"The Holiday Season" facts from the Census Bureau

Data on various aspects of the U.S. Holiday season. Includes number of dollars going to Christmas tree farmers, import value of ornaments coming from China, the number of shopping malls in the U.S. etc.

Link to press release

Subjects : Holiday Statistics -- United States

World Population Projections

Report from the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs projects the world population to 2300. Provides detailed data tables, graphs and charts on regions, countries, and nations.

Download PDF

Subjects : Population forecasting -- Statistics

The Expectations Gap – A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements

"Recent studies have revealed that few of the nation’s high school students are gaining the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and work. A new report finds an important explanation for this phenomenon: states do not expect their graduates to take courses that truly reflect the real-world demands of life after high school. In fact, according to the study released today by Achieve, Inc., in every state, students can take the courses necessary to meet graduation requirements yet still leave high school unprepared" Source : Achieve [via DocuTicker]

Download Report

Subjects : High School Students -- Education -- United States

Environmental Economics

"This article, prepared for the forthcoming 2nd edition of the New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, provides an overview of the economics of environmental policy. Included are the setting of goals and targets, notably the Kaldor-Hicks criterion, and the related method of assessment known as benefit-cost analysis." Source: Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government [via DocuTicker]

Download PDF

Subjects : Economics -- Environmental Policy

Freedom in the World 2004

"Since 1978, Freedom House has published Freedom in the World, an annual comparative assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties in 192 countries and 18 related and disputed territories. Widely used by policy-makers, journalists, and scholars, the 700-page survey is the definitive report on freedom around the globe." More about the survey [via DocuTicker].

Download PDF Report | Download 'Map of Freedom PDF

Subjects : Civil Liberties -- International

Volunteering in the United States

From the Press Release: "About 64.5 million people did volunteer work at least once from September 2003 to September 2004, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department
of Labor reported today. The proportion of the population who volunteered during the year held steady at 28.8 percent.

These data on volunteering were collected through a supplement to the September 2004 Current Population Survey (CPS). Volunteers are defined as persons who did unpaid work (except for expenses) through or for an organization. The CPS is a monthly survey of about 60,000 households that obtains information on employment and unemployment among the nation's civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over."
Source : Bureau of Labor Statistics [via Docuticker]
Link to report page

Subjects : Volunteers -- United States -- Statistics

New Census 2000 Report : Aging in the U.S.

"This report provides a portrait of the social and economic characteristics of the population aged 65 and over in the United States at the national level" Findings include:

• 28% of people 65 and over lived alone, compared with 10% of the total population
• 10% of people 65 and over were foreign born.
• Of the people who spoke a language other than English at home, Indo-European languages other than Spanish were the most prominently used by people 65 and older.
• 90% of households with a householder 65 and over received social security income.

Download PDF

Subjects : Statistics -- U.S. Census -- Aged

Faculty Salary and Faculty Distribution Fact Sheet 2003-04

"The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has released an update on gender equity in academia. The sad story is that the 2003-04 figures show little improvement in the salary gap over twenty-five years of higher education history. Among full-time faculty, for example, 38 percent are women. But among full professors, only 23 percent are women. Conversely, women are well represented among the lower ranks; women are 58 percent of all instructors, 54 percent of all lecturers, and hold 51 percent of all unranked positions. The report on earnings shows a similarly skewed picture." Link to Press Release | Link to Report

Subjects : Academia -- Gender Equity

CRS Report : Terrorism in South Asia

The Congressional Research Service has an updated report on "Terrorism in South Asia"
"This report reviews the recent incidence of terrorism in South Asia, concentrating on Pakistan and India, but also including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. The existence of international terrorist groups and their supporters in South Asia is identified as a threat to both regional stability and to the attainment of central U.S. policy goals."
Download PDF

Subjects : Terrorism -- South Asia -- U.S. Foreign Policy

The Once and Future Supreme Court

Presidential Distinguished Professor at the Emory University School of Law, David J. Garrow, traces historical trends on the Supreme Court over the past four decades in the February 2005 issue American History Magazine. The article is available online now : Link to article

Subjects : History -- U.S. Supreme Court

Achieving State and National Literacy Goals, a Long Uphill Road

Abstract : "RAND gathered information from the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC) on state assessment systems and student performance on reading or English language arts and writing assessments in order to measure adolescent’s (grades 4 through 12) performance toward state literacy goals. Also examines the relative performance of students against national standards represented by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)." Source : RAND Corporation. [via ResourceShelf]
Download PDF

Subjects : United States -- Education -- Literacy

Public Opinion, Civil Liberties, and the 'War on Terror'

Two reports resulting from the "2004 national omnibus survey of public opinion and media use." "The primary goal of the survey is to explore the relationship between public opinion and/or political behavior and various communication behaviors." [via DocuTicker]

Report #1 : U.S. War on Terror, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Anti-Americanism
Download PDF
Subjects : Public Opinion -- Foreign Policy -- Terrorism -- Anti-Americanism

Report #2: Restrictions on Civil Liberties, Views of Islam, & Muslim Americans
Download PDF
Subjects : Public Opinion -- Civil Liberties -- Islam -- Muslim Americans

New Census 2000 Report : Hispanics in the United States

"This report provides a portrait of the Hispanic-origin population in the United States and discusses some of the Hispanic or Latino groups within this population at the national level." Findings include:

• Hispanics were slightly less likely to be in the labor force than the total population.
• Proportionately more Hispanic women than Hispanic men held managerial or professional jobs.
• In 1999, Spaniard, South American, and Cuban families had higher median family incomes than other Hispanic groups.
• Over half of all Hispanic households lived in renter-occupied housing units.

