Global Issues in Context Updates Feed

September 15, 2009

1. The Country Finder feature has been renamed World Map and now offers an even greater number of options to explore global issues geographically, including the ability to browse by topic and zoom into regional and local-level results. This enhances the map's existing ability to browse by country and region. A few helpful hints:

* The map no longer automatically opens with a set pins. Users will need to use the Map Options navigation to select a topic, country or region. The map also enables search. To locate country information:
- Users may click "Browse Countries" in the drop-down box in Map Options and select the appropriate country.
- Alternatively, users may:
1. Select "Browse Region"
2. Click the appropriate region (for example North America)
3. Click the appropriate country pin

2. Libraries may configure the order of the content types on portal pages. For example, an academic institution can designate "Academic Journals" to display first versus "Global Viewpoints," which is the default display setting. This is done using your IT Config account.

3. Users may search within a portal. Look for the 'Search within this Portal' option below the video/image multimedia section on each portal page.

Other enhancements include:

4. Banner links -- including Educator Resources and Research Tools -- have been reorganized for easier access and consistency. New is the addition of a Marked List button.

5. Many World News sources on the homepage include colorful logos representing a particular publication.

6. Reference sources now have cover images that can be viewed by mousing over them.

7. Summary text -- the first few lines of individual documents -- now display on portal and results pages to help users evaluate the relevance of these documents to their research.

8. Updated ReadSpeaker text-to-speech player.

9. 'Share' feature that enables posting portal page or document links to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Summer 2009 Updates

New Portals

Having your identity stolen is bad enough, but Cyberwarfare? Recent attacks on the security and financial networks in the United States and South Korea have been blamed on North Korea – and experts say there is more to come.
Criminal Justice. From high levels of incarceration to high levels of execution (with public canings, too, of course) – different countries have different approaches to criminal justice.
There are poor people everywhere, but is it different to be poor in the West from in the East? And how do different parts of the world help the poor? See the Poverty portal.
North and South Korea have a long and complicated history. Steps toward reconciliation are punctuated with missile displays and angry rhetoric. What’s next?

More New Stuff

Every month we add new newspapers from around the world. Some recent additions: The Pioneer (New Delhi, India) and the Taiwan Economic News.

Updates

More than 200 portals were updated in July, reflecting the many changes happening in the world every day. Updates include:
- How will the current initiatives in the U.S. congress impact Access to Health Care?
- Should drugs be legal? A recent poll said that for the first time more than 50% of U.S. citizens support Narcotics Legalization and Decriminalization.
- Tibet: Conflict with China. One 6 June 2009 the Dalai Lama celebrated his seventy-fourth birthday and later appealed to the Chinese government to show restraint in dealing with the Uighur protests in the Xinjiang province.
- In June 2009 the International Whaling Commission held their annual meeting, and pro-whaling groups appealed for them to ease restrictions on Whaling.
- Rio Fashion Week (an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) presented its Spring/Summer 2009 collections under the premise "Rethink, Recycle, Renew," using plastics and other unorthodox materials to reinforce the theme. What do you know about Recycling?

Always New

Perspectives, statistics, news, magazines, journal articles, images, videos and podcasts.

April 2009 General Updates

A recent update to Global Issues in Context brought these exciting enhancements to the product:

Addition of Canadian and Australian standards
Ability to customize World News at the institution level *
New Browse by Region page for countries/issues
New!/Updated! icons following portal names in browse lists
Last updated portal date stamp
Ability to turn on/off Student Resources/Research Tools as well content levels and Lexiles scoring in ITConfig
Caption added to homepage Featured Video
Overview citation and full document view that enables toolbox features (print, e-mail, ReadSpeaker, etc.)
Country Finder map: mouse wheel zoom and red pins moved to indicate country capitals
RSS icons made visible, with prompt to login to set up a feed.
Link to view of news sources by country/region from Customize Your News page in World News and from publication browse list in Advanced Search
Repositioning of Global Perspectives commentaries in the article view; citation now corresponds to source of original article

*To customize World News, you need your ITConfig username/password. Click on the 'Customize Your News' link and look for the 'Login as Library Admin' link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen

March 2009 General Updates

New Worldmark and Junior Worldmark entries for Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Updates to many portals, including Zimbabwe (Mugabe’s political rival was sworn in as prime minister), Guinea-Bissau (assassination of the president), African Union (Gadhafi is the new chairman), Wildfires (where else but Australia?), and Sports and Drug Use (Michael Phelps and A-Rod).
Many new featured perspectives, covering important issues in the news.
The response to Iran’s satellite launch
Why is matters that Afghan farmers are giving up opium for wheat
That ex-Khmer Rouge member Kaing Guek Eav will be first to stand trial for the Cambodian genocide
Why the senior British Conservative says the U.S. threatened to withdraw intelligence support if the UK releases a report on torture at Gitmo

