The Asian Studies WWW Monitor: early Jun 2008, Vol. 15, No. 6 (280)

For earlier materials browse the Past Issues - Archive .
For abstracts of the most valuable resources see The Best of the Asian Studies WWW Monitor blog.  
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THIS ISSUE
Entries accepted for publication: 19
Entries rejected: 17
The email edition of this Journal has now over 7120 subscribers.
The AS WWW Monitor does not necessarily endorse contents, or policies of the Internet resources it abstracts.
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13 Jun 2008

Plateau [Tibetan, Naxi and Pumi] Music Project
Gerald Roche, Nationalities Department, Qinghai Education College, Xining, Qinghai, PRC
Self-description: "The Tibetan Endangered Music Project was founded in order to preserve endangered songs on the Tibetan Plateau. Most of this music will disappear in the next decade. Our members, all local volunteers from the English Training Program at Qinghai Normal University, Qinghai Province, PR China, have since 2005 recorded more than five hundred Tibetan traditional songs. Beginning in late 2007, our project expanded to record endangered songs of other ethnic minority groups such as the Naxi and Pumi ethnicities in China's Yunnan Province. To reflect this new diversity, we have changed our name to the Plateau Music Project."
Supplied note: "We are pleased to announce that the Plateau Music Project has two more posts on our website. One post contains a paper in English and Chinese, introducing the history, methods and achievements of the project. The other post contains three songs recorded by one of our members from Mianning County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Suchuan Province, PR China. - tm."
Site contents [in Jun 2008]: * Songs recorded by Luodu Aga; * The Plateau Music Project: Grass-roots Cultural Preservation on the Tibetan Plateau [a paper by Tsering Bum and Gerald Roche]; * Welcome to the Plateau Music Project;
[A tri-lingual (EN, CN, TIB) site - ed.]
URL http://www.plateaumusicproject.org/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: Tibetan Music (tibetanmusic--at--gmail.com)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: News/Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Interesting
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 300

13 Jun 2008

Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC)
AMRC, Hong Kong, PRC
Self-description: "As international companies increased their investment in Asia, it became clear that the poor working conditions they brought required an informed response from labour and its supporters. Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC) was part of that response and was founded in Hong Kong in 1976. AMRC has developed over the years, but is still an independent non-governmental organisation (NGO) which focuses on Asian labour concerns. The Centre supports a democratic and independent labour movement promoting the principles of labour rights, gender consciousness, and active workers' participation in work-related issues."
Site contents: * Who We Are; * What We Do; * Publications & Downloads (Asian Labour Update (ALU) quarterly, Publications for Purchase, Publication for Download); * Asian Labour Networks (The Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational Accident Victims (ANROAV). The Asian Trans-national Corporation Monitoring Network (ATNC)); * Links (Regional Organisations, Local/National Unions/Organisations, International Trade Union Federations and Trade Secretariats, Recommended Sites); * Contact Us; * Internships; * Sitemap.
URL http://www.amrc.org.hk/
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.amrc.org.hk/
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Corporate Info./Study/Online Guide
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: NGO
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 3,000

13 Jun 2008

Tales of Old Shanghai: "China Journal" 1936-1941
Tales of Old China, China Economic Review, Shanghai, PRC
Self-description [in 1926]: "China Journal. Editor: Arthur de Carle Sowerby F.Z.S. and John C. Ferguson, Ph.D. Manager: Clarice S. Moise B.A., Offices: 20 Museum Road, Shanghai, China., Telegraphic address: Jouchina, Shanghai. Telephone: 13247."
Site contents [nine selected issues are now available in digital format]:
* China Journal (vol. IV, 1), Jan 1926 (1925 and 1926, Dr. Giles At 80, Early Chinese Bronze Mirrors, The Shih Ching or Book of Poetry, The Old Man's Lament, Modern Chinese Scholarship, Elizabeth Keith's Work, The Late Dr. Cox's Collection of Chinese Painting, Christian Missions and Oriental Civilizations, Travel and Exploration Notes, Two New Trees From Chekiang, A List of Some Chinese Leeches, The Vertical Cleavage of Loess);
* China Journal (vol. XVI, 4), Apr 1932 (Events and Comments, Reviews, Engineering, Industrial & Commercial Notes, Ghastly Crime in the Manchurian Forest, Hunting and Fishing Notes, The Kennel, The Garden, Advertisements);
* China Journal (vol. XXI, 3), Sep 1934 (Back To Confucius, The Panchen Lama, Correspondence, Engineering, The Garden, Advertisements);
* China Journal (vol. XXI, 6), Dec 1934 (Peace or War, Events and Comments, Chinese Hawkers, Art, Shooting and Fishing Notes, The Garden, Advertising);
* China Journal (vol. XXIV, 5), May 1936 (Events and Comments, The Kennel, The Garden, Advertisements);
* China Journal (vol. XXVII, 3), Sep 1937 (War in Shanghai, The Future of Shanghai, Japan's Case Agalnst China, Reminiscences of An Old-Timer in War-Torn Shanghai, The Library, Travel and Exploration Notes, Industrial,Commerciel and Financial Notes, Scientific Notes and Reviews, The Kennel, Advertisements);
* China Journal (vol. XXVII, 4), Oct 1937 (Events and Comments, The Fly Menace in Shanghai, Cholera Epidemic in Shanghai and Hong Kong, Su-lin the Panda, Advertisements);
* China Journal (vol. XXIX, 2), Aug 1938 (Events and Comments, Obituary - Robert William Swallow, Shanghai Directory Published, Ms Harkness Returns Minus Panda, The Disposal of Shanghai's Waste Products, Miss Yang Delivers Flag, The Garden, Advertisements);
* China Journal (vol. XXXIV, 5), May 1941 (Events and Comments, Scientific Notes and Reviews, Shooting and Fishing Notes).
[A full-text, free access to selected issues of a 60 years old periodical now republished in electronic format by the "Tales of Old China" (http://www.talesofoldchina.com/) - ed.]
URL http://www.talesofoldchina.com/journal/index.php
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.talesofoldchina.com
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Documents/Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Business
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: V. Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 1000 [in fact 503]

