What is RSS?

Zeki Celikbas of Istanbul Technical University provides a clear and concise introduction to RSS in "What is RSS and how can it serve libraries?"

USC Center for Public Diplomacy

The University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy is a useful site for information about public diplomacy, including (in the "library" section) links to government hearings, reports, public opinion surveys, and think tanks and organizations that deal with public diplomacy.

Converting RSS to Javascript

RSS Digest (see September 25 posting) is one of several tools that will create javascript out of an rss feed so that you can direct the feed to any html page. Two similar tools that deserve mention are rss-to-javascript and Feed2JS. Directing an RSS feed to a webpage - as has been done with the feeds on the left side of this page - makes good sense when you'd like users to be able to read newsfeeds without downloading/installing/using an rss aggregator/reader like Amphetadesk orFeedReader. In our environment, where many users are neither inclined nor permitted to download/try out new software, this is particularly useful. Using an RSS to Javascript converter, you can easily direct any RSS feed to your website, intranet, or even to an html page on the shared section of your LAN.

Center for Immigration Studies

(from Scout Report Volume 10, Number 48)

December 3, 2004Center for Immigration Studies [pdf]

http://www.cis.org/

Founded in 1985, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization which happens to be the United States' only think tank devoted "exclusively to research and policy analysis of the economic, social, demographic, fiscal, and other impacts of immigration on the United States." From the homepage, visitors can peruse a number of common topics in immigration, such as immigration history, statistics on immigrants, and citizenship. The site's homepage also contains links to current news articles addressing various aspects of immigration, and also contains a feature titled "This Day in Immigration", which highlights various important dates in immigration history and policy. Perhaps the most helpful section of the site is the "What's New" area of the site, which highlights various new policy briefs and papers released by the CIS.

Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication

An interesting report with links to a number of Public Diplomacy studies:





This report is a product of the Defense Science Board (DSB). The DSB is a Federal Advisory Committee established to provide independent advice to the Secretary of Defense. Statements, opinions, conclusions, and recommendations in this report do not necessarily represent the official position of the Department of Defense.





The current Strategic Communication Task Force re-examined the purposes of strategic communication and the salience of recommendations in the earlier study. It then considered the following questions:



(1) What are the consequences of changes in the strategic communication environment?

(2) What Presidential direction and strategic communication means are required?

(3) What should be done about public diplomacy and open military information operations?



The Task Force met with representatives from the National Security Council (NSC), White House Office of Global Communications, Department of State (DOS), Department of Defense (DOD), Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), and the private sector.



http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2004-09-Strategic_Communication.pdf

ADSURLS 17, FY 2005

Afghanistan: From Presidential to Parliamentary Elections. [Asia Report No. 88] November 23, 2004. Executive Summary:http://www.icg.org/home/index.cfm?id=3127&l=1 [Dari version, html format, 5 printed pages]Item# 05AD156 MPP Theme: 12EL

Geo: Asia



Afghanistan Opium Survey 2004. November 2004.http://www.unodc.org/pdf/afg/afghanistan_opium_survey_2004.pdf [pdf format, 125 pages]Item# 05AD163 MPP Theme: 09 Geo: Asia



Braille Literacy: Resources for Instruction, Writing Equipment, and Supplies. Web-posted November 23, 2004.http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/circulars/brailleliteracy.html [html format, 42 printed pages]Item# 05AD157 MPP Theme: 12ED Geo: Global



A Description of the Immigrant Population. November 23, 2004.http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/60xx/doc6019/11-23-Immigrant.pdf [pdf format, 37 pages]Item# 05AD158 MPP Theme: 8A Geo: USA



Disability and Retirement: The Early Exit of Baby Boomers from the Labor Force. November 22, 2004.http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/60xx/doc6018/11-22-LaborForce.pdf [pdf format, 28 pages]Item# 05AD159 MPP Theme: 5I Geo: USA



European Competitiveness Report 2004. Web-posted November 25, 2004.http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/enterprise_policy/competitiveness/doc/comprep_2004_en.pdf [pdf format, 359 pages]Item# 05AD155 MPP Theme: 4B Geo: Europe



How the Drug War in Afghanistan Undermines America's War on Terror. November 10, 2004.http://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb84.pdf [pdf format, 8 pages]Item# 05AD161 MPP Theme: 9C; 11 Geo: Asia



International Trade in GMOs [Genetically Modified Organisms]: Legal Frameworks and Developing Country Concerns. November 8, 2004.http://www.unctad.org/en/docs//ditctncd20041_en.pdf [pdf format, 19 pages]Item# 05AD162 MPP Theme: 5O Geo: LDCs



Resuscitating the Bioweapons Ban: U.S. Industry Experts' Plans for Treaty Monitoring. November 2004.http://www.csis.org/isp/041117_Bioweapons.pdf [pdf format, 114 pages]Item# 05AD164 MPP Theme: 2A; 1I Geo: Global



Trends in Educational Equity of Girls & Women: 2004. Web-posted November 19, 2004.http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005016.pdf [pdf format, 116 pages]Item# 05AD160 MPP Theme: 12ED; 12DIG Geo: USA

Thomas gets a facelift

Thomas will have a new and improved look before the 109th Congress convenes on Jan.5 - for a preview see http://thomas.loc.gov/home/redesign/

NeighborSearch

Here's a useful tool, and and example of the generous spirit of the internet! For a while I'd been looking - unsuccessfully - for a tool that would limit Google searches to the sites that a given page (e.g. a subject portal) links to. I mentioned this to Philipp Lenssen, who is the creator of findforward.com, feeeds.com and the Google Blogoscoped blog. Within 24 hours he came up with the desired tool, and it's called NeighborSearch! Many thanks,Philipp!!

Century Foundation Report: "Defeating the Jihadists"

(excerpted from Century Foundation website:



Defeating the Jihadists: A Blueprint for Action



Various Authors

Century Foundation Press, 11/16/04



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



The international jihadist network of radical Islamic terrorist groups is far more extensive than just al Qaeda, and it has conducted twice as many attacks in the three years since September 11, 2001 as it did in the three years prior to that date. Defeating the Jihadists: A Blueprint for Action (Century Foundation Press, 2004), assesses the nation's successes and failures on homeland security and calls for a stronger, more effective strategy for dealing with jihadists, including al Qaeda. The report offers a detailed action plan for neutralizing the international movement at the core of worldwide terrorism. The report also describes the nature of the jihadist threat; provides comprehensive profiles of the various jihadist groups; and offers a rationale for the effort and money that would be needed to make the plan a success. The plan presented in the report builds on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and serves as a road map for winning the war against the jihadists.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar appears to be a very interesting new resource - I was looking for perspectives on the effectiveness of the USIA-State consolidation for public diplomacy ("usia and public diplomacy") and found many things that I would have missed with a plain Google search. Shirl Kennedy and Gary Price have written a thorough review of Google Scholar at ResourceShelf, see http://www.resourceshelf.com/2004/11/wow-its-google-scholar.html

Public Diplomacy reports 2001-2004

One of the appendices to "Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication" (http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2004-09-Strategic_Communication.pdf) includes a useful list of central PD reports issued 2001-2004



Appendix E: Government and Independent Organization Studies of

Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy, September 2001 –

September 2004



Building Public Diplomacy Through a Reformed Structure and Additional Resources, Report of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 2002.

