Trial to CountryWatch

By Kieron L Jones, on 6 December 2013

UCL has a trial to CountryWatch until 4th January 2013. For off-site access to this trial, please use web WTS.

CountryWatch provides critical country-specific intelligence and data through its suite of products:

• Country Reviews- features reports covering each county’s historical, political, economic, social, demographic, business and environmental issues
•  Country Wire- provides access to real-time, full-text news articles for each country
•  CountryWatch Data- contains macroeconomic, economic, health, demographic, cultural, sociological and environmental statistics
•  Map Gallery- contains over 170 thematic maps covering cultural, economic, macroeconomic, environment and indicators

Recent Library acquisitions

By Kieron L Jones, on 28 November 2013

The Oxford handbook of political psychology / edited by Leonie Huddy, David O. Sears and Jack S. Lev Oxford : Oxford University Press, c2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JA 74 HUD

Transitions to democracy : a comparative perspective / edited by Kathryn Stoner and Michael McFaul. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JC 489 STO

Schedler, Andreas, 1964- The politics of uncertainty : sustaining and subverting electoral authoritarianism / Andreas Schedle Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JC 495 SCH

Russell, Meg. The contemporary House of Lords : Westminster bicameralism revived / Meg Russell. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JN 621 RUS

Fleurbaey, Marc. Beyond GDP : measuring welfare and assessing sustainability / Marc Fleurbaey and Didier Blanchet. Oxford : Oxford University Press, c2013.
ECONOMICS D 30 FLE

Great expectations, slow transformations : incremental change in post-crisis regulation / edited by Colchester : ECPR Press, 2013.
ECONOMICS J 44 MOS

Hassan, Kabir. Introduction to Islamic banking & finance : principles and practice / M. Kabir Hassan, Rasem N. Kaye Harlow : Pearson, c2013.
ECONOMICS J 56 HAS

Cato, Molly Scott. The bioregional economy : land, liberty and the pursuit of happiness / Molly Scott Cato. London : Routledge, 2013.
ECONOMICS N 35 CAT

World Bank eLibrary

By Kieron L Jones, on 8 November 2013

The new World Bank eLibrary is being developed as a timesaving service for researchers, lecturers, other expert users and students who need to access and work with World Bank research in a more convenient and effective way than what is possible when accessing World Bank free online content.   The World Bank is currently inviting a number of organisations to have complimentary evaluation access of the eLibrary until 31st Dec. 2013.  This invitation has been extended to UCL. 

The World Bank eLibrary can be found here: http://elibrary.worldbank.org/ (accessible only on-site or via web WTS)

For an overview and quick introduction, the following links may be of use: Overview of User Tools, Using eLibrary.

Job vacancies at IFS

By Kieron L Jones, on 31 October 2013

We are looking to recruit 2-4 new researchers to join IFS next autumn.
We recruit exceptionally talented students direct from an undergraduate
degree or with a master’s degree. We are also interested in hearing from
the very best of those completing PhDs in relevant areas. We are looking
for highly motivated students who have shown an unusual aptitude for
economics, preferably combined with an interest in policy issues and a
taste for numerical work.

IFS has a strong record in training excellent social scientists, some of
whom continue to work at IFS for many years while others have moved on
to careers in a variety of organisations including the civil service,
the media and academia. Researchers at IFS have the chance to carry out
in-depth economic research and also to communicate their findings to
politicians, journalists, academics and many others. We aim to cultivate
a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment, encouraging
staff to develop their skills, through further study, ad hoc training
and by giving them opportunities to get involved with all aspects of
research and communication right from the start.

If you have any outstanding students who might be interested, I would be
grateful if you could suggest to them that they consider applying;
further details on the role can be found on our website
(www.ifs.org.uk/jobs). The closing date for applications is 24 January,
and interviews will be held at the end of February.

We also run a summer student scheme at IFS to give students, who are at
the end of their penultimate year of study, an opportunity to see
economic research in action. I would be grateful if you could also draw
this opportunity to the attention of any suitable students.

With best wishes
Emma Hyman

Africa Open Data

By Kieron L Jones, on 21 October 2013

Africa Open Data is a useful initiative of the Open Africa Platform which is part of the Ujuzi Initiative and created and funded by the Africa Media Initiative (AMI), the World Bank Institute (WBI) and Google. It aims to become the largest central repository for Government, Civil Society, Corporate and Donor Agency Data. There are currently over 900 datasets which can be browsed by country. Items covered include World Bank and census data. Also interesting are election materials, including datasets from Ushahidi on election violence incidents from Egypt and Kenya.
Source: LIS-SOCIALSCIENCE@JISCMAIL.AC.UK

Recent Library acquisitions

By Kieron L Jones, on 18 October 2013

Knafo, Samuel. The making of modern finance : liberal governance and the gold standard / Samuel Knafo. London : Routledge, 2013.
ECONOMICS G 45 KNA

Credit securitisations and derivatives : challenges for the global markets / edited by Daniel Rösch Chichester : Wiley, 2013.
ECONOMICS J 10 ROS