12 Jun 2008

SouthEast Asian images & Texts (SEAiT)
University of Wisconsin Libraries, The University of Wisconsin System, WI, US
Self-description: "SouthEast Asian images & Texts brings together, in digital form, two categories of primary and secondary resources: research and teaching materials collected by University of Wisconsin faculty and staff; and unique or valuable items related to these fields held by the University of Wisconsin Libraries. This collection contains digitized images, including photographs and slides, that librarians, scholars, and other subject specialists have deemed important. Images relevant to these fields of study will be added to the collection on an ongoing basis."
Site contents:
* Materials in the Collection: (American Expatriate Album: Iloilo Philippines, E. Murray Bruner Philippine Image Collection, Joel M. Halpern Laotian Slide Collection, Liberato Picar Philippines Military Academy Album, Library of Congress Philippines Image Collection, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Philippines Image Collection); * Related materials: (Portal to Asian Internet Resources [with over 6000 entries on: Agriculture, Business and Industry, Demography and Population, Development, Economy, Education, Environment, Gender, General and Reference, Geography, Health, History, Human Rights, Labor, Language and Linguistics, Law, News and Media, Philosophy, Politics and Government, Popular Culture, Psychology, Religion, Science and Technology, Society, Transportation - ed.], South and Southeast Asia Video Archive); * Search the collection; * Guided Search; * Search Tips; * Philippines materials in the classroom; * About the collection; * SEAiT Mission; * Copyright; * Text Reprints; * Usage statistics.
URL http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SEAiT
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/SEAiT
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Documents/Online Guide
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Library
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 300

11 Jun 2008

Center for Central Asian Literatures in Translations (CCALT)
Central Asian Studies Program, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, US
Supplied note: "We would like to announce the commencement of a database on the University of Washington website that may be of interest to you: The Center for Central Asian Literatures in Translation (CCALT), located at [the URL below].
Recently announced earlier this month at the 20th Annual Nicholas Poppe Symposium held at the UW [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/upcoming.html - ed.], CCALT's aim is to provide access to high-quality translations of literature from throughout the Central Asian region, focusing on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Tuva, Uzbekistan, and Xinjiang, as well as developing a cross-linked online database of relevant supplementary information. Our new database offers a framework for input and collaboration in the form of discussions on specific texts or related topics as well as the collaborative revision of translations. - ccalt."
Site contents: * Search; * Language (Mongolian, Tuvan, Uzbek, Old Turkic); * Genre (Poetry, Essays, Literary Non-Fiction, Fiction, Folktales); * Navigation (Index / Map, Wikistan index, Recent posts, Submit new content, Posting guide, Wikistan posting guide, Copyright information, Discussion forums, Contact).
URL http://depts.washington.edu/ccalt/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: ccalt--at--u.washington.edu
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Documents
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

10 Jun 2008

China Digital Times (CDT) blog
chinadigitaltimes.net, UC Berkeley Grad School of Journalism, Berkeley, CA, US
Self-description: "CDT is a collaborative news website [est. Sep 2003 - ed.] covering China's social and political transition and its emerging role in the world. We aim to aggregate the most up-to-the-minute news and analysis about China from around the Web, while providing independent reporting, translations from Chinese cyberspace, and perspectives from across the geographical, political and social spectrum.
Reader Participation. We welcome you to participate. There are various ways to contribute to China Digital Times: [...]."
Site contents:
* Sections (CDT Bookshelf, Culture, Economy, Hong Kong, Law, Politics, Sci-Tech, Society, Taiwan, World); * News Focus (Beijing Olympics 2008, Environmental Crisis, Human Rights, Information Revolution, The Great Divide); * Special Features (Biganzi, CDT Bookshelf, Podcast, Videos, Slideshows, Photos, Satire, Cartoons, Notable Quotes); * About Us (About CDT, CDT Team, Sponsors); * Contact Us; * Headline feeds; * More About China; * Highlights; * Recent comments; * Archives; * Tags and Tag Cloud; * Subscribe; * Search.
URL http://chinadigitaltimes.net/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [archiving of the http://chinadigitaltimes.net/ has been blocked by the site owner via robots.txt.]
Link reported by: Yong Liu (classicalliberalism--at--gmail.com), forwarded by h-asia--at--h-net.msu.edu
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: News/Documents
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic/Other
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: over 3,000 [in fact, over 80,000 external links]

