China Today Research Guide
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Finding Current Information on China

• Ms. Friends has recommended the periodical titles listed on this guide
• Periodicals are publications that come out regularly or periodically (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)
• Magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers are examples of periodicals
• Their primary advantage is their currency
• Periodical literature is available in full text in research databases, however, publishers sometimes "embargo" the most current issues, so they are not available in databases for a specific period of time
• The Internet may provide more current information than periodical literature because the publishing process takes time
• The disadvantages of the Internet are:
  1) the need to evaluate every source identified with a search engine for authorship, currency, accuracy, reliability, bias, etc. because it is a self-publishing medium and
  2) the sheer amount of information available can make finding specific information difficult unless you know exactly where to go
• Through the publishing process, there are checks and balances on the quality and reliability of the information provided
• Books synthesize and analyze information from a variety of sources, including other books and periodicals
• Finding books on China during the last 20 years

The following periodicals are available for browsing in paper format:

• These periodicals may also be available in electronic format in databases
  Check the electronic periodical list to find out--then click through to a list of issues of the periodical organized by date
  To locate information on a specific topic in the database, use the search capabilties of the database rather than browsing individual issues by date
  If you have more than one concept to search, use Boolean logic--example: China and human rights
• Asian Week (Voice of Asian America)
• Atlantic
• Business Week
• Commentary
• Current History: A Journal of Contemporary World Affairs
• The Economist
• Forbes
• Foreign Affairs
• Harvard International Review
• Wall Street Journal (1 year ago- )

Other suggested periodical sources + database links:

• To locate information on a specific topic in a given periodical, search the database and limit to that specific periodical
• Chicago Tribune (1997- Newspaper Source)
• Harvard Business Review (1997-2000 in databases)
• International Herald Tribune (2002- in General Business File)
• L.A. Times (6 months ago- in Lexis-Nexis)
• New York Times (1985- in Newspaper Source)
• NPR (National Public Radio)(1992- in Lexis-Nexis)
• Time (1983- in general databases)
• Wall Street Journal (1959-1990 in Historical Newspapers)
• Washington Post (1977- in Lexis-Nexis, 2003- in Newspaper Source)
• Xinhua News Agency (1997- in Lexis-Nexis, 2000-2004 in Newspaper Source
• To locate the websites for these periodicals, check the Directories of newspapers on the Internet below
• The search capabilities of databases may be more powerful than searching the website for the newspaper
• Better searching with more opportunities for limiting = better results
• Check the electronic periodical list to determine if these publications are available in research databases
• If the topic includes more than one concept, search using Boolean logic--example: China and Tibet

Recommended periodicals on the Internet:

• BBC News
• China Daily (#1 English language Chinese newspaper)
• People's Daily Online (voice of the CCP)
• Shanghai Daily
• South China News (Hong Kong)
• South China Morning Post
• The Straits Times (Singapore)

Directories of newspapers on the Internet:

• Choose links for China and/or other countries of interest to locate news sources available online from those countries
• ABYZ News Links
• All You Can Read (newspapers & magazines online)
• Online Newspapers From Around the World
• Online Newspapers
• Paperboy
• World Newspapers

Research Databases

• Use the databases below to locate articles in the periodicals listed above or
• Use the search capabilities of the database to search your topic and locate all articles available from a wider variety of publications
• Then evaluate the articles for relevance and choose the best articles

Newspaper databases:

