Almost all entries have been updated in the past year. The librarians at the University of Michigan Documents Center have annotated and organized a tremendous amount of country information. As with other gateways, the user must be persistent. For country studies and background analysis, go to the Background section on the right side of the main page and search individual sources. The search engine, available on the main page and at the bottom of the left frame, can be frustrating, as searching just by country name can yield hundreds of entries with virtually indistinguishable titles.
Focused searches are better.
Inc. This new and wide-ranging gateway pulls together a vast amount of country information into a clearly organized but uneven site especially useful to end users. Other features found on each country page include an outline map, a country profile, image of the flag, and links to a currency converter, local time, weather, history time line, and a language translation site. WorldSkip lacks a comprehensive list of countries profiled, and the sources are similarly not comprehensive. Though the information varies, WorldSkip supplies quick access to a variety of sources, from governments to news. The Perry-Castaneda Library Map Collection is a wonderful map resource for researchers and historians.