This guide lists some basic resources to locate information on cultures of the world.

• Culturegrams (GT 150 .C85). This popular resource is a standard resource for providing a brief country-by-country overview of the main social customs and courtesies. Also available Online.
• Do's and Taboos Around the World. Roger Axtell. (HF 5387 .D66 1993)
• Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business. Roger Axtell. (G 156.5 .B86 D67 1997)
• Do's and Taboos for Hosting International Visitors.(HF 5389.A98 1990)
• Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands (Ref HF 5389 .M67)
• Multicultural Manners: New Rules of Etiquette in a Changing Society (Ref BJ 1853 .D74 1996)
• How To Be a Perfect Stranger: A Guide to Etiquette in Other People's Religious Ceremonies, 1996 ed.,
  (Ref BJ 2010 .M34) (2 vols.)
• CultureShock series. This excellent series covers many countries of the world and provides in-depth discussion of each countries' cultural and social customs. Typical chapters include: The People, Social Customs, Business Customs, Food and Drink, Language, Survival Skills.
• The Perfect Stranger's Guide to Funerals and Grieving Practices (Ref BJ 2071 .P47 2000).

BOOKS AND MEDIA MATERIALS
Use "Books and Media" to locate books and media items in our collection and other libraries in the MCCCD system. You can search by author, title, subject, or keyword. Some typical subject headings you may want to use include:

• Culture Shock--[country] (e.g., Culture Shock--Japan)
• National characteristics, [nationality] (e.g., National characteristics, Japanese)
• Etiquette--[country]
• [Country]--Social Life and Customs (e.g., Japan--Social Life and Customs)
• Manners and customs
• Intercultural Communication
• [Country]--Description and travel--Guidebooks (often provide useful cultural tips for the traveler in specific countries)

A good series that is published by the U.S. Government is the Area Handbook Series. These are in-depth country studies that include history, ethnography, social customs and patterns, politics and government, etc. Many of these have become somewhat dated, and the series is being discontinued, but they provide good overviews of a country and its population. We have most of these in our circulating collection; they are also available online via the Library of Congress Country Studies website (see below).

MAGAZINE, JOURNAL, AND NEWSPAPER articles can also be located using the library's databases. These can be accessed from the Library Home Page - "Articles & Databases". Use some of the subject headings mentioned above to locate articles in the databases. Some good databases to use include Culturegrams, Ethnic Newswatch, General OneFile, and EBSCOMasterFile Premier.

WEB SITES Some web sites that you may want to consult include the following:

• CIA - The World Factbook - [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html]
• CountryWatch - [http://www.countrywatch.com/]
• The Cultural Profiles Project - [http://www.cp-pc.ca/english]
• The Library of Congress Country Studies - [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html]
• U.S. Dept. of State: Background Notes - [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/]

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