The Asian Studies WWW Monitor: May 2009, Vol. 16, No. 7 (297)

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: 16
Entries rejected: 17
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27 May 2009

Russia, China, and the United States in Central Asia: Prospects for Great Power Competition and Cooperation in the Shadow of the Georgian Crisis. (a 2009 free download E-book)
Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA, US
Self-description:
"Russia, China, and the United States in Central Asia: Prospects for Great Power Competition and Cooperation in the Shadow of the Georgian Crisis. [2009]. Authored by Dr. Elizabeth Wishnick.
Russia and China have been reacting to the pressures of changing U.S.-Central Asia policy over the past 5 years as has the United States. In response to the 'color' revolutions, they achieved broad agreement on the priority of regime security and the need to limit the long-term military presence of the United States in Central Asia. These are also two key areas -- defining the political path of Central Asian states and securing a strategic foothold in the region -- where the United States finds itself in competition with Russia and China. The Russia-China partnership should not be seen as an anti-U.S. bloc, nor should the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) be viewed as entirely cohesive. Although there is considerable suspicion of U.S. designs on Central Asia, divergent interests within the SCO, among Central Asian states, and especially between Russia and China serve to limit any coordinated anti-U.S. activity. Despite the fissures within the SCO and the competitive tendencies within the Sino-Russian partnership, the United States will not have an easy time achieving its aims in Central Asia. The author documents how American policy goals -- energy cooperation, regional security, and support for democracy and the rule of law -- continue to run at cross-purposes with one another. In particular, she asserts that competition to secure basing arrangements and energy contracts only benefits authoritarian regimes at the expense of enduring regional security. She argues further that the rhetoric about a new Cold War in the aftermath of the Georgian crisis, and the more general tendency to view U.S.-Russia-China competition in the region with 19th century lenses, as some sort of 'new great game,' obscures the common interests the great powers share in addressing transnational problems in Central Asia."
[A PDF document, approx. 450KB strong - ed.]
URL http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=907
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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

27 May 2009

Projecting Pyongyang: The Future of North Korea's Kim Jong Il Regime (a 2008 free download E-book)
Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA, US
Self-description:
"Projecting Pyongyang: The Future of North Korea's Kim Jong Il Regime. [2008]. Authored by Dr. Andrew Scobell.
The author seeks to assist planners and decisionmakers in thinking about and preparing for possible future contingencies concerning North Korea. He does not dwell on war or conflict scenarios involving North Korea because military planners have already focused considerable effort and attention on these. It is entirely possible that the fate of the country as a political, territorial, and juridical entity is intimately bound up with the fate of the Kim Jong Il regime, but one should not assume this to be so. In other words, the collapse of the Kim regime may not lead to the collapse of North Korea as a state. Moreover, one should not assume that even if the regime collapse is followed by state collapse that these events would inexorably lead to Korean unification."
[A PDF document, approx. 337KB strong - ed.]
URL http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=844
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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

27 May 2009

North Korea's Military Threat: Pyongyang's Conventional Forces, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Ballistic Missiles (a 2007 free download E-book)
Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA, US
Self-description:
"North Korea's Military Threat: Pyongyang's Conventional Forces, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Ballistic Missiles. [2007]. Authored by Dr. Andrew Scobell, Captain USN John M Sanford.
North Korea's conventional capabilities have eroded but remain significant, including its sizeable contingent of special operations forces. Meanwhile, Pyongyang continues the vigorous development of its nuclear and missile programs, and has ongoing chemical and biological weapons programs. Perhaps the biggest unanswered questions concern North Korea's military intentions. Does the Korean People's Army have an offensive or defensive doctrine? Does Pyongyang intend to use its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles to replace the threat posed by its eroding conventional forces? Or is its intention to use conventional and unconventional forces in what it might view as a winning combination? In theory, U.S. forces could carry out preemptive precision attacks to destroy known North Korean nuclear facilities and missile emplacements, but such attacks might provoke North Korean retaliation and trigger a general conflict. Washington and Seoul cannot overthrow the North Korean regime by force or destroy its strategic military assets without risking devastating losses in the process. Meanwhile, North Korea cannot invade the South without inviting a fatal counterattack from the United States and South Korea. Thus, the balance of forces that emerged from the Korean War, and which helped maintain the armistice for more than 50 years, remains in place."
[A PDF document, approx. 1.4MB strong - ed.]
URL http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=771
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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

