Preparing to Intern Abroad

Note that some of the resources in this guide are Pitt subscriptions. To access those, go to https://sremote.pitt.edu and log-in with your Pitt account information. That will lead you to the University Library System's site. Once there, you can simply copy and paste a link from this guide into the Web address bar at the top of the screen.

KNOW ABOUT THE PLACE YOU'RE VISITING:

• government structure
• major current policy issues
• project background
• biographical background

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE:

State Department Resources (At least read the “Background Notes” for the Country you’ll be visiting.) http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/
CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

University of Colorado
http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/foreigngovt.htm

MAJOR CURRENT POLICY ISSUES:

Global Legal Monitor
http://www.loc.gov/law/news/glm.html
Department of State press releases
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/index.htm>>>>>
Foreign Bar Associations
http://www.ibanet.org/barassociations/bar_associations_home.aspx
Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/browse/

WHY DO THEY HAVE THE PROJECT YOU'LL BE WORKING WITH?

Public Affairs Information Service (Pitt Subscription)
http://www.library.pitt.edu/articles/database_info/pais.html
Eldis Country and Regional Profiles
http://www.eldis.org/country/index.htm
UN Library Catalog
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/unbisnet/index.html

WHAT BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION CAN YOU FIND ABOUT THE MAIN STAFF OR PROFESSORS YOU'LL WORK WITH?

Legal Professional Directories
http://www.libraryspot.com/directories/legal.htm
Look for a doctoral dissertation (Pitt subscription)
http://www.library.pitt.edu/articles/database_info/digital_diss.html
Biography Reference Bank
http://www.library.pitt.edu/articles/database_info/biorefbank.html
Look for news stories/press releases from the organization. Using Google write “site:www/wto.org Trevor clarke”
Search for names and related keywords in www.clusty.com

KNOW ABOUT POLICY ISSUES CONNECTED WITH YOUR WORK

• legal authorization
• other organizations
• public policy

WHAT LEGAL AUTHORIZATION CAN YOU FIND?
Read the organization’s press releases and see what you can find in the way of a link to “documents” or “law” on their Web site.
International Law in Brief and other ASIL publications
http://www.asil.org/electronic-publications.cfm#ilib
See if ASIL has a research guide for your topic (i.e. international environmental law.) http://www.asil.org/resource/home.htm
Search or browse according to topic in EISIL. (the Electronic Information System for International Law) http://www.eisil.org
Try Foreign Law Guide and Lexadin for national law.

ARE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS DOING WORK RELATED TO YOURS? IF SO, WHO AND WHAT?

USAID (Agency for International Development) has great reports and tells everything about current international issues in a country. Browse by country name and then click on the link to the “mission” in that country.
See if you can find a relevant government or UN report in Docuticker http://www.docuticker.com/
Browse through lists of international organizations according to region or topic
IGO’s http://www.library.northwestern.edu/libraries-collections/evanston-campus/government-information/international-documents/list-igos

NGO’s http://www.wango.org/resources.aspx?section=ngodir

DO THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC POLICY THINK TANKS HAVE ANYTHING WRITTEN ABOUT CURRENT ISSUES IN THAT COUNTRY AND THE COUNTRY'S INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS?

Brookings Institution
http://www.brook.edu/index/research.htm
Woodrow Wilson International Center
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm
Cato Institute http://www.cato.org/
Policy File http://www.policyfile.com/home.do

FIND DOCUMENTS AND VOCABULARY

• vocabulary
• organizations
• government press releases
• embassies

VOCABULARY:
International law glossaries online
http://www.law.pitt.edu/library/International/lawdictionaries
Logos foreign language dictionary
http://www.logos.it/

SEE IF A LIBRARY HAS THE DOCUMENTS YOU NEED
(types: narrative studies, data reports, and government studies)
United Nations Library http://unbisnet.un.org/
EU Commission Library http://ec.europa.eu/eclas/F
National Libraries http://www.ifla.org/VI/2/p2/national-libraries.htm
Foreign Academic Libraries http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/
Look in a librarian-written research guide  http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/index.html

EFFECTIVE INFORMATIONAL USE OF EMBASSIES:

Before you go, get a sense of how the embassy communicates, who it's connected with locally, how forthcoming they are with information...http://usembassy.state.gov/

See if the local US embassy, consulate, or diplomatic mission has a library and arrange to tour it as soon as possible. Make that librarian one of your closest local friends. Buy lunch. Find other staff names in their contacts list and then Google those people. Introduce yourself to the front desk FSO (foreign service officer) as soon as you get to town, since you’re supposed to let them know you’re there anyway, and develop the visit into a whole networking session.  Tell them everything about your internship and find out what programs, contacts, and services they have. Offer to make your self useful to them. The embassy, consulate, or diplomatic post can often get you copies of things that are otherwise impossible to obtain.

Feel free to contact our international librarian with reference questions. She'll be in touch with you to see how your trip is going.