Social Issues and Social Welfare

The relationship and responsibilities of societies, especially political entities, to their members.

Sub-headings:

Addictions

The use of substances or activities harmful by nature or in harmful quantities.

Animal Rights

Crime

Disabilities

Housing

Human Rights

Hunger

Literacy

Knowledge of, or competency in, a nonverbal method of sharing information or communicating, such as reading and writing, using computers, or locating information resources.

Parenting & Family Life

Wide-ranging resources offering guidance on the rearing of children.

Peace

Philanthropy & Social Service

Poverty

Public Safety

Seniors

All types of resources of interest for older adults.

Social Work

Organized work intended to advance the social conditions of a community, and especially of the disadvantaged, by providing psychological counseling, guidance, and assistance, especially in the form of social services.

Terrorism

War

Resources in this category:

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
http://www.aclu.org/

Comprehensive coverage of a variety of social issues. Find out what is happening in Congress, in the courts, and in the ACLU. Links to news, blogs, and podcasts.

Atlas of United States Mortality
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/other/atlas/atlas...

"Released to the public on April 14, 1997, this atlas is the first to show all leading causes of death by race and sex for small U.S. geographic areas referred to as Health Service Areas (HSA's). The 18 causes of death included in this atlas account for 83 percent of all deaths in the United States during 1988-92. In addition to maps with age-adjusted death rates for each HSA, the atlas includes maps that compare each HSA rate to the national rate, smoothed maps for each cause that show the broad geographic patterns at selected ages, and a chart with regional rates for each cause of death." The book is divided up into sections in PDF format, which require the Adobe Acrobat Viewer.

The Benton Foundation
http://www.benton.org/

The Benton Foundation seeks to utilize the public interest use of communications to bring about social benefits. Through its seven projects, the foundation attempts to shape the public interest in emerging communications environment in the public interest. The Foundation merges philanthropy, public policy and community action to use digital media to engage, equip and connect people to solve social problems. The emphasis at this site is on library, education, public media and communications issues.

Beyond Indigo
http://www.beyondindigo.com/

Beyond Indigo is an online community that provides support to people who are grieving. It has chat rooms, grief tools and support, information about funerals and financial help.

Cafe Progressive
http://www.cafeprogressive.com/

"The place to start for progressive education reform, alternative politics, multicultural community, and a huge collection of progressive resources." Site includes progressive on-line news resources, chat room, forums, and links to many other progressive Web resources.

Campaign To End The Death Penalty
http://www.nodeathpenalty.org/

Anti-death penalty organization. General information on the death penalty and fact sheets on current death row inmates and past executions. Includes "New Abolitionist" magazine, with full-text articles written by CEDP staff and current prisoners. Event calendar for public protests and local chapter guide.

Center For Public Integrity
http://www.publicintegrity.org/

The goal of the consortium of investigative journalists is to make "institutional power more transparent and accountable". Provides articles and long-term investigation information about U.S. government and other issues affecting the nation. The "Well Connected" section provides information on the broadcast industry, including ownership info.

Center for the Study of Political Graphics
http://www.politicalgraphics.org/

The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) is an "archive that collects, preserves, documents, and exhibits domestic and international posters relating to historical and contemporary movements for peace and social justice." Online examples from the collection with full catalog records.

Children's Defense Fund
http://www.childrensdefense.org/

The Children's Defense Fund is dedicated to educating the public about the needs of children, with a particular focus on the poor, minority, and disabled. Their site offers important facts and figures about children in America, information about the New Welfare Law and other legislation as it relates to children, and discusses a variety of issues such as giving children a "Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start." Information about CDF conferences and internships is also available.

The Community Toolbox
http://ctb.ku.edu/en/

"The Community Tool Box is the world's largest resource for free information on essential skills for building healthy communities." Thousands of pages of practical, step-by-step guidance in specific community-building skills are available in hundreds of sections.

ConflictNet
http://www.jca.apc.org/~y-okada/igc/conflictnet/

"ConflictNet promotes dialogue and sharing of information to encourage appropriate dispute resolution; highlights the work of practioneers and organizations; and is a proving ground for ideas and proposals across the range of disciplines within the conflict resolution field." Find a variety of articles, action alerts, and links to related sites on the Internet.