27 May 2009

Beyond the Strait: PLA Missions other than Taiwan (a 2009 free download E-book)
Strategic Studies Institute (SSI), U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA, US
Supplied-note:
"As the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities increase in tandem with China's rising power and expanding national interests, the PLA is involved in an increasing number and variety of missions in addition to its traditional focus on contingencies in the Taiwan Strait. Beyond the Strait explores these other missions and objectives, which include disaster and humanitarian relief, United Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPKO), counterterrorism and other border defense, and outer space and cyberspace security."
Self-description:
"Beyond the Strait: PLA Missions other than Taiwan. [2009]. Edited by Mr. Roy Kamphausen, Dr. David Lai, Dr. Andrew Scobell.
While preventing independence likely remains the central aim of the PLA vis-a-vis Taiwan, Chinese foreign policy objectives worldwide are rapidly growing and diversifying. This volume analyzes the PLA's involvement in disaster and humanitarian relief, United Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPKO), counterterrorism and border defense, security in outer space and cyberspace, and the level of activity in regional 'joint' operational contingencies. On the whole, the volume provides a discerning analysis of these varied PLA developments and how they affect policy towards both Taiwan and the entire Asia-Pacific region. While the significance of China has long been understood, the nation's rise to prominence on the world scene is becoming more acutely felt. An understanding of the PLA's growing roles both within China and internationally is of critical importance to the United States."
Table of Contents:
* Foreword - Admiral Dennis C. Blair (Ret.); * Introduction - David Lai and Marc Miller; * How China Manages Taiwan and Its Impact on PLA Missions - Andrew Scobell; * How China Manages Internal Security Challenges and Its Impact on PLA Missions - Murray Scot Tanner; * China's Expanding Presence in UN Peacekeeping Operations and Implications for the United States - Bates Gill and Chin-hao Huang; * PLA Missions in Frontier Security and Counterterrorism - Robert O. Modarelli III; * Strategic Deterrence beyond Taiwan - Brad Roberts; * Prospects for China's Military Space Efforts - Dean Cheng; * PLA Computer Network Operations: Scenarios, Doctrine, Organizations, and Capability - James Mulvenon; * China's Regional Power Projection: Prospects for Future Missions in the South and East China Seas - Mark Cozad; * PLA "Joint" Operational Contingencies in South Asia, Central Asia, and Korea - Larry M. Wortzel.
[A PDF document, approx. 2.4MB strong - ed.]
URL http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?pubID=910
Link reported by: The National Bureau of Asian Research (nbr--at--nbr.org)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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

26 May 2009

Timor-Leste: The Dragon's Newest Friend
Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC), Paris, France / Bangkok, Thailand
Supplied note:
"Timor-Leste: The Dragon's Newest Friend - By Loro Horta. Irasec Discussion Papers no. 4, May 2009.
On May 20, 2002 Timor-Leste became an independent and sovereign state. China became the first country to establish diplomatic relations with the newly established nation and has since maintained a growing presence on the island.
Three main factors have driven Beijing's policy towards East Timor:
Firstly, China's growing engagement with Timor-Leste is part of its overall expansion into Southeast Asia and its strategy to balance the United States' influence in the region. Secondly, Timor is likely to become an ASEAN member in 2012 which adds further incentives. The country's potentially large oil and gas reserves are unlikely to have gone unnoticed to an energy- thirsty China. Thirdly, China remains preoccupied with the possibility of Taiwan co-opting the fledging state into its camp. While the People's Republic of China's (PRC) presence in Timor pales in comparison to its presence in other Southeast Asian countries, it has grown rapidly and in a very short period of time. From a position of marginality in Timor's affairs just five years ago, China has grown to become a major player in the territory causing some apprehension in Australia which tends to view Timor as its exclusive patch.
The author:
Loro Horta is a graduate of Peoples Liberation Army National Defense University (PLANDU). Previous to his Chinese education he was educated in Australia, the United States and Singapore. His [... writings] on the Chinese military and other China related topics have been published by the Military Review, Australian Army Journal, Strategic Analysis the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington D.C, and Yale Magazine."
Extract:
"China has made substantial diplomatic gains in Timor-Leste at a very modest material cost; patience and sophisticated diplomacy had allowed Beijing to emerge in the eyes of the Timorese as a committed and much needed friend. The case of Timor-Leste also illustrates the increasing sophistication of Chinese diplomacy and its ability to utilize soft power as a counter to the 'China threat theory' which was so prevalent in the 1990s in Southeast Asia. The case of Timor-Leste therefore may be an indicator of future Chinese diplomatic strategy in the Third world as it tries to secure vital interests such as energy resources and markets."
Site contents:
* Introduction; * A brief history of Sino-Timorese relations; * The energy sector; * Defense and Military Cooperation; * Infrastructure development; * Technical cooperation; * Putting things into perspective; * China and other powers; * Patience is a virtue; * Conclusion.
[A PDF document, approx. 100KB strong - ed.]
URL http://irasec.com/components/com_irasec/media/upload/publication_file_fr_287.pdf
Link reported by: Arnaud Leveau (publications--at--irasec.com)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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

