September 14th, 2009 by Marcia Meister
UC Davis now has access to the LexisNexis Digital Hearings Collections Part A (1824-1979). This new collection contains full-text, searchable, pdf versions of Congressional committee hearings, including both published and unpublished hearings. Access to this collection is through LexisNexis Congressional.
You must be on campus or logged in through the VPN to access this collection. When you perform a search in the above time frame, you will see at the top of the results list a new format: Hearings–Digital Collection. Click on this link to access the hearings that have been digitized. You can search this collection exclusively by using the Advanced search on LexisNexis Congressional with the Hearings box checked.
This digital collection fills in gaps in the library’s collection of older congressional hearings in print and provides easy access to the content of congressional committee testimony so valuable for understanding the background and variety of views on an issue.
The library has full-text access to U.S. Congressional Serial Set reports and documents through a different service – Readex/Newsbank.
Please contact me if you would like more information or a demonstration of the LexisNexis Digital U.S. Congressional Hearings Collection.
Posted in Government Information, History, Political Science | No Comments Yet »
August 31st, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is an open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world from 1970 through 2007 (with annual updates planned for the future). Unlike many other event databases, the GTD includes systematic data on domestic as well as transnational and international terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period and now includes more than 80,000 cases. For each GTD incident, information is available on the date and location of the incident, the weapons used and nature of the target, the number of casualties, and—when identifiable—the group or individual responsible.
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) is making the GTD available via this online interface in an effort to increase understanding of terrorist violence so that it can be more readily studied and defeated.
Characteristics of the GTD
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*Contains information on over 80,000 terrorist attacks
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*Currently the most comprehensive unclassified data base on terrorist events in the world
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*Includes information on more than 27,000 bombings, 12,000 assassinations, and 2,900 kidnappings since 1970
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*Includes information on at least 45 variables for each case, with more recent incidents including information on more than 120 variables
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*Supervised by an advisory panel of 12 terrorism research experts
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*Over 3,500,000 news articles and 25,000 news sources were reviewed to collect incident data from 1998 to 2007 alone
Access: http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/
Tags: Terrorism
Posted in Government Information, Political Science | No Comments Yet »
August 28th, 2009 by David Michalski
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum encyclopedia of camps and ghettos, 1933-1945
[general editor, Geoffrey P. Megargee].
Bloomington, Ind. : Indiana University Press : [Washington, D.C.] : United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Call no.
Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference D805.A2 U55 2009 Lib Use Only
Subject
Concentration camps — Europe — Encyclopedias.
World War, 1939-1945 — Concentration camps — Europe — Encyclopedias.
Read press release
Posted in American Studies, Cultural Studies, German, German Language and Literatures, History, Political Science, Religious Studies, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Sociology | No Comments Yet »
August 28th, 2009 by David Michalski
The Oxford encyclopedia of the modern world : [1750 to the present]
Peter N. Stearns, editor in chief.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2008.
8 Volumes
Call no.
Shields Library Humanities/Social Sciences Reference D205 .O94 2008 Lib Use Only
Contents
Aborigines-business — Cairo-dust — Earth Day-heart disease — Hebrew language and literature-luxury — Macau-Oxfam — Pachinko-skyscrapers — Slave rebellions, American-white slavery — Wildlife-Zulu War ; index.
History, Modern — Encyclopedias.
Civilization, Modern — Encyclopedias.
From publisher’s web site…”
The breadth of knowledge offered within this multivolume set is astounding, with features spanning articles on countries, regions, and ethnic groups; themes involving social history, demography, family life, politics, economics, religion, thought, education, science and technology, and culture; events such as major wars; and extensive coverage of the United States. Detailed articles cover not only the major facts but the interpretations as well and are written for readers who are not specialists in the particular area. Enriched with over 800 halftones and 50 maps, this reference work is essential for any scholar, general reader, collector or curator interested in this rich and varied time in history…”
Posted in American Studies, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, History, Political Science, Sociology | No Comments Yet »
August 26th, 2009 by Marcia Meister
The CIA Special Review of Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation Activities.