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/13622.pdf



Changing Minds, Winning Peace: A New Strategic Direction for U.S. Public

Diplomacy in the Arab & Muslim World, Report of the Advisory Group on Public

Diplomacy for the Arab and Muslim World, Submitted to the Committee on

Appropriations, U.S. House of Representatives, October 1, 2003.

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/24882.pdf



Finding America’s Voice: A Strategy for Reinvigorating U.S. Public Diplomacy, Report of an Independent Task Force sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, September 2003.

http://www.cfr.org/pdf/public_diplomacy.pdf



How to Reinvigorate U.S. Public Diplomacy, The Heritage Foundation, April 2003.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/bg1645.cfm



Managed Information Dissemination, Report of a Defense Science Board Task Force sponsored by the Department of Defense and Department of State, September 2001.

http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/



Public Diplomacy: A Strategy for Reform, Report of an Independent Task Force

sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, July 2002.

http://www.cfr.org/publication.php?id=4754.xml



Public Diplomacy for the 21st Century, Report submitted by the Public Diplomacy

Institute and Public Diplomacy Council in response to requests from staffs of the

Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, and Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, May 31, 2002.

http://pdi.gwu.edu/



Reclaiming America’s Voice Overseas, The Heritage Foundation, May 2003.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/NationalSecurity/wm273.cfm

The Need to Communicate: How to Improve U.S. Public Diplomacy with the Islamic World, The Brookings Institution, Analysis Paper #6, January 2004.

http://www.brookings.edu/fp/saban/analysis/amr20040101.htm



The New Diplomacy: Utilizing Innovative Communication Concepts that RecognizeResource Constraints, Report of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 2003.

http://www.state.gov/r/adcompd/rls/22818.htm



Strengthening U.S.-Muslim Communications, Report of the Center for the Study of the Presidency, July 2003.

http://www.thepresidency.org/pubs/US-MuslimCommunications.pdf



The Rise of Netpolitik: How the Internet is Changing International Politics and Diplomacy, Report of the Eleventh Annual Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology, 2003.

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/AspenInstitute/files/CCLIBRARYFILES/FILENAME/000

0000077/netpolitik.pdf



U.S. International Broadcasting: Enhanced Measure of Local Media Conditions Would Facilitate Decisions to Terminate Language Services. Report of the U.S. General Accountability Office to the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, February 2004.

http://www.gao.gao/cgi-bin/getrpt?GA0-04-374



U.S. International Broadcasting: New Strategic Approach Focuses on Reaching Large Audiences but Lacks Measurable Program Objectives, Report of the U.S. General Accountability Office to the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, July 2003

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03772.pdf



U.S. Public Diplomacy: State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors Expand Efforts in the Middle East but Face Significant Challenges, Testimony of the U.S. General Accountability Office before the Subcommittee on National Security,Emerging Threats, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives, February 10, 2004.

http://www.gao.gov/cgl-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-435T



U.S. Public Diplomacy: State Department Expands Efforts But Faces Significant Challenges, Report of the U.S. General Accountability Office to the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, September 2003. http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03951.pdf



U.S. International Broadcasting: Challenges Facing the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Testimony of the U.S. General Accountability Office before the

Subcommittee on International Operations and Terrorism, Committee on Foreign

Relations, U.S. Senate, April 29, 2004.

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04627t.pdf

Fagan Finder

Fagan Finder (www.faganfinder.com) provides many useful tools, including a Speed Browse feature (http://www.faganfinder.com/misc/browse.html) that allows you to queue up websites for accelerated browsing (nice for presentations!), a URL info tool http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo/ that provides many kinds of kind of information about a website, and bookmarklets, which have many different uses. Well worth a look!

Post Election Poll

Election 2004Source: National Annenberg Election Survey Post-Election Polling Shows Public Coming to Believe United States Is “Generally Going in Right Direction,” Annenberg Data Indicates (PDF; 96 KB)"After the re-election of President George W. Bush, the American public has become more optimistic about the general direction of the country and more supportive of him personally and as president, the University of Pennsylvania’s National Annenberg Election Survey shows."

Errors in English

Paul Brians of Washington State University has created a useful site devoted to "Common Errors in English," which should be of interest to English teachers everywhere! Another useful site is Stewart Clark's "English Matters" ; Clark is a Brit living in Norway and has developed this site with a Norwegian audience in mind, but his nicely organized collection of language resources will also be useful for a more general audience of teachers and non-native speakers of English.

The American Presidency Project

The American Presidency Project

Terrorism Knowledge Base

The MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base is a new and important source of information about terrorism, coordinated by the Department of Homeland Security. According to the website, the "MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base is the one-stop resource for comprehensive research and analysis on global terrorist incidents, terrorism-related court cases, and terrorist groups and leaders. The Terrorism Knowledge Base illuminates the current status of terrorism today. It takes users through the history, affiliations, locations, and tactics of the terrorism entities operating across the world at this moment. The database features interactive maps, biographies on key terrorist personalities, dynamic graphs, and succinct summaries on who is who and what is what inside the shadowy world of terrorism today. "



http://www.tkb.org/

Duelfer Report

The text of the Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction(the "Duelfer Report")

Polling Report

PollingReport.com provides a tidy overview of current opinion polls

New CRS Report on Electoral College

Our colleagues at the FPC have made available the CRS report "The Electoral College: How it Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections" (09/28/2004)

LII theme collection: Elections 2004

Librarians Index to the Internet has assembled an Elections 2004 Theme Collection

Chicago Council on Foreign Relations public opinion study

Here's the latest Chicago Council on Foreign Relations' public opinion study:

American Public Opinion and Foreign Policy

Nice tool for incorporating xml feeds in html pages

The RSS Digest tool by Peter Cooper is very easy to use: 1. enter the url of the xml or atom feed that you would like to add to a webpage. 2.let RSS Digest generate the code for you and 3. paste the code into the html page where you want the feed to appear. For example, the javascript for the 4 feeds on the left (Resource Shelf, Research Buzz, beSpacific, and Library Stuff) was generated in RSS Digest and pasted into the html template for this page.Please let me know if there are other feeds that might usefully be included here!

FRASER

(excerpted from FRASER™website:



The Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research is the newest project by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to expand on its mission to provide economic information and data to researchers interested in the U.S. economy. On this web site you will find links to scanned images (in Adobe® Acrobat® PDF format) of historical economic statistical publications, releases, and documents.



When used in connection with data contained in FRED® (Federal Reserve Economic Data), FRASER™ allows the researcher to create uninterrupted data series by accessing sources previously available only in printed form and those currently available electronically (on FRED®). In addition, the ability to retrieve series presented in preliminary, revised, and final releases provides a powerful tool in recreating and evaluating previous economic research and policy.

