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International Team Project: Cuba Research Checklist

Introduction

This is a selective list of resources prepared for students participating in the International Team Project: Cuba course at Northwestern Law in the Spring 2004 semester.

Also use the Conduct Research portion of the law library web site. In particular, see the Foreign and Comparative and International sections.

Contents

Key to call number locations:

  • I,REF = international reference area, 3rd floor of Rubloff
  • I,PER = international and comparative law journals, 2nd floor of Rubloff
  • I,MON = international and comparative law monographs, 3rd floor of Rubloff
  • PER = general law journals, shelving area to south of grand staircase, 2nd floor of Rubloff
  • R,REF = reference room, 2nd floor of Rubloff
  • REF = shelving area under grand staircase, 2nd floor of Rubloff
  • Sp.Cub = the old call number for Cuba, located on the basement level of the Coon Library, closed stacks; see librarian
  • N,NCB = the new location symbol for Cuba, 3rd floor of Rubloff
  • D,USG = U.S. government publications, 3rd floor of Rubloff
  • MAIN Reference = the Northwestern University Library Reference Room, in Evanston

General Country Information

  • Europa World Year Book I,REF JN 1 .E84 2004Online version Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community also available.
  • Political Handbook of the World I,REF JF 37 .P63 2005/2006
  • World Factbook I,REF G 122 .U56a 2004

    Also available via the Internet.

  • Encyclopaedia Britannica R,REF AE 5 .E363 2002

    Information on Cuba also available through Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community .

  • Background Note: Cuba. U.S. Dept. of State. (last updated August 2004)
  • Cuba, a Country Study. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress; ed. by Rex A. Hudson. 4th ed. 2002.

    N,NCB F 1758 .C94875 2002

Selected web sites for Cuba

Latin American Studies

Civil Law Legal Systems in General

  • University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, World Legal Systems world map showing legal traditions followed by each country.
  • Apple, James G. and Robert P. Deyling, A Primer on the Civil-Law System (Federal Judicial Center, 1995). This 70-page work, written for lawyers and judges, includes treatment of history, the civil law system as it functions today, and a comparison with common law.

    D,USG JU13.2:C49z, also available online.

  • Bruno, Phillippe, "The Common Law From a Civil Lawyer's Perspective," in Danner & Bernal, eds., Introduction to Foreign Legal Systems (Oceana, 1994), pages 1-13.

    I,REF K 561 .I58 1994

  • Merryman, John Henry, ed., The Civil Law Tradition: An Introduction to the Legal Systems of Western Europe and Latin America (Stanford University Press, 2nd ed. 1985). This short work (168 pages) is a classic.

    I,MON K 585 .M467 1985

  • Zaphiriou, George A., "Introduction to Civil Law Systems," in Danner & Bernal, eds., Introduction to Foreign Legal Systems (Oceana, 1994), pages 48-55.

    I,REF K 561 .I58 1994

Law and Legal System of Cuba

Note: The law library does not collect materials for Latin American countries in Spanish. Some regional organization material is collected.

  • Reynolds and Flores. Foreign Law: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation in Jurisdictions of the World. Includes background on the legal system and legal publication, as well as citations to laws on particular topics and English language translations. An indispensable source for foreign law research.

    Print copy shelved in Foreign Law Office.

    Also available via the Internet Must be used within Northwestern Law buildings .

  • Legal Systems of the World: A Political, Social, and Cultural Encyclopedia. Vol. 1, pages 395-403.

    I, REF K 48 .L44 2002

  • Law and Judicial Systems of Nations, pages 123-125.

    I, REF K 583 .L375 2002

  • Cuba Law Digest, in Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest. Digest of various areas of substantive law, especially useful for company, corporate, and tax law.

    I,REF K 68 .M37

    Also available on LexisNexis Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community (INTDIG file)

  • Guide to Law Online: CubaLaw Library of Congress. Includes links to both legal and non-legal resources.
  • Código Penal de Cuba. From Jurist.
  • Evenson, Debra. Revolution in the Balance: Law and Society in Contemporary Cuba. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2d ed. 2003.

    N,NCB KGN 327 .E93 2003

  • Travieso-Diaz, Matias F. The Laws and Legal System of a Free-Market Cuba: A Prospectus for Business. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books, 1997.

    N,NCB KGN 333 .B86T73 1997

  • Travieso-Diaz, Matias F. and S. R. Escobar, "Cuba's Transition to a Free-Market Democracy: A Survey of Desired Changes to Laws and Legal Institutions." 5 Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law 379 (1995) Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community .

    Also in print: I,PER K 4 .U44

  • Clark, Gerald J., "The Legal Profession in Cuba." 23 Suffolk Transnational Law Review 413 (2000) Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community .

