ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ July/A u gu st 2003 / 477 I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost, editors Social Science In fo r m a tio n G a t e w a y (S O S IG ). Access: h ttp ://w w w .s o s ig .a c .u k /. “S O S IG d oes fo r th e I n te r n e t w h a t a first class social science lib ra ria n m ig h t d o fo r y o u a t th e re fe re n c e desk: it se le c ts th e b e s t r e ­ so u rc e s a v a ila b le in p a r tic u la r s u b je c t areas, d e s c r i b e s th e m to y o u a n d d e liv e rs th e m to y o u r d e s k t o p a t th e c lic k o f a m o u s e . ” T h is is an o fficial “p u b lic iz in g ” p h ra s e fro m th e S O S IG W eb site. C u rio u s a b o u t th e site? R ead on. S O S IG is a n I n te r n e t g a tew ay p ro v id in g ac­ cess to h ig h -q u a lity W eb re so u rce s in th e areas o f social sciences, b u sin e ss, a n d law. It is freely available a n d is p a r t o f th e U K R e so u rc e D is ­ c o v e ry N e tw o rk . S O S IG re a c h e s o u t to s t u ­ d e n ts , a c a d e m ic s , re se a rc h e rs, a n d p r a c t i t i o ­ ners via its “I n te r n e t C a ta lo g u e ,” “S ocial S ci­ ence S earch E n g in e ,” “S ocial S cience G ra p e ­ v in e ,” a n d a “M y A c c o u n t” c u s to m iz in g fa cil­ ity. In a d d itio n , it also p ro v id es t r a in in g m a te ­ rials a n d s u p p o r t fo r users o f th ese p ro d u c ts . S O S I G ’s m a in p a g e sh o w s th e “I n t e r n e t C a ta lo g u e ,” w h ic h p ro v id es a search a n d brow se fa cility fo r social sciences re so u rce s th a t have b e en se lec te d b y s u b je c t experts. T h is c atalo g looks v e ry m u c h like a Yahoo! S u b je c t c a te g o ­ rie s lis ti n g . T h e s u b j e c t a re a s a v a ila b le fo r b ro w s in g are b u sin e ss, e c o n o m ic s, e d u c a tio n , e n v iro n m e n ta l sciences a n d issues, e th n o lo g y , e th n o g ra p h y a n d a n th ro p o lo g y , E u ro p e a n s tu d ­ ies, g e ography, g o v e rn m e n t a n d p u b lic a d m in ­ is tra tio n , law, p h ilo so p h y , p o litic s , psychology, so c ial sc ien c e g e n e ra l, so c ial w e lfa re , so c io l­ ogy, s ta tis tic s , a n d w o m e n ’s stu d ie s . E ac h o f th ese p ro v id e s access to th o u s a n d s o f reso u rces o n th e I n te rn e t. A n a d v a n c e d s e a rc h o p t io n se a rc h e s th e S O S IG C a ta lo g u e a n d offers c o n tro lle d v o c a b u ­ la ry se a rc h in g th r o u g h th e th e s a u ri. T h e a d ­ v a n c e d m o d e fo r se a rc h in g allow s o p tio n s fo r lim itin g th e se a rc h in a p a rtic u la r su b je c t area o r specific field (su c h as title , a u th o r , k e y w o rd , U R L ). T h e user can also lim it by d iffe re n t types o f re so u rc e s (su c h as re p o rts , a rtic le s , j o u r ­ nals, n e w sg ro u p s, d a ta se ts, b o o k s, g o v e rn m e n t d o c u m e n ts , e tc .). F u rth e r, t r u n c a ti o n o f search te rm s is available, a n d se a rc h re su lts are ra n k e d in a sc e n d in g o rd e r a c c o rd in g to d o c u m e n ts th a t have th e m o s t n u m b e r o f o c c u rre n c e s o f th e search te rm . S O S IG o ffers th re e d iffe re n t th e s a u ri to a id in se a rc h in g . T h e “G e n e ra l Social S cience T h e ­ sa u ru s ” is d e v e lo p e d fro m th e H u m a n itie s a n d S o c ial S c ien c es E le c tr o n ic T h e s a u r u s o f th e d a ta arch iv e a t U n iv e rs ity o f Essex; th e “G o v ­ e rn m e n t, P o litic s a n d A n th ro p o lo g y T h e s a u ­ r u s ” is b u ilt fro m th e list o f s u b je c t d e sc rip to rs d e v e lo p e d b y th e I n t e r n a tio n a l B ib lio g ra p h y o f th e Social Sciences; a n d th e “S ocial W o rk a n d W e l f a r e T h e s a u r u s ” is d e r i v e d f