How to Find Accurate, Up-To-Date Information on a Country

Databases: passwords are on Edline

Encyclopedias - for general information about a country.

Britannica – provides access to 3 encyclopedias.

Student Resource Center Gold – You will need to see that the article is up to date. Look for articles from the sources below to be especially helpful. Also click on the Magazine and Newspaper Tabs to find shorter articles.
• Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life
• Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations
• U*X*L Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of World Cultures

World Book Encyclopedia
Look for your Country and look for Web Links. Check for current content.

History Resources

C.I.A. World Factbook – for country overviews and statistics
Is usually quite up-to-date. Compares well with Department of State Background Notes

CultureGrams - use this product to find a brief snapshot article (4 pages) of cultural and demographic details on various countries.

Department of State Background Notes
Background Notes – Click on the link for the country you are studying

World Data Analyst - use this source for brief country snapshots (1 page) and to build comparison charts on educational statistics for various countries.

E-Book Trial

Gale Virtual Reference Library - click here to find chapters from World Education Encyclopedia

How to Find Accurate Education Statistics and Information

  1. Use Sirs Researcher / Database Features / World Almanac Excerpts to find brief overviews on countries + links to the official country website (from within the overview article).
  2. Use the British Broadcasting Company (BBC News) to find brief country profiles + links to media outlets
  3. Go to important government, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations such as:

    UNESCO: click on Sitemap, then navigate through to information in the Global Education Digest (you will need to click on a PDF document - please DO NOT PRINT); UNESCO Institute for Statistics (for detailed statistics by country).

    USAID - Global Education Index
    http://qesdb.cdie.org/ged/index.html

World Bank - Data by Topic: pay special attention to Education Country Tables and ED Stats Database. Use GenderStats to find statistics related to women and development indicators, such as education.
http://www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/education.html

World Resources Institute / Earthtrends - click on Population, Health, and Human Well-Being to find information on various countries and feature reports or click on Data Tables / Gender and Development to see the impact of gender on health, mortality, education, etc.
http://earthtrends.wri.org/
http://earthtrends.wri.org/country_profiles/index.php?theme=4
http://earthtrends.wri.org/datatables/index.php?theme=4

  1. Try ProQuest: look for terms such as “teacher training” or “teacher education” AND the name of your country
  2. Try Newsbank (under Magazines and Newspapers)
  3. Points of View - a database of magazine and newspaper articles arranged by theme.

Lastly try Google, Ask, or another search engine of your choosing. Try to remember “phrase searching,” for example, “compulsory education” or “national curriculum” AND the name of your country.

Research Tools

Ms. Lamphier's web suggestion form. If you use a website that will work for others, let me know about it. Fill in this form to provide information.

Noodlebib

Turnitin.com

 


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