University of Houston Libraries election 2004 guide

http://info.lib.uh.edu/research/websubs/index.html?id=59&fid=108

A guide to websites in following categories:Analyses/Commentaries,Information Sources for Voters, News Sources, Official Campaign Sites, and Polls and Public Opinion

Electoral Vote Predictor

This appears to be a useful site for monitoring electorate opinion and translating results into electoral college predictions... http://www.electoral-vote.com/

beSpacific

The following is excerpted from Sabrina I Pacifici's weblog at www.bespacific.com , which a colleague recently alerted me to. It appears to be a very useful supplement to other alert services such as the Scout Report, Gary Price's Resource Shelf, ResearchBuzz, and so forth..



"beSpacific focuses on the expanding resources in the public and private sector related to law and technology news. Daily postings provide updates on issues including copyright, privacy, censorship, the Patriot Act, ID theft, and freedom of information.

The weblog was launched to the public January 4, 2003. The archives cover entries back to September 2002.

Sabrina I. Pacifici has been an active member of the online legal community for many years. She created the webzine LLRX.com in 1996 and is the site's owner, editor, publisher and web manager. She created the journal PLL Perspectives in 1989, and served as its only editor and publisher until 1996. Sabrina has authored many articles on legal technology topics delivered numerous presentations at professional conferences nationwide, and has been a law firm librarian in Washington, DC for 25 years, the past 20 with a global 50 law firm. She is the web manager of the firm's cyberlaw site and firmwide research intranet, authors in-house blogs, and provides research and practice technology services. "

Department of State launched a new Spanish-language website

The Bureau of Public Affairs released a new website in Spanish at spanish.state.gov. This site features a selection of information from state.gov, including About the State Department, Secretary of State, Background Notes, International Business Support and Western Hemisphere Affairs.

Two new reports from the 9/11 Commission

On August 21, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (aka 9/11 Commission) released two staff reports, on specific aspects of the issue.



The first one deals with "9/11 and Terrorist Travel", 234 pages, (8.3M, very large file because of scans of terrorists' visa applications.)



The second is a "Monograph on Terrorist Financing", 152 pages (601K).

Foreign Policy Attitudes Now Driven by 9/11 and Iraq

"For the first time since the Vietnam era, foreign affairs and national security issues are looming larger than economic concerns in a presidential election. The Sept. 11 attacks and the two wars that followed not only have raised the stakes for voters as they consider their choice for president, but also have created deep divisions and conflicting sentiments over U.S. foreign policy in a troubled time". This new survey was conducted by the Pew Reseach Center in association with the Council on Foreign Relations.

Reports fron think tanks, NGOs and government agencies

http://www.resourceshelf.com/docuticker/

This subsite of Gary Price's Resource Shelf is a great place to look for "annotated links to reports from think tanks, nonprofits and government agencies worldwide."

Ranking words

www.wordcount.org

This is kind of neat, and will be a boon for answering those pesky questions that we all know and dread, e.g. "what is the rank, in terms of frequency of usage in the English language, of the word 'libraries'?" (answer: 4061, of an archive containing 86800), or, what is the 23,923th most common word in English (answer: photon). Regrettably, many of the words that people might be expected to ask about, like lambent, rhodomontade and balanoid, are not yet included in the word count database.

Election site

The electoral college, political parties, and elections: Sites to help you through the voting process

C&RL News, July/August 2004Vol. 65, No. 7

by Beth Jane Toren

http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2004/july04/elections.htm

Yahoo unveils local search

Yahoo has unveiled its local search engine at local.yahoo.com, to give local.google.com some competition. Search guru Chris Sherman gives it a good review in SearchEngineWatch

DNC Links

from http://resourceshelf.freepint.com/



DNC: Selected Lists and Compilations

List of Past Conventions (1832-2000)

List of Keynote Speakers (1900-2000)

Most Notable Convention Speeches of the past

2004 Platform Report (PDF)

Review of Past Conventions

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States released its final report July 22, 2004.

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.



The Commission has released its final report, available at http://www.9-11commission.gov  in PDF format. The report is also available in bookstores nationwide and from the Government Printing Office.

REPORT ON THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY'S PREWAR INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS ON IRAQ

REPORT ON THE U.S. INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY'S PREWAR INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENTS ON IRAQ

Ordered Reported on July 7, 2004

SELECT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE

UNITED STATES SENATE

108th CONGRESS



This version of the report is hosted in the MIT's web site, its size is about 16 MB and it is possible to search text using the Acrobat reader.



http://web.mit.edu/simsong/www/iraqreport2-textunder.pdf



The original report is available at http://intelligence.senate.gov/

July 4 Materials and Articles for Republication

This year's July 4 site, with material for posts to draw on for their Independence Day observances, is available as a link from Society and Values. The site features copyright cleared articles that posts may republish. In addition, the site features a new photo gallery, census feature and links to information on the celebration, the U.S. flag, music and historical resources. It highlights related IIP electronic journals and publications and will feature the President's July 4 proclamation and other official texts as soon as they are available.



July 4: Celebrating Independence Day in the United States

U.S. Society, Culture & Values

High resolution photos

Cape Town IRC compiles brief overview of how Congress works

Too many reporters in South Africa have been writing stories that indicate their utter ignorance of how Congress works, especially how laws are made.



Many of the websites we found that explain this topic are just too detailed for busy journalists, and we weren't sure how their (usually quite big) egos would react to being referred to a kid's site such as http://bensguide.gpo.gov/9-12/lawmaking/index.html.



In the end, we simply put together our own page on the U.S. Congress. Take a look: http://pretoria.usembassy.gov/wwwhit40.html.



Mark Dobson

IRC Director--South Africa

[Free e-book] Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Fiction

Dear IRC Colleagus,



Maybe this e-book can be useful for American Corner or for IRC users.



Best



- IRC Jakarta



Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Fiction

by Jeanne Smith

http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7199p0zh/



Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter One— The Trickster Aesthetic: A Cross-Cultural Feminist Theory

Chapter Two— Monkey Business: Maxine Hong Kingston's Transformational Trickster Texts

Chapter Three— Comic Liberators and Word-Healers: The Interwoven Trickster Narratives of Louise Erdrich

Chapter Four— Tar and Feathers: Community and the Outcast in Toni Morrison's Trickster Novels

Chapter Five— Conclusion

Notes

Works Cited



Suggested citation:

Smith, Jeanne Rosier. Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Fiction. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1997.

http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft7199p0zh/



IRC Jakarta, Indonesia

email: irc@usembassyjakarta.org

Some public diplomacy items

Bruce Bawer, an American writer resident in Norway for the past few years, has written an article in the latest issue of the Hudson Review called "Hating America." It is a meditation on what he considers to be a prevailing attitude in Norway and W. Europe of irrational belligerence towards the U.S.



Farish Noor, a political scientist and human rights activist, has written a review of Helena Finn's article in Foreign Affairs last year about the importance of cultural diplomacy (The Case for Cultural Diplomacy: Engaging Foreign Audiences)



Interesting reading from two very different perspectives!

Arab Human Development Report 2004

Arab.pdf



I am very late to post this, but anyway let me do it.