Malloch, Theodore R. The end of ethics and a way back : how to fix a fundamentally broken global financial system / Theod Singapore : Wiley, c2013.
ECONOMICS J 44 MAL

China’s economic development : institutions, growth and imbalances / Ming Lu … [et al.]. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar, c2013.
ECONOMICS L 89 LU

Dean, Malcolm, 1939- Democracy under attack : how the media distort policy and politics / Malcolm Dean. Bristol : Policy Press, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY HN 385 DEA

Welch, Stephen. The theory of political culture / Stephen Welch. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JA 75 WEL

McLean, Iain. Scotland’s choices : the referendum and what happens afterwards / Iain McLean, Jim Gallagher and Guy Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, c2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JN 1263 MCL

Analyzing genres in political communication : theory and practice / edited by Piotr Cap, Urszula Oku Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company, c2013.
PUBLIC POLICY P 302 CAP

British Library Newspaper Moves

By Kieron L Jones, on 18 October 2013

In 2013-14 the British Library will move the national newspaper collection from its current home in Colindale, north London, to a purpose-built Newspaper Storage Building (NSB) in Boston Spa, West Yorkshire.  Click here for further information

Data.gov.uk consultation: Your input can inform Open Data plans

By Kieron L Jones, on 9 September 2013

As part of the UK government’s commitment to improve transparency of their data, an inventory of unpublished datasets is now available online so interested users can see what data the government holds.

The Cabinet Office is inviting all data users to browse the collection and provide input that will help inform the National Information Infrastructure as set out in the Government Response to the Shakespeare Review. The infrastructure will make explicit the main data held by government departments. It will also outline the principles of how government determines what data will be released, when and under what terms. 

As part of this work, they’re asking for input on the datasets of most interest to data users in all sectors (academia, business, journalists, think tanks, etc.).

Overall, the consultation is intended to achieve two goals:

• to prioritise government datasets for public release based on potential use
• to identify which datasets could have the broadest and most significant impact within the UK.

The consultation is open to all data users; the only requirement is that you register with data.gov.uk. Responses will be published on data.gov.uk so that other users can have visibility of the emerging debate. Early input is appreciated: the Cabinet Office Transparency Team, Departments, Open Data User Group and the Public Sector Transparency Board will start assessing and prioritising data releases and assembling the National Information Infrastructure from 16 September 2013.

RELATED LINKS
Details on consultation: http://data.gov.uk/blog/government-data-get-involved-0   
Data.gov.uk inventory of unpublished datasets: http://data.gov.uk/data/search?q=&unpublished=true&page=1

Funding opportunity: ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initative

By Kieron L Jones, on 5 September 2013

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) is seeking proposals for Phase 2 of the Secondary Data Analysis Initiative.

The purpose of the Secondary Data Analysis Initiative is to deliver high quality and high impact policy- and practitioner-relevant research through the deeper exploitation of the major data resources created by the ESRC and other agencies, including the UK Data Service.

They are inviting innovative and creative proposals for small-scale projects of up to £200,000 for a maximum duration of 18 months. This Phase 2 call also offers the opportunity to apply for self-managed clusters of several projects giving a larger network of linked grants.

Proposals must include non-academic partners to ensure the co-production of knowledge and to directly address the wider impact aims of the initiative. Proposals that draw on international datasets and/or with an international comparative focus are also encouraged.

The core assessment criteria are:

• originality and potential contribution to knowledge
• potential for policy and practitioner impact
• research design and methods, including innovation and creativity
• value for money
• outputs, dissemination and impact.

ESRC expects to fund 20-25 projects under this second phase. Further phases are likely to be commissioned over the coming years.

 Deadline for proposals is 26 November 2013. The full call specification, FAQs and guidance notes are available on the ESRC website: http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/26605/secondary-data-analysis-initiative-phase-2november.aspx

Newly acquired items

By Kieron L Jones, on 3 September 2013

Della Porta, Donatella, 1956- Can democracy be saved? : participation, deliberation and social movements / Donatella Della Porta. Cambridge : Polity, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JC 423 DEL

Enacting European citizenship / edited by Engin F. Isin and Michael Saward. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JN 40 ISI

Morphet, Janice. How Europe shapes British public policy / Janice Morphet. Bristol : Policy Press, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JN 238 MOR

Non-governmental public action and social justice / edited by Jude Howell. Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.
PUBLIC POLICY JZ 841 HOW

Adolph, Christopher, 1976- Bankers, bureaucrats, and central bank politics : the myth of neutrality / Christopher Adolph. New York : Cambridge University Press, 2013.
ECONOMICS F 29 ADO

Webb, Alexander Robert, 1988- Shock markets : trading lessons for volatile times / Alexander R. Webb, Robert I. Webb. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : FT Press, 2013.
ECONOMICS J 10 WEB

Beardson, Timothy. Stumbling giant : the threats to China’s future / Timothy Beardson. New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, c2013.
ECONOMICS L 89 BEA

The political economy of the service transition / edited by Anne Wren. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2013.
ECONOMICS N 440 WRE