Research Guides: Countries & Cultures: Learning About Countries & Cultures

Start with Background Reading

Use the Gale eBooks database (link is below) to find short overview articles on topics related to your research.

Some recommended search terms:

the name of your specific country or culture
ethnology encyclopedias
manners and customs
ethnicity united states
cultural assimilation
social life and customs - Put this subject term after names of specific countries, cities, etc. and under classes of people and ethnic groups (for example, Asia social life and customs or African Americans social life and customs
civilization - Put this term after the name of a specific country (for example, iran civilization

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Use this database for preliminary reading as you start your research. You'll learn about your topic by reading authoritative topic overviews on a wide variety of subjects.

Recommended Databases for Further Research

All of these databases are free for you to use. If you are working from off campus, simply login like you do for your MJC email and Canvas courses.

Gale In Context: Global Issues This link opens in a new window
Countries in the News (World News Digest) This link opens in a new window
CountryWatch This link opens in a new window
World Folklore and Folklife This link opens in a new window
EBSCOhost Databases This link opens in a new window
Gale Databases This link opens in a new window

Selected Websites

Country Studies
Produced by The Library of Congress this site presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world.
The World Factbook
Use this Central Intelligence Agency publication to find information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities.
BBC News Country Profiles
BBC News Country Profiles "provide an instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries, territories, and international organizations." Provides related news reports, a chronology of key events, leaders and media.

Google Scholar:

Use Google Scholar to find scholarly information on the Web.

Recommended Library eBooks

Cite Your Sources

Your instructor should tell you which citation style they want you to use. Click on the appropriate link below to learn how to format your paper and cite your sources according to a particular style.