The Scout Report for Social Sciences

April 21, 1998

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 New Data

Learning Resources and General Interest In the News

Current Awareness

Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions (ARI) Project
http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/PROJ/ARI/ARI.html
The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago has recently added a new site, which is intended as "an electronic study edition of the inscriptions of the Achaemenid Persian kings in all of their versions--Old Persian, Elamite, Akkadian, and, where appropriate, Aramaic and Egyptian." The first stage of the project offers inscriptions from Persepolis and nearby Naqsh-i Rustam, where the Oriental Institute carried out excavations between 1931 and 1939.Users can browse the whole text of the inscriptions, browse versions by section, or browse the lexicon. A text and lexical search is available as is a catalog of all works referenced in the ARI project. Additional resources include a bibliography, photos and plans (under construction), as well as a list of related links. [MD]
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British Official Publications Current Awareness Service (BOPCAS)
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~bopcas/
Provided by the University of Southampton, BOPCAS is a database containing records of new British official publications from July 1995 to the present. The database is updated frequently and includes records of new Acts of Parliament, Command papers, House of Commons Bills and Papers, House of Lords Bills and Papers, Departmental publications, and Select Committee Reports. Users can search the database using several parameters or browse by subject keyword and month. In addition, BOPCAS offers a number of Policy Awareness E-Mail Groups to alert users of new records. [MD]
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Okinawa: The American Years 1945-72
http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/coas/history/sarantakes/Okinawa.html
Provided by the Department of History at Texas A&M-Commerce, this site offers an excellent starting point for research on the American military occupation of Okinawa. Users will find brief biographies of key figures, a chronology, photos, editorial cartoons and related links. The core of the site is a collection of annotated bibliographic essays on archives, books, films, and oral histories related to this topic. Where possible, these essays offer hypertext links to the sources mentioned. [MD]
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Registered Federal Lobbyist Database
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/
Center for Responsive Politics (CRP)
http://www.crp.org/
Provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, this database allows users to search for registered lobbyists by name or interest area. Under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, two semi-annual reports are due by those who lobby at the Federal level, and these reports are used to create this database. Search results include organizations that hire lobbyists, names of lobbyists, areas of interest, lobbying expenses, and "covered" employee status. At present, the database contains reports filed through February 1, 1998. The site also offers a link to a special CRP report, "Influence, Inc.: The Bottom Line on Washington Lobbying." [MD]
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Subaltern Studies: A Bibliography
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/Ideas/subalternBib.html#suba
H-Asia
http://h-net2.msu.edu/~asia/disclist/h-asia/
Compiled by Henry Schwarz and enhanced by Frank Conlon, this bibliography offers an excellent starting point for graduate students or non-specialists interested in this sub-field of Asian studies. The bibliography is a collaborative product consisting of titles suggested to Schwarz by various H-Asia members. Originally created in 1996, the bibliography has been recently updated. [MD]
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National Hazards Center HazLit Database
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/litbase/litindex.htm
HazLit is the on-line library database of the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The Hazards Center Library contains a large collection (approximately 17,000 items) of social science literature focusing on how society prepares for, responds to, recovers from, and mitigates natural disasters. Approximately one-third of the collection is fully annotated in the database. The Hazards Center Library is a nonlending library, but researchers planning a trip or ordering documents through their local library can use this site to identify publications of interest. In addition to the database, the site offers general information on the library and its custom search service. [MD]
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The Atomic Archive [QTVR, Shockwave]
http://www.atomicarchive.com/
Provided by AJ Software & Multimedia as a companion to its CD-ROM, The Atomic Age, this site offers numerous resources for studying and teaching the development, use, and legacy of nuclear weapons. Users will find short biographies of key figures, primary documents, a glossary, a timeline, data on current nuclear stockpiles, information on nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, and test sites, summaries of arms control treaties, and a teacher's guide. Additional resources include maps, photos, reflections by those involved, QTVR animations, and a chilling scenario of the effects of a nuclear blast in Manhattan. [MD]
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USGS: Educational Resources for Cartography, Geography, and Related Disciplines
http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/html/1educate.html
This US Geological Survey site offers several resources for K-12 map-related education. The core of the site is a collection of three learning modules, aimed at grades K-3, 4-8, and 7-12 respectively. Each module contains illustrations, activity sheets, and lesson plans. Additional resources include "Earthshots," a collection of satellite images demonstrating how the environment has changed over the last 20 years, and "Helping Your Child Learn Geography," a collection of games, maps, and suggested activities. The site also contains links to descriptions and instructions for requesting free mapping-related education publications. [MD]
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Age of Asia: Resources for Research
http://www.lib.duke.edu/ias/eac/ILE4/
Maintained by Kristina Kade Troost, the East Asian Librarian at Duke University, this site was created as a resource for student research projects in a business school course entitled Age of Asia. Some of the resources listed are located at Duke but the majority are freely accessible to anyone. At the site, users will find information on the course, country profiles, book and periodical databases, links to Asian newspapers, electronic databases, government sources and several special topics. Either as a stand-alone resource or as a model for an instructor's research/resource page, this site is a welcome addition to courses on Asia. [MD]
