LibGuides: Global Studies 196B (Mansour, Winter 2025): Databases of Interest

Introduction

Below, we've curated a selection of databases that may be helpful in your research project. This list is not exhaustive and should serve as a starting point. To find additional databases that are more specific to your research, visit the UCSB Library website or reach out to your librarian. Many of these are restricted to UCSB affiliates and will require being logged in to the VPN if you are off-campus.

Find Background Information

Policy Commons
Policy Commons is a one-stop community platform for objective, fact-based research with more than 25 million pages of curated, high quality policy reports, briefs, analyses, working papers, and datasets from the world’s leading policy experts, nonpartisan think tanks, IGOs and NGOs.
Columbia Gazetteer of the World This link opens in a new window
Database of names, descriptions, and characteristics of over 165,000 places in the world. Includes information on the political world, the physical world, and special places.
Includes:
- The political world: major geographic regions, counties, provinces, regions, states, districts, capitals, cities, town, villages, neighborhoods, special districts.
- The physical world: continents, oceans, seas, gulfs, lakes, lagoons, rivers, bays, inlets, channels, streams, islands, archipelagos, peninsulas, atolls, mountains, mountain ranges, canyons, deserts, valleys, glaciers, volcanoes.
- Special places: national parks, reserves and monuments, historic and archeological sites, resorts, airports, ports, dams, nuclear plants, mines, canals, shopping malls, theme parks, stadia, military bases, fortified lines, mythic places.

CIA World Factbook This link opens in a new window
Annually updated collection of basic intelligence information on the countries of the world as compiled by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Contains information on the people, economy, geography and environment, communication, transportation and military of each country, as available.
Global Think Tanks (via Policy Commons)
A collection of objective, fact-based research from the world’s leading policy experts, think tanks, IGOs and NGOs: policy reports, briefs, analyses, working papers, and datasets.
Environment Index This link opens in a new window
Offers deep coverage in applicable areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more.
Formerly known as Environmental Issues & Policy Index and Environmental Knowledgebase
Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window
Covers the core disciplines in Women's Studies to the latest scholarship in feminist research. Supports curriculum development in the areas of sociology, history, political science & economy, public policy, international relations, arts & humanities, business and education.
WSI combines ten files, including
- Women Studies Abstracts
- Women's Studies Bibliography and Database
- Women's Studies Database
- Women Studies Librarian
- MEDLINE Subset on Women
- Women of Color and Southern Women
- Women's Health and Development: An Annotated Bibliography
World Trade Organization: Trade Policy Reviews This link opens in a new window
Trade Policy Reviews analyse trade policies and practices of every member of the WTO. Reports also look into the country’s wider economic environment. Reviews consist of three main parts: an independent report by the WTO Secretariat, a report by the government, and the concluding remarks by the Chair of the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Body.
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository This link opens in a new window
The World Bank’s official open access repository for its research outputs and knowledge products. Includes academic books and practitioner volumes, Policy Research Working Papers (PRWP), findings of work in progress, Economic and Sector Work (ESW) studies, analytical reports, journal articles, and more.

Archives and more

Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
Digital collection of medieval manuscripts from libraries around the world, dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries, with a focus on accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India, and China.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Includes full text of journals and books in a wide range of subject areas. Also includes high-quality primary sources and images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more (including those from Artstor).