ARAB HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2003

Building a Knowledge Society

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

ARAB FUND FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

more on CRS reports

From Gary Price's www.resourceshelf.com... there's a selection of new CRS reports available from the Franklin Pierce Law Centre. The reports are current but the selection is not comprehensive; most reports have to do with Internet law. Also, ignore the text on the front page to do with the availability of CRS reports -- most of it is sadly out of date. Still, we have to take what we can get! Kyle Malone, IRC Ottawa

Excerpted from Scout Report, May 14, 2004



Military Campaign Maps

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/milhome.html



Created as part of the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress, this fine digital archive brings together thousands of maps that offer great detail about major military conflicts, including such information as troop movements, defensive structures and groundworks, campsites, local buildings, topography and vegetation. On the site, visitors can also learn about how the maps were digitized, along with specific information about the various technical equipment used to capture the full content of each document. The archive of documents here is not solely historically focused, as there are maps of more contemporary conflict sites, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The entire contents of the archive may be searched in a variety of methods, including through the use of keywords, browsing through a subject list, a creator index, and a geographic location index. From some rather interesting maps of the Brandywine to a Dutch map showing locations of military importance in Pennsylvania and New York, this site will be of interest to historians, cartographers, and many others.

National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism

Excerpted from: Scout Report, May 14, 2004


"...The MIPT is currently funded by a special Congressional appropriation, and is mandated to conduct a host of research programs, including those that examine the social and political causes and effects of terrorism, along with the development of technologies to counter biological, nuclear and chemical weapons of mass destruction. Visitors to the site may check out the online virtual library, which includes documents, reports, and public testimony offered on such areas as anthrax, border security, biological weapons, and dozens of other thematic areas. Additionally, there is a conference calendar, a terrorism database, and a special section on publications specifically undertaken by the MIPT."

Firstgov for Kids: The U.S. government interagency Kids' Portal

FirstGov 4 Kids: The U.S. government interagency Kids' Portal

URL:

http://www.kids.gov/



Welcome to the U.S. government interagency Kids' Portal. This site was developed and is maintained by the Federal Citizen Information Center. It provides links to Federal kids' sites along with some of the best kids' sites from other organizations all grouped by subject. Explore, learn, have fun and don't forget to bookmark us!



Warmest Regards,

IRC Jakarta, Indonesia

irc@usembassyjakarta.org

The New Nonprofit Almanac In Brief

This brief overview done by the Independent Sector provides a quick look at the size and scope of the nonprofit sector and the giving and volunteering that support it. You can find facts and figures needed to understand the size, scope, and nature of this sector.

Titles from ADSURLS no.64, 2004

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eGovernment Leadership: High Performance, Maximum Value.  May 4, 2004.
http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/industries/government/gove_egov_value.pdf  [pdf format, 112 pages]
Item# 04AD597            MPP Theme: 12DEL                       Geo: Global


Globalizing Cooperative Threat Reduction: A Survey of Options.  [RL32359]  April 15, 2004.
http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/crs/RL32359.pdf  [pdf format, 47 pages]
Item# 04AD602            MPP Theme: 02                  Geo: Global


Handbook of Federal Librarianship, 2nd Edition.  2004.
http://www.loc.gov/flicc/pubs/federalhandbook.pdf  [pdf format, 74 pages]
Item# 04AD604            MPP Theme: 12ICG                       Geo: USA


Justice Expenditure and Employment in the United States, 2001.  May 2, 2004.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/jeeus01.pdf  [pdf format, 10 pages]
Item# 04AD600            MPP Theme: 12LE                        Geo: USA


The Lessons of the Asian and Latin American Financial Crises for Chinese Bond Markets.  Web-posted May 6, 2004.
http://www.rand.org/publications/OP/OP117/OP117.pdf  [pdf format, 15 pages]
Item# 04AD596            MPP Theme: 4K                  Geo: Asia


Living Together: A New Look at Racial and Ethnic Integration in Metropolitan Neighborhoods.  April 2004.
http://www.brookings.edu/urban/pubs/20040428_fasenfest.pdf  [pdf format, 20 pages]
Item# 04AD603            MPP Theme: 12DID                       Geo: USA


Rebuilding the Supply Chain of Foreign Affairs Leaders.  Web-posted April 29, 2004.
http://www.rand.org/publications/IP/IP244/IP244.pdf  [pdf format, 6 pages]
Item# 04AD601            MPP Theme: 1E                  Geo: USA


Science and Engineering Indicators 2004.  Web-posted May 4, 2004.
Table of Contents:
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind04/start.htm  [sections in html and pdf formats, various pagings]
Full Report, Vol. 1:
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind04/pdf/volume1.pdf  [pdf format, 496 pages]
Full Report, Vol. 2:
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind04/pdf/volume2.pdf  [pdf format, 454 pages]
Item# 04AD598            MPP Theme: 14H                 Geo: USA


Situation of Human Rights in the Darfur Region of the Sudan.  Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.  [Advance Unedited Version]  May 7, 2004.
http://www.unhchr.ch/pdf/chr60/ECN420053.doc  [Microsoft Word format, 24 printed pages]
Item# 04AD595            MPP Theme: 12HR                        Geo: Africa


World's Worst Places to Be a Journalist.  May 3, 2003.
http://www.cpj.org/enemies/worst_places_04/worst_places_04.html  [html format, 4 printed pages]
Item# 04AD599            MPP Theme: 12MJ                        Geo: Global

Excerpted from Resource Shelf:



U.S. Military

Source: DOD

Military Casualty Information

"The Department of Defense site lists United States war casualties from the Revolutionary War up through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also lists all active military deaths from 1980 through 2002. The data for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom includes the names of those killed as well as other personal information."

Other sites with military casualty information:

+ America's Wars (fact sheet from the V.A.)

+ State Summary of War Casualties from World War II for Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Personnel (NARA)

+ State-level Lists of Casualties from the Korean Conflict (1951-1957) and the Vietnam Conflict (1956-) (NARA)

+ Statistical Information About Casualties of the Vietnam Conflict (NARA)

+ World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing -- Army and Army Air Forces Personnel (NARA)

See also: Military Assistance Program: Casualty and Mortuary Affairs (DoD Directives, links to related resources, etc.)

OCLC Opens WorldCat Pilot

Courtesy of Eileen Deegan at IIP/G/IR:



I wanted to bring your attention to an item -- "OCLC Opens WorldCat Pilot

Project" -- in the March/April Fedlink Technical Notes newsletter that was

just posted online at -- http://www.loc.gov/flicc/pubs/tn0403.pdf.



This article outlines the current project in which OCLC has given Google

2,000,000 abbreviated WorldCat records. This means that by searching

Google, anyone can find out which libraries own each of those 2,000,000

books. The article is especially useful because it tells you what syntax to

use to search the WorldCat records on Google. The article says the pilot

project ends June 2004, and OCLC will decide whether to implement an ongoing

service on Google. I found it interesting to try out.



Regards,

Eileen

Trafficking in Humans

The US Embassy Pretoria Information Resource Center has prepared a useful "infopack" on trafficking in humans: http://pretoria.usembassy.gov/wwwhit20.html. The package gives an overview of U.S. legislation and includes a selection of factsheets, reports, journal articles and websites.