Download PDF Report

Subjects : Statistics -- U.S. Census -- Hispanic Population

Achievement in Charter Schools and Regular Public Schools in the U.S. : Understanding the Differences

"Caroline Hoxby, Professor of Economics at Harvard University and director of the Economics of Education Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, releases a new study of charter schools that suggests charters are more successful at educating poor or Hispanic students than are comparable traditional public schools." Source: Program on Education Policy and Governance, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Download PDF

Subjects : Education -- Charter Schools

The History of Silent Night and The Twelve Days of Christmas

Learn the history and 'urban legends' behind the two most popular holiday songs : Silent Night and The Twelve Days of Christmas. Source:BBC Link to Article

Subject: Christmas Carols -- History

Breaking the Barriers for Women On Parole

From the Press Release : "The State could save money, improve public safety and break the cycle of crime if it reformed the way it incarcerates women offenders and supervises them on parole."
Source : Little Hoover Commission. Download Executive Summary | Download Full Report (110 pages)

Subjects : Women -- Correctional Systems

Census 2000 Special Report : Asians in the United States

"This report provides a portrait of the Asian population in the United States and discusses the eleven largest detailed Asian groups at the national level, for example: Asian Indian, Cambodian, and Japanese. It is part of the Census 2000 Special Reports series that presents several demographic, social, and economic characteristics collected from Census 2000" Findings include :

• About 80% of Asians had a high school diploma or more education
• Among women in the detailed Asian groups, Filipino women had the highest labor force participation rate.
• Asians were more likely than the total population to be in management, professional, and related occupations.
• The median annual income of Asian families was higher than the median of all families.
• Homeownership was relatively lower for Asians than the total U.S. population

Download PDF Report

Subjects : Statistics -- U.S. Census -- Asian Population

RAND Report Proposes Ways to Cut Support for Radical Islam and Terrorism

From the Press Release : "America and its allies can reduce support for radical Islam and terrorism — and improve relations with the Muslim world — by supporting moderate Muslims and social, economic and educational reforms in Muslim nations, according to a RAND Corporation study issued today." From the Abstract : "Examines the dynamics that drive changes in the religio-political landscape of the Muslim world, the effects of 9/11, the global war on terrorism, and the war in Iraq." Dowload PDF Full Document | Summary Only

Subjects : Islam -- Muslims -- Terrorism

U.S. 2004 Performance and Accountability Report Available

From the U.S. Department of State : "The FY 2004 Performance and Accountability Report provides performance results and audited financial statements that enable Congress, the President, and the public to assess the performance of the Department in achieving its mission and stewardship of its resources. The report contains a concise overview, Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as performance and financial sections. Additional details of performance results and program evaluations can be found in the appendices."
Download PDF report (472 pages) | HTML Version
Subjects : U. S. Government Documents -- Performance and Accountability

JAMA Study finds American Lifestyle Fattening Immigrants

From Miami Herald News Article "Fewer than one in 10 newly arrived immigrants is obese. But among those who have been here for at least 15 years, the rate leaps to nearly one in five, roughly the same as the rate for native-born Americans, the study found"
Link to Journal of the American Medical Association Article

Google To Digitize Millions of Books From Stanford and 4 Other Leading Research Libraries

From the article: "Five of the world's largest libraries have joined Google in a Herculean effort to digitize millions of books and make every sentence searchable."

"The trickiest issue is copyright. The company will begin by scanning works that are in the public domain, and the full contents of those books will accessible online through the popular Google search engine."

"But the company also plans to scan copyrighted books in some of the libraries. The search engine will not return the full texts of those volumes, but will instead provide up to three short excerpts, each consisting of only a few lines of text in which a search term appears."

Link to full article

Resource : Vanderbilt Television News Archive

"The Television News Archive collection at Vanderbilt University is the world's most extensive and complete archive of television news. The collection holds more than 30,000 individual network evening news broadcasts from the major U.S. national broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, and more than 9,000 hours of special news-related programming including ABC's Nightline since 1989. These special reports and periodic news broadcasts cover presidential press conferences and political campaign coverage, and national and international events such as the Watergate hearings, the plight of American hostages in Iran, the Persian Gulf war, and the terrorist attack on the United States on September 11, 2001."
Link to search page
Important note! Stanford belongs to an educational institution that subscribes to the Vanderbilt Television News Archive. Through this subscription CASBS fellows have access to online video from the Archive's collection of CNN material.