Demos--Ideas & Action
http://www.demos.org/

Created by a network of journalists, writers and researchers, Demos features "news, information and expertise on the divide in income, wealth and health" in the United States. It is meant to serve as "a storehouse of information, comment, and original thinking about the increased material and socioeconomic differences among us, and about the implications of this trend in such areas as health, work life, the coherence of communities, and the workings of democratic government."

Doctor-assisted Suicide: A Guide to Web Sites and the Literature
http://www.longwood.edu/library/suic.htm

Site compiled by librarians listing resources on euthanasia and doctor assisted suicide, including legal issues, news broadcasts, a chronology, and a search engine for finding additional materials on end of life issues.

Empowerment Resources for Personal Growth, Social Change and Ecology
http://www.EmpowermentResources.com/

This site offers "quick links to over 300 of the best Green empowerment resources on the Internet as well as over 320 good empowerment resource books (most discounted 20-30%) and over 70 links on over 24 topics related to personal growth, social change, and ecology." The site includes an on-line bookstore.

From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aapchtml/

"Presents 397 pamphlets from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, published from 1824 through 1909, by African-American authors and others who wrote about slavery, African colonization, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and related topics. The materials range from personal accounts and public orations to organizational reports and legislative speeches. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Kelly Miller, Charles Sumner, Mary Church Terrell, and Booker T. Washington."

The Gallup Organization
http://www.gallup.com/

This site contains links to various polls, reports, trends and audits of public opinion conducted by The Gallup Organization. The main page and the "Poll" link contain the majority of useful free information. The site contains a search function.

Fairleigh Dickinson University's Global Issues Gateway: issues without borders
http://www.gig.org/

An educational site dedicated to illuminating "the impact of globalization on societies, on institutions, and on the daily lives of people throughout the world," and to providing teachers and students "global learning resources." Provides information about economics, ethics, culture, politics, science, education, and much more, as well as electronic forums and video lectures on these issues.

Good Money
http://www.goodmoney.com/

Provides information about socially and environmentally responsible investing, consuming, and business practices.

The Hoover Digest: Research and Opinion on Public Policy
http://www.hooverdigest.org/

"The quarterly Hoover Digest presents informative pieces on a wide range of public policy issues. Published by the Hoover Institution, a public policy research center at Stanford University, the Digest consists of short articles and opinion pieces written by the Institution’s scholars. The mix of articles includes original pieces as well as reprinted material and excerpts from books and monographs."

HRSA Geospatial Data Warehouse
http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/

Provides data and data manipulation and mapping tools regarding health and human services issues. Includes data on HRSA activities in the areas of grants, health care sites, health professional shortages, NHSC services providers, and other areas. Also provides tools for finding health centers and job opportunities.

The Info XChange
http://www.infoxchange.net.au/index.shtml

A network of information for folks in the Victoria Region of Australia. Includes names, addresses and phone numbers of community outreach organizations dealing with housing, unemployment, and general human services. The site also includes a listing of employment opportunities.

Information is beautiful
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

Marvel at how statistics, data and information is visualized to reveal hidden connections and patterns that help us see our world in a different light. Fascinating and visually captivating.

Land Trust
http://www.possibility.com/LandTrust/

Provides information and resources related to creating land trusts in order to protect environmentally valuable land from development and destruction.

Macrocosm USA Home Page
http://www.macronet.org/

A non-profit clearinghouse for progressives, featuring a database directory of thousands of organizations and projects involved in progressive approaches to environmental issues, health issues, peace and justice.

The New Homemaker
http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/index.php

"A Domestic Renaissance being crafted by women and men who've chosen to stay at home to work and raise children, and are reinventing and reviving lost household arts. Resources for cleaning and crafts, health and thrift, childcare and elder care favor a traditional and environmentally friendly wisdom of the hearth. "

Nobelprize.org - The Ultimate Source for Nobel Prize Information
http://nobelprize.org/

"The Official Site of the Nobel Foundation" includes information on Nobel prizes, awarders, and ceremonies. Includes educational games.

NOVA: the wave that shook the world
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tsunami/

PBS Online created this resource in tandem with the NOVA program aired March 2005. Find teacher's guides, try interactive links to "Anatomy of a Tsunami" and "Once and Future Tsunamis", read "Wave of the Future", a look at preparation for the next major wave, and follow other links and resources to information on this topic. The site even provides an "Ask the Expert" link for email questions about tsunamis.

Online Resource Guide to Political Inquiry
http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/ps/dartnell/index.html

A directory of "research gateways . . . supplemented by specific Web-based research that focuses on specific themes." Topics include area studies, international studies, issue-based politics, reference and research, theory and analysis, and web-based projects. An excellent scholarly resource.

