Source: Richard Byrne, Pinterest

By Wayne A. Selcher*

To facilitate and orient your Internet research in International Relations or American Politics and Foreign Policy, try the WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources, a cost-free academic website directory that is part of the WWW Virtual Library system, 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 Internet directory gets worldwide use daily and is linked on hundreds of library, university, governmental, NGO, and IGO websites.

Prof. Wayne Selcher, at Elizabethtown College, PA, USA (Source: E-town College)

Of interest to OPEU readers are the pages for News Sources, Journals, Scholarly Papers, American Foreign Policy, Research Institutes, U.S. government sources, and topical pages, among others.

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, the United Nations, the World Bank, or major think tanks. This shortcoming holds true particularly when general search terms are used.

Use of a quality Internet directory supplements search engine results by helping users to identify authoritative, reliable, and ongoing sources of statistics, information, and analysis, worthy of regular use, rather than following the common tendency of “finding something quick.” Impatience, short attention span, and haste are the most common enemies of top-quality research results.

This 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. Rather little-known limited area or specialized search engines are 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.

* Wayne A. Selcher is the editor of the WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources and a regular columnist at OPEU. Mr. Selcher, PhD, is Professor of International Studies Emeritus, Department of Politics, Philosophy, and Legal Studies, Elizabethtown College, PA, USA. His major research interests are US foreign policy, Latin American politics and foreign policy, and Internet use in international studies teaching and research.