The Scout Report for Social Sciences

November 4, 1997

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Social Sciences is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in the social sciences. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the field that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given area of study.

The Scout Report for Social Sciences is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.

Research Publications

Learning Resources New Data

Professional and General Interest In the News

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
http://proni.nics.gov.uk/
This recently developed resource will quickly prove invaluable for anyone planning to conduct scholarly or genealogical research in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. PRONI holds millions of documents which relate chiefly to Northern Ireland since 1600. These records are divided into three categories: Government Departments, Non-Departmental Public Bodies, and Private/Church/Business. This website is an essential first step in preparation for research at PRONI. Users will find a comprehensive guide to the holdings, search tips, and contact and visiting information. In addition, the complete list of Departmental, Non-Departmental, Private, and Church Records released in 1995-96 are available for download in PDF format. [MD]
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Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD)
http://www.ccsd.ca/
The CCSD is a nonprofit organization that has committed itself to advancing social programs and policies in Canada since its inception in 1920. More recently, the CCSD has focused on research and analysis of social and economic trends in Canada, and this site features the fruit of these labors. The core of the site for researchers is its collection of documents and statistics. Users will find CCSD news briefings, reports, and policy statements, the publication catalog, and tables of contents and selected articles from the organization's quarterly journal, Perception. In the Statistics section the CCSD has made available a number of frequently updated tables on Poverty Lines, Poverty Rates, Welfare, and Income in Canada. Other features of the site include a guide to researching at the organization's Centre for International Statistics and links to the Canadian Social Planning Network (CSPN) and the Social Indicators Site. The highlight of the latter is a Social Indicators Launchpad, which directs users to a number of relevant online documents and studies. [MD]
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Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/nara003.html
"The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration and contains statements, messages, and other Presidential materials released by the White House during the preceding week." This new online version is a pilot project designed to provide the public with easier access to Presidential documents. The site is searchable and contains documents from January 6, 1997 to the present. Search returns offer document summaries and as well as full-text in ascii or .pdf formats. [MD]
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Japanese Studies Resources--Duke University East Asian Collection
http://www.lib.duke.edu/ias/eac/japanesestudies.html
Kristina Kade Troost, East Asian Librarian at Duke, has constructed an excellent collection of resources for Japanese Studies. This site describes resources available at Duke and through the Internet, including encyclopedias, general and subject bibliographies, word and name dictionaries, periodical and newspaper indexes and holdings, library and book catalogs, East Asian collections in the US, related web sites, and Japan-related discussion lists. The guide covers both English and Japanese language resources and special software is necessary to decode the Japanese. This is a rich, detailed, and easy to navigate site that serves as an excellent starting point for any search for Japanese resources on the Internet. [MD]
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Women's Liberation Research Network (WLRN)
http://www.duke.edu/~ginnyd/wlrn.html
The WLRN, provided by Ginny Daley, Women's Archivist of Duke University Libraries, is a group of "students, teachers, activists, librarians, and archivists who have an interest in some aspect of the U.S. Women's Liberation Movement." Their website features a member directory, information on special library and archival collections, research and documentation projects, and publishers seeking manuscripts. In general, the site is envisioned as a point of departure for professional contacts, publication projects, or ideas for dissertation topics. Membership information is also provided. [MD]
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k.i.s.s. of the panopticon
http://carmen.artsci.washington.edu/panop/home.htm
This much-needed site is the creation of Dougie Bicket of the University of Washington's School of Communications. k.i.s.s. (Keep It Simple Stupid) of the panopticon is designed to provide a quick and easy guide to "cultural/critical theory and its relationship with communications and new media, including the Internet." With the majority of postmodern theory written by academics in torturous and inaccessible language, this site's goal of presenting these theories in a straightforward and intelligible manner is welcome indeed. The core of the site is a comprehensive index of over 130 entries on the central figures and ideas of postmodernism. Users new to these writings will want to first review the core concepts section, while students who wish to give their papers a postmodern flavor can consult the bibliography for some good leads. Other sections under development include an online quiz and a "beyond" section, which will contain links, papers, and other resources. [MD]
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Wilderness Archaeological Field School
http://www2.gasou.edu/WarrenDig/
Georgia Southern University (GSU) and the National Forest Service are sponsoring an archaeological field school for the summer of 1998. The project will continue preliminary work done in the summer of 1997 and focus on excavating a potential nineteenth-century Chinese mining encampment located in the Payette National Forest. This site offers information on the field school, a number of photos of the very scenic locale, and some of the findings from the 1997 season. [MD]
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The Consortium for Equity in Standards and Testing (CTEST)
http://wwwcsteep.bc.edu/CTESTWEB/start.html
CTEST, located in the School of Education at Boston College, has developed a new website to provide teachers, parents, and advocacy groups information on the major issues surrounding testing, assessment, and standards in schools. The site is divided into several components: the Members section describes and links users to members of CTEST. Spotlight Issues provides documents, news articles, and links to major issues in testing and standards, including Proposition 209 in California and the Boston Latin Case. Testing in the News features relevant articles from newspapers around the country. Documents offers a number of research articles, editorials, and journal articles. Citations lists American Psychological Association references of pertinent journal and newspaper articles. Additional features include an interactive Bulletin Board and a collection of links to related sites. [MD]
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Byzantium: The Byzantine Studies Page
http://www.bway.net/~halsall/byzantium.html
Created by Paul Halsall of Fordham University, this metasite is an essential stop for anyone with a strong interest in Byzantine Studies. The Byzantine Studies Page offers a concise introduction to the field, important writings,teaching aids, and several other items of interest. Users can access collections of syllabi and course outlines, read calls for papers, reference guides, book reviews, articles, or a Byzantine Paleography, and download relevant shareware. In addition, the site offers information on discussion lists and links to galleries, music collections, and to original documents at the Medieval Sourcebook (discussed in the March 12, 1996 Scout Report). All told, this is an excellent collection of resources that is continually updated and expanded. [MD]
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Kinship and Social Organization--An Online Tutorial
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/anthropology/kintitle.html
Created by Brian Schwimmer, Professor of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Manitoba, this tutorial is an excellent resource for university-level Anthropology instructors and their students. The site is divided into five comprehensive sections: Kin Fundamentals, Systems of Descent, Kinship Terminology, Marriage Systems, and Residence Rules. The tutorial is illustrated with diagrams, tables, and photographs. Four case studies/ethnographic examples are also provided to illustrate several points in the tutorial. [MD]
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NEWDEAL, a New Deal List for 1929-1952
New Deal Network
http://newdeal.feri.org/
NEWDEAL, a project of the New Deal Network at Columbia University (discussed in the October 25, 1996 Scout Report), is a daily email newsletter for scholars, teachers and researchers. The creators hope to sponsor reviews of new books dealing with this era, develop an exchange of course syllabi,and announce conferences and new publications. Applicants to this free list are required to fill out a short form detailing their research and teaching interests. [MD]
To subscribe send email to:
Listserv@listserv.uic.edu
In the body of the message type:
SUB NEWDEAL Firstname Lastname, Affiliation
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Conference Announcements
Making History, Constructing Race
http://web.uvic.ca/~pahonen/MRCH.html
October 23-25, 1998 University of Victoria, Canada. This multidisciplinary conference will feature papers, panels, workshops, and roundtables on fifteen topics. These include: "Race," Text, History; Constructing Identities: "Race," Nation, Class; Strangers at Our Gates: Racism, Citizenship and Immigration; Breaking Barriers: Overcoming Racialisms in the Past, Present and Future. [MD]

