Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies News

MEL’s Database of the Week for 10/30

October 30th, 2009

Welcome to Database of the Week — a feature from the Management & Economics Library (MEL).  These weekly database snapshots will give you basic information about our most relevant and beneficial online resources.

This Week’s Featured Database: CountryWatch, from CountryWatch, Inc.

Link: www.lib.purdue.edu/mel, in the pull down Quick Access to Business Databases alpha list right below our banner.

Description/focus: CountryWatch provides up-to-date news and information on each of the recognized countries of the world.

Start with this hint: On your own you should explore the features listed on the left side of the home page, especially CountryWatch Data and Country Wire, but access to the main value of the database begins with Country Review.  Select a country from the dropdown list and the resulting page is the “Country Overview,” a very brief sketch of the country’s basic information.  Each of the links on the left, however, leads to a detailed report on that topic in that country.  For example, if you select Pakistan, the section on “Political Conditions” is a nearly 60 page report and includes updates from just two weeks ago. Any topic that includes “Index” in the title will lead to a comparison chart with the ratings or rankings of all countries.  This is also true of some other listings, such as “Control of Corruption.”

Why you should know this database: Each CountryWatch listing includes economic information, information on the investment climate, social and political information, and an environmental overview.   The Bibliography provides titles of books as well as links to both U.S. and international sources of information.

How this database can be integrated into the curriculum: At the top of the CountryWatch home page is the link for More search features.  Students can compare countries for a product such as cotton, or subject such as taxation, or a concept such as child labor.

Cost: Paid by the Libraries annually.

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Database of the Week comes to you from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). Our intent is to give you a brief introduction to a database that you may not know.  If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact kranlib@purdue.edu.  Database of the Week is archived  at https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/category/mgmt/database/.  For more Purdue Libraries news, follow us on Twitter (@PurdueLibraries).

If you would like us to promote your favorite database, send an email to mdugan@purdue.edu.