Internet Resources for Translators

This is a very interesting compilation of Internet resources for translators made by Michelle de Raaij: http://www.deraaij.com/irt/

It includes links to various translation schools, associations, dictionaries, softwares and many other tools necessary for those who do translation.

D-DAY 60th Anniversary

We would like to invite you to visit the U.S. Embassy France website for the 60th Anniversary of D-Day.

http://www.amb-usa.fr/DD/INDEX.HTM

On this website you will find information for journalists and veterans, as well as a list of related associations.

Caregiving in the U.S.

(excerpted from http://research.aarp.org/il/us_caregiving.html ) "The purpose of this study – a joint project of the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP and funded by MetLife Foundation – is to update and expand knowledge about the activities caregivers say they perform, the perceived impact of caregiving on their daily lives, and the unmet needs of this population. Its findings are based on a national telephone survey of 1,237 caregivers age 18 or older, including approximately 200 African-American, 200 Hispanic, and 200 Asian-American caregivers. Interviewing was conducted from September 5 through December 22, 2003."

US Public Beliefs on Iraq and the Presidential Election

According to this new survey, conducted by the University of Maryland's Program in International Policy Attitudes, a majority of Americans (57%) continue to believe that before the war Iraq was providing substantial support to al Qaeda, including 20% who believe that Iraq was directly involved in the September 11 attacks. Forty-five percent believe that evidence that Iraq was supporting al Qaeda has been found. Sixty percent believe that just before the war Iraq either had weapons of mass destruction (38%) or a major program for developing them (22%).

Ms.Lebeau's Homepage

Teacher Sue Lebeau has done an impressive job of compiling web resources for students and teachers - see Ms.Lebeau's homepage.

Nancy Snow's website

Nancy Snow is a former intern at USIA and State, was a Fulbrighter in Germany, and is currently an Assistant Professor in the College of Communications at California State University. She has written extensively about public diplomacy, with a focus on "U.S. foreign policy, American persuasion, influence, and propaganda, entertainment and media culture in American society, communications in the public interest, and the impact of global communications theory and practice on democratic participation and community development" - relevant stuff for our line of work, in other words! Her website, www.nancysnow.com contains much interesting reading.

NAFTA Dossier updated

The Benjamin Franklin Library announces that the electronic compilation NAFTA Dossier has been revamped.



All key policy statements were replaced by newer items, current evaluation papers added, as well as more recent hearings and government reports. It links to the latest versions available for every document, with an abstract for each record and, in addition, it has a new design.



English: http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/bbf/bfdossier_NAFTA.htm

Spanish: http://www.usembassy-mexico.gov/bbf/bfdossierS_NAFTA.htm

U.S. Blue Pages - USG Phone

(excerpted from the "About" section) "The U.S. Blue Pages project is devoted to helping you connect with your federal government agencies and services. The U.S. Blue Pages are funded by the federal government and administered by the U.S. General Services Administration. The U.S. Blue Pages are a multi-agency effort that establishes a standard, easy-to-use format for acquiring key federal telephone listings. The effort includes gathering, validating and formatting information for publication in local telephone directories and this website."

New Biographical Searches (Excerpted from ResourceShelf.com)

A & E Biography



This collection of biographies got not only a facelift but also a "brainlift," resulting in enhanced content and slightly better software that can finally perform full-text searches instead of just searching the name in the header of the biographic articles. It, however, still can't stop if there is no real match. For more details, see: Péter's Digital Reference Shelf - April 2004 .



-------------------------------------------



Ask.com (Ask Jeeves) Adds New "Smart Search" Feature: Famous People Search



The Smart Search program was introduced by Ask.com last year. What's new? Jeeves has introduced a new box at the top of the results page containing direct links to "bios, pictures, news, products and links to official web sites" when you search for celebrities and newsmakers. A prefix is not needed to activate this feature; simply enter the name and click the Ask button. Biographical info comes from Who2.com.

New FindLaw for the Public Launches

FindLaw, a Thomson business and a provider of client development services for the legal profession, has launched a new version of its “FindLaw for the Public” Web site (http://public.findlaw.com/) with many new features, including a redesigned look-and-feel and state-specific legal content. It also offers users improved access to lawyers through searching the West Legal Directory (with one million lawyers listed) to find and research lawyers in their areas.



The new user interface offers tab-based site navigation and expanded topic-specific navigation for more than 40 legal topics. Other new features include expanded content on legal topics, such as bankruptcy law and criminal law and procedure, as well as links to national and state crime-prevention resources.

Brookings Launches Center on the United States and Europe

To build on its longstanding interest in the evolving transatlantic relationship and to address the serious differences that have emerged between America and Europe after the September 11 terrorist attacks and throughout the ongoing war on terrorism, Brookings today announced the launch of its new Center on the United States and Europe. The center will offer a forum for research, high-level dialogue, and public debate on issues affecting U.S.-Europe relations.



Read the press release: http://www.brookings.edu/comm/news/20040405cuse.htm



Visit the CUSE homepage: http://www.brookings.edu/fp/cuse/center_hp.htm

Historical newspapers

For the occasional historical/genealogical reference query, www.newspaperarchive.com is impressive...although you have to pay to view the articles themselves, it's a great tool for finding references (a lot of inaccuracies however, as is generally the case with OCR generated datbases)

Gateway to Education Materials

"The Gateway to Educational Materials is a Consortium effort to provide educators with quick and easy access to thousands of educational resources found on various federal, state, university, non-profit, and commercial Internet sites." This site, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, will be a valuable resource for teachers teaching about the U.S.

PEW report about older Americans' use of the Internet

New report from the PEW Internet and American Life report: Older Americans and the Internet

From the report: "22% of Americans 65 and older use the Internet.

The percent of seniors who go online has jumped by 47% between 2000 and 2004. In a

February 2004 survey, 22% of Americans age 65 or older reported having access to the

Internet, up from 15% in 2000. That translates to about 8 million Americans age 65 or

older who use the Internet. By contrast, 58% of Americans age 50-64, 75% of 30-49

year-olds, and 77% of 18-29 year-olds currently go online."

Global Corruption Report

The Global Corruption Report 2004 provides an overview of the state of corruption around

the world. It covers national and international developments, institutional and legal

change and activities within both the private sector and civil society for the period from

July 2002 to June 2003. This year the Global Corruption Report focuses on political

corruption. It presents 34 country reports and the latest research on corruption.

American Dream

For school kids writing about that ever popular topic the "American Dream," this LOC Learning Page and the essay (with links) about "What is the American Dream"? will be useful.

The Potential Impact of Iraq on the Election

This is an election analysis from The Gallup Organization on how the issue of Iraq could influence 2004 Elections. "Although a majority of Americans continue to support the war in Iraq, U.S. military involvement in that country is not the highest priority for them when they are asked about the issues they will take into account on Election Day."

Preview of new govt. openness website...