State of the Arts: Production, Reception, and Teaching in the Digital World Conference
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CRBS/ArtsConf/conf.html
October 8-11, 1998 University of Maryland, College Park. The Center for Renaissance and Baroque Studies and the Committee for Creative Humanities Applications in the New Technologies (CHANT) at the University of Maryland, in conjunction with the statewide Celebration of the Arts, is issuing a call for contributions to an interdisciplinary conference that will explore the role of technology in arts and humanities teaching, performing, and research. The conference is intended to draw an audience of humanities educators, artists, museum curators, archivists, and the general public. [MD]

Conference on Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Mediterranean
http://www.apsanet.org/conference/conflict.html
May 7-9, 1998 American University in Cairo, Egypt. "The Fourth Annual Conference on Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Mediterranean seeks to explore the contrast between the region's cultural unity and its social-political diversity." Papers are invited on all aspects of culture and conflict in the Mediterranean from the period of the Arab conquests to the present. [MD]

(For links to additional calls for papers and conference announcements, see the Conference section of the Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/metapage/).
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Job Guides/Funding Opportunities
H-Net Job Guide for November 3, 1997
http://h-net2.msu.edu/jobs/11-03-97.html
Chronicle of Higher Education Job Openings
Humanities
http://thisweek.chronicle.com/.ads/.ads-by-group/.faculty/.humanities/.links.html
Social Science
http://thisweek.chronicle.com/.ads/.ads-by-group/.faculty/.sscience/.links.html
American Sociological Association Employment Bulletin (November 1997)
http://www.asanet.org/eb1197.htm
American Political Science Association--Grants and Fellowships
http://www.apsanet.org/grant.html
American Sociological Association Funding Opportunities
http://www.asanet.org/funding.htm
[MD]

