FYS 101-18: Writing and Human Rights

Fall 2009

Jack Shuler

Humanities Liaison Librarian - Joshua Finnell

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries such as the ones listed below are a good place to begin your research, particularly when looking for a topic.  These books are also good places to look for bibliographies with references to other useful sources.

Some examples:

• Women in the Third World: an encyclopedia of contemporary issues / DEN Ref HQ1870.9 .W6548 1998
• Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex work / DEN Ref HQ115 .E53 2006 (v. 1-2)
• The human rights encyclopedia / DEN Ref JC571 .L523 2001 (V.1 -3)
• International encyclopedia of human rights : freedoms, abuses, and remedies / DEN Ref JC571 .M3243 2000
• The human rights encyclopedia / DEN Ref JC571 .L523 2001 (V.1 -3)
• Encyclopedia of interest groups and lobbyists in the United States / DEN Ref JK1118 .N47 2000 v.1
• Human rights in the United States : a dictionary and documents / DEN Ref KF4747.5 .C37 2000
• A handbook of international human rights terminology / DEN Ref K3239.3 .C66 1999
• Encyclopedia of human rights issues since 1945 / DEN Ref JC571 .L2747 1999
• The activist's almanac : the concerned citizen's guide to the leading advocacy organizations in America / DEN Ref HN55 .W35 1993

Databases

The following databases will be excellent sources for reports, newspaper articles, and academic analyses:

• Gender Studies Database
  Gender Studies Database combines Women's Studies International and Men's Studies databases with the coverage of sexual diversity issues. GSD covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. Source documents include professional journals, conference papers, books, book chapters, government reports, discussion and working papers, theses & dissertations and other sources. Several thousand links to freely available and indexed full-text articles and documents on the Web are available, including carefully selected and important Websites.
  
• LGBT Life
  LGBT Life provides indexing and abstract coverage of the world's literature regarding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues. LGBT Life with Full Text covers LGBT-specific core periodicals, core books and reference works, with full text of the most important and historically significant LGBT journals, magazines and regional newspapers. LGBT Life covers traditional academic, cultural, lifestyle, and regional publications plus data mined from additional periodicals. Other source-types are also represented, such as monographs and reference books, with dozens of full text monographs, as well as grey literature, including newsletters, case studies, speeches, etc.
  
• Sociological Collection
  Sociological Collection is a comprehensive database covering information in all areas of sociology, including social behavior, human tendencies, interaction, relationships, community development, culture and social structure. This database provides complete full text for more than 500 important journals, including nearly 500 peer-reviewed titles. In addition to the full text, indexing and abstracts are provided for all 523 journals in the collection.
  
• Sociological Index
  Sociological Index (SocINDEX) provides full text of journal articles, and indexing and informative abstracts for "core" coverage journals dating back to 1895, plus "priority" coverage journals and "selective" coverage journals. Extensive indexing for books, monographs, conference papers, and other sources is included. SocINDEX with Full Text features subject headings from a sociological thesaurus designed by subject experts and expert lexicographers. Searchable cited references are also provided. .
  
• Newspaper Source
  Newspaper Source contains selected full text for 375 regional U.S. newspapers, eighteen international newspapers, six news-wires, nine newspaper columns, and cover-to-cover full text for The Christian Science Monitor and The Los Angeles Times. This database also contains indexing and abstracts for four national newspapers.
  
• Ethnic NewsWatch
  Ethnic NewsWatch is a full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press
  
• GenderWatch
  GenderWatch is an index to publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. GenderWatch supports programs in business, education, literature and the arts, health sciences, history, political science, public policy, sociology and contemporary culture, gender and women's studies and more. Publications include academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and government, n-g-o and special reports.
  
• Lexis Nexis
  LexisNexis Academic provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, medical, and reference information from nearly 5,000 sources, most of them available in full text. The service covers newspapers, magazines, wire services, federal and state court opinions, federal and state statutes, federal regulations, and SEC filings. News information is updated daily and wire services several times daily. Research areas in LexisNexis Academic cover top news, general news topics, and news transcripts; foreign language news sources; company, industry, and market news; legal news; company financial information; general medical and health topics and medical abstracts; accounting, auditing, and tax information; law reviews; federal case law; U.S. Code; and state legal research.
  

Web Resources

Below is a selected list of sources:

• Human Rights Watch
  Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.
  
• Amnesty International USA
  Founded in London in 1961, Amnesty International is a Nobel Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with over 1.8 million members worldwide. Amnesty International undertakes research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights. Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is the U.S. Section of Amnesty International.
  
• United Nations NGO Database
  The searchable Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Database is compiled by the NGO Liaison Office of the Director-General's Office at UNOG. It contains information about the organizations that have Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).
  
• Duke University NGO Research Guide
  A list of hyperlinked NGOs by region, affiliation, and country.
  
• Alternet
  AlterNet is an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of hundreds of other independent media sources. AlterNet's aim is to inspire action and advocacy on the environment, human rights and civil liberties, social justice, media, health care issues, and more. Since its inception in 1998, AlterNet.org has grown dramatically to keep pace with the public demand for independent news.