This is what the soon-to-be-launched website OpenTheGovernment.orgsays about itself:

"OpenTheGovernment.org is a coalition of organizations and individuals concerned with growing government secrecy. We're focused on making the federal government a more open place to make us safer, strengthen public trust in government, and support our democratic principles..." more

American Women's History: A Research Guide

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~kmiddlet/history/women.html

(excerpted from Scout Report, March 19, 2004)

Greatly revised and expanded since its last Scout Report mention, (March 13, 1999) Ken Middleton's American Women's History: A Research Guide includes over 2100 citations to print and Internet sources and hundreds of links to digitized primary sources, as well as frequent updates and link checking to ensure the currency of cited resources. The Research Guide now consists of 4 main sections: an index to resources by subject, an index to resources by state, and two Tools sections offering guidance on finding primary sources (e.g. archival, manuscript, and museum collections, historical newspapers and periodicals), as well as secondary sources (e.g. books, articles, theses and dissertations). Some print resources listed under Marriage are bibliographies and historical overviews; examples of online materials are digital photo databases at the Los Angeles and Denver Public Libraries, that include images of weddings and marriage. Shortcuts to popular, quickly available, online resources are provided from the home page.

The Middle East Institute at Columbia University

[pdf] http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/regional/mei/

(excerpted from Scout Report, March 19, 2004)

Founded in 1954, the Middle East Institute of Columbia University has offered a multidisciplinary approach to studying the Middle East, with a particular emphasis on the 19th and 20th century... Alongside detailed information about various public programs for scholars and the general public, the institute's site also provides some helpful educational materials, such as a Research Projects section. Here visitors can download materials on educational outreach for Muslim sensitivity, and peruse other documents on researching Middle East topics on the Internet. The e-Resources section is also worth a look, as it contains a number of archived lectures on very topical themes, including Iran and Israeli and Palestinian nationalism.

The State of the News Media 2004

An Annual Report on American Journalism

Project for Excellence, March 2004

The State of the News Media 2004 provides a comprehensive look each year at the state of American journalism. The study is the work of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, an institute affiliated with Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Covers issues in the major journalism sectors: magazine, newspaper, network, cable and local TV, alternative and ethnic media and radio. Full text available at http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/index.asp

IRAQ: ONE YEAR AFTER

(from EADSURLs no.49)

IRAQ: ONE YEAR AFTER.

Thomas R. Pickering, Eric Schwartz, and James R. Schlesinger.

Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Independent Task Force on Post-Conflict Iraq. March 9, 2004.



While noting "significant progress" in the post-conflict reconstruction and political transition effort, the Task Force reports that the planned transfer of sovereignty on June 30, combined with U.S. troop reductions from Iraqi cities and uncertainty about long-term U.S. funding, has created doubts about U.S. staying power. To avoid destabilizing the effort and demoralizing Iraqis, the Task Force urges the Bush administration, the Democratic nominee for president, and Congressional leaders to:

* declare that coalition forces will continue to provide essential security in Iraq until the Iraqi security forces can do so on their own;

* emphasize that the transfer of sovereignty does not signal a diminished U.S. commitment to supporting stability, reconstruction and a peaceful political transition;

* affirm that the United States is prepared to sustain a multi-billion dollar commitment to Iraq for at least the next several years; and

* ensure broad involvement of Iraqis, and promote a leading role for the United Nations in the political transition process.

The Task Force report contains a range of recommendations for enhancing the coalition's effort to help Iraqis become more involved in the future management of their country. These include: increasing incentives for U.S. government service in Iraq; improving management of U.S. assistance efforts; moving quickly to structure the administration and staffing of a new U.S. embassy; promoting job creation; advancing the status of women; implementing a more effective public diplomacy effort; and ensuring transparent and accountable monitoring procedures for the oil industry.

Iraq Poll

Survey finds hope in occupied Iraq



An opinion poll suggests most Iraqis feel their lives have improved since the war in Iraq began about a year ago. (poll commissioned by BBC, ABC and others; poll conducted by Oxford Research International)

Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3514504.stm

Full text of poll in pdf:

news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/15_03_04_iraqsurvey.pdf

A Year After Iraq War: Mistrust of America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists

This is the latest in a series of international surveys by the Pew Global Attitudes Project. It was conducted from late February to early March in nine nations (U.S., UK, Germany, France, Russia, Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan).

"A year after the war in Iraq, discontent with America and its policies has intensified rather than diminished. Opinion of the United States in France and Germany is at least as negative now as at the war’s conclusion, and British views are decidedly more critical. Perceptions of American unilateralism remain widespread in European and Muslim nations, and the war in Iraq has undermined America’s credibility abroad. Doubts about the motives behind the U.S.-led war on terrorism abound, and a growing percentage of Europeans want foreign policy and security arrangements independent from the United States. Across Europe, there is considerable support for the European Union to become as powerful as the United States... In the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed, anger toward the United States remains pervasive, although the level of hatred has eased somewhat and support for the war on terrorism has inched up."

Election 2004: Green Party, Libertarian, Constitution, Socialist, Natural Law

Thanks for having this site. Here you can find information on presidential candidates and links to their homepages: http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/2004candstxt.html



Complete listing of Presidential Candidates is also available:http://www.vote-smart.org/election_president.php





I also included my earlier posting sent by mailing list:

Dear IRC Colleagues, News4Jax (a partner with WJXT WOKV.com The Beaches Leader washingtonpost.com MSNBC CNN.com) provides a good perspective on key issues in 2004 Presidential Election Campaign:

For example, Compare candidates on the issues: http://www.news4jax.com/politics/2653202/detail.html



All the best, Thanks.

The Vietnam Project

The Vietnam Project



(excerpted from Scout Report, vol.10, no.10)

"A number of online archives exist already to remember major military conflicts (particularly for World War II), so it is fitting that the Vietnam War also have a significant web presence. Designed by a dedicated team at Texas Tech University, the Virtual Vietnam Archive "enables scholars, students and all interested in this remarkable period in our world history to conduct research directly from universities, schools, libraries, and homes."

Elections

Elections 2004



(excerpted from Scout Report, vol.10, no.10)

"Every presidential election in the United States gives rise to greater legions of so-called "spin doctors," and a number of pundits offering their opinions on the chances of each candidate who has thrown their hat in the ring. Fortunately, the University of Michigan Documents Center has developed this helpful and informative website that culls together hundreds of useful websites about the upcoming presidential election of 2004. From the homepage visitors can look through a number of helpful sections devoted to listing sites dedicated to such topics as Policy Issues, Candidates, and Campaign. Within each of these broad thematic areas are contained more specific areas dedicated to links on important subtopics such as campaign finances, media coverage, terrorism, economics, and many others. Scholars will want to take a look at the Academic Research section, which contains links to online periodical databases and some links to sites with recent working papers on the subject."

Source for economic data

(excerpted from Resource Shelf)

EconData.Net

"Place this one in your "must have" file (if it's not already there)! From the site, "1,000 links to socioeconomic data sources, arranged by subject and provider, pointers to the Web's premiere data collections, and our own list of the ten best sites for finding regional economic data." EconData.Net's monthly e-mail update (free) lists new reports and economic resources."

IRAQ: THE INTERIM CONSTITUTION.