09 Jun 2008

Chatham House: All Research Papers [on Asia]
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, UK.
Self-description: "This page lists all Chatham House Reports, Briefing Papers and Other Resources. 1. Chatham House Reports are based on in-depth research conducted by experts based at or attached to Chatham House and include policy recommendations. 2. Briefing Papers are shorter, policy relevant papers written by experts in their field. 3. Other Resources include special reports, working papers, conference reports and proceedings, summary reports of meetings and seminars, transcripts and other relevant material produced by the different research areas at Chatham House."
Site contents:
CHATHAM HOUSE REPORTS:
* The European External Action Service: Roadmap for Success, Chatham House Report, Brian Crowe, May 2008; * Contemporary Chinese Views of Europe, Chatham House Report, Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron, Nov 2007; * Changing Climates: Interdependencies on Energy and Climate Security for China and Europe, Chatham House Report, Bernice Lee, Antony Froggatt et al, Nov 2007; * India and its Neighbours: Do Economic Interests Have the Potential to Build Peace?, Chatham House Report, Charu Lata Hogg, Nov ; * Child Recruitment in South Asian Conflicts: A comparative Analysis of Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh, Chatham House Report, Charu Lata Hogg, Nov 2006; * Contemporary Indian Views of Europe, Chatham House Report, Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron, Sep 2006; * Turkey and the EU - Four Scenarios: From Train Crash to Full Steam Ahead, Chatham House Report, Kirsty Hughes, Sep 2006; * Iran, its Neighbours and the Regional Crises, Chatham House Report, Middle East Programme, Chatham House, Aug 2006; * OPEC and Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities, Chatham House Report, Jacqueline Karas and Tatiana Bosteels, Nov 2005.
CHATHAM HOUSE BRIEFING PAPERS:
* An EU-Korea Free Trade Area: Playing Catch-Up or Taking the Lead?, Briefing Paper, Jim Rollo, May 2008; * Prospects for an EU-Gulf Cooperation Council Free Trade Area: The World's First Region-to-Region FTA?, Briefing Paper, Jim Rollo, Apr 2008; * The Kurdish Policy Imperative, Briefing Paper, Gareth Stansfield, Robert Lowe and Hashem Ahmadzadeh, Dec 2007; * Spice Route to Europe? Prospects for an India-EU Free Trade Area, Briefing Paper, Jim Rollo, Oct 2007; * Coalition Warfare in Afghanistan: Burden-sharing or Disunity?, Briefing Paper, Timo Noetzel and Sibylle Scheipers, Oct 2007; * Hong Kong Ten Years On: An Assessment of the Special Administrative Region, Briefing Paper, Kerry Brown, Oct 2007; * EU-ASEAN: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship?, Briefing Paper, Stephen Thomsen, Oct 2007; * Open for Business: Syria's Quest for a Political Deal, Briefing Paper, Rime Allaf, Jul 2007; * The Special Tribunal for Lebanon: The UN on Trial?, Briefing Paper, Nadim Shehadi and Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Jul 2007; * Accepting Realities in Iraq, Briefing Paper, Gareth Stansfield, May 2007; * China and India: Cooperation and Competition, Briefing Paper, Gareth Price, May 2007; * India and West Africa: A Burgeoning Relationship, Briefing Paper, Sushant K Singh, Apr 2007; * Israel and Iran: From war of words to words of war?, Briefing Paper, Yossi Mekelberg, Mar 2007; * Oil for Asia, Briefing Paper, John Mitchell and Glada Lahn, Mar 2007; * The End of the 'Post-Soviet Space': The Changing Geopolitical Orientations of the Newly Independent States, Briefing Paper, Alexander Nikitin, Feb 2007; * Infrastructure and Indian Development: Reform First, Invest Later, Briefing Paper, Stephen Thomsen, Jan 2007; * Japan and China: reaching reconciliation or stuck in the past?, Briefing Paper, Haruko Satoh, Oct 2006; * Al-Qaeda Five Years On: The Threat and the Challenges, Briefing Paper, Maha Azzam, Sep 2006; * Illegal Logging (revised from Mar 2005), Briefing Paper, Duncan Brack, Aug 2006; * Pakistan's Foreign Policy Under Musharraf: Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Briefing Paper, Owen Bennett Jones and Farzana Shaikh, Mar 2006; * The Syrian Kurds: A People Discovered, Briefing Paper, Robert Lowe, Jan 2006; * The Trial of Saddam Hussein, Briefing Paper, Sonya Sceats, Oct 2005; * Partnership is no privilege: the alternative to EU membership is no Turkish delight, Briefing Paper, Fadi Hakura, Sep 2005; * Environmental Civil Society and Governance in China, Briefing Paper, Yiyi Lu, Aug 2005; * The Chinese Economy: Risky Reporting, Briefing Paper, Vanessa Rossi, Apr 2005; * The Challenges for India's Education System, Briefing Paper, Marie Lall, Apr 2005; * The Growth of Civil Society in China: Key Challenges for NGOs, Briefing Paper, Yiyi Lu, Feb 2005; * Food Security in India: Policy Challenges and Responses, Briefing Paper, Debashis Chakraborty, Feb 2005; * Partnerships for Technology Transfer. How can investors and communities build renewable energy in Asia?, Briefing Paper, Tim Forsyth, Feb 2005; * Iraq in Transition: Vortex or Catalyst?, Briefing Paper, Middle East Programme, Sep 2004; * China's stock market: Out of the valley in 2004?, Briefing Paper, Stephen Green and He Ming, Feb 2004; * Water of Strife - The Geopolitics of Water in the Euphrates-Tigris and Jordan River Basins, Briefing Paper, Suki Jobson, Dec 2003; * Doves Vote Hawk: The Jan 2003 Elections in Israel, Briefing Paper, Yossi Mekelberg, Mar 2003; * Iraq: The Regional Fallout, Briefing Paper, Rosemary Hollis et al, Mar 2003; * Al-Qaeda: the Misunderstood Wahhabi Connection and the Ideology of Violence, Briefing Paper, Dr Maha Azzam, Feb 2003; * The Future of Oil in Iraq: Scenarios and Implications, Briefing Paper, Valerie Marcel, Dec 2002; * Indonesia After Wahid The New Authoritarianism, Briefing Paper, Christopher Candland and Siti Nurjanah, Dec 2001; * Burma: Companies, NGOs and the New Diplomacy, Briefing Paper, John Bray, Oct 2001; * Ratifying the Kyoto Protocol: The Case for Japanese-Russian Joint Implementation, Briefing Paper, Benito Muller, May 2001; * The Election of Ishihara: A Symbol of Rising Nationalism in Japan?, Briefing Paper, Christopher P. Hood, Nov 1999.
CHATHAM HOUSE OTHER RESOURCES [approx 150 working papers on Asia - ed.]
Contents of the www.chathamhouse.org.uk site:
* About Us; * Membership; * Events; * Research (Africa, Americas, Asia, Energy, Environment and Development, Europe, International Economics, International Law, International Security, Middle East, Russia and Eurasia, Global Trends - Food Supply); * Publications; * Media; * Library; * Contact us; * Search.
URL http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/all/
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: NGO/Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 1,000