21 May 2009

Wolfram Alpha - Computational Knowledge Engine
Wolfram Research, Inc., Champaign, IL, US / Oxfordshire, UK
Self-description:
"Goals - Wolfram|Alpha's long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. Our goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries. Wolfram|Alpha [launched May 15, 2009 - ed.] aims to bring expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people -- spanning all professions and education levels. Our goal is to accept completely free-form input, and to serve as a knowledge engine that generates powerful results and presents them with maximum clarity. Wolfram|Alpha is an ambitious, long-term intellectual endeavor that we intend will deliver increasing capabilities over the years and decades to come. With a world-class team and participation from top outside experts in countless fields, our goal is to create something that will stand as a major milestone of 21st century intellectual achievement.
Status - That it should be possible to build Wolfram|Alpha as it exists today in the first decade of the 21st century was far from obvious. And yet there is much more to come. As of now, Wolfram|Alpha contains 10+ trillion of pieces of data, 50,000+ types of algorithms and models, and linguistic capabilities for 1000+ domains. Built with Mathematica -- which is itself the result of more than 20 years of development at Wolfram Research -- Wolfram|Alpha's core code base now exceeds 5 million lines of symbolic Mathematica code. [...]
Future - Wolfram|Alpha, as it exists today, is just the beginning. We have both short- and long-term plans to dramatically expand all aspects of Wolfram|Alpha, broadening and deepening our data, our computation, our linguistics, our presentation, and more. [...]."
Site contents:
* Examples (# Mathematics -- Elementary Math, Numbers, Plotting, Algebra, Matrices, Calculus, Geometry, Trigonometry, Discrete Math, Number Theory, Applied Math, Logic, Functions. # Statistics & Data Analysis -- Data Analysis, Regression, Statistical Distributions, Probability. # Physics -- Mechanics, Electricity & Magnetism, Optics, Relativity, Nuclear Physics, Quantum Physics, Particle Physics, Statistical Physics, Astrophysics, Physical Constants. # Chemistry -- Elements, Compounds, Ions, Quantities, Solutions, Chemical Thermodynamics. # Materials -- Alloys, Minerals, Plastics, Woods, Bulk Materials. # Engineering -- Acoustics, Aeronautics, Electric Circuits, Fluid Mechanics, Steam Tables, Structures. # Astronomy -- Star Charts, Planets, Moons, Minor Planets, Comets, Eclipses, Stars, Galaxies, Astrophysics. # Earth Sciences -- Geology, Geodesy, Earthquakes, Tide Data, Standard Atmosphere. # Life Sciences -- Animals & Plants, Dinosaurs, DNA Sequence Lookup, Genes, SNPs, Proteins. # Technological World -- Communications, Satellites, Space Probes. # Transportation -- Aircraft, Airports, Bridges, Tunnels. # Computational Sciences -- Cellular Automata, Fractals, Functional Programming. # Web & Computer Systems -- Website Data, IP Lookup, Data Transfer, Port Numbering, String Processing, Hashing, Unicode Lookup. # Units & Measures -- Conversions, Calculations, Comparisons, Dimensional Analysis, Industrial Measures, Batteries, Bulk Materials, Paint. # Money & Finance -- Stock Data, Indices, Mutual Funds, Mortgages, Present Value, Currency Conversion, Bonds, Derivatives Valuation, Wages, Sales Tax. # Dates & Times -- Date Computations, Time Zones, Calendars, Holidays, Geological Time. # Places & Geography -- Maps, Projections, Geodesy, Navigation, Distances, Geomagnetism, Geocoding, Countries, Cities, Elevation Data, Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, Islands, Mountains. # Socioeconomic Data -- Countries, U.S. States, Cities, Demographics, Economics, Trade, Salaries, Unemployment. # Weather -- Current & Historical Weather, Forecasts, Wind Chill, Hurricanes, Clouds, Standard Atmosphere. # Health & Medicine -- Body Measurements, Growth Charts, Exercise, Diseases, Mortality Data, Medical Test Data, Vision, Drug Data, Hospitals. # Food & Nutrition -- Foods, Dietary References. # Words & Linguistics -- Dictionary Lookup, Anagrams, Word Puzzles, Morse Code, Soundex, Languages, Number Names. # Culture & Media -- Books, Periodicals, Movies, Songs, Awards. # People & History -- People, Genealogy, Names, Occupations, Political Leaders, Historical Dates, Historical Countries, Historical Numerals, Historical Money. # Education -- Universities, Standardized Tests. # Organizations -- Universities, Companies, Hospitals, Foundations, International Organizations. # Sports & Games -- Football, Baseball, Lotteries, Card Games. # Music -- Musical Notes, Intervals, Chords, Scales, Songs. # Colors -- Color Names, Color Addition, Color Systems, Temperatures, Wavelengths);
* About;
* FAQS ([...] # Is Wolfram|Alpha a search engine? - No. It's a computational knowledge engine: it generates output by doing computations from its own internal knowledge base, instead of searching the web and returning links.
# Is Wolfram|Alpha free to use? Yes, it's free for personal noncommercial use as described in its Terms of Use. Subscriptions will be available in the near future with enhanced features for large-scale and commercial use.
# Who is Wolfram|Alpha for? Everyone! Its goal is to bring expert-level knowledge to everybody. [...]);
* Blog [http://blog.wolframalpha.com/];
* Community;
* Downloads (Toolbars,Search Engine Add-ons, etc. etc.);
* More.
URL http://www.wolframalpha.com/
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Documents/Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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]: over 69,500 external links

