Hitting the Books to Find Out More about Study Abroad

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Thanks to the Internet, students are often able to research and write papers from the comfort of their dorm room without having to set foot in the library. However, you may be selling yourself short if you keep your study abroad search confined to the Internet. Many comprehensive guides to studying abroad have been written that you can't find on the Web.

Your nearest study abroad office, library, or bookstore offers an opportunity to check out the valuable information in these study abroad guides:

• Academic Year Abroad 2003 by the Institute of International Education (www.iiebooks.org). This publication provides listings for almost 3,000 semester and academic-year programs offered by U.S. and foreign universities and private organizations and key information about application procedures and requirements, academic credit, contact addresses, e-mail, phone, fax, costs, fields of study, language of instruction, housing, travel and orientation. You can look up programs by location, course of study, and so on.
• Vacation Study Abroad: The Complete Guide to Summer and Short Term Study by Sara Steen. International Institute of Education (September 1999). Describes more than 2,000 programs sponsored by U.S. and foreign universities, language schools, and a wide variety of other organizations.

  Considered the best study abroad reference guides, the first two publications in this list are U.S. higher education's standard information resources on international study. They're used by students and academic advisers nationwide. U.S. undergraduates find information about programs that combine travel and study in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East and the Americas — more than 70 countries worldwide.

• China Bound: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC by Anne F. Thurston, Karen Turner-Gottschange, and Linda A. Reed, National Academy Press; Revised edition (January 1994). This guide provides information about living and working in China as an international student or scholar.
• International Handbook of Universities by the International Association of Universities, Grove's Dictionaries, Inc.; 16th edition (June 2001). An up-to-date guide to more than 7,300 higher education institutions in more than 175 countries, this handbook features more than 1,000 new entries added since the previous edition.
• The Jewish Travel Guide by Michael Zaidner, Vallentine Mitchell (February 2003). This study abroad guide covers Great Britain, Israel, the U.S., and other African, European, and Latin American countries. It lists community centers, synagogues, kosher restaurants, and so on.
• Smart Vacations: The Traveler's Guide to Learning Adventures Abroad by the Council of International Educational Exchange. St. Martin's Press, March 1993. Featured in this travel guide are 200 learning vacations of one to six weeks duration that are available throughout the world, including study tours, outdoor adventures, voluntary service, field research, archaeological digs, and others. It gives you practical details about programs and tips about how to select a program and prepare for traveling abroad.
• Students Abroad: Strangers at Home — Education for a Global Society by Norman L. Kauffmann, Judith N. Martin, Henry D. Weaver, and Judy Weaver, Intercultural Press (February 1992). This book discusses studying abroad from the students' viewpoint.
• Transitions Abroad. Your campus library may also carry this magazine, which features articles about study, work, and travel abroad. It's written by students who've recently returned from studies abroad. The magazine's Web site, www.transitionsabroad.com, also is a good study abroad resource.