Subjects : Broadcasting -- Databases

Network Brownout : 9th annual report

From the press release : "The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is once again discouraged by the lack of coverage of Latinos on the network evening newscasts of ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC which collectively are among the major sources of television news in the country. NAHJ today released its 9th Annual Network Brownout Report and found that out of 16,000 stories that aired on the network evening newscasts in 2003, only 131 stories, or 0.82 percent, were exclusively about Latinos. This was an increase from 2002 when there were 120 stories about Latinos (0.75 percent)." Download PDF
Source : National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Subjects : Broadcasting -- Hispanics

Oxford English Dictionary Online News

For those who can't get enough of the OED online, you can subscribe to the OED News. "The The December 2004 newsletter features: Introducing the OED Archivist, in which Beverley Hunt reflects on her first year in the job, plus The Frozen Sea: the art of lexicography, Abigail Reynolds' description of how her time as OED's Artist in Residence inspired her work."
Subject: Dictionaries

Statistical Abstract of the United States

The 2004-2005 Statistical Abstract of the United States is Now Available.
Highlight of the new date from the press release : The number of cell phone subscribers in the United States reached approximately 159 million in 2003, up from 34 million in 1995."
Link to site with data tables.
Subjects : United States -- Statistics

The Northwest Area Foundation

The Northwest Area Foundation covers an eight state region--Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington and "exists to help communities in our eight state region reduce poverty." The website provides census data and includes 34 indicators in eight general categories: population, income and poverty, employment, family and kids, education, housing, health, crime and safety. Data is separated by state, county, Indian Reservation and Tribe. Text summaries highlight major trends and data can be displayed with graphs and maps and/or downloaded into excel spreadsheets. Link to site
Subjects: United States - Northwest - Census Data - Native American Indian

Third Culture Kids : Relocation Issues and Children

"A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background. These children are brought up in a culture that is different from the native one of their parents’ (first culture) and the one in which they are based (second culture); yielding this third 'cross-culture.' Even though the children are the 'bystanders' in the process of relocation, it is critical to know how they view relocations, how it can affect them and how to deal with issues before they occur." Source: Prudential Relocation Resource Center.
Download PDF
Subjects: Child Development - Relocation

Welfare Reform in Ontario: A Report Card

"A new study Welfare Reform in Ontario: A Report Card released today by The Fraser Institute, gives Ontario praise for its previous welfare reforms but warns that these policies may be under threat." Source: Fraser Institute [viaDocuTicker] | Download PDF
Subjects: Social Issues -- Welfare Reform -- Canada

New Blog : Left2Right

Former CASBS Fellows along with other academic heavy hitters have joined together in creating a new group blog entitled Left2Right.
Why Left2Right?
"In the aftermath of the 2004 Presidential election, many of us have come to believe that the Left must learn how to speak more effectively to ears attuned to the Right. How can we better express our values? Can we learn from conservative critiques of those values? Are there conservative values that we should be more forthright about sharing? "Left2Right" will be a discussion of these and related questions. " Link to Blog

Participants include Don Herzog (CASBS Fellow 1991), Lewis Kornhauser (CASBS Fellow 1982), and Richard Rorty (CASBS Fellow 1983).
Subjects: Blog -- United States Politics

Reporters on the Battlefield : The Embedded Press System in Historical Context

"Focusing on the embedded press system deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom, this book attempts to answer the following questions: How effective was the embedded press system in meeting the needs of the three main constituencies-the press, the military, and the citizens of the United States? What policy history led to the innovation of an embedded press system? Where are press-military relations likely to go in the future?" Download PDF
Subjects : Media - United States - Military - Embedded Press

Toward safe and orderly schools : the national study of delinquency prevention in schools

"A recent national study surveyed principals, teachers, program implementers, and students about school safety and the programs used to prevent problem behavior and promote a safe and orderly environment." Source : National Institute of Justice [via DocuTicker]
Subjects: U. S. School Violence - Education - Student Behavior. Download PDF

Improving scholarly communication

Article from First Monday:
"Much has been written about the transformation of scholarly communication brought about by the Internet. Although scholars are central to the creation of research and innovation, their work is supported and facilitated by academic presses and libraries. The presence and quality of these two divisions within research universities often contribute to institutional prestige."

