Resources of the Week: Niche Information
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
For the last couple weeks, we've highlighted sources for niche statistics -- i.e., data you may not need on a regular basis, but...well, you never know. For the next couple weeks, we'll point out some places you can go to ferret out very specific types of information. Enjoy.
The Center for Gaming Research is a world-class hub for the scholarly analysis of gambling and gaming issues.
Located within Special Collections at UNLV's state-of-the-art Lied Library, its main resource is the Gaming Collection.
Many unique primary resources can be found only within the Collection. The Gaming Collection is the repository of record for the commercial casino industry; we preserve and make accessible company documents, state publications, and other important resources.
OK, so it's not surprising this is located at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. But think about it for a minute. Do you really want to go to Google and type in "casino" or "gambling" if you're looking to do research? The breadth and depth of information here is staggering. Especially cool are the three specific pathfinders:
The academic users guide is tailored for all researchers, from high school students to established professors.
The media/industry guide is designed to help those in the news media and casino industry find the information they need. The Center handles hundreds of queries a year, so if you are looking for something, there's a good chance it's here.
The just curious guide is a broader introduction for anyone who's interested in gaming research or who's just stumbled on this page while looking for Rat Pack photos or information about casino games.
If you're looking for the latest links in disaster information, the Disaster Finder finds them for you, and even lets you preview your selections with brief site descriptions. All sites are clickable from the Disaster Finder's category screens. The Disaster Finder also allows you to perform quick or detailed searches of its links database.
Disaster Finder is a service developed and maintained by the NASA Solid Earth and Natural Hazards Program (Code YO), NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., USA. This service was created for the disaster community at-large so that the best links in disaster information could be found quickly and easily.
What this looks like is a mini-Yahoo! for disaster info. Currently, there are five main categories:
Ever wonder what foods the Vikings ate when they set off to explore the new world? How Thomas Jefferson made his ice cream? What the pioneers cooked along the Oregon Trail? Who invented the potato chip...and why?
Welcome to the Food Timeline! Food history presents a fascinating buffet of popular lore and contradictory facts. Some people will tell you it's impossible to express this topic in exact timeline format. They are correct. Most foods we eat are not invented; they evolve.
This site is the work of Lynne Olver, "(a) reference librarian with a passion for food history." It's awesome! If you've never visited this site, stop what you're doing and zip over there now. The section of this site that I, personally, use most often is Historic Food Prices. Seems like somebody always wants to know what a gallon of milk cost Back In The Day (PDF; 2.2 MB; scroll down to page 31). Some data from other countries can be found here as well.
The Forms Catalog provides citizens and businesses with a common access point to federal agency forms.
Yep. Forms.gov provides one-stop shopping for forms across all government agencies. Excellent search functionality. There's even a link to Internal Government Forms for Federal Employees. Keep this one in the ref desk bookmark list.
Since 1984, the MEASURE DHS (Demographic and Health Surveys) project has provided technical assistance to more than 200 surveys in 75 countries, advancing global understanding of health and population trends in developing countries. The strategic objective of MEASURE DHS is to improve and institutionalize the collection and use of data by host countries for program monitoring and evaluation and for policy development decisions. MEASURE DHS is funded by USAID with contributions from other donors.
DHS, here at least, does not stand for Department of Homeland Security. This is a resource that offers free data and publications related to population, health and nutrition in 75+ countries. It's particularly strong on HIV/AIDS data, and allows you to browse by country.
The WorldPublicOpinion.org website provides information and analysis about public opinion on international policy issues from around the world. While the studies of the WorldPublicOpinion.org network figure prominently, the website draws together data from a wide variety of sources from around the world. We have found that data from all reliable sources are important contributions and that as more studies are integrated into analyses, world public opinion comes into increasing focus.
Want to find out what vox populi in India and Pakistan think about the Kashmir situation? Curious about how people around the world regard the energy crisis? Interested in what Russians and Americans have to say about space weapons? This is your fishing hole. Browse by region or topic, or use the keyword search box.
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