20 May 2009

Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies
Department of English, Kent State University, Kent, OH, US
Self-description:
"'Pakistaniaat' is a refereed, multidisciplinary, open-access academic journal [ISSN 1946-5343 - ed.] offering a forum for scholarly and creative engagement with various aspects of Pakistani history, culture, literature, and politics."
Site contents:
* About;
* Log In;
* Register;
* Search;
* Current Issue (Vol 1, No 1 (2009), full-text materials in PDF format. EDITORIAL : Welcome to Pakistaniaat--Chishm-e-ma Roshan Dil-e-ma Shaad - Masood Ashraf Raja.
ARTICLES: Introducing the Urdu Short Story in Translation - Muhammad Umar Memon; Community Learning Center Programs and Community Literacy Development in Asian and the Pacific Countries: Bangladesh, Iran, Vietnam and Pakistan as Case Studies - Akbar Zolfaghari, Mohammad Shatar Sabran, Ali Zolfaghari; The Mediatization of Politics in Pakistan: A Structural Analysis - Muhammad Atif Khan.
BOOK REVIEWS : Ahmed Rashid' s Descent into Chaos - David Waterman; Reading River of Fire as a North-American Student - Deirdre Manion-Fischer.
POETRY AND PROSE : Freedom - Hananah Zaheer; An Excerpt from Saffron Dreams: A Novel - Shaila Abdullah; Apa's Painting - Mehnaz Turner; A Hospital Visit - Aneesa Hussain.
TRANSLATIONS : HOSHRUBA: The Land and the Tilism - Musharraf Ali Farooqi; Selections from the Poetry of Kishwar Naheed - Mahwash Shoaib.
INTERVIEWS : Shattering the Stereotypes: An Interview with Fawzia Afzal-Khan - Nilanshu Kumar Agarwal; Painting God' s Words: An Interview With Amar Raza, Founder of the Quran Art Foundation and Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan - Masood Ashraf Raja.
URDU WORKS : Hisar - Muhammad Umar Memon; Gul Na Hoti Abi Ehsas Ki Shamah - Yousaf Alamgirian);
* Archives (Vol 1, No 1 (2009));
* Announcements;
* Submissions;
* Subscriptions;
* People (Editorial Team);
* Policies;
* Contact;
* Blog [http://pakistaniaatblog.blogspot.com/].
URL http://pakistaniaat.org/
Link reported by: Masood A. Raja (mraja--at--kent.edu)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study/Documents
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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 300

