Frequently Asked Questions
We hope to have answered some of the more typical questions you may have here. However if you have any queries about The International Studies Compendium Project and can't find the information in these pages, please do contact us.
- How do I purchase International Studies Encyclopedia for my institution?
- What is it about?
- How much content is there?
- Who is it aimed at and how does it help them?
- When will the component parts of the Compendium Project be published?
- Why should we subscribe to International Studies Online online? What functionality is beneficial to users of the online version?
- How can I buy International Studies Online?
- How much is International Studies Online?
- How do I know how much my institution will pay?
- Can we have a trial of International Studies Online?
- When can I start my subscription?
- What is Wiley-Blackwell doing to ensure I can always access International Studies Online?
- How is access controlled?
- How do subscribers gain access to the full text of articles?
- Is there a limit to the number of concurrent users?
- Are usage statistics provided?
- What kinds of reference linking does International Studies Online use?
- What do I keep if I decide in the future to cancel my subscription?
- What are your copyright terms for copying/coursepacks?
- Can users personalize content?
- Is the International Studies Online cross- linked with other resources on Blackwell Reference Online (BRO) or other platforms?
- Is the International Studies Online hosted on platform and url?
- What are the technical standards to which International Studies Encyclopedia online will conform?
- Do you offer library card access to International Studies Online?
Please speak to your librarian and recommend the Encyclopedia to them. Your librarian can order the Encyclopedia direct or through their library supplier. Visit our ordering page to find out more. Please remember that because of their budgets, your librarian will need as much advance notice as possible.
The International Studies Encyclopedia and its online version, International Studies Online, published in association with the International Studies Association (ISA), is the most comprehensive reference work of its kind for the fields of international studies and international relations. The print version is arranged across 12 volumes in an A-Z format and brings together specially commissioned, peer reviewed essays, written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers.
Key features:
- Over 400 peer reviewed essays of up to 10,000 words focusing on the most important topics and issues
- Aimed at students, scholars, and practitioners, the essays are designed to allow readers to be brought quickly up-to-date on the nature of the questions asked, past attempts at formulating responses, and the current state of debates
- Comprehensive coverage of the field
- Extensive index volume
- International Studies Online is updated once per year and is enhanced by live links to archives, datasets, cases, pedagogical aids, and other relevant materials
The project is organized primarily around the different sections representing areas of specialization within the ISA. Each specialized section has organized a committee to identify key topics and identify authors.
The print encyclopedia comprises 12 volumes (inclusive of an index volume) containing over 4 million words, and over 400 entries of up to 10,000 words each.
The project is primarily useful for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and teachers of international studies and international relations. Given the comprehensive coverage, and the wide ranging approach, the content also appeals to those in related social science fields including political science, sociology, and communication.
Individual entries might be useful to include on class reading lists, providing students with a foundational knowledge of a topic before a lecture, and the further reading suggestions accompanying each entry will be helpful in both creating reading lists for classes, and for the researcher, in continuing their study of the topic.
The International Studies Encyclopedia and International Studies Online have simultaneous publication dates of March 2010.
- Why should we subscribe to International Studies Online? What functionality is beneficial to users of the online version?
The International Studies Compendium Project is the first major reference work of this scale in international studies. Published simultaneously both in print and online, it provides users with the opportunity to access this key resource in the most convenient manner.
International Studies Online is housed on the same platform as Blackwell Reference Online (BRO) and users enjoy the unbeatable functionality of this interface, including:
- Updates twice a year that will include new articles and features
- Continuous and immediate 24/7 access to the content
- An easy and accessible user interface
- Live discussion forum
- Discoverability of content is excellent, with three different search options, and the ability to search within results
- Live links to archives, datasets, cases, pedagogical aids, and other relevant materials to enhance the essays featured in the encyclopedia
- Ability to browse entries alphabetically
- Entries print in a clean, easy-to-read format, which includes citation, cross-references, and suggestions for further reading
- All entries are classified by key topic, subject, place, people, and period. This classification system makes it easy for users to find entries on related themes and topics, and/or that concern a specific place, person or time period
- Sources cited in the text are hyperlinked to the bibliographic references which appear at the end of the entry
- Cross-references appearing both in the text of the entry at the end of the entry are hyperlinked to the corresponding entries for ease of navigation
- The full citation for every entry is given at the end of it for ease of accurate bibliographic citation
- Ability to add entries to the user’s social bookmarking tools
- Wiley-Blackwell waives copyright costs for reproduction for personal and student course use as part of an institutional subscription
International Studies Online can be purchased in two ways:
- An annual subscription
- An outright purchase with an annual fee covering hosting
It is available direct from Wiley-Blackwell. Please ask your librarian to contact us for a quote.
Pricing is based on institutional size and type. Please ask your librarian to contact us for a quote.