"This article focuses on research libraries and publishers as two groups that are gaining more experience in the production and dissemination of monographic scholarship in digital formats. It surveys their entry into the digital sphere and examines where they are today. Their perspectives and priorities differ but each party has knowledge and experience that could benefit the other."
Link to Article
Subjects: Academic Publishing

1881 and 1891 Census records for England and Wales go online

"MyFamily.com and The National Archives have come together to launch a new co-branded online service. For the first time, fully searchable indexes and scans of original documents from the 1881 and 1891 censuses for England and Wales are available at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/census. And over the next two years all historic censuses from 1841 to 1891 will be made available online in the same way providing a wealth of information about everyone living in the country, including their ages, occupations and places of birth."
Subjects: United Kingdom -- Census

The Becker-Posner Blog

Nobel-prize-winning economist Gary Becker and federal circuit judge Richard Posner"... have decided to start a blog that will explore current issues of economics, law, and policy in a dialogic format. Initially we will be posting just once a week, on Mondays. In time we may post more frequently." The first posting is on "Preventive War." Link to Blog

NYT 100 Notable Books of the Year

The Book Review has selected a list of titles from those reviewed since the Holiday Books issue of Dec. 7, 2003. Also presented are notable books about food, travel, and art.
Main Article (free registration required).

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2004

And the #1 word of the year is ....Blog. Based on online lookups the top 10 Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year are listed. Link to List.
Subject: Dictionaries

2004 Holiday Retail Sales Figures

From the National Retail Federation. "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving) retail sales reached $22.8 billion. On this site find information and statistics on 2004 holiday retail sales, and various consumer surveys relating to gift cards, toys and online shopping. Link to site

Subjects: Christmas Shopping -- Retail Sales -- Shopping

Newly Released Census Report : 2002 County Business Patterns

“County Business Patterns is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. The series is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Business use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for administration and planning.”

“The County Business Patterns data series includes a separate report for each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the United States. Individual state reports present payroll and employment data for the state and counties by industry.”

The site has yearly reports from 1993 - 2002 available for download.

Subjects: U. S. Census -- Business Statistics

College students in the 2004 Election

"A hallmark of the 2004 election was a historic high youth voter turnout, and college students led the way with 77% of them going to the polls. College students chose John Kerry over George W. Bush by 55-41%. But there wasn't a big shift in party identification, as the same percentage of college students as all voters, 37%, called themselves Democrats. Kerry won the college vote because Independent college students preferred him by 62-27%." From The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement [via Docuticker].
Download Fact Sheet | Download Full Survey
Subjects: 2004 U. S. Election -- College Students

Children, The Digital Divide, and Federal Policy

This issue brief, “Children, The Digital Divide, and Federal Policy,” includes new research findings and reviews the latest information on wiring the nation’s schools and libraries, including points of access, the speed of connection, and what children are doing online. The report also examines current Federal policies and policy ideas that could address the new digital divide. Link to download page.
Subjects: Youth -- U.S. Government Policy -- Digital Divide

Media, Youth, and Civic Engagement -- Fact Sheet

"This fact sheet pulls together the latest information on the role of media in youth civic participation. It reviews how the media is used to get out the vote, ways television and movies depict politics and government, and how the Internet is used to engage youth (age 18-25) in civic and political activities." Published October 2004 by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Link to download page.
Subjects: Media -- Youth -- Civic Participation

Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2004

"A joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, this annual report examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. It provides the most current detailed statistical information to inform the Nation on the nature of crime in schools. Data on crime away from school are also presented to place school crime in the context of crime in the larger society." Download Report

FOIA Documentation Resource

Freedom of Information Act - U.S. Governement Documents
This site contains recently declassified documents as well as discussion of political hurdles, historical milestones and government references about the Freedom of Information Act: Veto Battle 30 Years Ago Set Freedom of Information Norms

AARP International Opinion Leader Research on Global Aging

"What 158 opinion leaders in the G7 countries (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, United States and Canada) think about global aging’s impact on the economics of their nations and how their countries compare in preparing for their populations growing older are revealed in this survey conducted for AARP’s Reinventing Retirement Conference held in London."
Download Executive Summary | Full Report (125 pages)

Fast food, race/ethnicity, and income: a geographic analysis.

"In this paper, the geographic distribution of fast food restaurants is examined relative to neighborhood sociodemographics." Findings:"Predominantly black neighborhoods have 2.4 fast-food restaurants per square mile compared to 1.5 restaurants in predominantly white neighborhoods."
Jason P. Block, Richard A. Scribner and Karen B. DeSalvo,
Fast food, race/ethnicity, and income: A geographic analysis,
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 27, Issue 3, October 2004,
Pages 211-217.

Caveat: Study surveyed only New Orleans, LA.
Link to Abstract | Link to Article

America's Families and Living Arrangements : 2003

New U.S. Census Report : Population Characteristics
"Basic trends in household and family composition, living arrangements and marital status of adults, and characteristics of unmarried-couple households are presented in this report. A new section is included that highlights married-couple families with a stay-at-home parent." Download Report

Former CASBS Fellow wins Grawemeyer Award for Psychology

Elizabeth Loftus, CASBS fellow 1979, "a psychologist noted for her study of human memory and how it can be altered has won the 2005 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Psychology." Her book Eyewitness testimony is in the CASBS Library Tyler Collection [KF9672 .L63] Press Release

