Research and Education
In the past several decades, a number of policy institutes and think-tanks have been formed to open a substantial dialogue about issues affecting rural communities. The Rural Policy Research Institute is one of these organizations, and involves scientists and policy analysts from Iowa State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska and other affiliated institutions. The Web site is divided into a number of sections, including a publications area, a section that contains editorials written by Institute fellows and staff members, and an area dedicated to providing information about helpful resources such as basic statistics about rural America. On the left side of the home page, visitors can also browse the Web pages of the Institute's affiliated centers such as the Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis and the Rural Poverty Research Center. Finally, users can elect to sign up for an electronic newsletter that will update them about upcoming events, conferences, and publications related to rural policy issues. [KMG]
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/ntreaty/ntreaty.htm
Since 1996, the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School has provided a number of thematic collections of various important legal documents such as those dealing with German-American diplomatic relations, the Federalist Papers, and Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. This particular new collection is dedicated to providing the full text (in the HTML format) of approximately 30 treaties signed between various Native American groups and the United States government between 1778 and 1868. Here visitors can peruse the text of such treaties as the 1784 treaty with the Six Nations, the 1791 treaty with the Cherokee, and the 1852 treaty signed with the Apache. Along with browsing a list of the treaties, users also have the option of using the site's search engine to search all of the Native American treaties available here. [KMG]
Established by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) is an independent agency that is responsible for administering the labor-management relations program for close to 2 million federal employees across the world. As noted on the Web site, their mission is "to promote stable and constructive labor-management relations that contribute to an efficient and effective government." To achieve that end, the FLRA's site provides a host of information about recent cases decided by the Authority, along with information about its activities and current staff roster. Visitors to the site will want to take a look at the FLRA strategic plan for the period from 2002-2005, and review previous annual reports filed by the Authority, which are located in the News and Publications area of the site. [KMG]
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/cide/
Located at UCLA, the mission of the Center for International and Development Education (CIDE) is "to provide quality information on a variety of issues related to international and development education." To help achieve this goal, the CIDE has developed this Web site which contains a number of publications, information about ongoing research projects, material on practical initiatives and a detailed list of links to other relevant institutions and organizations. The news section of the site is useful, as it contains brief news pieces about recent events dealing with study abroad programs, new networks between universities across the world, and the role of universities in developing nations. The reports section is divided into sections dedicated to study abroad, humanitarian relief, and teacher training reform (among others) and contains recent works on these various subjects. The site is rounded out by a good selection of outside links to like-minded institutions and centers, such as the Comparative Educational Society of Europe and the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies. [KMG]
Headquartered in Paris, the International Council on Archives is a decentralized organization that serves as the professional organization for the world archival community. The Council has branches in all parts of the world (with the exception of North America), and has over 1500 members in over 170 countries and territories. From the Council's homepage visitors can read about its mission, read its constitution, and find out detailed information about the officers who work on behalf of the Council. Persons working in the field of archival management will want to take a thorough look at the publications section located here. This section includes the ICA's Code of Ethics, works on international archival standards, several recent studies, and resource lists for professional literature in various subject areas. Visitors can also peruse the Web sites provided by the different branch offices, such as those of the Arab Regional Branch and the Southeast Asia Regional Branch. [KMG]
The curious (yet appropriate) name of the OYEZ Project is derived from the Middle English word oyez, which is the phrase by which the Marshal of the Supreme Court calls the courtroom to order. This particular phrase also serves to remind us that up until the 18th century that speaking English in a British court of law was not required and that one could use Law French when conducting business before a court. That being said, the OYEZ Project was started in 1996 by Jerry Goldman (a professor at Northwestern University) and his colleagues, and contains over 2000 hours of audio recordings of various cases and arguments held before the Supreme Court. On the site, visitors may peruse the On This Day section, which contains a listing of all Supreme Court events that happened on a particular date in history; or look through a listing of cases sorted by subject, with such categories as due process, criminal procedure, and so on. Within each case visitors may read a brief summary of the case, and in many instances, may listen to the oral argument from each hearing. The site is rounded out by a virtual tour of the Supreme Court building that includes the building's Great Hall and the chambers of Justice John Paul Stevens. [KMG]
http://www.historicalvoices.org/flint/
Developed with the assistance of the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for Humanities, this online multi-media digital exhibit examines one of the most celebrated strikes in American history, the Flint Sit-Down Strike of 1936-1937. The idea for the project had its origins in 1978, when Neil Leighton (a political science professor at the University of Michigan-Flint) was at a professional conference and another scholar recommended that he begin to create an oral history of that historic event in American labor history. The fine interactive facets included here include an engaging audio timeline, a detailed map of the strike-related activities (such as the various locations of the General Motors plants accompanied with brief descriptions of when workers began to strike at each location), and a slideshow. Each section on the strike itself contains a brief essay about such topics as the preexisting conditions in the plants, the organization of the various strikes, and the aftermath of the events that took place during those two years. The audio reminisces are quite dramatic, and address such topics as the union demands, the nature of the piecework system in the plants, and the unequal wage system. Overall, this online exhibit is a thorough introduction to one of the most important events in the history of the American labor movement. [KMG]
http://cictedu.arc.nasa.gov/courses/spring2003/broadcast.html
A series of NASA Webcasts on Future Computing and Communications Technologies, broadcast live in April and May 2003, are now archived and viewable at this site. Each Webcast was approximately an hour in length and featured notable scientists and technology experts from NASA projects and laboratories. Originally intended for high school juniors and seniors, the presentations addressed issues such as spaceborne communications, nanotechnology, artificially evolving systems, and more. These Webcasts are an excellent resource to learn about NASA research from a high level perspective. This site is also reviewed in the September 26, 2003 NSDL MET Report. [CL]
