WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
To facilitate and orient your research in peace and conflict issues, international relations, or current affairs generally, try the WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources (http://www2.etown.edu/vl/), a cost-free website directory that has been part of the WWW Virtual Library system since 1999, with over 2000 carefully selected, annotated links to quality, cost-free English-language resources in 35 international affairs categories. It is frequently maintained and is of practical use to students, professors, and professional researchers, among others. This site is linked on thousands of library, university, governmental, military, NGO, and IGO websites and has received recommendations from many academic organizations.
This Virtual library is very highly ranked under the search terms "international affairs" (Top Ten), "international relations," "international studies," “virtual library,” and many related terms on major search engines such as Yahoo!, Google, MSN, Bing, and AOL Search. Individual pages have recently been similarly highly ranked, in the Top Ten or Twenty, under their relevant search terms
It is wise to avoid the "Google search trap" (relying solely on Google to find search results). No search engine indexes more than a small fraction of the Internet, and most do not succeed well at retrieving valuable studies within large sites or databanks such as those of the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, or the World Bank. This shortcoming holds true particularly when general search terms are used. Use of a quality directory supplements search engine results by helping researchers to locate websites with cost-free, authoritative information and analysis online. Search is then continued within such key organizational sites.
The Virtual Library’s index page features sources and tips for systematic and thorough online research in international affairs, going far beyond the usual mere use of the major search engines. For example, the practice of using rather little-known limited area or specialized search engines is recommended, to search only within the numerous sites covering one’s topic of interest. Key international affairs databanks and repositories of professional papers are also identified.
Professor Wayne A. Selcher
Editor, WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources <http://www2.etown.edu/vl/>
Professor Wayne A. Selcher, Ph.D.
Professor of International Studies Emeritus
Department of Politics, Philosophy, and Legal Studies
Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania 17022-2298