Students Study Less Than Expected, Survey Finds

Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the National Survey of Student Engagement.
"The survey measures 'engagement' -- the level of student involvement in academics and campus activities -- to provide colleges with a better understanding of their quality than is found in popular rankings, like that of U.S. News & World Report.It gives participating colleges comparative data by assessing their effectiveness in five categories: the level of academic challenge on the campus, the level of 'active' and collaborative learning, the level of interaction among students and faculty members, the prevalence of 'enriching educational experiences,' and the extent to which the college offers a supportive environment for students."
Link to Article | Link to NSSE | Download Survey

Most community-college students are not meeting their educational goals, according to CCESSE Survey.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports results from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCESSE). Some findings include "some 86 percent of students hope to complete a degree or certificate program. Yet only 25 percent of students nationwide who had enrolled in either kind of program in the 1995-96 academic year had earned one within six years, according to data that the survey's authors culled from the American Council on Education and the U.S. Education Department. Some 53 percent of the survey's respondents said transferring to a four-year institution was their primary goal, but only 25 percent of community-college students typically do so."

The CCESSE survey key findings have been made available online and the data is searchable.

Link to article | Link to survey

Economy Slowed, But Immigration Didn’t: The Foreign-born Population 2000-2004

"An analysis of data not yet published by the Census Bureau shows that the nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) reached a new record of more than 34 million in March of 2004, an increase of over 4 million just since 2000. The fact that immigration has remained so high indicates that immigration does not rise and fall in close step with the economy, as some have imagined." Report available as html version | pdf version

Trends in Educational Equity of Girls & Women: 2004

"This statistical report assembles a series of indicators that examine the extent to which males and females have access to the same educational opportunities, avail themselves equally of these opportunities, perform at similar levels throughout schooling, succeed at similar rates, and reap the same benefits from their educational experiences. This report serves as an update of an earlier publication, Trends in Educational Equity of Girls & Women (NCES 2000-030), which was prepared for Congress in 2000." Source: National Center for Education Statistics. Download Report

The Status of Women in the States

"After decades of progress, women are still decades away from achieving full equality in America, according to a new report on the status of women. 'At the rate things are changing, it’ll be 50 years before women’s paychecks equal men’s, and nearly a full century before women hold half the seats in Congress,' according to economist Heidi Hartmann. Hartmann heads the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, which today issued The Status of Women in the States, the institute’s fifth biennial report comparing women’s progress toward equality in the 50 states and the District of Columbia." Link to project website | Download Report Press Release

Leader Authenticity Markers: Findings from a Study of African-American Political Leaders

From the abstract: "As leaders struggle to be authentic, followers make decisions about the degree to which they believe their leaders are authentic. In this study we develop the scholarship on authenticity and leadership by introducing and applying the concept of leader authenticity markers. These are features and actions that others use to determine the degree to which they believe a leader is authentic or inauthentic. We present findings from an exploratory study of authenticity markers of African-American political leaders. Political leadership of ethnic minority groups is a particularly important realm in which to study leader authenticity and leader authenticity markers. We report and discuss the seven authenticity markers identified in the research and five themes about authenticity markers. The implications of these findings for leadership studies and practice are discussed, as are directions for future research." Source : J.F.K. School of Government, Harvard University. Download PDF

No Second Chance - People with Criminal Records Denied Access to Public Housing

From Human Rights Watch "This 101-page report is the first examination of “one strike” policies in public housing. Established to protect housing developments from potentially dangerous tenants, these policies automatically exclude applicants with certain criminal records. Unfortunately, the criteria for exclusion are needlessly overbroad and can exclude certain offenders for life—regardless of evidence of their rehabilitation." download pdf

Florida E-Voting Discrepencies

The Effect of Electronic Voting Machines on Change in Support for Bush in the 2004 Florida Elections by Michael Hout, Laura Mangels, Jennifer Carlson, and Rachel Best, with the assistance of the UC Berkeley Quantitative Methods Research Team. Link to report | Summary [pdf]

World Bank Report on Somalia : Anarchy Works

Abstract: "Somalia has lacked a recognized government since 1991—an unusually long time. In extremely difficult conditions the private sector has demonstrated its much-vaunted capability to make do. To cope with the absence of the rule of law, private enterprises have been using foreign jurisdictions or institutions to help with some tasks, operating within networks of trust to strengthen property rights, and simplifying transactions until they require neither. Somalia’s private sector experience suggests that it may be easier than is commonly thought for basic systems of finance and some infrastructure services to function where government is extremely weak or absent." download pdf

Search Tool : OAIster

A project of the University of Michigan's Digital Library Production Service, OAIster is one of the best searchable directories of digital resources on the web. The collection includes scholarly marketing analysis, university and economic institute research papers, plus historical images and other academic research materials. The directory is searchable with numerous advanced search functions. Link to OAIster

New Search tool: Google Scholar

The people at Google are always developing new ways to reach web content. The newest addition to their product line is Google Scholar (beta) : " Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web." To search by author type author:name in the search entry field box. Be sure to visit their FAQ to find tips on how to most efficiently search for other items.

