Globalization:  A Research Guide to Resources in the Princeton University Library
 
Government Documents  1.  U.S. Government Documents
2.  United Nations Documents
3.  European /Unioin Documents
4.  Declassified Documents
1.  United States Government Documents
The United States Government Documents Collections at Princeton are especially strong and provide much useful primary documentation for the study of Globalization.  Some of the highlights of documents available here include the following.  See the U.S. Documents Collection homepage for more detail. 
  • Congressional Debate is found in the Congressional Record, currrent in SSRC; check main catalog for  locations of electronic and paper back files.
  • Hearings before committees of the Congress are found indexed in CIS Congressional Index.  A few are found  there in electronic format, but nearly all can be found in paper under the SuDoc number from the 96th Congress (1979) to present in the Social Science Reference Center.  Prior to 1979, paper copies are individually cataloged in the main catalog under the committee and the title of the hearing.
  • Bills before the Congress are found in Lexis, CIS Congressional Index, and CQ Index. For those prior to these services, many are found on a microfiche set in SSRC.
  • Laws as passed are found in U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News and Statutes at Large in SSRC. Also Lexis and WestLaw.
  • Laws integrated into the U.S. Code are found in the U.S.Code Annotated and in U.S. Code in SSRC; also Lexis and WestLaw
  • Proposed regulations are found in the Federal Register in SF in SSRC; also Lexis and Westlaw
  • Regulations and interpretations of law are found in the Code of Federal Regulations in SSRC; also Lexis and Westlaw.
  • Agencies of the U.S. Government have extensive documentation on their official web sites.  Additional and  prior documentation can be found in the U.S. Documents Collection at Princeton.  Before 1979 U.S Documents at Princeton were cataloged and can be found in the Main and Supplementary catalogs.  Check  the Monthly Catalog of U.S. government Documents for headings where they can be located.

    • 2.  United Nations Documents
    The United Nations Collection in the Princeton University Library provides broad and thorough coverageof the work of both the United Nations and its precedesor agencies including the League of Nations. See the UN Collection homepage for details and access. The World Trade Organization, an external agency of the United Nations, has been the focus of much intense debate and acts of civil disobedience concerning Globalization. For many years Princeton was a Depository Library for GATT, the forerunner of WTO.  Much primary documentation from these agencies is available here at Princeton.  Talk to the UN Documents Librarian in the Social Science Reference Center on A Floor of Firestone Libary for help with this material. 

    3.  European Union Documents
    The creation and functioning of the European Union is arguably the most ambitious experiement in globalization ever undertaken  From its rather timid beginning with the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, treaty by treaty, the various stages have moved over the last fifty years to a Europe whose borders are becoming increasingly transparent, in many different ways. The Coal and Steel Community treaty provided the first multinational legal foundation for integrating several national economies through establishing common rules for managing the European core industries of coal and steel  The treaty established rules which were implemented by an innovative decision-making structure that was the forerunner of today's European Union.  The Treaty of European Union in 1993 formally created the modern structure in place today. Princeton University Library is a depository collection for the publications of the European Union.  Contact the Law and European Union Librarian in the Social Science Reference Center on A Floor of Firestone Libary for help with this material. 

    4.  Declassified Documents.
    Government documents which were restricted in their original distribution through being classified as Secret, Confidential, or Restricted are often especially useful for looking at the roots of globalization, once they have become declassified.  Several access points are available at Princeton to locate such materials. 
    • Declassified Documents is an index found on the Library web page and in paper in SSRC.  The text of documents indexed is found either full text on the web or in a microfiche set in SSRC.  
    • University Publications of America micropublishes many formerly restricted documents of the U.S. and other governments.  To find these materials, Princeton's  Main Catalog can be searched under Guided Mode, set search limit to Format - Microformat, use University Publications of America as a phrase, and then use the geographic area such as Latin America or a country name, or, use the word Confidential.  A paper catalog can also be studied from the Social Science Reference Desk to identify and locate these materials.

    Back to GLOBALIZATION Page
    Page last updated  4 August 2003 in the Social Science Reference Center of Princeton University Library.