March 2009 New Portals

The Sri Lankan Civil War has continued for more than 25 years. The bloody conflict between the Sri Lankan military and ethnic Tamil separatists has caused more than 70,000 deaths and uprooted many civilians. In February 2009 rising civilian casualties have led the international community to call for a cease-fire, but the Sri Lankan military – sensing victory – has not agreed.
Agribusiness...everyone knows agriculture has become big business, but it is usually only when there is a problem that we pay much attention. Genetically modified organisms (GMO’s),.. pesticides and other chemicals… processing… all aspects of agribusiness impact what we eat every day. Are all these changes good for farmers? For feeding the hungry?
“Gypsies, tramps and thieves” – Cher’s politically incorrect song from 1971 doesn’t begin to tell the story. The Romani People, as they are more appropriately known, are a much persecuted minority sometimes call gypsies, and often labeled as tramps and thieves. Initially located primarily in eastern Europe, they now can be found all over Europe and the United States. Once barred from owning property and specific professions, they are still often run out of towns, denied education and health care, and sometimes faced with violence.

February 2009 Images/Videos/Podcasts Updates

Hundreds of United Press International (UPI) images, many related to the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election
National Public Radio (NPR) podcasts: regular feed
NBC Videos: regular feed
2008 U.S. Presidential Election: Video coverage of Obama's inauguration
International Perspectives on U.S. Policy and Influence: A video on international reaction to Obama's inauguration
Guantanamo Detention Center: Video on "Obama's Role in Prosecuting Guantanamo's Prisoners"
Waterborne Disease: A video related to the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe
Greece: A video about the riots and unrest in Greece that took place in December

February 2009 Perspective Additions

2008 U.S. Presidential Election: Update through inauguration; includes the text of his address as a primary source
Former Soviet Republics’ Changing Relationship with Russia: Update on gas crisis
Somalia: Piracy at Sea: Status update and perspective
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Status update and perspective
Russia’s Renewed Power and Influence: Status update and several perspectives
Israeli Security Fence: Status update
Free Speech: Rewritten overview
International Perspectives on U.S. Influence and Policy: Several perspectives from around the world on Obama and his potential impact
Guantanamo Detention Center: Update on Obama's order to close center within a year
Alternative Energy: New perspective
Greece: Update to include the riots in December

February 2009 Portal Name Changes

Israeli Security Fence to West Bank Barrier (changed to reflect the United Nations’ term of reference)
United States-Mexican Border Issues to United States-Mexico Border Issues (for accuracy)

January 2009 Story Updates

Updates

Israel has just initiated a ground war in the Gaza Strip. Listen to a podcast of a survivor of the Israeli shelling. Review artists’ perspectives on the Middle East conflicts and pictures of protests of the war, and consider ways to get involved to help refugees in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict portal.
One week from inauguration day in the U.S. Confirmation hearings for cabinet members are going on this week. See videos of Obama’s nominations of cabinet members. Listen to excerpts from Obama’s first major address on his stimulus plan for the U.S. economy. See the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election portal.
Russia flexed their economic muscles by temporarily stopping supplying natural gas to the Ukraine…an international crisis now reflected in the Former Soviet Republics’ Changing Relationship with Russia portal. Much of Europe remains in the cold as it will take days for gas to be restored. Read a new perspective on the “gas row.”
Tensions between Indian and Pakistan have heightened following the bloody, late 2008 Mumbai attacks. See the Pakistan and India Conflict portal for a perspective that “pleas for sanity” as evidence mounts that the terrorists were likely based in Lahore, Pakistan.

January 2009 New Issue Portals

New Issue Portals

The current Global Economic Crisis...some analysts believe it may become the most severe in recent history. Read an interesting perspective on why Uganda’s banking industry isn’t in the same dire situation as the banking industry in the U.S. Learn whether Russia is at risk and why Iceland is nearing bankruptcy.
Russia-Georgia Conflict...the war involving Russia, Georgia, and the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia continues to play out and to influence the possibility of Georgia joining NATO. Explore why Russia might be the biggest loser following their attacks on Georgia and what the impacts of the war on the conflicts in the Middle East will be.
International Perspectives on U.S. Influence and Policy…do the shoes thrown at President Bush during a December 2008 press conference in Baghdad reflect the Arab World’s opinion of the U.S.? What hopes does Europe have for an Obama Administration?