09 Jun 2008

Contemporary Chinese Views of Europe: Chatham House Report
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, UK.
Extract: "Contemporary Chinese Views of Europe. Chatham House Report. Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron, November 2007
This study [in PDF format, 421 KB - ed.] aims to highlight, in particular, that:
* The Chinese feel Europe lacks a strategic vision and suffers from internal discord, which impedes its credibility in world affairs. Europe simply does not exist as a political centre of power, especially compared with the United States.
* China desires a more united European voice, as part of its conception of a multipolar future world order.
* China has a sophisticated approach to Europe. This includes a clear understanding of the European Union, in institutional terms and of its major member states, as well as what China perceives as European civilization in general.
* The economic and political relationships between Europe and China are currently best defined in a bilateral framework with individual member states. Nevertheless, the EU as a whole matters increasingly for China in trade and other economic issues. In the next twenty years or so, ultimately only the EU as an entity will be able to maintain a strong negotiating position with China on these matters and more generally.
* The Chinese consider the euro a 'most impressive achievement'. They believe that Europe's position in the future will depend, above all, on its ability to build a greater common defence and security identity and to strengthen the Eurozone - especially by including the United Kingdom.
* China perceives the European example as a source of inspiration for enhanced regional economic co-operation in Asia, particularly in its dealings with Japan.
* Europe remains culturally attractive, and is not fundamentally in decline (despite what some Indians and Americans, for example, believe). Although the Chinese feel that Europe and the United States are ultimately 'tied together', they nevertheless regard Europe and China as the two 'core civilizations' of the world, and therefore from this perspective see America as 'marginal'. This, they consider, would offer a unique common ground for understanding between themselves and Europeans. The EU is the primary collective sense in which the Chinese view Europe and they expect it to enlarge further. There are, however, diverging opinions on whether Russia is fundamentally a European power. - K. Lisbonne-de Vergeron."
[Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron is an alumna of the London School of Economics, HEC-Paris and the Bocconi University Milan. She has specialized in international relations and European politics, with a particular interest in issues related to cultural identity. - ed.]
Contents of the www.chathamhouse.org.uk site:
* About Us; * Membership; * Events; * Research (Africa, Americas, Asia, Energy, Environment and Development, Europe, International Economics, International Law, International Security, Middle East, Russia and Eurasia, Global Trends - Food Supply); * Publications; * Media; * Library; * Contact us; * Search.
URL http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/578/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the paper was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: NGO/Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

