These articles provide detailed discussions on the politics and the political history and growth of Islamism ("a political and religious ideology that aims to establish an Islamic state under Shari'a law and to reunify the Muslim Umma..." p.170) in majority and minority Islamic nations. English translation of the French edition.

The Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World. New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004. 2 volumes.

Olin Ref BP 40 .E525x 2004 and online

Articles on Islam’s role in the modern world in the context of the religion’s history and development over the last thirteen centuries. Contains thematic articles, biographies of key figures, definitions, illustrations, and maps.

Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic cultures. Ed. Suad Joseph. 6 volumes. Leiden: Brill, 2003-2008.

Olin Ref HQ 1170 .E53 2003 ++ and online

A scholarly encyclopedia of research on the role of women in Islam. Volume 6, only available in print, includes a table of the percentage of Muslims in each country of the world, supplementary articles, and an index to the print set.
Volume 1: Methodologies, Paradigms and Sources for Studying Women and Islamic Cultures
Volume 1: Women and Islamic Cultures: A Bibliography of Books and Articles in European Languages since 1993
Volume 2: Family, Law and Politics
Volume 3: Family, Body, Sexuality and Health
Volume 4: Economics, Education, Mobility, and Space
Volume 5: Practices, Interpretations and Representations.
Volume 6: Tables, Supplement, and Index (print version only)

Oxford Dictionary of Islam. John L. Esposito, editor in chief. New York: Oxford UP, 2003.

Olin Ref BP 40 .O95 2003 and online

For readers with little or no knowledge of Islam, the Oxford Dictionary of Islam provides vividly-written, up-to-date, and authoritative entries focused primarily on the Islamic world in the 19th and 20th centuries. Entries on terrorism and the Taliban, Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, the PLO and HAMAS, biographical profiles, major political movements, militant groups, religious sects, terms from Islamic law, key historical events, and important landmarks. A series of entries looks at Islam in individual nations.

Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World. John L. Esposito, editor in chief. 4 volumes. New York: Oxford UP, 1995.

Olin Ref DS 35.53 .O98 1995

Though somewhat dated, still a useful background source.

About Individual Countries

Europa World. London: Europa Publications, 1989- .

Olin Ref D 2 .E894 and online

Authoritative political and economic information on countries and territories as well as international organizations. Features statistical data and directories. Latest year shelved at the Olin reference desk; earlier years in the Olin and Uris stacks.

Political Handbook of the World. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975-.

Olin Ref JF 37 .P76+; also Uris Ref

Excellent essays on the political situation in every country. Detailed information on political parties, structure, and leaders. Updated annually; latest year in the reference collection, earlier years in the Olin stacks. First published in 1927. Print only.

USING THE LIBRARY CATALOG

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FINDING ARTICLES

Use these indexes to find articles in journals, magazines, and news sources. These may be full text online as a .pdf or .html file, or they may be available only in print form. If the article is not linked directly in the database, the best way to figure out the format and availability is to search the Cornell Library Catalog by the journal title.

Index Islamicus.

Index to literature on Islam, the Middle East and Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, and Muslim minorities elsewhere. Includes citations to over 2,000 journals, conference proceedings, monographs, and book reviews from 1906 to present.

EconLit.

Indexes scholarly articles, books, and dissertations in economics journals.

International Political Science Abstracts.

Indexes scholarly articles in political science journals.

Keesing's Record of World Events.

Extensive coverage of the news back from 1931. More balanced worldwide coverage than other news summary sources. Articles pull together a chronology of events over a period of time, rather than focussing on one event. Formerly called Keesing's Contemporary Archives (Olin D 410 .K26+).

ProQuest Research Library.

A full-spectrum database that indexes articles from thousands of magazines, scholarly, journals and some newspapers. Searches can be limited to scholarly journals. Research Library is one of more than a dozen databases that are simultaneously searchable in ProQuest. Ideal for an initial search on a topic. Many articles available full-text. Restricted to the Cornell community.
EBSCO's Academic Search Premier is a similar database.

EVALUATING SOURCES

Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, or multimedia sources are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item or have the item in hand.

How to Critically Analyze Information Sources lists some of the critical questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.

Periodicals are aimed at a wide variety of audiences. For help evaluating the articles you find, see Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals.

The Internet is a democratic tool: anyone can write or say virtually anything they wish on it. As you would do with books and journal articles, look to see who is responsible for producing the web page or site that you are accessing. Does the individual or institution have a particular bias or concern or agenda in presenting their information. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative? See Five Criteria for Evaluating Web pages.

CITATION TOOLS

Using MLA Style

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th edition. Copies in Olin and Uris Libraries are shelved behind the reference desks Ref Z 253 .M68 2003.

MLA citation style (Library Gateway Help)

Managing Citations using RefWorks

RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic references by interfacing with databases. RefWorks also interfaces directly with Word, making it easy to import references and incorporate them into your writing, properly formatted according to the style of your choice. For more information and to sign up for an account: http://www.refworks.cornell.edu .

RESEARCH AND REFERENCE HELP

Library Gateway Help

CU Library Catalog Help

Reference Desk Phone Directory

A research consultation with a reference librarian can be arranged when you need in-depth, personalized research help.