(excerpted from EADSURLs no.48)

IRAQ: THE INTERIM CONSTITUTION

Sharon Otterman.

Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Updated March 8, 2004.



This document reviews the history of the Iraqi Governing Council (ICG) and its attempts to craft a legal framework for the new government of Iraq, slated to begin after June 30, when the U.S-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) turns over power. There is a brief discussion of major provisions in the new constitution and excellent links to related sources, including one to the text of the constitution on the CPA web site.



http://www.cfr.org/background/background_iraq_const.php

Susan D. Moeller's Media Coverage of Weapons of Mass Destruction study from the Advanced Methods of Cooperative Security Program at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland was released March 9.

testing

testing

News portal

news search portal

This one-page portal lists search engines, toolbars, RSS feeds, alert services and other useful resources for tracking and finding news items.

American Community Survey

The American Community Survey is a new nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing. It is a critical element in the Census Bureau's reengineered 2010 census plan.

Iraqi Coalition casualty count

This site was developed "to provide information that has been

scrupulously culled from government sources and cross-checked

against other existing lists" about the military death toll in

Iraq. It features statistics about fatalities and injuries for

Iraqi Coalition armed forces. Data may be retrieved by month,

name, location of occurrences, cause of death, state residence,

and more. Includes links to sources of information.



http://lunaville.org/

Useful site for military information

(excerpted from Resource Shelf...)

Military Studies

Source: National Defense University (NDU)

Military Education & Research Library Network (MERLN)

MERLN, portal for the international military education library community, is a multilayered resource that is home to a wealth of unique digitized materials and a gateway to other libraries and research centers. Almost everything here is freely accessible to anyone, with the exception of certain proprietary databases that are restricted by license to participating institutions.

AN ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY.

(excerpted from FY2004 EADSURLS No. 43)

Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall.

[United States Department of Defense. Office of Net Assessment]. October 2003, Web-posted February 2004.



Sunday’s edition of London’s Observer raised a furor with an article about this report, commissioned by the Pentagon last year and written by two futurologists. Subsequent media stories have described the report as a classified document that projects that Britain will soon have a Siberian-type climate, among other scenarios. The futurologists and Pentagon officials stress the report's scary-sounding projections are highly improbable and extremely unlikely. Rather, they stress, the report is typical of many “worst-case” studies, which specifically present low-possibility, high-impact scenarios for defense planners.



[Note: This report was discussed a few weeks in a Fortune magazine article. See: http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,582584,00.html ]

Handy eyedropper tool for working with webpages

-- Inetia.com --This Slovenian freeware tool is very useful for matching colors when editing webpages - very easy to install and use.

Zapmeta

Zapmeta is a metasearch engine with some nice features, including "QuickView" which enables you to preview search results without leaving the hitlist - eliminates a great deal of tedious to and fro!

Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Congressional Research Service

Foreign Terrorist Organizations

PDF; 111 pages

New search engine from Yahoo

Yahoo is rolling out a brand new search engine today. Try it out at search.yahoo.com, read about it at SearchEngineWatch

Knight Ridder Election Blog

This is an election blog edited by Knight Ridder journalists covering the presidential campaign:

Knight Ridder Election 2004

National Governors Association

(from ResearchBuzz #270, Feb.12, 2004)

The National Governors Association has announced a

new site providing information on the governors of

the United States. The site contains information on

both current and historical governors and is

available at http://www.nga.org/governors/1,1169,C_SEARCH_GO%20V,00.html

NYTimes on Google and librarians

An interesting article from the New York Times on Google and librarians:

"When Google doesn't work, most people don't have a plan B... Librarians have lots of plan B's. We know when to go to a book, when to call someone, even when to go to Google."

NYT on google and librarians.doc

Middle East Research and Information Project

(excerpted from Scout Report Volume 10, Number 5

February 6, 2004)

Middle East Research and Information Project

http://www.merip.org



Established 32 years ago, the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Washington, DC. The Project has been quite successful over the past few decades due to its commitment to providing a broad range of perspectives on the Middle East not generally found in some of the mainstream media and press coverage. While the organization's primary publication, the Middle East Report, is not available for free on the site (although some of its editorial pieces are), visitors will want to take a close look at the Middle East Report Online, which is available here. Recent features within the online report deal with the future of Middle East studies in American universities, ethnic unrest in Iraq, and the long-standing dispute over Western Sahara. For visitors interested in a particular subject, there is a subject index of articles, and a feature that allows interested parties to sign up to receive the online reports via email.

African-American History Month: Multimedia

(excerpt from EADSURLs, 38, 2004)African-American History Month: Multimedia

This is a nice site for facts and statistics about African American history. Under the “Radio” section heading, for example, there are links to text scripts and 60-second radio spots that are mini-biographies of some of the most inspiring African-Americans. There is one biography for each day in February. On February 12, the Census Bureau will make available on this site a video on the impact of the Brown v. Board of Education, 50 years after that historic Supreme Court decision.

Portal to European Union Law

(excerpted from the Feb.6 Scout Report )

EUR-Lex: The Portal to European Union Law [pdf]

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/index.html



"Given the enormous complexity of bringing together 12 of continental Europe's countries to form the European Union, it is not surprising that there is a vast body of legal material related to this process. As this is the case, the EUR-Lex website is in fact the "single entry point to the complete collections of EU legal texts in all the official languages." The homepage for the site contains several helpful thematic collections of documents (in a variety of file formats for convenience), such as case-law, parliamentary questions, treaties, and several other categories. Of course, the novice user will want to take a look through the About EU Law section which offers a broad outline of the legal process, a glossary, and an alphabetized section that will answer many questions. To say this site will be of interest to legal scholars and students of the EU legal process would be a vast understatement."

US Presidential Elections 2004 / US Election News and Coverage

US Presidential Elections 2004 / US Election News and CoverageThis UK site provides a nicely concentrated portal to 2004 election sites.

ARTICLE ALERT

January 

2004

Welcome to the first edition of the special issue of Article Alert we produce for our mission to the EU.



Article Alert is a selection of recent publications on U.S.-EU affairs, providing interesting and varied third party insights into current policy matters. This compilation is published on a monthly basis.

Important Notice: Most abstracts on this page are hyperlinked to the full text version of the journal articles. Just click on "full text" to download the article. When the abstract links back to ProQuest, you will be required to enter a password. This password will be sent to you via email, on request.

Copyright legislation prevents us from making articles available to users outside of the EU and its applicant countries. Also, because of the Smith-Mundt Act, we cannot send articles to users in the United States.

If you want to subscribe to this monthly publication, or if you have any comments or suggestions regarding Article Alert, please send us an email at useu-pa@state.gov.

Views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect U.S. government policies.

Gary Price and Chris Sherman on web searching

Right now, as I write this, Gary Price and Chris Sherman and are giving a virtual lecture called "Web Research: What's New in 2004". It's part of the Library of Congress's "Luminary Lectures @ Your Library" series. I can't get on because their server is at capacity, but according to the web page, a recorded version of the lecture, with slides, will be available at this site:

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/lectures/gpcs.html within the next couple of days.