r o m C a re d a ta fro m th e N a tio n a l I n s ti tu te fo r S o­ cial W o rk . T h e s e th e s a u ri h e lp users to execute m o re a c c u ra te searches. S O S I G ’s “S ocial S cience S earch E n g in e ” i n ­ dexes m o re th a n 5 0 ,0 0 0 W eb pages c o lle c te d by W e b -c ra w le r so ftw a re. R esearchers w ill lo ­ c ate m o re re so u rce s th r o u g h th e “S ocial Sci­ e n c e S e a rc h E n g in e ,” b u t th e q u a lity o f th e re so u rce s is less re liab le a n d S O S IG does n o t p ro v id e w r itte n d e s c rip tio n s fo r th e lis te d sites. T h e sim ple search o p tio n offers k e y w o rd search ­ ing, w h ic h also c an be lim ite d to th e title o r d e s c rip tio n fields o r b o th . “S ocial S cience G ra p e v in e ” is th e “p e o p le o r ie n te d ” se g m e n t o f S O S IG . U sers c an brow se a n d search listin g s o f u n iv e rs ity social science d e p a rtm e n ts , ré su m és, c u rric u la v ita e , p ro file s o f sc h o lars a n d p ro fesso rs a n d th e y can c h e c k in f o r m a tio n a b o u t c o n fe re n c e s, c o u rses, a n d m o re . “G r a p e v in e ” is a to o l fo r n e tw o r k in g w ith fello w social science researchers. T h e “M y A c c o u n t” fe a tu re lets y o u p e r s o n ­ alize S O S IG re so u rce s. I t h e lp s w ith c u r re n t aw areness, c are er d e v e lo p m e n t, a n d p u b lic ity o f c o n fe re n c e s a n d e vents. F o r exam p le, users Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian fo r public services and collection developm ent at W illa m e tte University, e-mail: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian fo r technical services at Willamette University, e-mail: cdrost@willamette.edu http://www.sosig.ac.uk/ mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu 478 / C&RL News ■ July/August 2003 can p o st a n n o u n c e m e n ts a n d n e w conferences, w o rk sh o p s, o r sem in ars th a t are o f m u tu a l in ­ tere st to social science colleagues. S O S IG is an e x tra o rd in a ry W eb site th a t has successfully b ro u g h t to g e th e r vast resources av ailab le o n th e I n te r n e t in a v e ry c rea tiv e , c o h e re n t a n d e fficient way, a llow ing stu d e n ts a n d scholars access to a c o rn u c o p ia o f social science i n fo rm a tio n .— T riv e n i K uchi, Rutgers University, Libraries, kuchi@rci.rutgers.edu A f r i c a A c t i o n . Access: h t t p : / / w w w . africaaction.org/. A frica A c tio n is an o rg a n iz a tio n b a se d in W a s h in g to n , D .C ., th a t “w o rk s fo r p o litica l, e c o n o m ic and so c ia l ju s tic e in A f r ic a . T h r o u g h th e p r o v i s i o n o f acc essib le i n f o r m a t i o n a n d a n a l y s i s c o m b i n e d w ith th e m o b iliz a tio n o f p u b lic pressure [Af­ rica A ction] w ork[s] to c hange th e policies a n d p o lic y -m a k in g processes o f U .S . a n d m u ltin a ­ tio n a l in s titu tio n s to w a rd A fric a .” A frica A c­ tio n , estab lish e d in 2 0 0 1 , is th e la te st m a n ife s­ ta ti o n o f o rg a n iz a tio n s se e k in g to in flu e n c e U .S. p o lic y to w a rd A frica, in c o rp o ra tin g th ree fo rm e r org a n iz atio n s: A m e ric an C o m m itte e on A frica, A frica P o licy In fo rm a tio n C e n te r, a n d th e A frica F u n d . W h e n c o n sid e rin g W eb sites p re s e n tin g a v a rie ty o f in fo rm a tio n c o n c e rn in g A frica, A f­ rica A c tio n is a s tro n g resource. W h ile m u c h o f its c o n te n t m a y a p p ea l p r e d o m in a n tly to a ctiv ists, p o lic y m ak e rs, a n d sc h o lars o f A fri­ can p o litics, m ate ria l a n d lin k s to g eneral in ­ fo rm a tio n a b o u t A frica are in c lu d e d , as well. T h is in fo rm a tio n is also in te rd isc ip lin ary , cov­ erin g c u ltu re , e