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The Social Science Dream Machine: Resource discovery, analysis and delivery on the Web
http://www.nesstar.org/papers/iassist_0599.html
This substantial document, written by Jostein Ryssevik of Norwegian Social Science Data Services and Simon Musgrave of the UK Data Archive was presented at the iASSIST Conference in Toronto this past spring. The paper gives a comprehensive overview of the eagerly anticipated Networked Social Science Tools and Resources (NESSTAR). Scheduled to be functional early next year, NESSTAR promises to be the Star Wars of social science data services. (Currently one can take a tour of the project at NESSTAR's site.) A joint development project of the Norwegian Social Science Data Services (NSD), UK Data Archive, and the Danish Data Archive (DDA), NESSTAR promises to provide "a common interface on the Internet to the data holdings in the social sciences of a large number of providers and disseminators of statistical information world-wide." By means of NESSTAR, users will be able to "locate multiple data sources across national boundaries, browse detailed metadata about these data, analyse and visualise data online, and download the appropriate subsets of data in one of a number of formats." According to the article, in addition to its sheer size, the metasite promises to be innovative on a number of fronts, among them its integration of data and metadata, sophistication of hypertext usage, and development of user-customized "know-bots" that would "automatically inform [a subscriber] by e-mail whenever new data within [his or her] special field of interest were made available somewhere around the world." [DC]
[Back to Contents]The WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources
http://www.etown.edu/vl/index.html
This WWW Virtual Library gateway offers brief annotations to hundreds of sites providing resources in International Affairs. Sites are categorized by media sources, regions and countries, organizations, and topics. The Starter Tips for the Web section gives useful advice on using the site for research. International Affairs Resources is updated regularly and maintained by Wayne A. Selcher, a professor of International Studies at Elizabethtown College. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Canadian Studies: A Guide to the Sources
http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/blackwell.html
Revised for the International Council for Canadian Studies World Wide Web Service in June, this bibliographic essay originally appeared in CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries. The essay delineates "a core collection of print and electronic sources suitable for use in Canadian Studies" with an emphasis on "accessible titles originating in Canada and dealing with cultural subjects." This engaging essay features hypertext links to hundreds of online resources including Statistics Canada, which offers a wide gamut of Canadian data drawn from government sources; the National Library of Canada; the National Archives of Canada; and the International Council for Canadian Studies to name just a few. The site also offers an extensive bibliography including links to a number of online journals and an index of Internet resources. Canadian Studies was created by John D. Blackwell, from Brandeis University Libraries, and Laurie C.C. Stanley-Blackwell, a professor in the department of History at St. Francis Xavier University. [DC]
[Back to Contents]NEA 1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts -- Summary Report [.pdf]
Table of Contents:
http://arts.endow.gov/pub/Survey/SurveyPDF.html
Full text (.pdf, 352K):
http://arts.endow.gov/pub/Survey/Survey1-8.pdf
Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, the 1997 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts has recently been made available on the Web. The survey covers attendance at events in the visual and performing arts, use of broadcast and performance media by patrons of the arts, and the demographics of performers. Specifically, the survey gives statistics on numbers of attendees at artistic events and institutions (including museums) and frequency of attendance, and breaks the numbers down by region. Anyone involved in the debate about the health of the arts in America should find this report illuminating. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Tobacco Control
http://tc.bmjjournals.com/
The British Medical Journal Publishing Group, in conjunction with Stanford University's HighWire Press, currently offers online access, on a free trial basis, to the journal Tobacco Control, a quarterly scientific journal launched in 1992 to consider all aspects of tobacco prevention and control. The site allows users to access the current issue of Tobacco Control as well as previous issues dating back to the Spring of 1996 in an archive. The articles are indexed by topic for research purposes, and the archive can be searched or browsed. The trial period will end in March of next year; abstracts and tables of contents will still be available free of charge after that time. [DC][KR]
