Changes to World Bank Resources

By on May 9, 2012 in Social sciences

Researching development economics?  Note many changes on the our resources from the World Bank:

World Bank e-Library: //libraries.mit.edu/get/elib — updated search engine and new open access repository

Provides electronic access to over 7,000 books, reports, journals, and working papers published by the bank, many going back as far as the 1970s.

Note: the e-Library has new terms of use, including Creative Commons licenses that allow for broader usage.   This change was made in conjunction with the recent launch of the Open Knowledge Repository —the World Bank’s new site for providing open access to many of its research outputs and knowledge products.  In addition, a new Open Access Policy will go into effect on July 1st.

World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance: //libraries.mit.edu/get/wdi — new interface

These two databases are now combined in a new interface with more functions for selecting and displaying data, performing customized queries, downloading data, and creating charts and maps.  Provides statistical time-series data on development and the global economy for countries worldwide. Includes a wide range of basic statistics, including social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. 1960 to present.

Also in the new World dataBank Suite: — new interface

Time series data for over 50 countries. Includes social, economic, financial, infrastructure, governance, partnership, and environmental indicators. 1960 to present.

World Bank Open Data Web Site: http://data.worldbank.org/

In a recent initiative, the Bank has created a new infrastructure for improving public access to its data.  Their Open Data site provides many new tools for accessing and visualizing their data, including:

Library Catalog: Lastly, keep in mind that you can search for materials by the World Bank in the Libraries’ Barton Catalog by specifying it as the publisher in the Advanced Search.