MIDA Research Resources
The Department of Political Science at Western Michigan University provides the following research resource links for students in the Master of International Development Administration program.
- Western Michigan University Libraries - The University Libraries' home page contains links to the catalog, WestCat, as well as links to online resources such as databases and journals. Use WestCat to find a particular book (using the author/title/keyword search) or to find books on a subject (using the guided keyword search). The political science gateway should be particularly helpful for students in the Department of Political Science. The librarians at the reference desk are there to assist you with any questions you may have regarding the use of the research tools, or to give you suggestions if you feel you are groping in the dark.
- Eldis - One of the leading sources of development-related documents on the Web, indexed and organized by subject.
- International affairs resources - Part of the WWW Virtual Library, this Internet directory is a guide to resources on the Web, providing annotated links to directories and a further series of links to a variety of development-related sites.
- ProQuest Statistical Insight
- World development indicators
Development Organization Sites
Facts and Figures on Developing Countries
- CIA - The World Factbook - Statistics on each country including color maps and flags.
- Human Development Report - A publication of the United Nations Development Program. Other reports of the UNDP.
- Nations of the world - This Law Library of Congress guide contains a lengthy list of resources for each nation such as links to statistical, legal or legislative information.
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - This website provides data graphically displayed on development assistance from OECD countries and on a number of indicators connected with poverty and with economic growth, country by country.
- U.S. state department background notes - A summary of facts about each country with particular emphasis on the country's relationship with the United States.
- World development indicators - The World Bank’s annual compilation of data about development.
- World Resources Institute - Tables accessible from the WRI publication, World Resources and a set of country data profiles.
Indexes to Books and Journal Articles
- Social Sciences Citation Index - This unique source is an index to all authors cited in a work in the social sciences and, in reverse, to all works citing a particular author showing who has cited that author and how the author's ideas have been used. (Access through WMU Libraries’ subscription.)
Journals
- Population and Development Review
- Population Literature
- SAIS Review
- World Development
- World Politics (recent issues)
News Sources
Resource Guides
- Foreign government resources on the Web - This site, from the University of Michigan Documents Center, provides links to websites of governments and to data, directory and news sites that deal with the rest of the world.
USAID
- The Development Experience Clearinghouse - Search for project documents of USAID funded projects and order them online or, in the case of some more recent documents, download them for free.
- USAID results and data - Search for more general information regarding USAID funded projects and the results of data gathered.
Miscellaneous
- DAC Evaluation Abstracts - Project evaluations indexed on this site represent a large number of organizations.
- IDS - The Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, is a leading British center for research and teaching on international development.
- SAIS - The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.