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The Diego Rivera Mural Project
http://www.riveramural.org/rivera/home.html
Maintained by the City College of San Francisco, this site focuses on the large-scale fresco painted by Mexican artist Diego Rivera during the 1940 Golden Gate International Exposition. Since 1961, the mural has been installed at the City College campus. With the stated goal of returning "Rivera's mural to the position of public importance and influence envisioned by its creator," the project's Website allows the viewer to examine the entire mural online as well as to progressively zoom in on detailed portions; this feature offers a high degree of resolution (in most cases), allowing the viewer to see Rivera's exquisite craft. The site also provides an archival collection of historical letters, photos, and memorabilia relating to the making of the mural, and a brief background history of its theme and artist. Note: the Work in Progress section is only accessible to those working within the Project. [DC]
[Back to Contents]The Computer Museum History Center
http://www.computerhistory.org/
"Established in 1996, the Computer Museum History Center is a non-profit entity dedicated to the preservation and celebration of computing history." Thus, the site offers a substantially annotated -- and searchable -- timeline covering five decades of computer history, including the inception and development of the Internet. The Center also houses more than 2,000 computer-related artifacts which can be accessed via a search engine online and which include relevant historical information. For instance, users can trace the physical trail of the development of microprocessor technology. In addition to the Artifacts collection, the site will eventually have collections of Documentation, Ephemera, Media (Audio/Digital/Film/Photo/Video), and Software. [DC]
[Back to Contents]China the Beautiful [RealPlayer]
http://www.chinapage.com/about.html
In spite of the fact that there is no dearth of information about China on the Internet, this site merits individual attention. A labor of love from professor emeritus of City University of New York, Ming L. Pei, the site has sections on Chinese poets (with biographies of major poets and poetic texts in both English and Chinese), Zen Buddhism, Dragons, Emperors, Beijing Opera, Chinese Classics, Calligraphy, Painting, Sages, Museums, Maps, Learning Chinese, and much more. The site's substantial audio and graphic components help enhance users's appreciation of Chinese culture. In addition, unlike many such sites from individuals, China the Beautiful is frequently updated. Users have two options for accessing the site's resources. They may use the China Room with any standard browser, or if they wish to do more in-depth research, they can go to the Chinese Reading Room and find extensive materials in Chinese, "given in either GB or BIG5 codes" for ease of downloading. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Peru Election 2000: A Public Education Website
http://csd.queensu.ca/peru2000/
The purpose of this new Website is "to provide the public, academics, researchers, and members of the international policy community with the most current and comprehensive information on the developments that will affect Peru's general elections" to be held in April of 2000. One of the main issues of the election is the constitutionality of President Alberto Fujimori's bid for a third term. The site explores this controversy as well as giving background information on the current constitution, political parties, election laws, relevant institutions, and the media. A detailed timetable of election events is also provided in addition to a monthly news summary that keeps users abreast of new developments. "The site operates under the auspices of the Centre for the Study of Democracy of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada." [DC]
[Back to Contents]The New York Times Magazine: The Shadow Story of the Millennium -- Women
http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/millennium/m2/index.html
Part two of this special series in The New York Times Magazine devoted to the millennium focuses on the evolution of the role of women in the last thousand years and the contributions they have made to the millennium's history. Over a dozen features touch on everything from changes in the world of medicine vis-a-vis women's bodies, to the changing role of women in China, to the female mystical experience over the last thousand years. Highlights include an article by novelist Jim Harrison entitled "First Person Female," "The Truth About Sex - at Any Given Moment" by Camille Sweeney, and "The Rest of the Story" by Jill Kerr Conway and Natalie Zemon Davis, which focuses on the untold part of human history, the "shape of women's lives." There are also video and audio companions to a number of the articles, columns on gender-related issues by William Safire and Deborah Tannen, and online forums discussing such issues as Women Through the Millennium; Power, Suffering, Gender, and Communication; and Fertility. [DC]
