Systems Thinking Applied: A Primer (ANSER, one of the LSP Consortium Partners).

• Reference source on systems thinking for beginners that explains key methods of systems analysis, including causal loop diagrams.

Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System (Donella Meadows, 1999)

• Seminal work by Meadows that identifies 12 types of levers within a system and discusses their effectiveness in bringing about change.

Thinking in Systems: A Primer (Donella Meadows, 2008)

• A key resource by Donella Meadows (2008) that introduces many conceptual tools of systems thinking, including causal loop diagrams, and discusses their application to real world problems.

Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World (John Sterman, 2000)

• Key textbook in which MIT professor discussed system dynamics approach and its application to problem solving efforts in business, organizational, social and physical science domains.

Guidelines for Casual Loop Diagrams (Daniel Kim, 1992)

• Offers some suggestions on the mechanics of creating causal loop diagrams, and general guidelines that should help lead you through the process.

Systems Grantmaking Resource Guide: Casual Loop Diagramming

• Brief profile on Casual Loop Diagramming, and how it relates to systems grantmaking