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Two Syllabi for Courses on Ancient Religion
Classics 330: Greek and Hellenistic Religions, University of Maryland Spring 1998
http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Colleges/ARHU/Depts/Classics/Faculty/EStehle/grkreligion/c330s98.html
Religion 232/ Women's Studies 232c: Womens' Spirituality in the Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages, Bowdoin College Spring 1998
http://www.skidmore.edu/~ndenzey/re232/
These two syllabi offer excellent models for Classics or Religion Studies instructors. The first, created by Professor Eva Stehle, contains a course description, calendar of assignments, reading list, and several useful sub-pages with background information. Of special interest is the page on Reconstructing the Cult of Hera at the Heraion on Samos. The second syllabus, provided by Nicola Denzey, offers a reading list, on-line resource list, and weekly topics and readings with links to relevant images and texts. [MD]
[Note: Course instructor and/or materials may have changed since the original review.]
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ISLAW
http://www.islam-catalogue.de/index1.asp
Provided by the Oriental Institute at the University of Leipzig, this catalog contains numerous sites relating to Islamic law and governments. The catalog is organized by country, with over 35 listed. Each country listing offers links to information on a variety of topics, including Constitution and Basic Documents; Government and Politics; Legal System in Brief; Business and Investment Law; Laws and Regulations; Miscellanies; Agreements and Treaties; Human Rights; Opposition and Minorities; and UN-Resolutions and Reports. In addition, the site offers a large number of related links. [MD]
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Chinese Movie Database
http://www.asiaonline.net.hk/~dianying/en/
Chinese version
http://www.asiaonline.net.hk/~dianying/
An English version of the Chinese Movie Database has recently been made available. Edited by Lu Pin, the database covers Chinese movies made in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other countries/regions from 1905 to the present. Users can search by movie title or by individual's name or select movie titles from the Movie Index Page. Search returns for individuals include films they have starred in, directed, or written. Returns for film titles include region, language, and hyperlinked production and acting credits. [MD]
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The Siege and Commune of Paris, 1870-71
http://www.library.nwu.edu/spec/siege/
The Siege and Commune of Paris Special Collection in the Deering Library at Northwestern University contains 1500 caricatures, 68 newspapers in hard-copy and film, hundreds of books and pamphlets, and approximately 1,000 posters from this period. In addition, the collection contains 1,200 photographs and images that have all been digitized and placed on this website. A Master and Subject Index are provided as is an internal search engine. Users can also browse images in four main areas: Portraits, Landscapes/Architecture, Political Caricatures, and Documentation (hand-written notes on obverse of photographs). [MD]
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Early British Kingdoms Web Site
http://freespace.virgin.net/david.ford2/Early%20British%20Kingdoms.html
Created and maintained by David Nash Ford, this site offers an excellent introduction to the Celtic Kingdoms that existed in Britain and Brittany from the time the Romans left until well into the eleventh century. The site is essentially composed of two portions, the first of which provides overviews of the kingdoms by region (West Country, Midland and South Britain, Wales, Northern Britain, North of Hadrian's Wall, and Brittany). The second portion offers information on several related topics such as King Arthur, Celtic Saints, Celtic Ancestor Gods, and Pre-Roman Celtic Tribes and Kingdoms. Additional resources include a list of related links, a bibliography, and a What's New page. [MD]
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Canadian Museum of Civilization [QTVR]
http://www.cmcc.muse.digital.ca/cmc/cmceng/welcmeng.html
This site offers an unusually wide range of online exhibitions and resources held at this and associated museums. The virtual tour includes the First Peoples Hall, the Archaeology Hall, Cultural Traditions, Folk Art and Fine Crafts, and a Quicktime VR tour of the Canada Hall. Each section hosts several exhibits. Future additions to the virtual tour include Canada at War, Kid's Space, and outdoor exhibitions in the Park. Users can also follow links to the Canadian War Museum, Postal Museum, Children's Museum, and the Museum of New France. Additional features include Gallery Tours and a Behind the Scenes look at the museum. [MD]
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History Reviews On-Line
http://www.depauw.edu/~dtrinkle/hrol/winter98index.html
The Winter 1998 issue of History Reviews On-Line has been released. Books in Asian, Modern European, and US History are included as well as a history website. Titles include Volume One of R.F. Foster's official biography of W.B. Yeats, Roger Eatwell's Fascism: A History, and Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, edited by Stewart Burns. [MD]
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Expenditures on Children by Families, 1997 Annual Report--USDA [.pdf]
http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/crc97.pdf
The US Department of Agriculture has released the latest of its annual estimates of expenditures on children from birth through age seventeen. This report offers the most recent estimates for two- and single-parent families using data from the 1990-92 Consumer Expenditure Survey, updated to 1997 dollars using the Consumer Price Index. [MD]
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"Welfare Reform Impacts on the Public Housing Program: A Preliminary Forecast"--HUD USER
http://www.huduser.org/publications/pubasst/welrefor.html
Users may download this report and accompanying charts from the HUD USER site. The report "examines the implications of welfare reform for public housing authorities (PHAs), whose residents traditionally contribute a portion of their incomes for rent." The report focuses on a small number of diverse housing authorities and finds that the effects of welfare reform on tenant incomes and PHA rent revenues will most probably vary considerably. [MD]
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Conference Announcements
A European Conference on Educational Uses of the Internet and European Identity Construction
http://in-tele.u-strasbg.fr/content.htm
September 24-26, 1998 Strasbourg, France. The IN-TELE Conference 98 offers the opportunity "to present and discuss educational and scientific research, and to bring together IT-vendors (Information Technology vendors), educational local structures, and education authorities." Topic areas include educational uses of the Internet, Internet-based constructions of social identity, representations on the Internet, and learning with hypermedia. [MD]