[Back to Contents]The Tomb Of Senneferi [Quicktime VR]
http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/egypt/tt99/tt99_intro.html
The tomb of Senneferi is one of the "Tombs of the Nobles" on the West Bank at Luxor in Egypt, commonly referred to as Thebes, its Greek name, by Egyptologists. The officials buried in these tombs formed the elite of the society of Thebes, and the Tomb at Sennefer -- known by many as the "Tomb of the Vines" due to its ornately decorated ceiling -- is "one of the very few decorated chambers known in Thebes." This Website offers history on the tomb and its inhabitants, photographs and an explanation of its architecture and ornamentation, a "dig diary," a bibliography of relevant publications, a slide show and virtual reality tour (Quicktime VR) as well as a site index and search engine. The site, maintained by Cambridge archaeologist Nigel Strudwick, is geared to be of use to both the layperson and the professional archaeologist. [DC]
[Back to Contents]The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page
http://www.samueljohnson.com/index.html
Offering "the most comprehensive collection of Samuel Johnson quotes on the web," this site has over 900 sound-bite sized -- well, eighteenth-century sound-bite sized -- quotations from this recognized master of English prose. The quotations are categorized by topic and can be searched using a sophisticated search engine that allows users to specify words, phrases, exact matches, word forms, or synonyms as well as proximity parameters such as page, paragraph, or sentence. The site also provides a brief biography, a starter bibliography of primary and secondary sources, a timeline of Johnson's life, and links to other sites devoted to Dr. Johnson. The frequently updated site is maintained by amateur scholar Frank Lynch, who works in "the marketing research department of a Fortune 500 corporation." [DC]
[Back to Contents]Human Rights on the Internet: Sites that Encourage Activism
http://www.ala.org/acrl/ressept99.html
Published this month, this annotated Webliography offers a host of sites and Internet resources devoted to human rights issues, with an emphasis on activism. Elisa Mason, the author, categorizes the resources under Starting points, Web directories and meta sites, Organizations, Annual surveys, and Lists. Human Rights on the Internet is part of the Association of College & Research Libraries News series. [DC]
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(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the The Scout Report for Social Sciences Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/socsci/metapage/).The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS): Emergency Services and Disaster Relief
http://www.mentalhealth.org/cmhs/EmergencyServices/
"The Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) provides counseling and education to individuals who live or work in an area affected by natural disasters and acts of terrorism." The site offers online publications, links, fact sheets, a glossary of terms, and special reports on the mental health issues surrounding events like the Bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The Emergency Services and Disaster Relief program is a cooperative effort of CMHS and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). [DC]
[Back to Contents]Center for Demography and Ecology -- University of Wisconsin-Madison:
99-12: Cartmill, Randi S. "Occupational Sex Segregation in Global Perspective: Comparative Analyses of Developed and Developing Nations"
Abstract:
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/99-12ab.htm
Full .pdf version (331K):
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/99-12.pdf99-11: Martin, Steven P. "Fertility Trends Among U.S. Women
Who Defer Childbearing Past Age 30"
Abstract:
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/99-11ab.htm
Full .pdf version (126K):
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/99-11.pdf99-09: Musick, Kelly A. "Determinants of Planned and Unplanned Childbearing among Unmarried Women in the United States"
Abstract:
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/99-09ab.htm
Full .pdf version (154K):
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cde/cdewp/99-09.pdfCenter for Development Research -- Bonn, Germany:
Dethier, Jean-Jacques. "Governance and Economic Performance: A Survey"
Abstract:
http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/govecon.htm
Full .pdf version (302K):
http://www.zef.de/download/zef_dp/zef_dp5-99.pdfJutting, Johannes. "Strengthening Social Security Systems in Rural Areas of Developing Countries"
Abstract:
http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/stren.htm
Full .pdf version (234K):
