Secondary sources provide detailed background information on a country's history, political system, culture, and legal system. Secondary sources also contain citations to relevant primary sources, including cases and legislation.
Start your search for books by using NUsearch, the library catalog for Northwestern University, to see what books we have available in the campus library system.
If you need additional books or if you are looking for a particular title that we don't own, you can search for the item in WorldCat and submit an interlibrary loan request for it or contact Sarah to see whether our library could consider adding the book to our collection.
Journal articles can be found through various subscription databases or in print. Articles on international law topics may be published in law or law-related journals as well as in multidisciplinary journals. Conduct full-text keyword searches for journal articles in NUsearch.
Publications and reports from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), and state governments are useful sources to help you understand international law topics and situations in specific countries. Examples of NGOs include Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Examples of IGOs include the United Nations (UN) and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Country reports refer to documents produced by governments, IGOs, or NGOs that describe the human rights situation in a country. Some country reports summarize a wide range of human rights issues within a country, while others focus on specific issues.
Google Advanced allows you to run targeted searches across regular Google and limit your results to certain file types (e.g., .pdf) and/or search across a particular website (e.g., https://www.hrw.org) or domain (e.g., .edu, .org, .gov). The .int domain is reserved for international treaty-based organizations, UN agencies, and organizations or entities with observer status at the UN. The .org domain is often used by non-profit organizations, but can now be used by anyone. Using Google Advanced is particularly helpful when searching across government or NGO websites because these type of websites often lack great search functions.
To keep apprised of recent developments in Ecuador and to update your research, incorporate news articles into your research process. Consider setting alerts to receive notifications of when your search terms appear in news databases.
When searching for literature on modern day serfdom, consider synonyms for the terminology (e.g., modern slavery, forced labo(u)r, servitude).
The United Kingdom passed the Modern Slavery Act 2015. To access this law as well as commentary references (journal articles discussing this law), visit Westlaw UK (sign in with your regular Westlaw username and password).
A few examples of the different types of secondary sources (articles and reports) you might encounter when conducting a literature search are included below as suggested starting points.