conom ics, h istory, m ed ia , p o li­ tics, p u b lic h e a lth , a n d re lig io n , a m o n g o th e r topics. L ib ra ria n s, w h e th e r w o rk in g in general reference o r in A frica n S tu d ies lib ra ries, w ill view A frica A c tio n useful a n d w o rth su g g est­ in g to th e ir p a tro n s . T h e A frica A c tio n h o m e p a g e has lin k s to m a in c o n te n t in e ig h t boxes, v e rtica lly p o s i­ tio n e d w ith fo u r p e r side. T h e m id d le o f th e ho m ep a g e has lin k s to re c e n t articles a n d in ­ fo rm a tio n . N e a r th e b o tto m are tw o boxes w ith A frica A c tio n ’s c o n ta c t i n f o r m a tio n a n d a n ­ o th e r lis tin g th e five m o s t re c e n t d o c u m e n ts p o ste d by A frica A c tio n . T h e stre n g th s o f th e A frica A c tio n site are its c o n te n t, in fo rm a tio n a rc h ite c tu re , archives, a n d search fu n c tio n s. T h e h o m ep a g e has b o th a search b o x a n d tw o lin k s to th e site m ap. P e rh a p s th e m o st im p o r ta n t f u n c tio n o f A f­ rica A c tio n is th a t th ey re p o st g o v e rn m e n ta l a n d N G O (n o n g o v e rn m e n ta l o r g a n iz a tio n ) p o lic y d o c u m e n ts e m a n a tin g fro m o r a b o u t A frica. D o c u m e n ts are d a te d a n d a rchived by c o u n try a n d subject. A frica A c tio n is c u rre n tly m o b iliz e d a ro u n d tw o re la te d cam paigns: A frica’s R ig h t to H e a lth C a m p a ig n (d e a lin g p r e d o m i n a n t ly w ith th e H IV /A ID S p a n d e m ic ) a n d d e b t c a n c e lla tio n for all A frican c o u n trie s. E ach o f these issues has its ow n page th a t in clu d e s o rig in a l c am ­ p a ig n r e s o u rc e s , r e p o s t e d g o v e r n m e n t a n d N G O d o c u m e n ts, as w ell as lin k s to re la te d W eb sites. O rg a n iza tio n s th a t su p p o rt these and o th e r cam p aig n s are lis te d on th e “A dvocacy N e tw o rk ” page. T h is in clu d e s c o n ta c t a c tio n alerts, u p d a te s, e v en t n o tic e s, a n d c o n ta c t in ­ f o rm a tio n o f over 2 0 0 o rg a n iz a tio n s p a rtic i­ p a tin g in th e A dvocacy N e tw o rk for A frica. A frica A c tio n also in clu d e s o th e r useful sec­ tio n s such as “A frica Policy E -Jo u rn a l” a n d “A f­ rica o n th e I n t e r n e t.” “A frica P olicy E -Jo u r- n a l” lists g o v e rn m e n t a n d N G O p o lic y d o c u ­ m e n ts by d a te a n d to p ic s w ith archival c over­ age to 1995. T h e “A frica o n th e I n t e r n e t” page in clu d e s w o n d e rfu l c o u n try -s p e c ific resources w ith lin k s to d o c u m e n ts, d a ta , new s, a n d o th e r in fo rm a tio n . C o u n try lin k s are lis te d in a lp h a ­ b e tical o rd e r a n d also are accessible by c lic k in g on a m ap o f A frica, w h ic h is b ro k e n in to re ­ gions n e ar th e b o tto m o f th e page. T h e o n ly negative aspect a b o u t th e site is th a t it is n o t p a rtic u la rly aesth e tic ally p leasing, e sp e c ia lly th e y e llo w is h -o ra n g e b a c k g r o u n d c o lo r seen on m o st pages. S om e pages also use a p e riw in k le b lu e fo r th e b a c k g ro u n d , m ak in g it so m e w h a t d iffic u lt to re ad th e b la c k tex t an d blue links. A frica A c tio n uses graphics spar­ ingly so th a t in d iv id u a ls accessing th e site from lo c a tio n s in A frica (w here I n te r n e t access is costly) w ill have faster lo a d in g tim es. C lea rly , th e s tr e n g th o f th is W eb s ite is th a t it p r e s e n ts a la rg e q u a n ti t y o f in f o r m a ­ t io n c o n c e r n in g A fric a in a c le ar, o rd e rly , e f f i c i e n t , a n d t i m e l y m a n n e r . — J a so n M . S c h u ltz ‚ N o rth w e ste r n U niversity, j-s c h u ltz 2 @ northw estern.edu ■ mailto:kuchi@rci.rutgers.edu http://www