Terrorism

 

This terrorism research guide collects and organizes the fast growing body of information related to terrorism.  Focusing on government information, this guide complements the Library's "September 11, 2001 Research Guide".

 

| Find Books | Find Journal Articles | Internet Sites | Government Documents | Laws and Legislation | Research Guides |

 

Find Books

 

Library Catalog

Keyword and/or Subject searches locate books on terrorism topics in the Library's general collection, the Science Library, and Government Documents Collection.  

 

Marcive Web DOCS  (Marcive, Inc.)

Online catalog of all federal government documents cataloged by the Government Printing Office (GPO) from 1976 to the present. Available to all users from the Library's public terminals. Only available off campus to members of the University community through their OIT account.

 

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications  (GPO Access) 

1994 to present.  Complete listing of all government documents issued through the Government Printing Office. Monthly with annual cumulations.

 

Find Journal Articles

 

Database Locator  (UMass Amherst Library)

Alphabetical listing of all databases for locating journal articles on Terrorism.  Also, allows for selection of databases by subject area such as "government information", "business and economics" or "law and political science".  Available to all users from the Library's public terminals. Only available off campus to members of the University community through their OIT account.

 

A sampling of databases from the Database Locator for locating journal articles and documents on terrorism include:

 

Academic Search Premier

Citations, abstracts and full text articles from scholarly and general-interest periodicals relating to social sciences, humanities, education, physical, and biological sciences.
      

CQ Researcher  (CQ Press)

Well-documented full text overviews of current issues, including bibliographies, chronologies and other useful features.

 

International Security and Counter Terrorism Reference Center

Provides articles from scholarly journal and other periodicals, and from country reports, many of them in full text, on threats to peace.

 

PAIS International

Citations and abstracts for articles, books and book chapters, government documents, statistical directories, research reports, conference reports 

and other materials relating to public and social policy.

 

Congressional Research Service Reports  (Gallerywatch)

Nonpartisan public policy research arm of the U. S. Congress, produces thorough research and analytical reports on current issues and their legal and legislative status.

 

Declassified Documents Reference Service  (Thompson/Gale)

Contains declassified documents relating to terrorism up to the early 1990s.  Excellent source for historical documents related to terrorism.

 

Internet Sites

 

Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction  1999-2003  (Rand National Security Research Division)

Also known as the Gilmore Commission, the panel issued five annual reports assessing capabilities to respond to terrorism with emphasis on state and local levels. 

 

War by Other Means -- Building Complete and Balanced Capabilities for Counterinsurgency. RAND Counterinsurgency Study -- Final Report  2008. (Rand Corporation). 

 

Council on Foreign Relations

Nonpartisan resource for information and analysis on foreign relations and policy issues including terrorsim.  Books, interviews, analytical reports, history and background information, journal and newspaper articles are all included.

 

Counterterrorism  (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

Offers information on the FBI's responsibilities in protecting the U.S., investigations concerning terrorism, and resources available to combat terrorism in the U.S. and around the world.

 

General Accountability Office (GAO)

Nonpartisan, independent agency working for Congress, gathers information to help Congress determine how well executive branch agencies are doing their jobs; evaluates how well government policies and programs are working; audits agency operations; investigates allegations of illegal and improper activities; and issues legal decisions and opinions

Public Hearings of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States  2003-2004
Independent, bipartisan commission created in late 2002 chartered to prepare a full account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks.  Provides recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

RAND Voices of Jihad Database  (RAND Corporation)

Compilation of speeches, interviews, statements, and publications of jihadist leaders, foot soldiers, and sympathizers. Nearly all content is in English translation, and has been collected from publicly-accessible websites.

 .

SITE Institute: the Search for International Terrorist Entities

Documents and tracks terror-related violence, "extremist web sites, public records, and media reports". Links to news, background on

terrorists groups and more 

 

Target America  (Public Broadcasting Service)

History of terrorism from the late 1960s through interviews, commentary, and reports.

 

Terrorism Knowledge Base  (Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT))

Exhaustive information on terrorist incidents, groups, countries, legal cases, history, maps, and statistics.

 

TRAC Immigration  (Syracuse University)

Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) makes information from reports, studies, and facts and figures about the federal government's enforcement and regulatory effort on immigration more accessible to the public.

 

War on Terrorism  (Central Intelligence Agency)

Reports, testimony, statements on terrorism and national security.

 

Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, the Commission seeks to identify desirable and achievable directions for international cooperation. Present realistic proposals aimed at the greatest possible reduction of the dangers of weapons of mass destruction.

 

Worldwide Incidents Tracking System (WITS)  (National Counterterrorism Center)
Tracks terrorism incidents throughout the world from January 2004 to present.  It is updated quarterly.

 

Government Documents 

 

Al-Qaeda: the Many Faces of an Islamlist Extremist Threat   2006  (House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence)

The report includes the threat of Al-Qaeda, insurgency in Iraq, Sunni extremist groups abroad and in the United States, and use of the Internet.

