THE MYRIN VIRTUAL LIBRARY

For Country Background Information

• Credo Reference
  • Online access to several encyclopedias, dictionaries and atlases that cover everything from the history of a country to the weather patterns to pop culture. The database also has foreign language dictionaries for many languages.
• Europa World Yearbook [Ref 341.184 EU74A 2008]
  • The single best source for country information, including current government, statistics of all kinds from religion to industry to population to crime, and a brief but comprehensive modern history of the country. This book has an entry for EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY.
• CIA World Factbook
  • An online guide to every country in the world, with statistics, geographical information, communications info, conflicts, and much more. The site is updated every two weeks.
• The State Department's A-Z List of Countries
  • Information on countries plus travel advisories. Frequently updated.

For Popular Culture Info (on films, music, television, etc.)

• Britannica
  • Britannica has articles on each country, with sections that cover popular culture. Search for the country, and then use the links in the article to go to the articles on music, film, literature, theater, etc. Use the links to explore particular artists.
• Wikipedia
  • In Wikipedia, as in Britannica, search for the country that you're going to. There's usually a "Culture" section that has up-to-date information on all aspects of popular culture. Make sure to go to any "main articles" that may be linked for the particular pop culture topic. Also, click to external links provided at the end of each article to verify the information and get more details.

Use the Library Catalog to search for books on specific countries. There are books called "Country Studies" located in the Reference Section in the 900s, on the side where the tables face the shelves. You could also do a search for your country and "popular culture."

Try a SUBJECT search on your country, too.

Journal and magazine articles can be very helpful for finding contemporary information on countries.

• Academic OneFile
  • The best place to start to look for scholarly journal articles and popular magazine articles. Not everything is full text so you will need to InterLibrary Loan what you can't get here. Be sure to click the "magazines" tab, especially when looking for pop culture information.
• Lexis-Nexis
  • This database includes hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles from around the world. Search publications from around the world by choosing "Major World Publications (non-english)" from the list of options on the main search page. Coverage is generally back to the 1980s and is ALL full-text.