The Library has added the SAGE Journals Online to its subscriptions. The SAGE Full-Text Collections are award-winning, discipline-specific research databases of the most popular peer- reviewed journals in Communication Studies, Criminology, Education, Health Sciences, Management & Organization Studies, Materials Science, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Urban Studies & Planning published by SAGE Publications and participating societies. This database includes more than 246 journals, 240,000 articles, book reviews, and editorials, with all the original graphics, tables, and page numbers. The Collections provide researchers and students with a research environment that is easy to use and complete with the most up-to-date content and backfiles back to volume 1, issue 1. —Al Vara

If any of you are dealing with issues concerning US foreign policy since WW II you need to know about this database, it’s really a wonderful tool. Run out of George Washington University in DC, the Digital National Security Archive (DNSA) uses the Freedom of Information Act to collect government documents on US national security policy and then provides those documents in full-text online. It also provides bibliographies, chronologies, and glossaries related to the documents. Of course, many parts of the documents have been blacked-out by the government before they reach DNSA. They have also put together Collections for easy access. If you are interested in US involvement in Iraq you can search the Iraq-Gate file for national security documents and also retrieve a bibliography, chronology, and glossary on it. If you wanted to limit your search to just those instances of the file that mention Saddam Hussein, you could search the Iraq-Gate file for all instances of “saddam hussein”. 108 documents are retrieved, one of which is a 1980 intelligence report stating that Iranian air attacks make the stability of Saddam Hussein’s government uncertain. You’ll also find six documents related to Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Iraq in 1983. Take a look. Let me know if you have questions. —Fred Rowland

For your listening pleasure (and maybe some more scholarly pursuits), I just wanted to let you know that we now have access to Naxos Music Library and Naxos Music Library Jazz, which include classical, jazz, world, folk, and pop music selections. See the blog post by Temple music librarian Anne Harlow for more information. And don’t forget that you can also listen to the Classical Music Library which I wrote to you about in the fall. —Fred Rowland

HRAF is an acronym for Human Relations Area Files, a non-profit institution founded in 1949 at Yale University. HRAF is a consortium of educational, research, and cultural organizations, and government agencies; its mission is to encourage and facilitate the study of human culture, society, and behavior. This mission is accomplished mainly through the compilation, indexing, and distribution of a collection of ethnographic and other texts that are indexed by culture and subject. eHRAF brings these files to the online environment. Look here for information on the cultural practices (marriage, fertility, death, birth, work, family, etc.) of different religious and ethnic groups. For instance, a search for “reproduction and judaism” leads to an article titled “Reproducing Jews: a cultural account of assisted conception in Israel”. A search for “marriage and iraq” leads to an article titled “The Kurdish woman’s life: field research in a Muslim society, Iraq”. A search for “masculinity and puerto rico” leads to an article titled “In search of masculinity: violence, respect and sexuality among Puerto Rican crack dealers in East Harlem”. Browsing the cultures lists, choosing “Maasai FL12” leads to 20 articles on the Maasai, one of which is “The Masai penal code”. You get the idea. Do a little exploring if this sounds like something that would add to your research. —Fred Rowland

The three biography databases below are very useful and you should not overlook them in your research. One of the amazing things about these online sources is that you can search by religion, gender, occupation and more. So you don’t have to have a particular person in mind to use these databases. You can just have a certain type of person in mind, i.e. a Quaker abolitionist in 18th century Britain; a Baptist African American female teacher from the 19th century; or an Irish American involved in the steel industry in the 20th. All databases below are available on the library’s A-Z database list. African American Biographical Database A resource of first resort when you are looking for biographical information, including photographs and illustrations, for African Americans. From the famous to the everyday person, AABD includes profiles and full-text sketches providing both biographical detail and illuminating narratives chronicling the lives of Black Americans. American National Biography Offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women — from all eras and walks of life — whose lives have shaped the nation. More than a decade in preparation, the American National Biography is the first biographical resource of this scope to be published in more than sixty years. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 56,000 lives … 63 million words … 10,300 portraits … all on your desktop. For more info, see the blog I wrote on the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Also check out Biographies Illustrated Plus and Biography Resource Center. Fred

Good news, we now have electronic access to the New York Review of Books. NYRB started in 1963. I’ve found articles going as far back as 1969, not sure if there’s anything earlier in this electronic archive. If you search Journal Finder for the New York Times Book Review and for the Times Literary Supplement, you will find links to both.

Today I want to mention some sources for economic (and social) statistics. The only advice I’d give for using economic statistics is to try to find a statistic from multiple sources because they can be reported so differently depending on source. Historical Statistics of the United States I really like this source. Covers recent few decades as well as past centuries. Statistics are easy to find and easy to use. International Financial Statistics Online Statistics from the International Monetary Fund Source OECD Development sources from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development World Development Indicators Online Statistics from the World Bank —Fred Rowland