    Also in print: I,PER K 23 .U492

  • The Constitution of the Republic of Cuba as amended to July 10-12, 1992, is reprinted in English translation and in Spanish in Constitutions of the Countries of the World, vol. 5.

    I,MON K 3157 .A2B58 1971

    The 1976 constitution, the 1976 constitution with 1992 Reforms, and the 2002 Constitutional Amendment may be found, in Spanish, in the Cuba constitutions page of the Political Database of the Americas.

  • Zagaris, Bruce and Jay Rosenthal, "A Selected Bibliography on the Cuban Legal System, 1959-1983." Includes "Recent Developments" update, 1995. Modern Legal Systems Cyclopedia, vol. 7, pages 7.120.5 to 7.120.33.

    I,REF K 48 .M62 1988 (loose-leaf)

Recent Symposia on Cuba Legal Issues

Finding Books on Cuba

  • Szladits' Bibliography on Foreign and Comparative Law: Books and Articles in EnglishThrough the supplement for 1989-90 it provided references to books, journal articles, and essays published in collections, in English. It included a section citing to the texts of laws (including constitutions) in translation, published in both books and articles. This index now covers only books, not periodical articles. Statutes are now usually excluded.

    I,REF K 38 .S94 1955 and supplements

    I,REF K 38 .S94 1990

    I,REF K 38 .S94 1995/1996

    I,REF K 38 .S94 1997/1998

  • To find books at Northwestern University:NUcat, the catalog of Northwestern University libraries, provides various ways to find books on a topic. These include searching by keyword (for which there are several methods) and searching by subject (using Library of Congress subject headings).

    (Note: NUcat can be used to find out whether the library owns a particular periodical, but it is not used for finding articles within periodicals; for this, you use a periodical index, described in the following section.)"Guided Search" tab: It is sometimes easiest to start with a "guided" search, using words or phrases that are likely to appear in the record for a relevant book. From the NUcat screen, click on the "Guided Search" tab. Guided searches allow you to search for words or phrases in specific parts of the bibliographic record (e.g., author, title, subject) or as keywords; to use connectors (e.g., and, or); and to limit your search (e.g., by location, date, language). The search screen is set up in such a way as to guide you through the search formulation process and minimize the amount of typing. Searching in "keyword anywhere" is usually the best."Search" tab: Keyword searching is also available under the "Search" tab by clicking on "keyword search" or "keyword phrase search." You must formulate and type in the search, both terms and connector, yourself. Some examples of "Keyword" searches are:

    constitution? and cuba

    cuba and (law? or legal)

    Once you have found a relevant book, you can look at the record in "long view" to find the Library of Congress subject headings for the book. You can then do a subject search by clicking on the link. This will sometimes retrieve additional relevant books that were not found by the keyword search. You may also do a subject heading search from the "Search" tab by choosing "Subject Heading." An example of a Library of Congress subject heading is:
    Land tenure--Cuba
    Note: Materials on the law of a particular country on a particular subject might be found either in books devoted to the jurisdiction or in materials devoted to the subject. An example of a work classified (i.e., shelved) by jurisdiction is:
    1982 Cuban joint venture law N,NCB KGN 1307 .P47 1985
    Examples of books and looseleaf services, etc., on a specific subject, which include discussion of more than one jurisdiction:
    Constitutions of the Countries of the World I,MON K 3157 .A2B58 1971-Copyright Laws and Treaties of the World I,MON K 1419.2 1956-Digest of Commercial Laws of the World I,MON K 1005.4 .D54 1996-International Encyclopaedia for Labour Law and Industrial Relations I,MON K1705.4 .I58
  • To find books at other libraries: WorldCat Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community This international database contains records from thousands of libraries.I-ShareThis database contains records for many Illinois libraries.

    The library catalogs of many other institutions may be accessed via our law library catalogs and homepages page.

Finding Articles: Legal Topics

  • LegalTrac Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Current Law Index R,REF K 33 .C87LexisNexis Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community : Legal Resource Index (LAWREV;LGLIND) Westlaw : Legal Resource Index (LRI) Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community The most comprehensive periodical index for U.S. legal research, this index, which began in 1980, can also be used to find articles on international and comparative law topics. It covers more than 850 journals from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and Australia.
  • Current Index to Legal Periodicals (most recent five issues) Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Current Index to Legal Periodicals R,REF K33 .C865Westlaw Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community : CILP database (most recent eight issues)

    A current awareness service, published weekly by the University of Washington law library. More up-to-date than LegalTrac.

  • Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals I,REF K 33 .I529

    This index, which began in 1960, covers more than 550 selected legal periodicals, most of which are published outside of the United States, as well as collections of essays, dealing with international law (both public and private), comparative law, and the domestic law of countries worldwide. It does not attempt to cover the legal systems of the United States, the British Isles, and the British Commonwealth. The web version covers 1985 onward.

Finding Articles, Papers, Proceedings, etc.: Non-Legal Topics

Resources covering more than one topic

  • Handbook of Latin American Studies. Law Library of Congress

    In print: Main Reference (non-circulating) 016.98 H236

    A selective, annotated bibliography of scholarly works on Latin America. Covers books, journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers in the disciplines of anthropology, art, economics, geography, government and politics, history, international relations, literature, music, philosophy, and sociology.

  • PAIS International (1972 - present) Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community and PAIS International Archive (1937-1976) Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community PAIS International in Print REF Z 7163 .P9223

    Published by Public Affairs Information Service. Indexes and abstracts public and social policy literature published in over 120 countries. Includes such areas as economics, finance, law, education, the military, political science, public administration, international law and relations, the environment, and demography. The materials indexed include journal articles, books, reports of governmental, private, and intergovernmental organizations, statistical directories, research reports, conference reports, selected microfiche, and selected Internet resources originally published in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.

  • CIAO: Columbia International Affairs Online Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community Citations, abstracts, and selected full-text articles covering topics in international affairs, collected largely from university- and foundation-funded research institutes, non-governmental organizations, and academic conferences. Includes working papers, conference proceedings, journal and book abstracts, and links to related resources.
  • OxResearch Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community Short articles by Oxford Analytica in the areas of business and management, economics, and political science.
  • EXAC (Expanded Academic ASAP) Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community An online index to articles in more than 1,000 periodicals covering the social sciences, the humanities, the sciences, and current affairs.
  • Web of Science Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community Contains three individual databases, which may be searched separately or simultaneously: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index. Social Sciences Citation Index covers anthropology, history, industrial relations, law, linguistics, psychology, psychiatry, political science, public health, social issues, sociology, substance abuse, urban studies, women's studies.
  • FirstSearch Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Includes a number of databases that index articles, papers, and proceedings in a variety of subject areas. A few of the individual databases are listed below:
    • ArticleFirst Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Index of articles from 12,500 journals in business, the humanities, social sciences, popular culture, science, technology, and medicine, from 1990 onwards. Some entries have abstracts; some have full-text.
    • Contemporary Women's Issues Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community "Citations and full-text access to global information on women from journals, newsletters, and research reports."
    • EconLit Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Citations and selected abstracts to articles from more than 400 economics journals.
    • ProceedingsFirst Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Index of conference proceedings.
    • Wilson Select Plus Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Citations, abstracts, and full-text articles from over 850 periodicals indexed in Reader's Guide Abstracts, Social Sciences Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, General Science Abstracts, and Wilson Business Abstracts, 1994- .

Finding Dissertations

Dissertations Abstracts database. "Citations and abstracts for doctoral dissertations, and some master's theses, from accredited North American colleges and universities and some international universities." Available from the following:

  • ProQuest Dissertations and Theses: Full Text Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community Entries for more than 2 million doctoral dissertations and master's theses. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350-word abstracts written by the author. Master's theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. More than 600,000 dissertations and theses are available in native or image PDF formats for immediate free download.
  • Dissertations Abstracts OnlineWestlaw (DAO) Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community

Finding Statistics

  • LexisNexis Statistical Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community Indexes statistical information from a variety of sources, including the United States government, research firms, trade associations, university studies, and international agencies.
  • NationMaster.com: Cuba
  • OFFStats: Official Statistics on the Web. From the University of Auckland Library, this site "lists web sites offering free and easily accessible social, economic and general data from official or similar 'quotable' sources, especially those that provide both current data and time series."

News: General, Legal, and Business

International Business Resources

  • See our web site's International Trade, Business, and Economic Law page.
  • ABI/INFORM Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community Business and management index. Citations and abstracts of articles from more than 1,300 journals, including over 350 English-language international sources. Full-text articles from over 600 selected sources.Westlaw Available from anywhere to members of the Northwestern Law community : ABI-INFORM (ABI/Inform (R) (DIALOG)) and ABI-INFORM Current (ABI/Inform (R) - Current (DIALOG))
  • Business Source Premier Available from anywhere to all members of the Northwestern University community "[P]rovides nearly 3,300 full-text scholarly publications, including more than 1,000 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to the full-text, this database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 4,100 journals. This database offers information in nearly every area of business including management, economics, finance, accounting, international business, and more."
  • GlobalEDGE (TM) Resource Desk. Michigan State University.

International Organizations

Regional Organizations of Which Cuba Is a Member

Additional Resources for Special Topics

 
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