19 May 2009

Virtual Shanghai: Shanghai Urban Space in Time
Institut des Sciences de l'Homme (ISH), CNRS / ENS-LSH / Universite Lumiere Lyon2, Lyon, France
Self-description:
"Virtual Shanghai is a research and resource platform on the history of Shanghai from the mid-nineteenth century to nowadays. It incorporates four sets of documents: essays, original documents, photographies, and maps. The objective of the project is to write a history of the city through the combined mobilization of these various sets of documents. The implementation of this approach relies on the use of NTIC [Nouvelles Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication - ed.] and GIS [Geographic Information Systems - ed.] technologies. On the research side, the platform will offer various ways to step into the history of the city and follow its course at different levels over time. On the resource side, apart from providing original textual and visual documents, it develops a powerful cartographic tool for both analysis and real-time mapping. The authors of the present project suscribe to the idea of sharing scholarship and research tools for the benefit of scholars, students, and citizens at large.
'Virtual Shanghai: Shanghai Urban Space in Time' is one of the research projects in social sciences and humanities selected in 2005 by the National Research Agency [http://www.gip-anr.fr/] in France. The ANR attributed a three-year grant to support the project."
Site contents:
* Presentation (Project history, Objective, Overview, Methodology, Current State of the project);
* Texts (Articles, Topics, Books, Original Texts, Appendices);
* Images (Images [103 documents], Albums Photos [Cityscapes, Official Institutions, Culture, Religion, Education, Health & Sports, Economy, Civic Organizations, People & Everyday Life, War], Visual Narratives [8 documents]);
* Maps (Source Maps [407 documents], Map Narratives [3 documents], eAtlas [52 documents], Base Maps [15 documents]);
* Live Maps (GoogleEarth, Shanghai Buldings, Raster Data, Vectorial Data);
* References (Bibliography, Thematic Bibliographies, Biography, Repository, Publisher);
* Search;
* Toolbox (Services, Blog Virtual Shanghai [http://virtualshanghai.blogspot.com/], Recommended Links).
URL http://virtualshanghai.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://virtualshanghai.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Documents/Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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 100

17 May 2009

Asia Chronicle - The Online Journal of Asian News & Analysis
www.asiachroniclenews.com, Murphy, TX, US.
Self-description:
"Asia Chronicle is a daily online journal of news, analysis, and commentary focusing on Asian political, economic, and defense issues. Offering free premium content updated daily, Asia Chronicle aims to serve as the premier English language source of quality intelligence for a diverse audience of business executives, diplomats, government officials, and scholars with a professional interest in Asia.
Asia Chronicle is one of the only news and analysis services that explicitly integrates focused regional analysis with powerful global insights. Recognizing that the fates of Asia and the world rise and fall together, Asia Chronicle connects Asia to the world by identifying how global issues affect Asian interests and how Asian issues affect global interests."
Site contents:
* Front Page;
* News & Discussion (Asia Quick View, Daily Discussion (Open));
* Browse By Topic (Defense & Diplomacy, Business & Economy, Politics & Society, Transnational Issues);
* Browse By Country (Greater China, Korea, Japan, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West & Central Asia, Russia & Mongolia);
* Asia Columnists (Become a Columnist, John Feffer, Aetius Romulous, Robert Christian);
* Book Reviews (Suggest a Book);
* About Us (About Us, Website Features, Contact Us, Advertise with Us);
* Write For Us (Be a Guest Writer, Join Our Team);
* ASIA BOOKSTORE (Best Books on Asia, Asia Business Books, Books on Global Affairs);
* RSS News Feeds (Asia Chronicle RSS Feed, NewsTrust RSS Feed);
* Free Email Alerts! (Weekly Highlights);
* This Week's Top Reads (Monday, May 18, 2009 #Front Page - Non-Proliferation and Iran: Lessons from Latin America, Swine Flu Hits Mainland China, The Trend of History Toward the East, North Korea and Malign Neglect, Pope Benedict and Islamic Democracy, Ten Ways for the U.S. to Achieve Its Goals in Afghanistan, Too Soon for U.S. Alliance with Pakistan's Sharif? Lady of Myanmar Deserves More International Fame).
URL http://www.asiachroniclenews.com/
Link reported by: Markhi Rollins (markhi82--at--yahoo.com)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) - Archiving of the site is disallowed by the Asia Chronicle's robots.txt file.
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: News/ Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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 30