Comics and Culture
http://www.ihi.ku.dk/comics/intro.htm
September 24-25, 1998 University of Copenhagen, Denmark. This conference aims to involve its participants in the theoretical debate about comics as a unique media in the cultural context of the 20th century. One focus of the conference will be on "the specific mode of expression and aesthetics of comics, as well as their positioning in a cultural context." Researchers and advanced graduate students are invited to submit proposals. [MD]

MAKING SPACES: medieval boundaries, modern fictions?
http://crane.ukc.ac.uk/english/space1.html
July 4, 1998 University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. This interdisciplinary conference will explore urban space between c1450 and c1600. The conference will focus on ways in which modern readers of medieval documents imaginatively reconstruct historical spaces. Papers on "personal spaces (gesture, social relations); domestic spaces (organisation, embellishment, privacy); and urban spaces (boundaries and authorities)" are strongly encouraged. [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
http://www.matrix.msu.edu/jobs/

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

Crossroads Guide to Employment and Funding Opportunities in American Studies
http://impian.dokkyomed.ac.jp/ml-open/new-list/1997-b/0069.html

American Political Science Association--Grants and Fellowships
http://www.apsanet.org/grant.html

(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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New Think Tank Policy Papers and Briefs
Iris J.Lav, Isaac Shapiro, and Robert Greenstein, "Tax Foundation Figures Produce Misleading and Inaccurate Impressions of MiddleClass Tax Burdens,"--Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
http://www.cbpp.org/taxday98.htm

Daniel J. Mitchell, "737,734,941,858 Reasons...and Still Counting: Why A Flat Tas Is Needed To Reform The IRS,"--Heritage Foundation
http://www.heritage.org/heritage/library/backgrounder/bg1170es.html
.pdf Version
http://www.heritage.org/heritage/library/backgrounder/pdf/bg_1170.pdf

