Resources of the Week
Two resources from the world of labor and labor law this week, both of which are worth a bookmark.
1) Labor Law--International
Source: International Labor Organization International Observatory of Labour Law
This gateway to international labor law information is one of those specialized resources that few of us would ever use on a day-in, day-out basis, but it's a good one to know about in case you ever need research material in this particular subject area -- not a far-fetched possibility, given the relentless march of globalization.
While some of the material on the site is scanty or has not been updated recently, there is excellent research value in the site's series of National Labour Law Profiles. Each of these provides an excellent overview of labor law in a number of ILO-member countries -- Argentina, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Guyana, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, New Zealand, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Russian Federation, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela. You'll find extensive information about the constitution, the government, the head of state, the legislature, the judiciary, labor regulation, contracts of employment, protective labor legislation, wage protection, workplace equality, sexual harassment, trade union regulation, collective bargaining and agreements, strikes and lockouts, and settlement of labor disputes. Each profile also includes a bibliography.
The site also offers a reasonably up-to-date collection of web links to constitutions, labor law and general legal information.
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2) Labor Unions--Research Guide
Source: Martin P. Catherwood Library, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University Labor Unions and the Internet
This site essentially functions as a guide for labor unions who want to establish or maximize a web presence. It explains why the Internet is important for labor unions, and provides an extensive annotated webliography covering a wide range of useful, practical topics, from alternative dispute resolution to wages. The focus is on quality rather than quantity; each topic includes just a few key sites, but those are described in some detail.
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?
Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?
Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).
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