13 May 2009

Circassian World :: Adyghe - Abkhaz History & Culture
www.circassianworld.com, Ankara, Turkey & Scottsdale, AZ, US.
Self-description:
"The main purposes of the Circassian World website [Est. 21 Feb 2005 - ed.] are: * To generate an informational resource for Circassians and non-Circassians who wish to learn more about the heritage, culture, and history of the Adyghe-Abkhaz people; * To strengthen the Circassian national identity and consciousness through informational resources about the Circassian history and heritage; * To support and work with other organizations to revive the practice of Circassian history, culture, and language; * To collect all types of literature and literary documents about Circassians written in all languages - especially in English and in French - and to translate them into languages spoken by the majority of the Circassian people; * To educate the world about the 1763-1864 war in which the Circassians fought against Russia, but finally defeated. To teach the world that fact that Russian conquest led to the massacre and biggest genocide of the nineteenth century committed against the Circassian nation by Czarist Russia and the eventual forced deportation of the Circassian people to countries throughout the world; * To strengthen communication and relationships amongst Circassians all around the world."
Site contents:
* Articles (Circassians, War and Genocide, North Caucasus, Mythology, General, Diaspora, Language, Art and Literature); * News (latest events, Headlines, Diaspora, Culture, Sport, Interview, Analysis, Key Texts, Events); * Links (News & Information Portals (20), Non-Governmental Organizations (19), Culture & Research (17), Circassian Republics (18), Language (7), Art (16).); * About * Contact * Blog [http://circassianworld.blogspot.com/] * Gallery (Historical (24 pictures), Weaponry (12), Maps (54), Random photos about Circassians (34)); * Search; * Events; * Blog News; * Circassian World (CW) Newsletter (email edition); * Historical Maps.
URL http://www.circassianworld.com/new/
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.circassianworld.com
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: News/ Documents/ Study/ Online Guide
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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 1,000

11 May 2009

The National Digital Library [of Korea (ROK)]
The National Digital Library (DNL), Seoul, South Korea
Self-description:
"The digital library construction business has been promoted, according to the information superhighway construction plan, in three steps since 1996 for three main purposes: Enlargement of national information capacity by linking with domestic major libraries, promotion of balanced regional development, and establishment of an information basis that constructs a distribution system of national documents information connecting nationwide libraries. [...]
DATABASES: * Antique Book - This database has been implemented with text in the table of content information and with image in the full text information, applying to precious books and rare books of Antique Book collected in National Library of Korea. Essential item for search contains title of Official Notice and Official Notice number, etc. 23,151 volumes have been stored in the database.
* Official Gazette (1894~1945) - This database has been implemented with text in the official notice and with image in the full text information, applying to Imperial Korea Gazette and Japanese Governor's Office Gazette published from 1894 to 1910. Essential item for search includes title of Official Notice and Official Notice number, etc. The database has stored 186,553 articles.
* Data Published by Ministry of Culture & Tourism - This database has been implemented with text in the table of content information and with image in the full text information, applying to culture-related data published by Ministry of Culture & Tourism and its Subsidiary Bodies. Essential item for search contains title of book, name of author, index word and table of content, etc. 550 volumes have been stored in the database.
* Newspaper (Before the Year of 1945) - This database has been implemented with text file in the title of article and with image in the full text information, applying to newspapers published before 1945. Essential item for search includes title of newspaper, title of article and date, etc. The database has stored 918,597 articles.
* Hundred Pieces of Korean Classics - This database has been implemented with text in the table of content information and with image in the full text information, applying to 78 sorts of collections in National Library of Korea out of 'a Hundred Pieces of Korean Classics', of which readers have been inspired, selected by the Donga Ilbo. Essential item for search contains title of book, name of author, index word and table of content, etc. 89 volumes have been stored in the database.
* Korea-Related Data Published in Foreign Language - This database has been implemented with text in the table of content information and with image in the full text information, applying to Korea-related data published in Japan or each overseas before 1945. Thematic field covers the whole area of politics, economy, society and culture. Essential item for search consists of title of book, name of author, index word and table of content, etc. 4,636 volumes have been stored in the database.
* Data of Single Edition (Before 1996) - This full-text database has been implemented with data selected out of the collected data in National Library of Korea that have academic and informative value and were published between 1945 and 1996. Essential item for search contains title of data, name of author, publisher, key word and table of content, etc. The database has stored 139,000 books and 43,000,000 pages.
* Doctoral Dissertation of Humanity Science Field - This database has been implemented with text in the table of content or the abstract and with image in the full text information, applying to Doctoral Dissertation of Humanity Science Field collected in National Library of Korea until 1997. Essential item for search includes title of book, name of author, index word, table of content and abstract, etc. The database has stored 7,537 dissertations.
As data for dissertations are in conflict with a copyright law, they shall be used only through the system in National Library of Korea, and the full text can be printed out in the E-Library (5th floor) or the Dissertation office building.
* Academic Journal - This database has been implemented by a nongovernmental person for commercial use, which National Library of Korea provides as part of comprehensive plans for library informatizing promotion from 2000 on, giving information about names of 1400 sorts of Academic Journals in domestic publication, Vol.No. and articles. Key word search is available by using title of Journal, publisher and name of ISSN.
* Korean Studies and Other Information Center - This database has been implemented by a nongovernmental person for commercial use, which National Library of Korea provides as part of comprehensive plans for library informatizing promotion from 2000 on, and it is possible to inquire every kind of single edition or Web database (approximately 7,970 cases). Key word search is available with title, name of author and name of the place published, and Web database is provided with search by text key word, as well.
* eBook - This database has been implemented by a nongovernmental person for commercial use, which National Library of Korea provides as part of comprehensive plans for library informatizing promotion from 2000 on, displaying 1,880 Full-Text, approximately, on-line out of books of every kind including general books. Using title, name of author and name of the place published enables key word search.
* Article of Treatise - This database is provided with search for the articles and the full text (approximately 280,000 cases) stored in 1400 sorts of Journals in domestic publication. Key word search is available with title of article, name of journalist, title of Journal and name of the place published."