http://www.zef.de/download/zef_dp/zef_dp9-99.pdfNational Academy Press:
Reilly, Ben and Andrew Reynolds. "Electoral Systems and Conflict in Divided Societies"
Abstract:
http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/elect.htm
Full text:
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309064465/html/R1.html#R1Overseas Development Council:
Morrison, Kevin. "Understanding Debt Relief"
Abstract:
http://nt1.ids.ac.uk/eldis/debtr.htm
Full text:
http://www.odc.org/commentary/ibaug99.html
[Back to Contents]New Think Tank Policy Papers and Briefs
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
Primus, Wendell et al. "The Initial Impacts of Welfare Reform on the Economic Well-Being of Single Mother Families"
Abstract:
http://www.cbpp.org/8-22-99wel.htm
Full .pdf version (277K):
http://www.cbpp.org/8-22-99wel.pdfThe Center for Law and Social Policy:
Savner, Steve. "Key Implementation Decisions Affecting Low-Income Adults Under The Workforce Investment Act"
http://www.clasp.org/pubs/jobseducation/kellwia2.htmInstitute On Education And The Economy [.pdf, 260K]:
Scott, Marc and Marc Handcock. "Longitudinal Data Models When the Covariance is the Feature of Interest"
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~iee/PAPERS/workpap14.pdfInstitute On Education And The Economy [.pdf, 333K]:
Scott, Marc and Marc Handcock. "Latent Curve Covariance Models for Longitudinal Data"
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~iee/PAPERS/workpap13.pdfCenter on Budget and Policy Priorities:
Shapiro, Isaac and Robert Greenstein. "The Widening Income Gulf: Gaps Between High-Income and Other Americans Will Reach Record Level in 1999, Analysis of Congressional Budget Office Data Finds"
Abstract:
http://www.cbpp.org/9-4-99tax.htm
Full text:
http://www.cbpp.org/9-4-99tax-rep.htm
[Back to Contents]New Offerings from Academic Publishers
Association of American University Presses: New Releases
http://aaup.uchicago.edu/new_releases/Baker&Taylor Academia -- Upcoming Books to Buy (September 1999)
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M09/Home.htmlCambridge University Press
http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk/scripts/new.asp?act=all&desc=January&level=1Perseus Books: By Category
http://www.perseusbooks.com/booknews.htmlThela Thesis -- Just Published
http://www.thelathesis.nl/new.htmlOxbow Books -- Publishers of titles on archaeology, classical studies, and medieval studies.
http://www.oxbowbooks.com/newbooks.htm
[Back to Contents]New Tables of Contents/ Abstracts
Foreign Policy -- Fall 1999 (Table of Contents, Abstracts)
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/index.htmlThe American Prospect -- Volume 45 (Table Of Contents)
"Liberalism and Human Nature"
http://www.epn.org/prospect/45/45-toc.htmlEuropean Sociological Review -- September 1999 (Table of Contents, Abstracts)
http://www3.oup.co.uk/eursoj/hdb/Volume_15/Issue_03/American Literary History -- Fall 1999 (Table of Contents)
http://www3.oup.co.uk/alhist/hdb/Volume_11/Issue_03/TRANS: Internet Journal for Cultural Studies -- September 1998-May 1999 (Full-text, not all articles available in English)
http://www.adis.at/arlt/institut/trans/6Nr/inhalt6.htmThe Journal of Pacific History -- September 1999 (Table of Contents)
http://www.carfax.co.uk/jph-con.htm
[Back to Contents]Missouri Valley Economic Association -- 36th Annual Meeting
February 24-26, 2000, St. Louis, Missouri
http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/MVEA/callfor.htmThe Southeastern American Society For Eighteenth-Century Studies
Theme: New Worlds in Thought, Place, & Time
March 2-4, 2000, Savannah, Georgia
http://dominic.barry.edu/~seasecs/info.html
[Back to Contents]H-Net Job Guide
http://www.matrix.msu.edu/jobs/Chronicle of Higher Education Job Openings
Humanities
http://chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/humanities/links.htm
Social Science
http://chronicle.com/free/jobs/faculty/sscience/links.htmJobs in Higher Education
http://www.academic360.com/US Census Bureau: Employment Opportunities
http://www.census.gov/main/www/employop.html
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1997 Economic Census: Health Care and Assistance, Geographic Area Series, Selected States [.pdf]
Kentucky:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-ky.pdf
Ohio:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-oh.pdf
West Virginia:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-wv.pdf
Mississippi:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-ms.pdf
North Carolina:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-nc.pdf
South Carolina:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-sc.pdf
Tennessee:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-tn.pdf
Alabama:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-al.pdf
Georgia:
http://www.census.gov/prod/ec97/97s62-ga.pdf
