NDI - National Democratic Institute For International Affairs

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BASIC SEARCH INSTRUCTIONS Specifying Documents v. Web Resources Searching by Region/Country Searching by Topic/Subject Searching by Date Keyword Searching ADVANCED SEARCH INSTRUCTIONS Searching by Document Type Searching by Language Searching by Author Searching by Publisher SORTING SEARCH RESULTS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What's in the collection? How do I search for something by title? Why do some documents show up more than once in the results list? Why can't I find something I know is in the collection? What countries are in what region? How are the topics/subjects organized into categories? BASIC SEARCH The Basic Search allows you to search for documents, web resources, or both. You can search by Region/Country, Topic/Subject, Date, or Keywords, as well as any combination of the above. Specifying Documents v. Web Resources Searching by Region/Country Searching by Topic/Subject Searching by Date Keyword Searching Specifying Documents v. Web Resources Access Democracy contains both text documents and web resources. The system will default to searching both documents and web resources together, unless you specify otherwise. To limit your search to documents only, select [click in the small circle to the left of the word] "Documents" at the top of the search screen. To limit your search to web resources only, select "Web Resources" at the top of the search screen. Back to top Searching by Region/Country Access Democracy contains materials on all countries and regions where NDI has conducted programs, regardless of whether it is currently active there. Unless you specify otherwise, the system will search on all countries and regions. Countries are grouped into geographic regions (e.g. "Central and Eastern Europe", "Eurasia", "Asia", etc.), and then listed alphabetically. To search by a specific country, scroll through the list labeled "Region/Country" by clicking on the arrow to the right of the field, then clicking on the vertical scrollbar that appears. Select the country you want, and then click "Search!" To search for a particular region (e.g. "Asia" or "Southern Africa") select the region from the Region/Country list and click "Search!" Note: Searching by region will retrieve all the documents relevant to the region as a whole, as well as documents that are relevant to any of the countries within that region. For example, searching on "Asia" will retrieve documents on the Asia region, as well as Australia, Burma, China, Indonesia, etc. Selecting "all" regions/countries will retrieve every document in the database. This will take quite a while to process. Back to top Searching by Topic/Subject Materials in Access Democracy are categorized according to topic or subject. Major topics may consist of one or more subtopics. To search by a specific topic or subject, select the category (major or minor) you want from the field labeled "Topic/Subject" and click "Search!" Note: Searching on "major" categories (e.g. Elections, Governance, Women's Participation) will retrieve items relevant to the major category as well as the minor categories that appear indented below them. For example, searching on "Elections" will retrieve documents on elections generally, as well as electoral systems & law, human rights, international election monitoring, nonpartisan domestic elections, etc. Searching on a "Minor" category (e.g. "Intergovernmental Relations") will only retrieve documents relevant to the minor category. Back to top Searching by Date The date field refers either to the year in which the item was published, or the year in which an event (such as an election or coup) took place. To search by date, select a year from the "Date" list and click "Search!" Back to top Keyword Searching Keyword searching can be used to look for words that appear anywhere in the document, including the title. For web resources, using keywords also searches the abstract/description field. To perform a keyword search, enter one or more words in the keyword field and click "Search!" Back to top ADVANCED SEARCH The advanced search option allows searching by the above criteria plus language, document type, author, and publisher. Searching by Document Type Searching by Language Searching by Author Searching by Publisher Searching by Document Type Access Democracy allows you to search for a specific type of document such as a handbook, manual, press release, statement, etc. Unless otherwise specified, the system will search for all types of documents. To search by document type, select the type of document from the drop down list. Once you have specified all of your search criteria, click "Search!" Note: Selecting a document type will search for documents of that type only. You cannot search for more than one document type at a time, unless you select "All" documents from the list. Back to top Searching by Language The collection includes documents in a number of different languages, some in multiple languages. If no language is selected, the search will default to all languages. To search by language, click the check box next to the language you want to search by, and click "Search!" Note: Multiple languages can be selected for each search. To select more than one language, check the box next each language that you wish to search for. Back to top Searching by Author Both individuals and organizations are listed. Individuals are listed alphabetically by first name. Organizations are listed alphabetically by the first word (not including "The", "An", etc.) in the name of the organization. To search by author, select an author from the drop down list, and click "Search!" Back to top Searching by Publisher Publishers are listed alphabetically by the first word in the publisher's name. To search by publisher, select a publisher from the drop down list, and click "Search!" Back to top SORTING SEARCH RESULTS Search results will appear in topic/subject order. Access Democracy allows you to resort the results in the following ways: topic/subject then region/country; region/country; date; and alphabetically. Documents always appear first on the list, followed by Web resources. To sort your search results, go to the top of the results page, select from the list labeled "Sort Order" and click "Resort". When sorted by topic/subject, documents that cover multiple topics will