This book is the outcome of an international workshop held at Essex University in August 1997. It fulfils three unique functions. It examines obstacles and solutions to the promotion of access to and the dissemination of social science information. In general, little attention has been paid to the dissemination of social science information either nationally of internationally, despite the fact that the information revolution is constantly in the headlines. It brings together specialists from Russia, Eastern and Western Europe to discuss these issues from the broad European perspective, although particular attention is paid to the problems of dissemination and access in Russia and Eastern Europe which are rarely addressed in the Western literature. It also brings together specialists from the three major communities involved in the circulation of information, groups which rarely speak to each other: data providers, data brokers and data users. The result is a series of illuminating insights into the access and dissemination issues confronting these different geographical and functional communities and some imaginative proposals about ways in which obstacles and problems might be overcome.

Internationalisation of Social Sciences in Central and Eastern Europe explores the way in which social sciences, in comparison with other sciences in Europe, have been divided by the political orders of West and East. As part of the field of science policies in Europe, this book contributes to the creation of a new understanding of the European academic landscape of social sciences with particular focus on CEE countries. In its investigation of the emergence of social sciences in Central and Eastern Europe following the collapse of the totalitarian systems, this book discusses how the internationalisation of the social sciences and the convergence between Western and Eastern social scientific life is hindered by factors including funding, academic contacts, and curriculum development. The issues addressed within the text serve to prompt the realisation that coherence in European social sciences can be reached only if new academic traditions and cultures are developed, and science policies harmonised. This book is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students of European Integration, CEE or Transitional Studies, and any courses related to science policies. It is also relevant to science administrators and policy makers at national and European level.

The fall of the Berlin Wall launched the transformation of government, economy and society across half of Europe and the former Soviet Union. The text compares how ordinary people have coped with the stresses and opportunities of transforming into post-Communist societies.

This book presents the principal findings of a unique and in-depth study into the birth of democracy and the market economy in fifteen post-communist countries.

Gain a better understanding of the past and cultures of Slavic and East European peoples with American archival collections! Russian and East European Books and Manuscripts in the United States, the first collection of its kind, offers perspectives from leading Slavic librarians, archivists and historians on the cultural history of Russian and East European exiles and immigrants to North America in the twentieth century. Editor Tanya Chebotarev—curator of the Bahkmeteff Archive at Columbia University—and a group of leading authorities document the concerted effort to preserve Russian and East European written culture outside the bounds of Communist power. This book is a vital addition to the collections of archivists, librarians, historians, and graduate students in Russian studies and American immigrations. Russian and East European Books and Manuscripts in the United States explores the role of Russian émigrés, librarians, and scholars in the United States in providing a haven for archival collections of Russian literature, art, and historical manuscripts at the height of panic during the Cold War. This essential resource celebrates the efforts made by archivists and librarians in collecting émigré materials. This book addresses many important related topics, such as: an introduction to the life and work of Boris Aleksandrovich Bakhmeteff—financial contributor to the Archive and the last Russian ambassador to the United States before the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power the Eurasianist movement—its roles and views on science, culture, and empire reflections of Russian émigrés on Soviet nationality policies during the 1920s and 1930s American collections on immigrants from the Russian Empire the New York Public Library—its role in collecting and describing vernacular Slavic and East European language and history materials to a diverse readership Columbia University Libraries’ Slavic and East European Collections—a historical overview of these extraordinarily rich collections of materials from or about the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, and the countries and people of Eastern Europe the Hoover Institution’s Polish émigré collections and the Polish state archives Russian archives online—present status and future prospects This book also details recent efforts to “repatriate” archival collections and libraries abroad and return them to their countries of origin. Disagreements between countries are already emerging, and Russian and East European Books and Manuscripts in the United States discusses their implications and the future of America’s Slavic archives.

Based around a number of illustrative case studies, this book charts the development of our modern-day reliance on statistics. Topics covered include scientific innovations, administrative issues and the use of numbers in politics. By looking at these aspects of statistics together, the authors are able to present a truly original work.

Includes articles on international business opportunities.