09 Jun 2008

Contemporary Indian Views of Europe: Chatham House Report
The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London, UK.
Extract: "Contemporary Indian Views of Europe. Chatham House Report. Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron, September 2006.
This report [in PDF format, 345 KB - ed.] aims to encourage deeper thought on the relationship between the EU and India by hightlighting that:
* The economic and political relationships between Europe and India are currently essentially best defined in a bilateral framework with individual member states, rather than with the EU as an entity, to the overall detriment of both India and the EU.
* Europe lacks a strategic vision and ranks at the bottom of the list of partners in India's multipolar understanding of the future geometry of world affairs.
* India perceives the European example as a source of inspiration for enhanced regional economic cooperation in Asia, and, in particular, the euro as a constructive and impressive achievement. However, India believes that Europe's position in the next twenty years will depend, above all, on its ability to build a common defence identity, starting with cooperation between Britain and France; to strengthen the euro zone, especially by including the United Kingdom; and to make a success of its enlargement, especially by a greater rapprochement with Russia.
* Europe is simply unattractive to India, especially by comparison with the United States. Many Indians regard it as 'socially and culturally protectionist', and as offering interest only on account of its 'exotic tourist appeal. - K. Lisbonne-de Vergeron."
[Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron is an alumna of the London School of Economics, HEC-Paris and the Bocconi University Milan. She has specialized in international relations and European politics, with a particular interest in issues related to cultural identity. - ed.]
Contents of the www.chathamhouse.org.uk site:
* About Us; * Membership; * Events; * Research (Africa, Americas, Asia, Energy, Environment and Development, Europe, International Economics, International Law, International Security, Middle East, Russia and Eurasia, Global Trends - Food Supply); * Publications; * Media; * Library; * Contact us; * Search.
URL http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/390/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the paper was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: NGO/Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

09 Jun 2008

Sichuan After The Quake: Keeping The Fingers Crossed
Chennai Centre For China Studies, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Extract: "The after-shocks after the earth quake, which struck the Wenchuan area of the Sichuan province of China on May 12, 2008, and killed an estimated 70,000 people, have decreased in frequency, but the area still faces another major disaster in the form of massive floods if some of the so-called quake lakes formed as a result of the quake burst under the pressure of the accumulated water. The biggest of these quake lakes is the one at Tangjiashan, which has been causing concern to the Chinese authorities. 2. If it bursts, it could put in jeopardy the lives and livelihood of nearly a million Chinese living in the direction in which floods will flow and further damage the economy of a strategically important province of China. Sichuan is not only the granary of China, but is also rich in minerals. Many of China's nuclear and space establishments and defence industries are located in the province. 3.The Information Office of the State Council stated on June 8,2008, that China's industrial and mining sectors have lost an estimated $29.5 billion because of the quake. If there are floods now, the loss will increase further." - b.raman
[The author of the paper, Mr B. Raman, is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India. - ed.]
URL http://www.c3sindia.org/india/257/sichuan-after-the-quake-keeping-the-fingers-crossed/
Internet Archive (www.archive.org) - the paper was not archived at the time of this abstract. However, in a few weeks time it will be available at web.archive.org/web/*/www.c3sindia.org - ed.
Link reported by: B. Raman (corde--at--vsnl.com)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library - NGO - other]: NGO
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Interesting
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

06 Jun 2008

European Network on Contemporary Academic Research on India (ENCARI)
European Commission, Brussels, Belgium
Self-description: "ENCARI is a European Commission initiative to foster policy relevant research on contemporary India. The Network held its first Roundtable and Think Tank Dialogue of 13-14 November 2007 with a specific focus on India's Growth and Economic Development, EU - India Business Cooperation, EU - India Strategic Cooperation, and EU - India Science Cooperation."
Site contents:
* About ENCARI; * ENCARI Round Table; * ENCARI Members (88 institutions and individuals from: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom); * Join ENCARI; * ENCARI Research (ENCARI Briefing Papers [in PDF format]: No. 1. Rosa Maria Perez - Mapping India's diaspora in Europe: culture, society, and policy. 2. Willem van der Geest - India's emergence as a global economic player: implications and opportunities for Europe. 3. Lawrence Saez and Mahesh Vipradas - Barriers and opportunities for EU-India renewable energy collaboration. 4. Kunal Sen and Manoj Agarwal - Exploring the opportunities of people-to-people contacts: EU-India tourism cooperation. 5. Marie Lall - Indian students in Europe: Trends, constraints and prospects, living in "the age of migration". 6. Yojana Sharma and Jonathan Braude - India's film industry and EU co-operation. 7. Lawrence Saez - EU-India nuclear energy co-operation: Prospects and challenges. 8. Kunal Sen - Why did the Elephant Start to Trot? India's Growth Acceleration Re-examined); * Member Research [in PDF format]: (Malcolm Subhan - EU-India Trade and Investment Relations); * Events; * Indian News (Indian News Online, Hindustan Times, India Express, Financial Express, Economic Times, Deccan Chronicle, Deccan Herald, Times of India, The Hindu, The Hindu Business Line, Asian Age, Business Standard); * Related Links; * ENCARI Forum; * Site Search; * Contact Us.
URL http://www.encari.eu/
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.encari.eu/
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study/News
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Government/NGO
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

