Lafayette College Library

Indexes for finding scholarly articles 

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Coverage: 1975-present
Index of articles on political science and related fields, including international relations, law, and public policy. An important source for locating scholarly sources on foreign affairs.

Historical Abstracts

Coverage: 1954-present
Database indexing journal articles, book reviews, and dissertations on history. Covers the history of the world (1450 to present) except for the U.S. and Canada.

Scholarly journals

When you're searching Worldwide Political Science Abstracts or other databases, be on the look out for articles from these scholarly journals, all of which are available at Skillman or Kirby.

• International Journal of Middle East Studies
• Israel Studies
• Israel Studies Forum
• Middle East Journal
• Middle East Policy

Books in Skillman and Kirby

Books on the Middle East tend to be in the DS call number area in Kirby and in DS and 956 in Skillman. To find a listing of books available, use the Lafayette Library Catalog and begin with a keyword search or try subject searches for the following topics:

• Arab-Israeli conflict


• [country or region] -- foreign relations -- [country or region]
  e.g.: Israel -- Foreign relations -- Iran


• [country] -- politics and government
  e.g.: Syria -- Politics and government


• [country] -- religion and state
  e.g.: Israel -- Religion and state

Reference sources

Encyclopedia of Islam

Skillman Ref DS35.53 .E53 1987x

Encyclopedia Judaica

Second edition (2007) of a scholarly encyclopedia covering Jewish history and culture.

Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Kirby Ref DS119.7 .E5653 2008

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa

Skillman Ref DS43 .E53 2004

Oxford Islamic Studies Online

Collection of works on Islam and the Islamic world. Includes scholarly encyclopedia articles, Qur'anic materials, and primary sources.

Current awareness and news

Forward

Weekly newspaper from the U.S. covering items of interest to the Jewish community.

Ha'aretz

Hebrew newspaper from Tel Aviv

Jerusalem Post

English daily newspaper from Israel

Jerusalem Report

Bi-weekly magazine with international coverage and commentary on issues and events pertaining to Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world.

LexisNexis Academic

A database of the full text of hundreds of newspapers, including many international titles. For international news sources, from the News search form choose Non-US Newspapers and Wires or Non-English Language News.

World News Connection

Database of news and information gathered from non-U.S. newspapers, wire services and news broadcasts and translated into English. Materials go back to about 1994. Older materials are available from a microfiche collection; ask a librarian for assistance.

New York Times historical backfile

Cover-to-cover, full image backfile of the New York Times from the first issue through 2005. (For an electronic version of articles from 2005 forward, use LexisNexis Academic.)

Washington Post historical backfile

Cover-to-cover, full image backfile of the Washington Post from the first issue through 1992. (For an electronic version of articles from 1992 forward, use LexisNexis Academic.)

Sources for locating primary materials

The Contemporary Middle East: A Documentary History

Skillman DS42 .F44 2008

Historic Documents of ...

Skillman Ref E839.5 .H57
Annual collection of primary source documents covering 1972 through 2007.

Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict

Skillman DS119.7 .I8256 2008

Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings

Skillman DS126.5 .I784 2008

MEMRI: Middle East Media Research Institute

English translations of Middle Eastern media ("special dispatches") plus analysis of media reports ("inquiry and analysis").

The Middle East, 1914-1979

Skillman 956 M6274

MiddleEast Web: Middle East History and Resources

Collection of reports, policy statements, agreements, and other documents relating to the Israel/Palestine conflict from 1915 to the present day.

Guides for citing sources

Chicago Style Citation Quick Guide

Examples of citations for various types of materials written in Chicago style.

Research assistance 

For assistance in finding research material for this course, contact:
Terese Heidenwolf
125 Skillman Library
610-330-5153
heidenwt@lafayette.edu Or consult another reference librarian at Skillman.