As widely reported in the press, the CIA Office of Inspector General has just released material on past detention practices in the ‘War on Terrorism’. The release of this material came about following a FOIA request by the American Civil Liberties Union, and a copy of the OIG report (along with supplemental documents) is currently available on their website.
Posted in Government Information, Political Science, Uncategorized | Comments Off
June 22nd, 2009 by Marcia Meister
The State Department has released the latest version of their report
“Politi
cal Violence Against Americans.” The 2008 report is available at
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/125224.pdf, and the title is cataloged for the library’s catalog. It was produced by the Bureau of Diplomatic Security’s Office of Intelligence and Threat Analysis (DS/DSS/ITA) to provide readers with a comprehensive picture of the broad spectrum of political violence that American citizens and interests have encountered abroad on an annual basis.
There were no reports produced from 2003-2007, but previous reports are available online or in the library.
Posted in Government Information, Political Science, Uncategorized | No Comments Yet »
June 5th, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo
Interest in the election results within various African nations continues to grow, and the African Elections Project is a great source of information on this timely topic. The Project is coordinated by the International Institute for ICT Journalism and a number of additional partners, such as the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and Global Voices. The material on the site is available in both French and English, and currently it covers Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Malawi, and Niger. Within each country profile, visitors can view the results of recent elections, take a look at relevant weblogs, learn about the various political parties in each country, and also view past news updates. Additionally, visitors can sign up to receive email updates or RSS feeds.
Access: http://www.africanelections.org/
Tags: Elections
Posted in African and African American Studies, Government Information, Political Science | No Comments Yet »
May 30th, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo
Civics can be a dreaded word for some students, but things just got a bit more interesting with this rather thoughtful and interesting video workshop created by the National Council for the Social Studies and the Center for Civic Education. Released as part of the Annenberg Media teacher resources, this eight part series helps teachers find ways to teach civics, complete with lesson plans and other materials. The workshop program videos include segments such as “Public Policy and the Federal Budget”, “Electoral Politics”, and “Freedom of Religion”. Visitors can also take advantage of the series website which contains additional teaching tools and support materials designed to complement the activities from each program.
Access: http://www.learner.org/resources/series177.html
Tags: Civics, Federal Budget, Freedom of Religion, Public Policy
Posted in Education, Political Science | No Comments Yet »
May 30th, 2009 by Roberto C. Delgadillo
Based on interviews with more than 35,000 American adults, this extensive survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details the religious makeup, religious beliefs and practices as well as social and political attitudes of the American public. This online section includes dynamic tools that complement the full report. For a video overview and related material, go to the resource page.
Access: http://religions.pewforum.org/
Tags: Church and State, Civic Culture, Religious Pluralism
Posted in American Studies, Political Science, Religious Studies | No Comments Yet »
May 12th, 2009 by David Michalski
Did you know the Humanities and Social Science Librarians offer research assistance to undergraduates working on term papers? If your professors require a term paper based on peer-reviewed research, we can help. We will show you how to engage the pressing questions, review the literature, evaluate sources, and assembly the evidence you need for term paper success.
Contact us by email, or come by the Humanities Social Sciences and Government Information Reference desk on the 2nd Floor of the Peter J. Shields Library and schedule an appointment with a librarian who knows your field. Appointments for one-on-one meetings usually last about 30 minutes, but can prepare you for a career of self-directed and critical information research. Past practice shows that Paper-Aid sessions improve grades. Take advantage of this unique service by making an appointment your subject specialist librarian.
Posted in African and African American Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Asian American Studies, Business / Economics, Chicano/a Studies, Comunications, East Asian Languages and Literature, East Asian Studies, Education, Film Studies, German Language and Literatures, Literatures in English, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies | No Comments Yet »
