A Incomplete List of Research Resource From Thea

As promised the other day, here I assembled some accessible websites for your research into your future topics for MUN preparation.

VERY IMPORTANT! Read before you go on.

A. Before you start checking these resources, I strongly recommend you make a list of things you already know regarding your committee and topic. Try to find different views and positions on your topic as you begin, and wait till you finish your research to form a final view or position about it to avoid stereotypes and prejudice.

B. I KNOW how hard it is to find info in China, and unfortunately some of the best free resources available can be a bit hard to access from here.(And you guys keep asking me and telling me about it in every lecture I give.) So I think it is reasonable and logical to recommend a low-cost but quite reliable VPN called Ifly. It was developed by Google and the monthly fee is 30 RMB without limits on data trafficking. All you need to do is to download a Chrome browser and install the VPN and create your own account. You can look into the app here and instructions for installation: https://ucenter2.me/order/create .

OK, here we go!

1. for general research into your country:

a. The CIA World Factbook managed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Free access can be found at http://www.cia.gov/library/ You can always get a book or Google the keywords as well.

b. The Background Notes published by the U.S. Department of State, accessible at http://www.state.gov/r.pa.ei.bgn

c. To find the permanent mission of your country to the United Nations, go to http://www.un.it

d. The United Nations Bibliographic Information System is a great place to find your country’s voting records and speeches in the UN.

e. also check news and media sources for recent development in your country, but remember what I said: check multiple sources of the news and learn a holistic view about an issue before your come to any conclusions.

2. for researches into your committee:

a. visit www.un.org

b. visit the homepage of your respective committees (better through Google)

3. for researches into your topic:

a. look into the past resolutions on your topic through www.un.org

b. more comprehensive info can be found using the UN Bibliographic Information Systems(UNBISNET)

c. if you need numbers and statistics to back your position, look at The Nation Master at www.nationmaster.com

d. also check the UN Global Issue page, which has an index of prominent issues as well as a list of agencies that work in various issues at http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/

e. visit the websites of NGOs that address your topic

f. if you still have time, read some academic publications, like journals, that concerns your topic

So I hope you are not overloaded by the information I provided. Do not worry if there is too much to look into, form your own list of research resources based on my recommendation and stick to it, that way you’ll get the most from this long list of recommendations. Also browse the MUN pages of Harvard, North America, Chicago University, Stanford and anywhere you feel necessary, to have a basic understanding of MUN before you dive into the “sea of information”!!!

Always glad to share with you, and I will try my best to try to update you with more info and resource.

Best wishes on your research and MUN!

Thea.