06 Jun 2008

Geopolitical Analysis and Research on the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia (ARGO)
ARGO, Rome, Italy
Self-description: "ARGO (Analisi e Ricerche Geopolitiche sull'Oriente / Geopolitical Analysis and Research on the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia) is a non-profit think tank based in Rome, Italy. It was created by a group of researchers who saw the need for an analysis group capable of comprehensively collecting, processing and sharing insightful information on an area that spans from the Middle East to South Asia. ARGO's task is to produce analytical instruments on the political, economical, social, and security dynamics of the countries in those regions, as well as to prompt debate and formulate recommendations for decision makers."
Site contents:
* About us; * Products (Reports, Chronologies, Basic data [taken from: Asian Development Bank, BBC country profiles, CIA World Factbook, UNDP, U.S. Department of State, World Bank - ed.], Constitutions, Other material); * Countries (Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Georgia, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen); * Events; * Links (Governmental/Non Governmental Institutions, Research Centers/International Political Science Journals, Sources [of factual data]); * On the Spot (# Letter of the Democratic Senators on US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Apr, 2008. # Afghanistan, List of the Provincial Governors. Apr, 2008.); * Reports [Executive Summary, Full Report (in Italian)] (# Pakistan: Has the future begun? Apr, 2008. # Afghanistan: The need for a change of course. Mar, 2008. # Pakistan: Between instability and risk of economic crisis. Jan, 2008. # Pakistan: A difficult road to democracy. Dec, 2007. # Pakistan: An uncertain future. Oct, 2007).
[A bi-lingual (IT/EN) site]
URL http://www.argoriente.it/english/index.php
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study/Online Guide
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Other
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: V.Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 100

06 Jun 2008

Observatory on Central Asia (OAC)
University of Turin, Turin, Italy
Self-description: "The Observatory on Central Asia is a Project launched in November 2007 by CIRPET, the Research Centre on Emerging and Transition Countries of the University of Turin (Italy) [http://www.cirpet.unito.it/en/index.html]."
Site contents:
* Central Asia (news of the day, OAC research papers in PDF format, links); * Kazakhstan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Kyrgyzstan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Tajikistan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Turkmenistan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Uzbekistan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Central Asia (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Kazakhstan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Kyrgyzstan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Tajikistan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Turkmenistan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Uzbekistan (news of the day, OAC research papers, links); * Contact us; * Subscribe to the mailing list 'CIRPET-Caucasus&CentralAsia'
[A bi-lingual (IT/EN) site]
URL http://www.oac.unito.it/en/index.html
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Corporate Info./News/Study/Online Guide
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

04 Jun 2008

Biblia Impex Pvt. Ltd
Biblia Impex Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, India
Self-description: "Biblia Impex was started in 1963 to export Indian books and publications to all over the world. Since then our aim has been to provide prompt service in making available all Indian publications worldwide. Shri Sita Ram Goel, a noted writer and scholar, was its founder. Over the years we have established ourselves as one of the leading exporters of Indological publications and enjoy a high reputation in both the foreign as well as the domestic markets. We have the proud privilege as being exclusive suppliers to some leading booksellers, scholars as well as Institutional and University Libraries in Japan, Europe and USA. Our newsletters and catalogues include books published from all major Indian publishers as well as Institutions on Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Vedic and Sanskrit literature, Ayurveda, Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Fine Arts, Literature, Linguistics, Life Sciences, Sociology etc. [...]."
Site contents: * New Releases; * New Publications; * Subject List; * About Us; * Contact Us; * Terms; * Search (Title, Author, ISBN, Year, Series, Publisher, Keywords, Subject); * Select List (Oriental & Indological Series, Epics & Puranas, Fine Arts, Performing Arts, Dictionaries, Islam, Dharamshastras etc.); * Keywords (Anthropology, Architecture, Aryan, Ayurveda, Bhagvad Gita, Buddhism, Buddhist Art, Christianity, Himalaya, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Lumbini, Mahabharata, Meditation, Paintings, Purana, Ramayana, Saivism, Sankhya, Tamil Literature, Tantra, Temple Arch., Terrorism, Tibet, Tibet Journal, Vedanta, Women, Yoga).
URL http://www.bibliaimpex.com/
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/http://www.bibliaimpex.com/
Link reported by: Biblia Impex (contact--at--bibliaimpex.com)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Corporate Info.
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]: Business
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 100