(For links to additional Job Guides, see the Employment/Funding section of the Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/metapage/).
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Beyond the Pale--The History of Jews in Russia
http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/
"Beyond the Pale" refers to the provinces in Russia where Jews were forced to live in the 18th and 19th centuries, the so-called "Pale of Settlement." This online exhibit, provided by the Friends and Partners Organization, seeks to depict not only the history of anti-Semitism in Russia, but also give visitors a feel for Jewish life, religion, and culture in Russia and Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day. Unlike many online exhibits, content is not sacrificed for illustrations in Beyond the Pale. While there are numerous well-chosen photos (thumbnails), they are not the body of the exhibit. Rather, they are used to enhance the concise and interesting text selections. Available in either English or Russian, this is a nice site for personal interest or to integrate into a classroom lesson. [MD]
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Aga Khan Visual Archives
http://libraries.mit.edu/rvc/aka/agakhan/index.html
This site is the homepage for the excellent collection of textual and visual resources on Islamic architecture at MIT's Rotch Library. For internauts, the highlight of the site is the World-Wide Tour of Islamic Monuments, which contains 167 sample images from the collection. These are divided into religious architecture, organized alphabetically by country or architectural feature, and non-religious architecture, which includes residential buildings, bazaars, and street views. A thumbnail of each photo is provided for quicker downloading, and the full-size shots are of high quality. Users with a scholarly interest in Islamic architecture will also be very interested in the guides to the textual and visual materials (over 84,000 images) at the Rotch Library. Additional features at the site include links to images and information on Mosques in the US and a collection of links to other Islamic architecture sites. [MD]
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Alcatraz--The Warden Johnston Years
http://www.alsirat.com/alcatraz/
Created by Joel Gazis-Sax, this site offers a great deal for anyone interested in the history of "the Rock." The core of the site is an annotated General Chronology of the early years of the prison, 1933-48. The chronology offers numerous links to short pieces on famous prisoners or contemporary articles and documents. Users can also view a Master List of Prisoners which features a search engine and a separate category of particularly notorious inmates. Anyone with a scholarly interest in the history of Alcatraz will appreciate the guide to archives and collections of related material and the annotated bibliography. Other features include a chronology of escape attempts and a photo gallery. [MD]
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Politics Research Group Working Papers--John F. Kennedy School of Government
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/prg/#papers
The Politics Research Group of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University has created this site, which currently contains thirteen working papers from faculty seminars and research workshops. Abstracts and full-text are both available. Some titles include: "Little Theatre: Committees in Congress," "Are Lawyers Liars? The Argument of Redescription," "Securing Subsidiarity: Legitimacy and the Allocation of Governing Authority," and "Managing Technology Policy at the White House." [MD]
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Transcript of Live International Radio Broadcast with Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Radio/hchr.htm
Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and the newly appointed United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was interviewed by correspondents from ten regional and international radio networks on five continents on a wide range of human rights issues. This site contains a transcript of the September 26, 1997 interview. [MD]
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Baker&Taylor Publishers Academia Online (November 1997)
http://www.baker-taylor.com/Academia/M11/UBBS.html
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Abstracts of Forthcoming Social Science Titles from Oxford University Press
http://www1.oup.co.uk/academic/Social_Sciences/
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New Think Tank Policy Papers and Briefs
Ivan Eland, "The High Cost of NATO Expansion. Clearing the Adminsitration's Smoke Screen"--Cato Institute
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-286es.html

Richard N. Haass and Nicholas Lardy, "The United States and China--A New Framework"--Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.org/ES/POLICY/POLICY.HTM

Alan Weil, The New Children's Health Insurance Program: Should States Expand Medicaid?"--The Urban Institute
http://newfederalism.urban.org/html/anf_a13.htm
.pdf version
http://newfederalism.urban.org/pdf/anf13.pdf

RAND Policy Brief--"New Immigrants, New Needs: The California Experience"
http://www.rand.org/publications/RB/RB8015/

