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University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Human Rights in a Global Context: Home

Global Studies Summer Workshop for High School Students

Library Resources at the University of Illinois

The University Library consists of many libraries and library units, but most of them come together on your computer screen.  To access "everything" you can go to the Library Gateway.  The form related to the resources you have found during our orientation session can be found at:  

Country Information Resources

• CIA World Factbook   - Open Access

"The World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, a World Oceans map, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map."

Reference Resources

Encyclopedia of Genocide - Choice Review - "...Although it gives heavy coverage to the Nazi Holocaust, the encyclopedia addresses numerous other instances of genocide. Moreover, its effort to examine the subject through the lens of numerous subtopics--e.g., definition; denial; art, literature, and film; the psychology of perpetrators and victims; detection, investigation, and prevention--creatively enriches the experience of readers. Imaginatively conceived, the encyclopedia is the handiwork of almost 100 scholars who represent a rich array of scholarly opinion.

Encylopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity - Summary description - The Encyclopedia spans the globe to explain the issues behind crimes against humanity and human rights issues as they relate to individual countries and the world at large. It traces the history of events that qualify as genocide and crimes against humanity, profiles perpetrators and heroes, and explains international laws and law proceedings aimed at ending genocide and crimes against humanity. It also delves into depictions and manifestations of the phenomenon, such as propaganda, sociological and philosophical explanations, literature and film. 

The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology - Summary description - Although not specifically related to human rights violations, contains almost 300 entries contributed by leading international scholars focusing exclusively on psychological analyses and perspectives on peace and conflict. 

Encyclopedia of Political Science - Summary description - The encyclopedia of political science comprehensively examines the central ideas, concepts, and frameworks underlying the study of politics and highlights the intersections of politics with other disciplines. Explore wide range of concepts and frameworks, both Western and non-Western, national and international. Utilize a thematic table of contents that maps major subfields and topics in politics. 

More Reference Books are available on the topic in the Social Science, Health and Education Library on the northeast side of the Main Library, Room 100.