04 Jun 2008

Emerging Market Economies in Central Asia
www.centralasiaproject.de, Goettingen, Germany
Self-description: "'Emerging Market Economies in Central Asia: The Role of Institutional Complementarities in Reform Processes' This three-year project aims at analyzing the institutional arrangements currently being developed and redefined in Central Asian economies. It expands the ' Varieties of Capitalism' (VoC) research agenda to transition countries in Central Asia; notably Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan [...]."
Site contents: * Call for papers ['Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance in Central Asia' Conference in Goettingen, Germany, September 25-26, 2008, Deadline for abstracts: Jun 14, 2008. Full papers to be submitted by Aug 20, 2008.] * News; * Project; * Project Output (Papers, Presentations and Documents, Curriculum Vitae); * Project Team; * Cooperation partners; * About Central Asia; * Links [a section under construction]
URL http://www.centralasiaproject.de/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract].
Link reported by: Manuel Stark (mail--at--manuelstark.com), forwarded by central-eurasia-l--at--lists.fas.harvard.edu
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Corporate Info./Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: V.Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

04 Jun 2008

Seeing Tibetan Art Through Social Tags
Archives & Museum Informatics, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Self-description: "Mannion, S., Seeing Tibetan Art Through Social Tags, in J. Trant and D. Bearman (eds.). Museums and the Web 2008: Proceedings, Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics. Published March 31, 2008.
Abstract: Most current efforts in social tagging by museums focus on how to improve public access to on-line collections. Indeed, tags do supplement existing documentation by providing an alternative vocabulary to describe works of art. But what can tags tell us about how images are perceived? Are the same images perceived differently by viewers from diverse cultures? Taking its cue from the Steve Project's (http://steve.museum) research agenda, an ongoing study funded by the Rubin Museum of Art [http://www.rmanyc.org/] explores what tags reveal about the ways native communities respond to their own cultural iconography. Begun in March 2007, the study is collecting tags on Tibetan artworks from Tibetans and Westerners in Switzerland and New York on a customized steve installation (http://www.seeingtibetanart.org).
Preliminary findings based on the Swiss data reveal: 1) different tagging and viewing patterns among Tibetans and Westerners; 2) complex and often awkward feelings young Tibetans experience when viewing traditional artworks; 3) clearly discernible levels of cultural pervasiveness of traditional images; and 4) shared misunderstandings about specific types of images. [...] Keywords: social tagging, tags, native communities, diaspora, Tibetan Buddhist art, perception, mixed methods."
Site contents: * Abstract; * Museums and the Tibetan Community: A Reciprocal Relationship; * Seeing Tibetan Art Through Social Tags; * Mixed Methods Research Design; * Selected Artworks; * The Tagging Platform; * Data Collection in Native Communities; * Demographic Profile of Participants; * Preliminary Findings; * Tagging and Viewing Patterns; * Tagger Agreement; * Cultural Pervasiveness of Traditional Images; * Implications and Conclusions; * Acknowledgements; * References.
[In 2007 Shelley Mannion was a graduate student, TEC-CH program, University of Lugano, Switzerland. Steve Project, founded in 2005, is "a collaboration of museum professionals and others who believe that social tagging may provide profound new ways to describe and access museum collections and encourage visitor enagement with museum objects." - ed.].
URL http://www.archimuse.com/mw2008/papers/mannion/mannion.html
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site will be archived in the next few months].
Link reported by: Shelley Mannion (shelley.mannion--at--gmail.com)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: V.Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

03 Jun 2008

USC U.S.-China Institute (USCI)
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, US
Self-description: "The USC U.S. - China Institute aims to enhance understanding of the 21st century's definitive and multidimensional relationship through cutting-edge social science research, innovative graduate and undergraduate training, extensive and influential public events, and professional development efforts."
Site contents:
* About; * News & Features (Faculty, Teaching, Students, Research, Alumni, Service); * Calendar (Featured Events, USC Events, California Events, North America Events, Exhibitions, Current Events / Archived Events); * China @ USC (Faculty Courses, Student Groups, Study Abroad, Campus Resources : East Asian Languages & Cultures Department (EALC), East Asian Languages & Studies: Reference Services & Research Help, East Asian Library, East Asian Studies Center (EASC), Internet Mission Photography Collection at Digital Archives, The Chinese Historical Society of Southern California Collection, USC Center for Active Learning in International Studies: Teaching East Asia Program (TEAP), USC Center for International Studies, USC Chinese Language Program, USC School of Social Work: China Program);
* Resources (Fellowships, Documents [in early Jun 2008 there were documents on: US-China (146 free-access online documents), Contemporary China (31 docs), Pre '49 China (38 docs), US-Asia (16 docs) US-Taiwan (12 docs), Contemporary Taiwan (5 docs) - ed.], Language Prgms, Reviews, Average Day, Talking Points e-newsletter [est. Sep 2007], Calls for Papers);
* K 12 Curriculum; * US-China Today (About [the e-journal], Features, Daily Update, Voices, Contact); * Contact.
URL http://china.usc.edu/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [information re. archived copies of the site is temporarily unavailable]
Link reported by: Clayton Dube (cdube--at--usc.edu), forwarded by h-asia--at--h-net.msu.edu
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Online Guide/Documents/Study/News
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 300