Please ask your librarian to contact us for a quote. We will require the following 4 pieces of information:
- The name of your institution
- Your full institutional address and contact details
- The type of institution (e.g University, 4 year college, 2 year college, public library, government or corporate school)
- Size (e.g. FTE enrollment, population served, or number of employees)
Yes! We can arrange a 60-day free trial for librarians and institutions and a 30-day free trial for individuals. Please contact us to arrange this. We hope you will also take advantage of our-free online demo, which illustrates in detail the superior functionality and features of the online version.
You may start your subscription at any time during the year. Subscriptions run for 12 months.
Wiley-Blackwell is committed to ensuring that their customers continue to have access to resources they have purchased, as well as using robust and scalable systems to deliver International Studies Online. It is looking closely at current options for ensuring archival access to its content.
The standard options are available including IP address recognition, library cards, referring URL, and username and password for remote users. If you require further options, please contact us.
Once the user is authenticated they will have immediate access to the full text of all articles.
No. Institutional access is unlimited.
Yes. When you purchase your subscription, you will be given administrative access to a subscriber services area where you can access a full range of usage statistics. The reports will be COUNTER compatible.
Currently Open URL linking is used. When you purchase your subscription, you will be given administrative access to a subscriber services area where you can add details of your link resolver.
If in the unlikely event you do wish to cancel your access, your options depend on how you have paid for International Studies Online:
- Subscription customers will no longer be able to access International Studies Online but will have the opportunity to purchase a version for local hosting including all updates included up until the end of the subscription period.
- Outright purchase customers can request a version for local hosting.
We waive copyright costs for personal and student course use.
Users can easily add entries to their social bookmarking tools
- Is International Studies Online cross-linked with other resources on Blackwell Reference Online (BRO) or other platforms?
International Studies Online is housed on a micro-site of Blackwell Reference Online. If the institution that purchases International Studies Online also subscribes to BRO, then the content will be fully integrated into the BRO interface.
The entries do not cross-reference other resources on BRO. However, each entry is classified according to the same 5-facet classification system applied to all BRO content (subject, key topic, place, people, and period) and IS searchable along with the full BRO library purchased/subscribed to by the institution.
ALSO: Entries will link to related Compass journals—all under the control of the classification system. The same is true in reverse, that Compass users will see links to related entries in our other online encyclopedias. This is very exciting because no other publisher can offer this combination of resources.
The entries in the bibliography will be linked to the customer’s online collection. This means that, if a cited work exists in their collection, the user will be able to click through to it directly.
If the institution purchasing International Studies Online also subscribes to BRO, they will enjoy a full range of library services to enable its seamless integration into the institution’s library:
- Institutional usage reports compliant with the COUNTER Code of Practice for Books and Reference Works and ICOLC stands are provided.
- Unlimited access through IP recognition, username/password, referring URL and Athens.
- MARC records available to download
- DOIs at book and chapter/entry level ensure permanent URLs for easy upload into the library’s OPAC system
- Open URL technology is supported.
- Institutions can also add their own institutional branding to the site
Content is hosted on a micro-site of Blackwell Reference Online (BRO). For institutions that do not subscribe to BRO, the content will be available via this website. Contact us for more information about purchasing a subscription to Blackwell Reference Online.
Every page on the sites will comply with the following criteria:
- 1. HTML validity
- 2. Screen resolution
- 3. Color
- 4. Window resizing
- 5. Frames
- 6. Platforms and browsers
- Windows IE 8.0
- Windows IE 7.0
- Windows IE 6.0
- Windows IE 5.0
- Windows IE 5.5
- Windows Netscape 7.0
- Macintosh IE 5.X
- Macintosh Netscape 7.0
- Macintosh Safari 1.x
- Firefox 3.x
- Firefox 2.x
- Firefox 1.x
- Mozilla 1.x
- Google Chrome
- Lynx
- Opera 9.5
- Opera 9
- Opera 8
- Safari 4.x
- Safari 3.x
- 7. Unicode
- 8. Text size
- 9. Cookies
All pages delivered will be valid HXTML 1.0 Transitional, as defined by the W3C.
All pages will be usable (with no horizontal scrolling wherever possible) when the screen resolution is set to 800x600 pixels.
All pages will be usable when the color depth is set to 256 colors.
All pages will correctly re-flow text and images when browser windows are resized; line lengths for textual material will always be relative to the current window size.
No frames will be used in the entire site.
Pages will display fully on the following platform and browser combinations:
Pages will also display reliably on the following:
Unicode will be used to render accented and non-roman characters in site pages. The encoding used to deliver Unicode characters will be UTF-8.
The stylesheets used to format text on the site will not set absolute point sizes; this will allow the user to re-size the text to a comfortable reading size using the controls that the browser provides.
Usage of cookies for users of the sites may be mandatory for certain areas of the web site.
Librarians or account administrators have the option to allow their users to access the International Studies Online using their library card. Please contact us if you would like to offer library card access to your users.