"Social Security: The Real Deal"--The Century Foundation
http://www.tcf.org/realdeal.html

Nathan Newman, "The Microsoft-Intuit Merger: The Intervention that Worked and the Dangers Today from Microsoft's Monopoly Practices in the Online Financial Marketplace,"--NetAction
http://www.netaction.org/msoft/finance/

Marten van Heuven and Gregory F. Treverton, "Europe and America How Will the United States Adjust to the New Partnership?"--RAND
http://www.rand.org/publications/IP/IP171/
[MD]

(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]
Sociological Research Online (full-text)
http://www.socresonline.org.uk/3/1/contents.html
Columbia Journalism Review (full-text)
http://www.cjr.org/
Cultural Logic (full-text)
http://eserver.org/clogic/
Harvard Educational Review (abstracts)
http://hugse1.harvard.edu/~hepg/sp98.htm
American Historical Review
http://www.indiana.edu/~amhrev/tofcapr98.htm
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Gender and Aging: Demographic Dimensions--Census Bureau [.pdf, 8p.]
http://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/ib-9703.pdf
This brief, the first time the Census Bureau has focused on the world's older women, uses statistics from the International Database in the Bureau's International Programs Center. These statistics show that because of faster declines in fertility, developing countries are aging at a much more rapid pace than most developed nations. The report summarizes the statistical findings and offers several maps and graphs. [MD]
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Housing Vacancies and Homeownership Survey: Annual Statistics 1997--Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/ftp/pub/hhes/www/housing/hvs/annual97/ann97ind.html
The US Census Bureau has recently released the latest annual survey of vacancy and homeownership rates. Detailed tables include rates by area, state, and 75 metropolitan areas. Additional tables include homeownership rates by age, family status, race and ethnicity, and tables of standard errors. [MD]
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Peace Agreement in Northern Ireland
The Irish Times--The Path to Peace
http://www.irish-times.com/irish-times/special/peace/
Northern Ireland Office
http://www.nio.gov.uk/index.htm
Ulster Unionist Party Home Page
http://www.uup.org/
Sinn Fein
http://sinnfein.ie/index.html
Key Points of Northern Ireland Accord--Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/nireland/keypoints.htm
Peace in Northern Ireland?--Out There News
http://www.megastories.com/ireland/
BBC News: Northern Ireland--Latest News [RealPlayer]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/northern_ireland/latest_news/default.htm
This week's In the News covers the recent historic peace agreement in Northern Ireland. These seven resources offer analysis and commentary. On April 10, 17 hours after the established deadline, the intense negotiations in Stormont Castle came to a fruitful conclusion. After patient and deliberate guidance from chairman George Mitchell and last minute encouragement from Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and President Bill Clinton, the negotiating parties reached an agreement over new political structures for Northern Ireland. These include a new Northern Ireland Assembly, new cross-border institutions with the Irish Republic, and a Council of the Isles linking devolved assemblies across the UK with Westminster and Dublin. The proposals have been met with a variety of responses, but the dominant mood has been optimistic. The deal has passed its first big hurdle after its approval this past weekend by the largest Unionist party, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, has decided to delay a vote on the agreement for two weeks. The peace proposals will go to to the people of both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic for approval at a referendum in late May. While even the most enthusiastic supporters admit that this deal is only the very beginning of the road to peace, it still deserves recognition as a truly historic first step along that road.
The Irish Times special section offers a comprehensive guide to the Northern Ireland Settlement, with a detailed history and analysis of the conflict, including the full text of the agreement. The Northern Ireland Office site offers a variety of information on Northern Ireland in general as well as recent press releases related to the peace talks. The UUP and Sinn Fein sites offer recent press releases and official party comments on the recent deal. The Washington Post has posted a useful brief overview of the key points of the agreement. Out There News offers an excellent site to help users learn more about the history of conflict in Northern Ireland, which includes an interactive map of Derry, a glossary, interviews, and a collection of related resources. The BBC News Northern Ireland Latest News page offers continual updates on the peace process and features numerous RealPlayer clips. [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
Laura X. Payne

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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.

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