Librarian's caveat : No one database will have everything, and Google Scholar is no exception, but it is one of many tools to use for research and with typical Google ease. Also be aware that Google Scholar may point you to papers that may be purchased over the web. Many times these papers are available from databases to which your institution already subscribes.

Open Access Journals in the ISI Citation Databases: Analysis of Impact Factors and Citation Patterns

"The findings indicate that journals published under the Open Access (OSA) model continue to gain impact in the world of scholarly research. Despite ranking lower as a group than those published under traditional models, the growth in the number of OA journals is impressive, and some OA journals rank near the top their respective fields. Rankings are based on the Journal Impact Factor, as published in the Journal Citation Reports® (JCR®). The Journal Impact Factor is the key performance metric for the ranking and comparison of journals."[via Resourceshelf] download pdf

Community of Science launches new version of COS Funding Opportunities

"The most significant change with version 4.0 is the migration to Lucene search engine technology. The new search technology improves the performance of the service, which supports an ever-increasing number of users searching over 23,000 records of available grants, awards and other funding. Enhancements were also made to the service's user search interfaces, including the introduction of a step-by-step guided option for new users and the ability to sort search results." The service also allows users to set up email alerts for funding opportunities. Link to database | Link to press release

2004 National Book Awards Announced

Congratulations to:

• Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age [nonfiction]
• Lily Tuck, The News from Paraguay [fiction]
• Jean Valentine, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003 [poetry]
• Pete Hautman, Godless [young people's literature]

Link to full list and finalists

Strong Support for Stem Cell Research Among Bush Supporters

From the Press Release: "In stark contrast to generally held perceptions, stem cell research is widely supported by those who voted to re-elect the President, according to a poll made public today by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In fact, the study showed, a greater percentage of President Bush’s 2004 voters polled support embryonic stem cell research than oppose it, and would favor a broadened policy for federal funding of scientific investigation using embryonic stem cells that would otherwise be discarded from fertility clinics." Download PDF

Facts for features : Thanksgiving Day

Are you a typical American who consumes 14 pounds of turkey each year? This press release from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals fascinating statistics about one of America's favorite holidays. Includes turkey, cranberry, and sweet potato production forecasts. Link to article

Best Performing Cities: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained

From the Milken Institute press release: "Led by the Fort Myers-Cape Coral metro area, a burgeoning retirement and tourist destination on the state’s southwest coast, Florida landed seven metros in the top 20 on this year’s ranking, including five in the top 10. The others are West Palm Beach-Boca Raton (4th), Daytona Beach (5th), Sarasota-Bradenton (6th), Fort Lauderdale (9th), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (12th) and Naples (15th). Their strong showing on the Institute’s annual survey of where America’s jobs are being created shows that Florida’s economy has been creating new jobs at a brisk pace, the result of a rebounding U.S. economy, the return of tourists, low housing costs and a growing elderly population that has fueled job growth in health care and other services." Downloadable PDF [via Docuticker]

Finding Hidden Threats by Analyzing Unusual Behavior

Abstract: "Presents a unique approach to selecting and assembling disparate pieces of information to produce a general understanding of a threat. The Atypical Signal Analysis and Processing schema identifies atypical behavior potentially related to terror activity; puts it into context; generates and tests hypotheses; and focuses analysts’ attention on the most significant findings. A supporting conceptual architecture and specific techniques for identifying and analyzing out-of-the-ordinary information are also described." From the RAND Corporation. Downloadable PDF

Defeating the Jihadists: A Blueprint for Action

From the Brookings Institution. "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. " Downloadable PDF in parts

What if the President asks you to join the administration?

Brookings Institution publication entitled "A Survivor's Guide for Presidential Nominees attempts to answer virtually every question someone might have upon being asked to serve as a presidential appointee. The Guide is a collaboration between The Presidential Appointee Initiative and the Council for Excellence in Government." Download pdf in two parts: Part 1 | Part 2

Digest of Education Statistics

"The primary purpose of the Digest of Education Statistics is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest includes a selection of data from many sources, both government and private, and draws especially on the results of surveys and activities carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)." The tables and figures for the 2003 Digest have recently been added. Link to site

Turning the pages at the British Library

"Turning the Pages is the award-winning interactive program that allows museums and libraries to give members of the public access to precious books while keeping the originals safely under glass." Users of the site can 'turn pages' virtually and view high quality images of the books. The site includes "Leonardo's Notebook : sketches by the great genius and notes in 'mirror writing'", The Jane Austen manuscript "History of England" and the world's oldest dated printed book a Chinese scroll "Diamond Sutra." Requires Macromedia Shockwave player.
Link: http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/digitisation2.html

Creative Commons launches Science Commons

"Science Commons is a new project of Creative Commons and will launch on January 1, 2005. The mission of Science Commons is to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific intellectual property and to share their knowledge with others. Science Commons works within current copyright and patent law to promote legal and technical mechanisms that remove barriers to sharing."[via Resosurceshelf]

CASBS Librarians' Booklist

For the members of the CASBS community, the librarians have posted lists of books they've found enjoyable, thought-provoking, or just plain entertaining.
Link to the lists (CASBS login required)