Points of Light Foundation Volunteer Centers
http://www.pointsoflight.org/centers/

This locator service allows users to find designated "Points of Light" volunteer centers in each of the 50 states of America. Volunteer Centers are mostly independent non-profit organizations that work to bring "people and community needs together through a range of programs and services. " They provide a variety of programs and services such as "promoting volunteerism within their community, training and assisting non-profit organizations, recruiting and referring volunteers to opportunities, recognizing volunteers, managing local corporate volunteer councils and numerous individual programs designed to mobilize volunteers to solve community problems."

Public Agenda
http://www.publicagenda.org/

"Public Agenda prepares a broad array of educational materials that help explain policy issues to the public in a balanced and easy-to-understand way. Our guides offer a nonpartisan briefing on policy and polling -- including 'red flags' where poll results may be misleading; a digest of news, legislation, and studies; and research sources. We offer 19 issue guides, each one combining background information with public opinion analysis." Covers many issues including education, race, health care, crime, the economy, the environment, abortion, social security, internet speech and privacy, and the right to die. Useful to both the general public and policy makers.

Reuter Foundation AlertNet
http://www.alertnet.org/

"Combines breaking stories from the Reuters news agency with communications services for relief organizations."

The Right-to-Know Network
http://www.rtknet.org/

Links to databases that allow individuals to investigate data about the environmental impacts caused by industry on local communities. Provides means to search by city and state and find records of toxic pollution, hazmat permits, and civil lawsuits in the surrounding area.

SciDev.Net
http://www.scidev.net/en/

Offers current news about technology and science in developing countries. Includes original articles from SciDev and from other online sources such as Nature and Science.

The September Project
http://www.theseptemberproject.org/

"The September Project is a grassroots effort to encourage public events on freedom, democracy, and citizenship in libraries on or around September 11. Libraries around the world are organizing public and campus events, such as: displays about human rights and historical documents; talks and performances about freedom and cultural difference; and film screenings about issues that matter." This site offers many ideas for planning events.

Sexual Harassment Hotline Resource List
http://www.feminist.org/911/harass.html

The Feminist Majority Foundation has provided information about sexual assault hotlines across the country. You key in the initial of any state and can browse listings of hotlines. The information provided includes the name, address and phone number of the organization as well as the types of assistance provided and the hours staffed. In addition to this useful information, there are facts about sexual assault and links to other sites.

Social Issues Collection
http://content.lib.washington.edu/Socialweb/

"The Social Issues Collection is an ongoing database of historial images from the Western United States and the Pacific Northwest region. The collection covers political and social topics such as women's issues, labor and government, as well as ethnic groups."

Topix.net: Activism News
http://www.topix.net/news/activism

This site is a continuously updated collection of activism-related news stories from across the web. Topix.net uses an artificial intelligence algorithm to sort incoming news stories from thousands of internet sources into various categories.

The Tsunami Disaster in Asia, 2004 : an Annotated Directory of Resources
http://bulldog2.redlands.edu/dept/AsianStudiesDept/tsunami.h...

"An annotated directory of Internet resources on the 2004 tsunami disaster in Asia, including news sources, information on relief efforts & donations, missing persons & victim contact information, & impact on affected countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Myanmar and Somalia." The site contents include aggregated sources, Asian government sources, reports & commentary, relief aid & donations, missing persons & victim contact, and general information on tsunamis.

United Nations International Conference on Population and Development
http://www.iisd.ca/cairo.html

Contains the proceedings of the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held from 5-13 September 1994 in Cairo, Egypt. Covers background information and materials related to the conference such as photos and press releases, etc. and the "final programme of action" agreed upon at the end of the conference.

Visit a Refugee Camp
http://www.refugeecamp.org/

"Learn about the basic needs in a refugee camp: shelter, food, water, sanitation, and health care. Hear the personal stories of refugees and relief workers." Answers basic questions on refugee food, water, shelter, latrines, health care, and nutrition. Includes land mine fact sheets and extensive teacher resources.

The Volunteer Center of Western Australia
http://www.volunteer.org.au/

Listings of volunteer resource centers in Western Australia as well as in ohter parts of the Continent. Calendar of events including such things as 'volunteer day'; and a list of services and resources provided by this center. The site is not huge but there is some useful information especially for those in Western Australia.