Research Tips & Tricks A consolidation of wisdom from your Westwood MUN team

Raw Research Paper Three section: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd paragraphs Copy/Paste anything useful Keep the information with its source (be able to cite your sources to give yourself credibility) Pull research from this document in your policy statement outline Condense and clarify into policy statement Useful for speeches

Issue Books The first stop for research Released by the conference itself Outlines the main focus, history of the issue Particularly useful in 1st paragraph of policy statement Print out and annotate Issue books often include “guiding questions” for research and PS

The UN Website Ideal for 1st paragraph research Includes a record of all member states Shows signatories/ratifications on all treaties Gives the most accurate information http://www.un.org/en/index.html

UNBISNET Records of all UN documents Unbisnet.un.org -> New Keyword Search (Under bibliographic records) Fill in “Subject” line with topic Optional: Your country as author Click “English” Contains past resolutions and documents Good way to learn resolution writing

The CIA Fact Book A database containing info about EVERY country the US recognizes great for basic profile info of country Info like economy, geography, people, government, communications, energy, transportation, military, transnational issues, statistics Also includes comparisons to other nations regionally and internationally Particularly useful in 2nd paragraph of policy statement Example - Brunei

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vary country by country Contain original documents outlining your country’s stance Most issues in committee are discussed on MFA websites Perfect for first-hand information for use in policy statements Example – Turkey

New York Times Shows history of country (1851 -) Displays recent coverage (current event info) Includes many links to useful sites State Dept. site CIA Fact Book BBC Country Profile Just search the country on nytimes.com!

Random Research Tips If a resolution is mentioned in an issue book or somewhere else, try searching the name of the resolution directly in Google to pull up the original resolution. Control Find is your best friend! Helps to sort through large documents type ‘Ctrl F’ a search bar will pop up The search will highlight in the document exactly what you type in the search bar. in the search bar, type the name of a resolution, your country name, or your topic