(For links to additional new Think Tank publications see the Think Tank Policy Papers section on the Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/metapage/).
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New Tables of Contents/Abstracts for recent and forthcoming issues are available for the following Journals:[MD]
Columbia Journalism Review
http://www.cjr.org/
The Canadian Journal of Sociology
http://gpu.srv.ualberta.ca/~cjscopy/articles/cjs22-4.html
Jouvert--A Journal of Postcolonial Studies
http://152.1.96.5/jouvert/issue2/conttwo.htm
Journal of Women's History
http://www.indiana.edu/~iupress/journals/jwh-toc.html#v9n4
Past & Present
http://www.oup.co.uk/jnls/list/past/hdb/Volume_1997/
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Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Search Page
http://www.cdc.gov/search.htm
This page allows users to search the CDC and National Center for Health Statistics sites (NCHS). Collectively, these sites contain a huge amount of health and disease data from a large number of surveys. These include: National Health Interview Survey, National Immunization Survey, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, National Survey of Family Growth, National Health Care Survey , National Employer Health Insurance Survey, National Vital Statistics System, and Mortality Data. [MD]
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A Picture of Subsidized Households--1997
http://www.huduser.org/datasets/assthsg/statedata97/
This site, created by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, provides information on nearly five million subsidized households across the US. "It includes: (1) Totals; (2) Indian Housing; (3) Public Housing; (4) Section 8 Certificates and Vouchers; (5) Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation; (6) Section 8 New and Substantial Rehabilitation; (7) Section 236; (8) Other HUD subsidies; and (9) Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)." Users can view or download data for particular states or summary data for the entire US. [MD]
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Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Education Database
http://www.oecd.org/els/stats/edu_db/edu_db.htm
The OECD is providing, on an experimental basis, online access to selected components of the OECD education database. Data offered includes: educational finance, students enrolled, new entrants to a level of education, graduates, and educational personnel. Note that these pages are under development. [MD]
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Sino-US Relations/Human Rights Issues in China
US Department of State Fact Sheet: US-China Relations
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eap/fs_us_china_relations.html
US Department of State: Speeches, Statements, and Testimony on China
http://www.state.gov/www/current/debate/chinsph.html
US Department of State: China's Human Rights Record
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eap/fs-china_hr_record_970620.html
Chinese Embassy: Foreign Policy and Relations
http://www.china-embassy.org/Press/Policy.htm
Chinese Embassy: Human Rights Issues
http://www.china-embassy.org/Press/human.htm
Tibetan Government in Exile Official Website
http://www.tibet.com/
Amnesty International: Publications on China
http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/countries/indx317.htm
Human Rights Watch/Asia: Reports on Asia
http://www.hrw.org/research/china.html
China News Digest
http://www.cnd.org
This week's In the News concerns Sino-US relations and human rights issues in China. These nine resources provide a variety of viewpoints on these issues from both official government sources and private organizations. The State Visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin last week represented a thaw in official Sino-US Relations, which have been somewhat chilly since Tiananmen in 1989. Despite reaching agreements on a broad range of security, economic, environmental and law-enforcement issues, the two Presidents were clearly far apart on the issue of human rights. While President Clinton made mention of the right to political and religious expression, President Jiang expressed the need for political and social stability in his country. On the whole, both leaders have achieved their goals. President Clinton has secured China's cooperation on several issues, most importantly arms control and trade, while the state dinner and formal ceremony recognized China's role as a key player in the world economy and Jiang's international position as its head of state.
The State Department Fact Sheet outlines the reasons why the US needs to seek open and stable relations with China, briefly discusses the history of China policy since 1972, and outlines China's economic strengths and the state of US-Chinese trade. The State Department's second site offers full text transcripts of speeches, statements, and testimony on China from 1995-97. The Department's human rights fact sheet is a brief description of the administration's policy of "engagement" and its results in China. The Chinese Embassy site contains statements on China's foreign policy in general, Sino-US relations, and relations with other countries. In addition, the Embassy also offers statements and papers on human rights issues. The Tibetan Government in Exile site contains information on the status of Tibet and human rights abuses by the Chinese Government. Human Rights Watch/Asia and Amnesty International also offer a number of reports and press releases on human rights abuses in China and Tibet. China News Digest, which is located in the US, is probably the finest online source for the latest news and analysis from and about China. [MD]
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The Scout Report for Social Sciences
Brought to You by the Internet Scout Project

The Scout Report for Social Sciences is published every other Tuesday by the Internet Scout Project, located in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Computer Sciences.

Susan Calcari
Jack Solock
Michael de Nie
Jeannine Ramsey

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Managing Editor
Editor
Assistant Editor
Production Editor

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report for Social Sciences provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The Internet Scout Project provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison or the National Science Foundation.

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