Note: the live broadcast is a realplayer file, so you won't be able to see it anyway if you've lost your PDNet already.

U.S. Elections 2004 - an electronic newsletter · January 22, 2004





Discover our Elections 2004 dossier



Looking for a one-stop gateway to non-partisan coverage of the 2004 U.S. elections?



Interested in articles, interviews, public opinion polls, and other information on the presidential primaries and caucuses, debates, conventions and campaign activities of the major presidential candidates?



Check out the resources of our new Elections 2004 dossier on www.uspolicy.be and learn about the How, the Who and the What of these elections.



New Items



A Look Ahead: The New Hampshire Primary (2004-01-21) Since 1920, the New Hampshire primary election has occupied a unique place in the presidential campaign as the first official primary in the country. Those candidates who do well in New Hampshire gain substantial momentum for their campaigns that helps them in later primaries and may carry them to eventual success in securing their party's nomination at the national convention. This year, the primary will be held on January 27. more

Kerry Wins Iowa Democratic Caucuses (2004-01-20) Massachusetts Senator John Kerry captured the first stage in the long race to determine the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee January 19 by winning 38 percent of the votes cast in the Iowa precinct caucuses. With this "Iowa bounce," Kerry has momentum going into the nation's first primary election, January 27 in New Hampshire.

Most political observers also note that North Carolina Senator John Edwards gained politically with his strong 32 percent of the vote in second place, and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, the third-place finisher with 18 percent, lost momentum. more



Election Focus 2004



Kerry Wins Iowa Democratic Caucuses; New Hampshire Primary Next  93K PDF, Jan. 21, 2004



This issue of Election Focus 2004, looks at the Iowa caucuses results; an overview of the New Hampshire primary; and a discussion on the role of foreign policy in the 2004 election by political analysts Andrew Kohut, Edward Rollins and Douglas E. Schoen.  more



An Overview of the 2004 Presidential Race 1MB PDF, Jan. 14, 2004

In this first issue of Election Focus 2004, there is an overview of the 2004 presidential race; an interview with political analyst Charles Cook, giving his opinion on key aspects of the U.S. elections; candidate biographies and a calendar of primaries and caucuses more

Hello

Greetings from Tbilisi!



Here we are together with Petter Naess, providing information support to the visiting SecState team. Though Petter says that this a test message from here, I'm taking opportunity to thank Petter for coming and giving a hand (a great one!) to our IRC.



Regards to veteran bloggers,



Irina.

Dipomacymonitor.com

Excellent website that monitors all press releases from various

foreign ministries worldwide. It has a searchable database and can show

nation to nation releases. The site is: diplomacymonitor.com . Try it out

and see what you think. I think it's really helpful. (courtesy of Ian, Stockholm)

Special Summit of the Americas web site developed by IRC Mexico

The Benjamin Franklin Library in coordination with IIP developed a web site with information about the Special Summit of the Americas which is available in English at mexico.usembassy.gov/summit and in Spanish at mexico.usembassy.gov/cumbre

Two Election Sites

The 2004 US Presidential Election: A View From the Web

Grid compares Web sites of 2004 presidential hopefuls,

feature by feature. Includes links to individual

politicians' sites. From PoliticalWeb.Info, a site that

analyzes politics on the Web, and researchers "affiliated

with WebArchivist.org at the University of Washington and

SUNY Institute of Technology."

http://politicalweb.info/2004/2004.html

Subjects: Presidents -- United States...

Created by cdt



U. S. Census Bureau Facts for Features: The 2004

Presidential Election

Special report "to mark the start of the 2004 presidential

election season" provides facts and statistics relating to

trends in voter registration and voter turnout based on the

November 2000 election. Features information on turnout

based on date of primary or caucus, and age and gender of

voters. From the U.S. Census Bureau.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features

/001643.html

Subjects: Voting -- United States -- Statistics...

Created by cdt



Copyright 2004 by Librarians' Index to the Internet, LII.

Report Alert - January 9, 2004

The latest issue of Report Alert is available on the internet. Just click on the following link to access the online edition and read full text recent reports, in the areas of international relations, defense, arms control, international economics, globalization and more.



Report Alert. Issue of January 9, 2004

Notice: if you have a problem accessing the above link, just copy and paste it into your favorite browser, and access it from there.



We appreciate your comments. Please send us some feedback via email.



Report Alert allows you to keep abreast of research publications on current issues in the United States and provides access to US Government and non-US government documents.

Prepared and distributed by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy Brussels | (Un) subscribe.

Electronic Advance Documents Service, January 4, 2004

TITLE INDEX

January 4, 2004



Doing it Wrong and Doing it Right: Education in Latin America and Asia.

[Essays in Public Policy No. 110] 2003.

http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/epp/110/110.pdf [pdf format, 32 pages]

Item# 04AD255 MPP Theme: 12ED Geo: Global





The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer’s. January 2004.

http://www.pbs.org/theforgetting

[Gateway page, sections in various formats, various file sizes]

Item# 04AD249 MPP Theme: 15A Geo: Global



Holocaust Denial: A Global Survey - 2003. December 2003.

http://www.wymaninstitute.org/denialreport/2003.php [html format, 11 printed pages]

Item# 04AD251 MPP Theme: 12RE Geo: Global



Irregular Migration and Trafficking in Women: The Case of Turkey. Web-posted

December 2003.

http://www.iom.int//DOCUMENTS/PUBLICATION/EN/Irregular_mig_in_turkey.pdf

[pdf format, 88 pages]

Item# 04AD253 MPP Theme: 10F Geo: Europe



Libya and Nonproliferation. December 23, 2003.

http://www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/031223.htm [html format, 8 printed pages]

Item# 04AD250 MPP Theme: 2F Geo: Middle East



Making and Remaking America: Immigration into the United States.

[Hoover Essays No. 25] 2003.

http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/he/25/25.pdf [pdf format, 61 pages]

Item# 04AD256 MPP Theme: 8A Geo: USA





Mexico: Country Profile for 2003. Drug Intelligence Report. November 2003.

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/intel/03047/03047.pdf [pdf format, 36 pages]

Item# 04AD254 MPP Theme: 09 Geo: WHA





Talking Cure: A Case Study in Communication for Social Change.

[The Communication for Social Change Working Paper Series: No. 2] December 2003.

http://www.rockfound.org/Documents/614/SocialChange7_30.pdf [pdf format, 18 pages]

Item# 04AD252 MPP Theme: 12CSA Geo: USA

President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program

President Bush on Wednesday proposed a new temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs.



http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/01/20040107-3.html

President Bush Proposes New Temporary Worker Program

President Bush on Wednesday proposed a new temporary worker program to match willing foreign workers with willing U.S. employers when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs.

Web Guide to U.S. Supreme Court Research

Gail Partin's thorough and up-to-date guide provides annotated links to the most reliable, substantive sites for U.S. Supreme Court research. Her focus is predominantly on information that is freely or inexpensively available on the Internet. http://www.llrx.com/features/supremectwebguide.htm



SOURCE: LLRX.com (Law Library Resource Xchange)