 

Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction: Report to the President  2005

Report on intelligence failures regarding pre war judgements about weapons of mass destruction, reasons for the failures, and recommendations for improvements.

 

Country Reports on Terrorism  (Department of State)

Provides Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism from 2004 to present.  Successor to "Patterns of Global Terrorism".

 

Chronology of Significant International Terrorism for 2004  2005  (National Counterterrorism Center)

Contains data associated with the Country Reports on Terrorism.

 

Diplomacy and the Global Campaign Against Terrorism  2001-    (Department of State)

National and global information regarding diplomacy, finance and counterterrorism as they relate to the fight against terrorism.  Also has an important section on bills and legislation related to terrorism.

 

Foreign Terrorist Organizations  2003  (Congressional Research Service)

In depth report describing terrorist organizations including history, goals, activities, composition, funding among other things.

 

How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet  2004  (United States Institute of Peace)

Explains how terrorists with hundreds of websites exploit the Internet to advance their cause, to recruit, to wage psychological warfare.

 

Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001   2002  (House and Senate Committees on Intelligence) 

Full report in PDF format.  Also available in paper (Gov. Doc. Y 1.1/5:107-351)

 

National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism  2006  (Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Comprehensive military plan for the global war on terrorism.

 

National Military Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction  2006  (Joint Chiefs of Staff)

Outlines the Department of Defense's approach to implementing a plan for the protection of the U.S. forces and allies from the threat of weapons of mass destruction.

 

National Strategy for Combating Terrorism  2003  (Central Intelligence Agency)

Discusses the nature and structure of terrorism, presents a strategy to defeat terrorism along with the goals and objectives.

 

National Strategy for Combating Terrorism  2006  (White House)
Includes an overview of the strategy, current realities, a strategic vision, and a strategy for winning.

 

9/11 Commission Report : Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States  2004  (The Commission)

Provides a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. It also includes recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

 

Patterns of Global Terrorism  (Department of State)

Provides Congress a full and complete annual report on terrorism by country and group from 1995 to 2003.  Continued by "Country Reports on Terrorism."

 

Political Violence Against Americans  1987-2002  (Department of State)

Comprehensive picture of the broad spectrum of political violence that American citizens and interests have encountered.

 

Progress Report on the Global War on Terrorism  2003  (The White House)

Positive report on how terrorism is being fought abroad, how the homeland is being secured, and successes of global efforts to defeat terrorism.

 

Radicalization in the West: the Homegrown Threat    2007 (New York City Police Department)
Looks at how radicalization forms, hardens and leads to attacks or attempted attacks using real world case studies.  Attempts to understand what drives and defines the radicalization process in the West in order to develop effective counterstrategies.

 

Terrorism in the United States  (Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT))
Contains the entire collection of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's "Terrorism in the United States" reports for 1983-2001. These reports chronicle terrorism incidents and preventions for the report's calendar year. Outlines not only FBI investigations and activities related to terrorist threats and actions within the United States, but also its investigations overseas.

 

Trends in Terrorism: 2006  (Congressional Research Service)
Surveys developments and current issues in terrorism.  Includes statistics and policy discussions.

 

Uniting Against Terrorism: Recommendations for a Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy  (United Nations)

Recommendations include dissuading groups from resorting to terrorism, denying terrorists means to attack, deterring states from supporting terrorism, developing ways to prevent terrorism, and defending human rights.

 

2003 Report to Congress on Combating Terrorism   (Office of Management and Budget)

Unclassified report on government-wide spending to combat terrorism

 

Laws and Legislation

 

International Conventions and Other Treaties Relating to Terrorism  1963-2000  (Department of State)

List of treaties and conventions on terrorism and its victims to which the United States is a party.

 

International Terrorism: a Compilation of Major Laws, Treaties, Agreements, and Executive Orders  2000  (House Committee on International Relations)

(UM/Gov.Docs. Y 4.IN 8/16:T 27/3)

 

THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet 1989-      (Library of Congress)

Search all Congressional legislation.  Find full text of bills and laws.  Includes legislative histories and full text links to Congressional Record pages and Congressional reports.

 

Treaties and International Agreement: Terrorism  (WorldLII)

Full text of treaties and agreements on terrorism

 

World Anti-Terrorism Laws  (University of Pittsburgh School of Law)

Full text of UN actions and conventions, regional agreements, and laws of countries related to terrorism.

 

Research Guides

 

Librarians' Internet Index: Terrorism (LII)

 

MIPT: National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism  (The Institute)

 

Resources About Terrorism (Calvin T. Ryan Library, University of Nebraska, Kearney)

 

Terrorism  (Oklahoma State University Library, Government Documents)

 

Terrorism  (University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries)

 

Terrorism: a Navy Department Library Research Guide  (Department of the Navy, Navy Historical Center)

 

Terrorism: Attacks and Responses  (American Library Association, Government Documents Round Table)