Introduction
"Reference" sources are entres to research.
They provide definitions or introductory information of the sort found in dictionaries, encyclopedias, and handbooks. They lead to published or unpublished scholarly writing, or to "primary source" material via library catalogs, article databases, and bibliographies.
Their purpose is to answwer factual questions and to help researchers identify and eventually obtain the information needed to investigate and learn about a topic.
* There are a few significant differences between the type of sources recommended here and Wikipedia, for example.
• Subject dictionaries, handbooks, etc. acquired by the library are almost always written and edited
by scholars in the field.
• Authors are identified.
• Entries, chapters, etc. are based on broad and deep knowledge of a subject, not on a single source.
News Digests
Facts on File World News Digest (1940- )
Selected Reference Sources
China Statistical Yearbook / State Statistical Bureau of the People's Republic of China
Hong Kong : International Centre for the Advancement of Science & Technology ; Beijing : China Statistical Information & Consultancy Service Centre, c1988-
Annual
Baker Berry HA4631 .S74 Latest edition in Reference
• India, a Reference Annual
[Delhi] Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
DS405 .I64 1953- Latest edition in Reference
Almanac format that contains information and figures/tables on development, commerce, "The Polity," technology, etc.
• Countries at the Crossroads (Freedom House)
Only EGYPT is included here, not India or China.
At "Reports" page scroll down. Selected earlier reports are also available back to 2004.
Countries at the Crossroads is an annual analysis of government performance in 70 strategically important countries worldwide that are at a critical crossroads in determining their political future.
• EIU.com / Economist Intelligence Unit, the Economist.
* Country Reports, 1996 - (Monthly)
* Country Profiles, 1997- (Annual)
* Country Forcasts, 1996 - (Quarterly)
The EIU offers economic data and summations of the political situation in almost 200 countries.
• Europa World Plus (continuously updated, with archival volumes back to 2006)
New York, NY : Routledge; Taylor & Francis Group
Online version of Europa World Year Book and the nine Regional surveys of the world: Africa South of the Sahara; Central and south-eastern Europe; Eastern Europe, Russia, and Central Asia; The Far East and Australasia; The Middle East and North Africa; South America, Central America, and the Caribbean; South Asia; The USA and Canada; and: Western Europe, combined into a searchable database.
"NationMaster is a vast compilation of data from such sources as the CIA World Factbook, United Nations, World Health Organization, World Bank, World Resources Institute, UNESCO, UNICEF and OECD" and a "handy way to graphically compare nations." [Website]
• Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI)
Reports on six individual and aggregate dimensions of governance for 215 countries since 1996.
Oxford Reference Online
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Oxford Reference Online
Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource.
The Premium Collection offers over 175 fully-indexed, cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, including detailed information across a broad subject range from titles in the world-renowned Oxford Companions Series.
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