Last week, the Census Bureau released nine reports in the Economic Census's Health Care and Assistance, Geographic Area Series. These reports offer economic data on "establishments providing health care and social assistance for individuals," including number of establishments, revenues, payroll, and employment by state, county, and metropolitan area. [DC]
[Back to Contents]Economagic [.pdf]
http://economagic.com/
Economagic, a commercial site, offers a collection of data comprised of more than 100,000 economic time-series. The data are drawn primarily from US, Canadian, and Japanese government agencies. Economagic offers at no charge on-demand, custom charts of all series in the database, using GIF or PDF formats. In addition, the Website provides Excel spreadsheets for 8,500 of the most popular series in static or linked form as well as "advanced features that enable users to work with database series" in an online personal workspace. Users can chart changes, run regressions, and make charts with multiple series of data in an on-site workspace, specifying time periods and comparisons in percentages or raw numbers. A subscribers-only service provides online mechanical forecasting of all series available in the database. [DC]
[Back to Contents]National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS): 1997 Summary: National Hospital Discharge Survey [.pdf]
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad308.pdf (104K)
Last month, the NCHS released statistics from its 1997 National Hospital Discharge Survey. The "report presents national estimates of the use of non-Federal, short-stay hospitals in the United States during 1997. Numbers and rates of discharges, diagnoses, and procedures are shown by age and sex." The summary gives average lengths of stays for all discharges, broken down by region, as well as average lengths of stays for selected diagnostic categories, including infant delivery. [DC]
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Waco Debacle
1. Yahoo! Full Coverage: Waco
http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/US/Waco/
2. Waco: The Inside Story (PBS Frontline)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/waco/
3. The Ashes of Waco
http://rampages.onramp.net/~djreavis/excerpts/index.htm
4. BBC News Video: FBI Releases Waco Videotapes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/435000/video/_437242_hewitt0800_vi.ram
5. The New York Times: Documents on Waco Point to a Close Commando Role [free registration required]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/090599waco-special-ops.html
6. FBI Press Release: August 25, 1999 -- On the Use of Incendiary Devices at Waco
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrm/pressrel/presswaco2.htm
7. 1996 Report of the House Judiciary and Government Reform Committees's Investigation into the Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies toward the Branch Davidians
ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/cp104/hr749.txt
Last week, the fires of Waco reignited in Washington as the Attorney General, in an extraordinary action, ordered US Marshals to FBI headquarters to seize documents and materials relating to the government's siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco in 1993. Recent discoveries have indicated more active, and possibly illegal, involvement on the part of the US Military, and there is clear evidence that incendiary gas-delivery devices were used on a concrete bunker at the compound. The revelations have already prompted congressional declarations that another round of investigations will take place and given new life to theories that the fire at the compound in which 80 people perished was set not by the Davidians, but by the agents of the government. But, undoubtedly, the most immediate result of this new information is a severe credibility gap for both the Attorney General and the FBI.
Yahoo (1) offers extensive links to reportage on the most recent revelations and political responses as well as Websites devoted to the Waco events and aftermath. Frontline's coverage (2) includes extensive material on the developing application of the "rules of engagement" by the law enforcement agencies at Waco. The site also features fascinating transcripts of the negotiations between FBI agents and Koresh, including a conversation in which an FBI negotiator and David Koresh debate his status as the second coming of Jesus Christ. Written by experienced journalist Dick Reavis, The Ashes of Waco(3) reputes to "tell the story that the daily press didn't give us;" the site gives extended excerpts from the book. BBC News (4) has posted an audio transcript of the decision to use inflammable canisters on the concrete bunker as well as video images of the assault and aftermath. The New York Times(5) summarizes the evidence obtained from "heavily censored" documents that indicate the FBI's involvement. The FBI offers their take on the new information (6), and the Library of Congress has made available the results of the 1995 congressional investigation into the government's conduct at Waco (7). [DC]
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