Research

Social science sites of the week

October 5, 2012 1046

New sites. This week

In the news this week Labour Party conference. See our recommended links. http://lselibraryresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/labour-party-conference-2012-see-our.html
See also information on political party holdings at the LSE library from our collections blog. They include historic election ephemera and annual reports. http://lselibrarycollections.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/political-party-conference-season.html
This week’s election – Georgia. See the quick links.

http://electionsinthenews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/georgia-elections-were-they-fair.html

Start  of the new academic year- see some recommended student orientation resources from ALISS. They include information literacy tutorial, writing skills tutorial and tutorials designed specifically to support researchers. All are free!

http://www.alissnet.org.uk/Display.aspx?id=10737418264

Death of Eric Hobsbawm
This week the death of renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm was announced.
London Review of Books.

http://www.lrb.co.uk/contributors/eric-hobsbawm
has made available on its website reviews of Hobsbawm’s books, letters from Hobsbawm and comment from the mid-1990s onwards. See our blog on other recommended links (including obituaries, interviews and book reviews) http://lselibraryresearch.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/remembering-eric-hobsbawm.html

October is black history month in the UK

See the official guide to events

http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/
It includes some iconic black history videos e.g. King – I have a dream speech. http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/#/black-history-videos/4567645510
The Guardian has a time line of key events in black history. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blackhistorymonth
The National Archives has an online exhibition about the black presence Asian and black history in Britain 1500-1850. It includes a virtual tour covering London, Liverpool and Bristol. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/

Caribbean Studies and Black and Asian History (CASBAH) slightly older but still useful

http://www.casbah.ac.uk/
Database containing records relating to resources for Caribbean studies and the history of Black and Asian peoples in the UK. Locate good library and archive collections

For this month only The British Library has available (courtesy of Redex) a number of black history full text databases in its reading rooms. See the list of resources currently offered for October . They include: African American Newspapers, 1827-1998 African American Periodicals, 1825-1995  http://www.bl.uk/eresources/blackhistorymonth.html

In the USA February is Black (African –American history month) see the Library of Congress website. http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/ It has links to some useful teacher’s resources including worksheets on the civil rights protests of Rosa Parks in the 1960s. Itunes podcasts of audiofiles from Martin Luther King speeches http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/martin-luther-king-jr./id494974073 are also on offer plus links to online documents and exhibitions covering all aspects of the black life, culture and the struggle for equal rights in the USA. This includes the Frederick Douglass papers (slavery) Brown vs. Brown board of education ruling.  and more. http://ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=87
THES world university rankings

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/
Here is the ranking for Europehttp://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2012-13/world-ranking/region/europe  It considers international outlook research, citations and teaching. Also available are rankings by subject discipline.
Also released ESRC national student satisfaction survey http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2012/name,75522,en.html
 THES comment on the results http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=421262
There is now a special UNISTATS site where you can compare universities. http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/
This has now added the key information set criteria from the student survey. http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/find-out-more/key-information-set#kis
One of the criteria is ‘ are the library resources are good enough for my needs?’
The Guardian blog has used the data to find the worst student union. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/datablog/2012/sep/28/worst-student-unions-national-survey?newsfeed=true
Social Sciences Directory.

http://www.socialsciencesdirectory.com/index.php/socscidir/information/readers
First issue of new web-based open-access publishing platform, aimed at the global academic research and higher education market. Now available. http://www.socialsciencesdirectory.com/index.php/socscidir
It aims to provide a peer reviewed collection of short articles, research papers. Thereby increasing open access to scholarly publication See the publication and submission policies. http://www.socialsciencesdirectory.com/index.php/socscidir/about
Current articles are:
Peter Forster, Mary Morris
Knowledge, attitude and beliefs of pregnant women towards safe motherhood in a rural Indian setting
Manju Sharma, Sudhanshu Sharma
Gender Equality in the Workplace: The Perceptive Reality
Sangeeta Sharma, Manju Sharma

Tweeting #OWS

http://disc.library.emory.edu/ows/
Great new digital archive from Emory University.
Ten million tweets about Occupy Wall Street have now been collected. The site includes timeline of key events, plus useful maps and word clouds which allow hastags and trends to be mapped over time. See the data analysis section for methodology and techniques. http://disc.library.emory.edu/ows/about/data-analysis/
Bishopsgate Institute library and archive new online exhibitions.

http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/
Since 2010 the London based Bishopsgate Institute has been digitizing some of its major archival collections. Key strengths includes various collections on London, labour, freethought and radicalism. Recent additions include the Morning star photographic archive – view photographs this has over 300 online images relating to industrial relations, strikes and unions most from 1960s onwards.
Feminist library ephemera collection images from holdings of the former feminist library which was founded by a women’s collective in 1975 this contains over 5,000 posters, handbills and leaflets, detailing the activities of the women’s movement from the 1970s onwards.
The ephemera are wide ranging and eclectic, including political activism, theatre, LGBT meetings, social events and campaign materials. All the items from the ephemera collection will be scanned and made available over the next few years. Follow the links from here.  http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/content/1412/Archives-Online
See more on the pamphlets http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/content/1474/Feminist-Library-Pamphlet-Collection
PBS LearningMedia Election 2012 Collection

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/election
Designed for K12 schools to encourage teaching about the 2012 US presidential elections.
It includes lesson plans, multimedia glossary of election-related key phrases and terms, election games and quizzes and audio and film discussion.
some material is taken from the From PBS news hour and youth radio.

IMF videos

http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/index.aspx
The IMF external relations programme now produce video which can be viewed on the main IMF website
The section is subdivided into categories which include press briefings on recent economic issues,. Seminars, speeches and economic outlooks. Under topics and issues there are some good introductions suitable for students. E.g. what is money? http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=1860943164001
What is a recession? http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=1758007402001 Some other useful recent examples include history of the IMF (Out of the Ashes): http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=1778636829001
There is also a YouTube version  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUIYhr3JsLYfKkCM7-W5B6DA&feature=plcp And, downloadable on this site. http://www.thenewsmarket.com/imf

Another good recommended Spanish language documentary resource.
RTVE Spanish broadcaster has made available archival TV documentaries on its website.
Otros pueblos Made since 1983. documentaries recorded on  the way of life, customs and traditions of nations, tribes, cities or remote and unknown to the Spanish public. Its stated goal is to overcome ethnocentrism .
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/otros-pueblos/
Read an interview with the producer  http://www.revistafusion.com/2000/febrero/repor77.htm
all the documentaries are available if you  go to RTVE a la Carta . Choose http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/
Documentales for recent documentaries. Many have several years of archived content eg Documentos tv.
Other recommended links for online images and documentaries are available via the LSE library delicious links. http://delicious.com/lselibrary/movingimages

Heather Dawson

LSE Library

h.dawson@lse.ac.uk

ALISS is a not-for-profit unincorporated professional society. It is an independent group which was formed in April 2005 by the former committee of (Aslib Social Science Information Group and Network) The aim of the group is to; Provide opportunities for networking and self-development offer a forum for communication create a network of cooperation and a forum for discussion about emerging issues in social science librarianship.

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