• Lexis-Nexis (news, law & legislation, statistics)(full text)
  "Includes major U.S. and international newspapers; leading magazines, wire services and broadcast news transcripts; statistics and historical information . . . "--Includes:
  Major newspapers: Asian Wall Street Journal (1989-2002), New York Times (1980- ), Washington Post (1977- )
  Regional newspapers: L.A. Times (6 months ago- )
  Transcripts: National Public Radio (1992- )
  News Wires: AFX-Asia (1999- ), Asia Pulse (1996- ), Associated Press Online (1997- , except 1999), Sinocast China Business Daily News (1997- ), Xinhua General News Service (1977- )
  Magazines: Newsweek (1975- ), U.S. News & World Report (1975- )
  Times Publications: Time (previous 2 years- )
• Newspaper Source (full text)(title list)
  U.S. and international newspapers including: The New York Times (1985- ), The Washington Post (2003- ), The Washington Times (1997- ), The Times (London)(2000- ), etc.
  Selected full text for U.S. newspapers, including: The Boston Globe (1997- ), Chicago Tribune (1997- ), Daily News (New York)(1997- ), Hartford Courant (2003- ), etc.
  Full text television & radio news transcripts: ABC News, CBS News, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, NPR, etc.
• Historical Newspapers (full text)
  Provides digitized images of the following newspapers for the following dates--search all of the newspapers or search each database individually
  • Hartford Courant (1764-1984)
  • Chicago Tribune (1849-1986)
  • The New York Times (1851-2005)
  • The Washington Post (1877-1992)
  • Los Angeles Times (1881-1986)
  • The Wall Street Journal (1889-1991)
  • The Christian Science Monitor (1908-1995)

Other recommended databases:

• CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)(full text)(1991-present)
  A comprehensive source for theory and research in international affairs--includes "working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs"--also includes teaching materials and course packs of background readings for history and political science classes
• CountryWatch (full text)
  Provides information on each of the 192 recognized countries of the world including:
  CountryReviews--demographic, political, economic, business, cultural and environmental information;
  CountryWire--daily news coverage and a news archive;
  CountryWatch Forecast--a five-year macroeconomic forecast;
  CountryWatch Energy Forecast--a 20-year forecast of energy demand, supply, and pricing;
  Also features CountryWatch Data (statistics), the CountryWatch Map Gallery, CountryWatch@School (curriculum based resources), and the weekly Global News Update.
• General Databases such as Academic Search Premier and General OneFile will include current articles about countries
• History Databases such as History Reference Center or History Study Center include information about the countries of the world, including reference sources, plus primary documents

Current issues databases:

• CQ Researcher Plus Archive (1923-present)(full text)
  Online version of a weekly periodical that provides in-depth, non-biased coverage of political and social issues--each weekly issue includes a chronology, a pro and con section, and a bibliography--search China as a topic or as a word in the title
• Opposing Viewpoints (full text) ( Tutorial )
  Incorporates secondary sources and articles from major newspapers and news magazines to provide coverage of major issues of the day--includes statistics, government data, laws and legislation, political positions, public policies and more
• TOPICsearch (full text)
  This current events database offers over 100,000 articles from newspapers and periodicals and includes biographies, public opinion polls, book reviews, pamphlets, and government information

Additional suggested Internet sites

• Asia Source
• Background Notes (U.S. Dept. of State)
• BBC News: Country Profiles
• Portals to the World (sites selected by the Library of Congress)
• World Fact Book (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency)
• Nations of the World (Law Library of Congress)
• Country Resources (Development Gateway Foundation)
• INCORE (International Conflict Research) Internet Country Guides
• WWW-Virtual Library International Affairs Resources
• WWW-VL History Central Catalogue (see links by continent)
• Regions of the World (Librarians' Index to the Internet)
• NationMaster (compare nations)
• GESource World Guide: Country Guides (high quality resources on geography and the environment)

Statistics sites:

• Statistical Sites on the Web (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics)(includes international statistical agencies)
• OFFSTATS (Official Statistics on the Web)
• Global Statistics (from the United Nations)
• GeoHive: Global Statistics (data on population, historical growth, projections, life expectancy, fertility, gender, urban/rural distribution)
• The World Bank (includes statistical information by country)
• Population Reference Bureau: Country Data (population, health, environment)
• International Database (U.S. Census Bureau)(demographic and socioeconomic data for countries of the world)

Need help with citing sources?
MLA Citation Style Guide
NoodleBib (citation management tool)