The Advertising Artwork of Dr. Seuss

"The Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of San Diego presents this cheery retrospective of early advertising illustration by a young Theodor Seuss Geisel. Fresh out of college and smack-dab in the middle of the Depression, Dr. Seuss got his start drawing charming and goofy ads for corporate stalwarts like NBC, Ford, and General Electric. You'll see some familiar faces here -- the Cat in the Hat pitches for the Ford Company, a very Grinch-ish critter hawks Flit Mosquito..." [via Yahoo! Picks]
Link to site

Persuaders: Companion Site to the PBS Documentary

What's going on in the marketing world today? The site discusses the meaning of 'brand' and describes the new science of neuromarketing: "the study of the brain's responses to ads, brands, and the rest of the messages littering the cultural landscape." The full program will be viewable online after Nov. 12.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/

Women’s Work Supports, Job Retention, and Job Mobility: Child Care and Employer-Provided Health Insurance Help Women Stay on Jobs

"This Research-in-Brief presents selected findings from IWPR’s forthcoming report Work Supports, Job Retention, and Job Mobility among Low-Income Mothers by Dr. Sunhwa Lee. The findings indicate that low-income mothers have a high rate of job turnover compared with higher-income mothers. Yet, low income mothers who have health insurance coverage from their employers are significantly more likely to stay on their job than women who have other types of health insurance or no health insurance. Having a regular child care arrangement—whether it be relative care, non-relative care, or center-based care—also helps job retention among low-income mothers with preschool children."[via Docuticker] Downloadable pdf

CSIS Recommendations for New Administration

On November 4 the Center for Strategic and International Studies held a panel press conference to discuss the U.S. Foreign Policy and strategy. They have made the transcript available for download [pdf]

"Serfaty Urges Bush to Rethink Strategy, Repair Transatlantic Partnership
President Bush must immediately jumpstart dialogue with European allies and develop an innovative foreign policy approach that recognizes Europe s geostrategic significance, according to a strategy paper by Simon Serfaty, CSIS Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy." The strategy paper is also available for download[pdf]

Historical Census data:Colonial Times to 1970

Two 2-part report from the U.S. Census Bureau:

1. Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States - Colonial Times to 1970, Part 1 [PDF]
2. Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States - Colonial Times to 1970, Part 2 [PDF]

Article on Open-Access publishing in Britain

"British Government Refuses to Support Open-Access Approach to Scientific Publishing"
"The British government has rejected most of the recommendations by a parliamentary committee that favors making the results of state-supported scientific research freely available."
Full Article
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education

CRS Reports on Election Issues

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has released updated reports
on the following election issues:

1. Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money (pdf)
2. The Electoral College: An Overview and Analysis of Reform Proposals (pdf)

[via FPC]

Hidden Cost of Buying Information

Research from the Harvard Business School "suggests that if we pay for
information, we tend to overweigh its actual value."
Link to online article

White Paper: "Succeeding in the 21st Century"

"What Higher Education Must Do to Address the Gap in Information and Communication Technology Proficiencies."
"...Seven leading college and university systems in the United States joined with Educational Testing Service (ETS) in 2003 to form the National Higher Education Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Initiative." "...The central goal of the National Higher Education ICT Initiative is to provide colleges and universities with the measurement bases they need to evaluate their existing approaches to ICT education and to develop new strategies for closing the gap between those who possess essential ICT skills and those who do not."
Link to pdf

China's Richest 200

Source: Forbes
"The theme that emerges is how growing consumerism is fueling the wealth generation in China.
Increasingly well-off young urban Chinese--particularly the 30-somethings known as China's richest generation--are trading up a lifestyle on the back of an economy that is growing by upward of 9% per year."[via resourceshelf]
Link to Article

Tax Incidence, Tax Burden, and Tax Shifting: Who Really Pays the Tax?

From the Heritage Foundation
"The true measure of the burden of a tax is the change in people'™s economic situations as a result
of the tax. The changes should be measured as the effects on everyone'™s net-of-tax income after all economic adjustments have run their courses. The burden measure should include not only changes in people'™s after-tax incomes in a single year, but the lifetime consequences of the tax change as well. Unfortunately, policymakers are not presented with this type of comprehensive informa­tion on the true burden of taxation and must make policy judgments based on incomplete and mis­leading statistics."
Link to article

Bush Administration Tax Policy: Short-Term Stimulus

From the Brookings Institution
"This article examines the effects of recent tax cuts as a short-term economic stimulus and is the
fifth in a series that summarizes and evaluates tax policy in the Bush administration. A particular
goal for each of the 2001, 2002, and 2003 tax cuts was to spur the economy in the short term."
Authors:William G. Gale, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies & Peter R. Orszag, Senior Fellow, Economic
Studies. [via Docuticker]
Link to article

How Election Results Will Affect Geopolitics, Global Perceptions

New Administration's Foreign Policy: How Election Results
Will Affect Geopolitics, Global Perceptions

Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS)
"Kurt Campbell, CSIS vice president and director of the
International Security Program, Patrick Cronin, CSIS
director of studies, Teresita Schaffer, director of the CSIS
South Asia Program, Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS
Middle East Program, Robin Niblett, director of the CSIS
Europe Program, and Bathsheba Crocker, codirector of the
CSIS Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project, analyzed foreign
policy challenges facing the second Bush administration on
Nov. 4 at CSIS." Transcript of event.[via docuticker]
link to PDF(96 KB)

Prisoners in 2003 - Report from U.S. Dept. of Justice

"Reports the number of persons in State and Federal prisons
at yearend, compares the increase in the prison population
during 2003 with that of the previous year, and gives the
prison growth rates since 1995. The report also provides the
number of male and female prisoners on December 31, 2003. It
includes incarceration rates for the States and the 5
highest and 5 lowest jurisdictions for selected
characteristics, such as the growth rate, number of
prisoners held, and incarceration rates. Tables present data
on prison capacities and the use of local jails and
privately operated prisons. Estimates are provided on the
number of sentenced prisoners by gender, race, and Hispanic
origin."[docuticker]
URL: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/p03.htm

Primary Resources--United Kingdom

New Releases from the National Archives of the United Kingdom.
"This month's new releases include files on the 1926 General
Strike, efforts to quell Sinn Fein activities in England
during the 1920s and files detailing the murder of British
POWs in Europe." [via resourceshelf]
URL:www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Foundation Center New Report

The Foundation Center Report: International Grantmaking III
(2004) examines changes in international and cross-border
giving based on a sample of 1,000+ top-ranked foundations.
(link direct to pdf: Highlights only)[via resourceshelf]
URL:
http://fdncenter.org/research/trends_analysis/pdf/intlhlts.pdf

Canadian College Rankings

'Maclean's' Magazine released their latest rankings of
Canada's colleges. the University of Waterloo unseated last
year's leader, the University of Guelph, as the top
comprehensive university. Both institutions are in Ontario,
as is the University of Toronto, which remained No. 1 in the
"medical doctoral" category.
URL:
http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2004/11/2004110806n.htm

HomeTownLocator

HomeTownLocator "profiles include census, demographic and
income data, parks, schools, libraries, hospitals, airports,
environmental conditions, local newspapers, media outlets,
employment, maps, coordinates and aerial photos." Searchable
by City or Town, County, Area Code, and ZipCode. [via
ResearchBuzz]
http://www.hometownlocator.com/

Dropout Rates in the United States: 2001

"This report is the latest in a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2001, and includes time series data on high school dropout and completion rates for the period 1972 through 2001." [via ResourceShelf]

URL: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/dropout2001/

2004 American Community Survey

"As policy-makers and the public debate
the different aspects of growth and development, Smart
Growth America and the National Association of Realtors®
asked Belden Russonello & Stewart to look at Americans’
preferences for the type of communities they want to live in
and the policies they support for creating those
communities. The preferences and other opinions expressed in
the survey suggest a direction for solving the conflicting
pressures of the desire to develop and the wish to preserve
communities." [via ResourceShelf]

URL:http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/narsgareport.html

Dictionary of the History of Ideas

A digitized version of the out-of-print reference classic
has been made available through the University of Virginia Library's
Electronic Text Center. Searchable and browsable by subject,
author, and alpha. Entries include "academic freedom" "epicureanism and free will," and the "problem of evil."
URL:http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/DicHist/dict.html

Winning Women

Winning Women: An Analysis of IWF’s Swing State Survey and Polling Data from 2004

"Data on women’s attitudes collected during the course of the campaign provides important insight into the issues and messages that resonate with women. The Independent Women’s Forum sponsored a comprehensive psycho-linguistic communications analysis that included focus groups and a telephone survey (n=729) of likely women voters in seven key battleground states at the campaign’s beginning. The survey was designed not only to develop a better understanding of women’s attitudes toward particular candidates and issues, but also to examine how women respond to these issues and what messages resonate with women."
URL: http://www.iwf.org/articles/article_detail.asp?ArticleID=693

Directory of Open Access Journals

"This service covers free, full text, quality controlled scientific and scholarly journals. We aim to cover all subjects and languages. There are now 1345 journals in the directory." Hosted by Lund University Libraries, located in Lund, Sweden and is supported by SPARC (The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition).
URL:http://www.doaj.org

Download for Democracy: Government Document Library

This site has an explicit political agenda, but the Government Document Library is simply a collection of thousands of reports and documents obtained by FOIA requests or released voluntarily. Interestingly, the site not only offers pdf documents but also takes advantage of P2P (peer 2 peer) technology usually (and notoriously) used for music and video file sharing. Recent documents added include: V.P.Cheney's financial disclosure statements, House Ethics Committee report on Medicare Act, and the Anthrax letters to Senators and media outlets.
URL:
http://www.outragedmoderates.org/GovernmentDocumentLibrary.html