Site contents:
* Simple/Advanced Search (Full Text, Catalogue); * Business Introduction; * Promotion Activities; * Participating bodies (The National Library of Korea, The National Assembly Library of Korea, Supreme Court Library, KISTI [Korea Institute of Science & Technology information], KERIS [Korea Education and Research information Service], Kaist [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology] Digital Science Library, Korea Agricultural Science Digital Library) & Databases.
[A site with bi-lingual (KR,EN) navigation and Korean-language content. WARNING: not all links published on the English-language pages operate correctly - ed.]
URL http://www.dlibrary.go.kr/
Link reported by: Miyabi "Abbie" Yamamoto (abbie.miyabi--at--gmail.com), forwarded by h-asia--at--h-net.msu.edu
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) - Archiving of the site is disallowed by the DNL's robots.txt file.
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Documents/Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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]: over 3,000 [in fact, over 32,600 external links]

08 May 2009

World News Connection (WNS)
The Dialog/ProQuest Corporation, Cary, NC, US
Supplied note:
"If your library has a subscription, 'World News Connection' is an online version of the old FBIS (Foreign Broadcast Information Service) that translates radio & TV broadcasts from many countries, including China. - cvf."
Self-description:
"About WNC - [... a] research tool for anyone who needs to monitor non-U.S. media sources, the material in WNC is provided to the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by the Open Source Center (OSC). Analysts from OSC domestic and overseas bureaus monitor timely and pertinent open-source materials. WNC is the only news service that allows you to take advantage of the intelligence gathering experience of OSC."
Site contents:
* Search (Simple Search, Advanced Search, Region/Topic Search); * Latest Headlines (Africa, Americas, Antarctica, Asia [Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brunei Darrussalam, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, West Bank and Gaza Strip], Eurasia, Europe, Middle East, Oceania); * Contact Us; * Manage Alerts; * Search Tips; * Sources.
[To use Dialog, you need an account with The Dialog Corporation. You are charged for each full record you display. - ed.]
URL http://wnc.dialog.com/
Link reported by: CAPLAN Victoria F (lbcaplan--at--ust.hk), forwarded by h-asia--at--h-net.msu.edu
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://wnc.dialog.com/
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: News/Documents
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]: Business
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: rating not available
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 1,000

07 May 2009

Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS)
Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Self-description:
"The Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) is responsible for researchers who are active in the fields of relations with East, South and Central and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The Institute is divided into a School for Asian Studies and a School for Middle Eastern Studies. A multidisciplinary approach which comprises both the modern and the traditional periods is typical for the teaching and research within this Institute, whereby the knowledge of the source language is essential. The research of the approximately 75 staff members (including 20 professors) brings together the study of such subjects as history, law, economy, literature, religion and philology of the areas mentioned, both in the present day and in ancient times."
Site contents:
* About the Institute; * Organisation; * People; * News and events; * Contact; * Search.
[A web site of an institution established as a replacement for the world-famous Research School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS) at Leiden, which was closed down on 1 Sep 2008. Contents of the CNWS' former web site are archived at http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.leidenuniv.nl/interfac/cnws - ed.]
URL http://www.hum.leiden.edu/lias/
Link reported by: T. Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Corporate info.
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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