02 Jun 2008

Mongolian-English Dictionary from Lingua Mongolia
Lingua Mongolia, Aberystwyth, Wales, UK
Self-description: "The Mongolian-English Dictionary from Lingua Mongolia [est. Dec 2004] is the first piece of commercial dictionary software for Uighur-script and Cyrillic Mongolian in the world. The culmination of over four years of work, it has been designed to work on all Windows-based operating systems without the need to change System Locales or download and install any fonts. Setup is fast and automatic and the install file is just over 2MB in size - making it easy to download on even dial-up connections. [Downloadable trial version is also available - ed.]."
Supplied-note: "The Mongolian-English Dictionary from Lingua Mongolia is now available [...] as part of our summer sale and is available through Lingua Mongolia's websites at [the URL below] and www.hoh-hot.com (for users in China) - erep."
[The dictionary includes the following features:
* Over Over 24,000 Cyrillic and Uighur-script headwords; * Thousands of usage examples; * Ability to search using Uighur-script Mongolian; * Ability to search using standard transliteration (Vladimirtsov-Poppe-Mostaert-Cleaves); * Ability to search for English words; * Wildcard searches; * Regular Expression searches; * Intelligent VirtualKeyboard for entering Mongolian. - ed.]
Site contents:
* The Mongolian-English Dictionary - download. * Script; * Grammar; * Translation; * Software; * Resources (Interactive Exercises, Poetry, Literature, Digitised Books); * [Online] Dictionary [Mongolian, English]; * Bibliography (Learning Mongolian, Dictionaries and Phrasebooks, Language, Books in Mongolian, Primary Sources and Works in Translation, Mongolian History, Mongolia - General, Genghis Khan); * Links (Universities and Professional Institutions, Independent Language Resources, Bookdealers, Miscellaneous Resources, Manchu Resources); * What's new; * Contact.
URL http://www.linguamongolia.co.uk/soft1.html
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://http://www.linguamongolia.co.uk/
Link reported by: Emyr R. E. Pugh (linguamongolia--at--bluebottle.com)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Other
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

01 Jun 2008

The China Beat: Blogging How the East Is Read
thechinabeat.blogspot.com, US
Self-description: "[The blog] examines media coverage of China, providing context and criticism from China scholars and writers."
Supplied note: "Dear Colleagues, We have recently published a number of original pieces at the online journal/blog, The China Beat, including several historical reflections on disaster relief in China. They include:
'Rumor and the Sichuan Earthquake,' by Steve A. Smith, 'Letters from Sichuan,' by Peter Hessler, 'Chinese Responses to Disaster: A View from the Qing,' by Kathryn Edgerton-Tarpley, 'History of the Chinese Red Cross,' by Caroline Reeves, 'A Look Back at the Tangshan Earthquake and the Montreal Olympics,' by Susan Brownell, 'Disaster Relief: Material and Spiritual,' by Paul Katz, 'Writing Factory Girls,' by Leslie T. Chang, 'Torching the Relay,' by Geremie R. Barme.
And much more. Please visit us at: [the URL below] Kate Merkel-Hess."
Site contents:
REGULAR FEATURES: * 2008 in the News (The 2008 Beijing Olympics, * The 2008 Tibet Riots and Protests, It's Not Just 8/8/08, Tales from Taiwan); * Media Watch (China Behind the Headline, Taelspin, Watching the China Watchers, China Around the World); * Conversations (China on My Mind, China Annals); * Reviews (Coming Distractions, In Case You Missed It); * Miscellaneous (The Five-List Plan, This Day in History, Frivolous Fridays, Self-Promotion Saturdays)
* China Beat In The Media;
* About Us (Timothy Weston, Kate Merkel-Hess, Jeremiah Jenne, Nicole E. Barnes, Pierre Fuller, Peter Hessler, David Porter, Angilee Shah, Kenneth Pomeranz, Paul R Katz, The China Beat, Jeff Wasserstrom, Yunxiang Yan, Yong Chen, Robert Weller, Susan Jakes, Susan Brownell, Thomas S. Mullaney, Leslie T. Chang);
* Search; * RSSS Newsfeeds; * Blog Archive (Jan 2008, Feb 2008, Mar 2008, Apr 2008, May 2008).
[A note from Andrew Field, H-ASIA's editor: "[...] Unfortunately, like most other blogsites, this one is blocked in China, but by using a proxy server such as the Tor-Privoxy-Vidalia system, it is easy to get around this blockage. Another way to get round this is to subscribe to the [RSSS] feeder. I found that by using google reader, I can still read the posts on blocked blogs without having to resort to a proxy server. - AF"]
URL http://thechinabeat.blogspot.com/
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
Link reported by: Kate Merkel-Hess (kate--at--uci.edu), forwarded by h-asia--at--h-net.msu.edu
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: News/Study
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: V. Useful
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: over 3000 [in fact - over 17,800]