appear first labeled "Cross Topic". Back to top FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS What's in the collection? How do I search for something by title? Why do some documents show up more than once in the results list? Why can't I find something I know is in the collection? What countries are in what region? How are the topics/subjects organized into categories? What's in the collection? Access Democracy is an internet-based collection of materials published by NDI, its partners, and other democracy practitioners worldwide. It contains over 750 items, including manuals and handbooks, reports, election statements, press releases, and links to web resources. Every item is available in full-text format. For a complete list of document types refer to "Choose the type of document you wish to retrieve" in the advanced search. Materials are available for every nation (and every area of the world) in which NDI has worked, regardless of whether NDI is currently active there. Most documents were published after 1990. New documents and links are added frequently. Back to top How do I search for something by title? To locate a document if you know the title, do a keyword search on a word or an exact phrase from the title. For example, to locate the document "Parliament's Organization: The Role of Committees and Party Whips", type the phrase "party whips" into the keyword field, and click "Search!" Back to top Why do some documents show up more than once in the results list? Documents are indexed in Access Democracy by topic/subject and region/country. For example, if a document contains information on more than one country, say Burma and Thailand, and you sort the results by region / country, the document will appear twice in the list -- once in the "Burma" section, and once under "Thailand". Back to top Why can't I find something I know is in the collection? Document may not be retrieved from Access Democracy for several reasons. If you're having trouble locating a document that you know is in the collection, try the following: Check the spelling of words used in keyword searching. Try removing one or more criteria from your search, such as author or publisher. If you're looking for a web resource, be sure you've specified "Web Resource" in your search, and vice versa. Back to top What countries are in what region? Countries are organized into the following regions: Africa: Central, East & West Africa: Southern Asia Eurasia Europe: Central and Eastern Europe: Western Latin America & the Carribean Middle East & North Africa North America Searching by region will retrieve all the documents relevant to the region as a whole, as well as documents that are relevant to any of the countries within that region. For example, searching on "Asia" will retrieve documents on the Asia region, as well as Australia, Burma, China, Indonesia, etc. Selecting "all" regions/countries will retrieve every document in the database. This will take quite a while to process. Africa: Central, East & West Benin Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Cote d'Ivoire Democratic Republic of Congo Ethiopia Gabon Gambia, The Ghana Guinea Kenya Liberia Mali Niger Nigeria Senegal Sierra Leone Togo Uganda Africa: Southern Angola Botswana Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mozambique Namibia South Africa Swaziland Zambia Zimbabwe Asia Australia Bangladesh Burma (Myanmar) Cambodia China East Timor Hong Kong India Indonesia Malaysia Nepal Pakistan Philippines Sri Lanka Taiwan Thailand Eurasia Armenia Azerbaijan Estonia Georgia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lithuania Russian Federation Turkey Ukraine Europe: Central & Eastern Albania Bosnia-Hercegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Eastern Slavonia Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Hungary Poland Romania Slovakia Yugoslavia-Kosovo Yugoslavia-Montenegro Yugoslavia-Serbia Europe: Western Austria France Germany Netherlands Northern Ireland Sweden United Kingdom Wales Latin America & the Caribbean Argentina Bermuda Bolivia Brazil Chile Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Salvador Guatemala Guyana Haiti Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Venezuela Middle East and North Africa Algeria Egypt Israel Jordan Lebanon Morocco Palestine Tunisia West Bank & Gaza Yemen North America Canada United Sates of America Back to top How are the topics/subject organized into categories? Documents are categorized according to the topic or subject to which they pertain. Major topics may consist of one or more subtopics, according to the list below. Searching on "major" categories (e.g. Elections, Governance, Women's Participation) will retrieve items relevant to the major category as well as the subtopics that appear indented below them. For example, searching on "Elections" will retrieve documents on elections generally, as well as electoral systems & law, human rights, international election monitoring, nonpartisan domestic elections, etc. Searching on a subtopic (e.g. "Intergovernmental Relations") will only retrieve documents relevant to the subtopic. Click on any topic/subject listed below to read a brief definition of that category. Citizen Participation Advocacy Assess & Evaluate (How to) Civic Education Civic Forum Civil Society Governance Media NGO Organizational Development NGO/NGO Laws Voter Education Women, Minority & Youth Participation Civil Military Relations (no subtopics) Elections Electoral Systems & Law Human Rights International Election Monitoring Media & Elections Nonpartisan Domestic Election Monitoring Political Parties & Electoral Integrity Voting & Voter Education Women, Minority & Youth Participation Governance Budget Process Citizen Participation Committees Constituent Relations Constitutions Intergovernmental Relations Leadership Legislative & Parliamentary Executive Relations Legislative & Parliamentary Structure & Procedure Legislative & Parliamentary Support Services Local Governance Political Parties Public Integrity (Ethics & Anti-Corruption) Women, Minority & Youth Participation Political Parties Campaigning Citizen Outreach Fundraising & Budgeting Internal Democracy & Decision Making Legislatures & Parliaments Party Building Rules & Codes of Conduct The Internationals Women, Minority & Youth Participation Special Materials Civic Network Women's Participation (no subtopics)

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