05 May 2009

Database on Buddhist Temples in Taiwan
Library and Information Center, Dharma Drum Buddhist College (DDBC), Jinshan, Taiwan
Supplied note:
"Those of you doing research on Taiwanese history and religion might be interested in our database of Buddhist temples in Taiwan. [...] What you find at this website is an interface that lets you query the location of temples in various ways, get historical information about them and access an image database. Since part of the data is also referenced in time it is possible to construct queries such as: show which Buddhist temples existed in Taipei in 1900.
The project is at the end of its second year and has one more year to add material, correct mistakes and internationalize the interface, which so far is only in Chinese.
As of April 30th, we have geo-referenced 4626 Buddhist sites. For about 1009 of these we know the foundation date. For 520 we offer short descriptions. More than 1000 CC-licensed images are available for 130 temples. I do not know of any larger database of its kind. [...]
The raw data of this project will - very probably - be made public once the project is concluded next year.
all the best, Marcus Bingenheimer"
[A valuable site, which at present is entirely in Chinese - ed.]
URL http://dev.ddbc.edu.tw/taiwanbudgis/
Link reported by: Marcus Bingenheimer (m.bingenheimer--at--gmail.com), forwarded by h-asia--at--h-net.msu.edu
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - 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 May 2009

Australia China Climate Change Forum [April 2009] Presentations
ANU Climate Change Institute, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Self-description:
"Presentations from the Australia China Climate Change Forum [of April 2009] can be downloaded here...
* Chinese Perspective on Climate Change - Prof Jiahua Pan.
* Towards a more effective global solution on emission reduction - Prof Yongsheng Zhang.
* China's Climate Change Program - Assoc Prof Ligang Song on behalf of Prof Kejun Jiang.
* The Science of Climate Change: the current state - Prof Will Steffen.
* Australia's Climate Change Review - Dr Frank Jotzo.
* Australia's Climate Change Policies - Mr Blair Comley."
URL http://www.anu.edu.au/climatechange/content/news/australia-china-climate-change-forum-presentations/
[Proceedings of various Climate Change conferences and fora are interesting to analyse not only in terms of their intellectual content (i.e. statements and scientific predictions, which can be tested and subjected to unambiguos refutation/verification), but also as products of a highly charged and dynamic nexus of doomsday philosophies/geo-politics/domestic politics/entrepreneurial business/planetary ecology research/psychology and sociology of mass movements, etc. - ed.]
Link reported by: Shiro Armstrong (shiro.armstrong--at--gmail.com), forwarded by east_asia_forum--at--anu.edu.au
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Study
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]: Academic
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: rating not available
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

04 May 2009

South-East-Asia mailing-list group [from Canberra, AU]
au.groups.yahoo.com, Australia
Supplied note:
"We are pleased to introduce a newly created mailing-list group "south-east-asia" [at the URL below - ed.]. To subscribe, send a blank email to south-east-asia-subscribe--at--yahoogroups.com.au. This group is open to anyone interested in news, ideas, photos and information related to events in, and the study of the peoples, histories, languages, polities, arts and cultures of Southeast Asia, broadly defined, and individual communities therein. At this initial stage, this group particularly welcomes members who are currently or formerly based in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). They may be anyone working or studying in a tertiary institution, secondary school teachers and students, professionals in government bodies and private companies, freelance writers and artists, regular tourists or others who have more than casual engagement with or interest in the events and people in any individual country of Southeast Asia. - ah."
URL http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/south-east-asia/
[Group Information: Members: 29 [on 4 May 2009]; Founded: Apr 28, 2009; Language: English; Activity within 7 days - New Messages: 20; New File: 1 - ed.]
Link reported by: Ariel Heryanto (ariel.heryanto--at--anu.edu.au), forwarded by asia_news--at--anu.edu.au
Internet Archive (web.archive.org) [the site was not archived at the time of this abstract]
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: News
* Publisher [academic - business - govt. - library/museum - NGO - other]: Other
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: rating not available
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 30

URL http://coombs.anu.edu.au/asia-www-monitor.html
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/coombs.anu.edu.au/asia-www-monitor.html
International students: ANU CRICOS Provider Number is 00120C