Library Guides: Nigeria: Post-Colonial History, Politics, Life and Culture: Background Information

Overview

While West African history and culture have not been areas of major study at Notre Dame in the past, the Hesburgh Libraries do have and are collecting many resources that will be of value in such study. These include general purpose and subject specific databases for scholarly, popular, and journalistic publications; collections of government publications and monographs on general and specific themes related to Nigeria.

Getting Started

These resources will provide background information or context for your project or paper. They will also assist you in identifying key themes, participants, and events as you focus your research.

Themes and Issues

Gale in context. Global issues (formerly Global issues in context) This link opens in a new window
Focuses on broad issues, such as war, genocide, terrorism, human rights, poverty, famine, globalization, world trade, nuclear proliferation, and global warming, as well as more specific events and topics in the news that are related to these broader issues.
CQ researcher This link opens in a new window
Covers the most current and controversial issues of the day with summaries, pros and cons, bibliographies and more, with a United States focus.

Nigeria

The World Factbook by The United States Central Intelligence Agency
Provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.

Economist Intelligence Unit This link opens in a new window
From the top menu bar, select "Country" and then "Nigeria." This source highly valued, reliable analysis of current economic, political and social conditions.
Political risk yearbook This link opens in a new window
"Political Risk Services (PRS) publishes 100 Country Reports that monitor the risks to international business over the next five years, using Coplin-O'Leary methodology."--Home page

To retrieve a "country report"
- Select "Nigeria" from dropdown menu.
- Select "Download PDF" option.
- Select "Select."

International year book and statesmen's who's who This link opens in a new window
Includes information on countries, territories and federal states; significant international and national organizations; and biographical profiles of significant people.

Political Handbook of the World (2015)
Political Handbook of the World provides thorough and accurate information on the major aspects of each country's government and political party system.

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Guides, etc.

General Interest

Encyclopedia Britannica online This link opens in a new window
Consists of a fully searchable and browsable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest article database, articles not yet in the print Britannica encyclopedia, Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (tenth edition), and the Britannica book of the year.
Oxford handbooks online. Political science This link opens in a new window
"Handbooks contain in-depth articles by scholars at the top of their field. Each chapter surveys contemporary debates in a particular area, offering critical analysis and influential research on the future of the field."

Peace & Conflict

Oxford international encyclopedia of peace This link opens in a new window
An authoritative survey of issues related to peace making, peace keeping and peace building.
Encyclopedia of war This link opens in a new window
Provides an overview of important events, people, and terms associated with warfare, from the Punic Wars to the Mongol conquest of China and the War on Terror; from the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman 'the Magnificent' to the Soviet Military Commander, Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov, and from the crossbow to chemical warfare.

Encyclopaedia of War, Peace and Global Security
Call Number: JZ 5588 .E53 2005
ISBN: 8126121513

Sustainability

World Atlas of Sustainable Development
Call Number: HC 79 .E5 S237 2005

Sustainable Development Handbook
Sustainable development is a concept that incorporates energy, urban management, environmental objectives, policy integration, and the idea that effective solutions can be achieved in a cooperative manner with concerted effort.

Handbook of Research on Sustainable Development and Economics by Ken D. Thomas (Editor)
ISBN: 9781466684348
Publication Date: 2015-04-30
The Handbook of Research on Sustainable Development and Economics explores topics such as poverty, gender equality, health, security, and the environment through global empirical studies and fundamental frameworks.
Race for Sustainability by Ken Hickson
ISBN: 9789814571364
Publication Date: 2013-10-04
This book looks at the sustainable issues and the accompanying opportunities, and leads readers on a fast track to clear the air and drive to a sustainable, low-carbon future.

Other Issues

Encyclopedia of global justice
Addresses "the moral consequences of global interdependence and understanding the concepts and arguments that shed light on the myriad aspects of global justice."
The encyclopedia of global human migration
"Provides a complete exploration of the prominent themes, events, and theoretical underpinnings of the movements of human populations from prehistory to the present day."
Border disputes : a global encyclopedia
"This three-volume set provides broad coverage of approximately 80 current international border disputes and conflicts"

Statistics and Data Sets

United Nations Statistics Division
Compiles and disseminates global statistical information, develop standards and norms for statistical activities, and supports countries' efforts to strengthen their national statistical systems.
UNESCO Statistics (Themes Portal)
provides internationally comparable and reliable data that reflect a selection of major cultural industries and practices. From site The FBI’s UCR Program is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort of more than 18,000 city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily reporting data on crimes brought to their attention.
Human Development Reports
From the UN Development Programme. Annual data on development, by country, including measures of equality, education, health, environmental sustainability, and more.

International Historical Statistics (ebook) This link opens in a new window
Collection of statistical data from around the world, covering a wide range of socio-economic topics. Covering the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

World Development Indicators
The World Development Indicators' DataBank is an analysis and visualization tool that contains collections of time series data on a variety of topics. You can create your own queries; generate tables, charts, and maps; and easily save, embed, and share them.
World Bank Data
Free and open access to global development data

International financial statistics online service This link opens in a new window
The IFS searchable database contains approximately 32,000 time series covering more than 200 countries starting in 1948.
OECD iLibrary This link opens in a new window
Online library for books, papers and reports published by OECD and the gateway to OECD’s analysis and data. Formerly known as SourceOECD.
World Christian database This link opens in a new window
WCD includes detailed information on 9,000 Christian denominations and on religions in every country of the world.
World religion database This link opens in a new window
"... WRD contains detailed statistics on religious affiliation for every country of the world. It provides source material, including censuses and surveys, as well as best estimates for every religion to offer a definitive picture of international religious demography."

World Values Survey
The World Values Survey (www.worldvaluessurvey.org) is a global network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life. ... The WVS seeks to help scientists and policy makers understand changes in the beliefs, values and motivations of people throughout the world.

Atlases and Maps

Online

Regional Atlas on West Africa
Nigeria in the context of West Africa
Paris : OECD Publishing 2009
United Nations Cartographic Section
Maps and geographic information resources.
Atlas of Global Development
The "... revised and updated fourth edition of the Atlas of Global Development is a comprehensive guide to the most critical issues facing our changing world today."
Google Earth
From Google, requires Google Chrome and does not allow printing. Google Earth is a geobrowser that accesses satellite and aerial imagery, ocean bathymetry, and other geographic data over the internet to represent the Earth as a three-dimensional globe.

Print Atlases

The Hesburgh Libraries have atlases for almost any subject you might need. They are listed in the NDCatalog and located in the:

Hesburgh Library Reference Collection in Oversized Cases
Hesburgh Library General Collection (Lower Level) in the G 1000s
Kellogg Kroc Library (318 Hesburgh Center) - duplicates of titles in the Hesburgh Library
Please note that some atlases are not in the G (geography / atlas) classification. They may be found in the General Collection.