Research Guides: Global Studies Senior Capstone Project: Your Research Question

Using Reference Sources to Develop a Research Question

Reference sources are great places to get started when researching a new topic. Specialized reference sources can be very helpful for gathering background information on various topics in Global Studies research.

Encyclopedias are great for providing brief overviews, while handbooks and companions provide more detailed information. In both types of reference works, the articles are authored by field experts. As well as getting to know your topic, these sources are also great ways to build search vocabulary that you can use when finding books, journal articles, and dissertations or theses.

Purdue Libraries subscribes to several large online reference collections that include specialized reference sources, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and companions.

Credo Reference
Online reference library provides advanced searching and full-text of hundreds of dictionaries and encyclopedias in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Cross-reference links and interactive concept maps provide answers and enable further exploration of topics. Images include 17,000 works of art from the Bridgemann Art Library Archive.
Gale eBooks
Database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources. Fully searchable across all files by single or multiple titles, by keyword, ISBN, or full text.
Oxford Reference Online
Searchable full-text of more than 150 reference books published by Oxford University Press on many subjects in the arts, history, and sciences. Includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, and several of the Oxford Companion series.

Basic Global Studies Reference Sources

Specialized reference sources can be helpful for gathering background information about various topics and approaches in global studies research. The following sources provide brief overview articles on these.

These resources can be checked out through Purdue Libraries or, if it's an online resource, may require you to login with your Purdue Career Account.

The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization by George Ritzer (Editor)
ISBN: 0470670592
Publication Date: 2012-02-22
Containing over 600 entries on the essential topics of Globalization, this collection offers the definitive reference resource for students, researchers and academics in the field. Updated annually Offers clear and concise explanations of the key concepts of Globalization Includes entries on concepts derived from across the social sciences, from sociology and anthropology to political science, economics, and human geography Looks at the founding theories as well as the realities of globalization today Covers the essential topics in the study of globalization, including agency-structure, Americanization, anti-globalization, Bretton Woods; coca-colonization, Empire; Euro crisis, ethnic cleansing, exploitation, feminization of poverty, genocide, global warming, nation-state, neo-liberalism, oil, post-globalization, Qaedaism, rape, sex work, sport, terror, Transnational Corporations, Twitter Revolution, water crisis, Web 2.0, Wikileaks, World Social Forum and, Zapatistas Includes a number of key documents listed as entries such as the Kyoto Protocol and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 5 Volumes www.globalizationencyclopedia.com
The International Studies Encyclopedia by Volgy; Robert A. Denemark (General Editor)
ISBN: 1405152389
Publication Date: 2010-03-29
The International Studies Encyclopedia and its online version, International Studies Online, published in association with the International Studies Association (ISA), is the most comprehensive reference work of its kind for the fields of international studies and international relations. The print version is arranged across 12 volumes in an A-Z format and brings together specially commissioned, peer reviewed essays, written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers. Key features: Updated annually to keep up with this fast changing discipline Primarily organized around the different sections representing areas of specialization within the International Studies Association Over 400 specially commissioned, peer reviewed essays of up to 10,000 words focusing on the most important topics and issues Written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers and overseen by an editorial board comprising 28 past and present Presidents of ISA

More In-Depth Information on Global Studies Research

Handbooks and companions contain edited collections of articles that provide more detailed information on research methods in global studies research, as well as on current issues, which are authored by field experts.

Accessing these resources will require you to login with your Purdue Career Account.

The Oxford Handbook of Global Studies by Manfred B. Steger (Editor); Saskia Sassen (Editor); Victor Faessel (As told to); Mark Juergensmeyer (Editor)
ISBN: 9780190630577
Publication Date: 2018-12-05
The Oxford Handbook of Global Studies provides an overview of the emerging field of global studies. Since the end of the Cold War, globalization has been reshaping the modern world, and an array of new scholarship has risen to make sense of it in its various transnationalmanifestations-including economic, social, cultural, ideological, technological, environmental, and in new communications. The editors - Mark Juergensmeyer, Saskia Sassen, and Manfred Steger - are recognized authorities in this emerging field and have gathered an esteemed cast of contributors todiscuss various aspects in the field through a broad range of approaches.Several essays focus on the emergence of the field and its historical antecedents. Other essays explore analytic and conceptual approaches to teaching and research in global studies, and the largest section will deal with the subject matter of global studies, challenges from diasporas and pandemicsto the global city and the emergence of a transnational capitalist class. The final two sections feature essays that take a critical view of globalization from diverse perspectives and essays on global citizenship the ideas and institutions that guide an emerging global civil society. This Handbookfocuses on global studies more than on the phenomenon of globalization itself, though the various aspects of globalization are central to understanding how the field is currently being shaped.
The Routledge International Handbook of Globalization Studies by Bryan S. Turner (Editor)
ISBN: 1135878838
Publication Date: 2013-01-11
The Routledge International Handbook of Globalization Studies offers students clear and informed chapters on the history of globalization and key theories that have considered the causes and consequences of the globalization process. There are substantive sections looking at demographic, economic, technological, social and cultural changes in globalization. The handbook examines many negative aspects - new wars, slavery, illegal migration, pollution and inequality - but concludes with an examination of responses to these problems through human rights organizations, international labour law and the growth of cosmopolitanism. There is a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches with essays covering sociology, demography, economics, politics, anthropology and history. The Handbook, written in a clear and direct style, will appeal to a wide audience. The extensive references and sources will direct students to areas of further study.

Other Exploratory Tools

In addition to large reference collections, publishers also provide research tools that enable researchers to explore potential research topics and provide additional context surrounding those topics by immediately linking topic descriptions with various sources, including videos, news stories, scholarly journal articles, and relevant biographies.

Gale In Context: Global Issues
Exploring issues within government, law, health, science and technology, society and culture, this collection provides 250 country pages and more than 400 issue pages integrating news, global viewpoints, reference materials, country information, primary source documents, videos, statistics, and more, as well as more than 6,000 viewpoint commentaries providing background and guidance on significant topics like Food Security, Genocide, Human Rights, Extreme Weather, and more. Updated daily,

Note: Cross-searchable with Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints