Social science sites of the week

The failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland: Financial Services Authority Board Report
The full text of the long awaited report about the Royal Bank of Scotland collapse.
It includes future lessons for global bank management and supervision.
Other useful banking relating websites include:

Bank of England
Its Bank stats have some basic statistics on overall financial balance sheets of Uk banks. Annual reports of the Royal Bank of Scotland can also be viewed on its website.
Bank for International Settlements
International organisation which promotes international monetary and financial cooperation between central banks. Its website has a Central Bank Hub with free access to useful directories of national authorities, speeches from bank governors and research reports. The statistics section provides free access to some international and national banking statistics. These include cross-border lending and borrowing of internationally active banks, securities, derivatives, and external debt and property prices. The latest BIS Quarterly Review for December 2011 shows how concerns about sovereign risk in the euro area affected financial markets.

Online streaming of occupy protests makes online businesses viable.
This week the New York Times reported that the quantity of online streaming channels was making a number of start-ups specialising in streaming video content financially profitable. See examples on Live stream.
On the theme of the occupy movement researchers organised a hackathon in December Details of this give links to projects involved in data mining the protests.

Case studies of use of data
The ESDS has created a website which has case studies of use of data by UK researchers. Examples include:
Creating a community profile of health data Comparing housing problems across Europe

Myhealth London
Latest example of websites/social media being used to enhance transparency for the British population. The Greater London Authority and NHS London have just launched a site which gives information on GPs. In addition to searchable maps and health advice; patients can also access screening rates and patient satisfaction scores. The site also has examples of NHS health apps, twitter feeds being used to communicate health promotion messages.

i-map project: Innovation in the Market Assurance of New Programmes
The latest results from this project which was financed by HEFCE’s Leadership, Governance and Management fund and led by the University for the Creative Arts, in partnership with Leeds University, University of the West of England and UCAS. It investigated what factors made new academic courses popular and viable. The website has basic information on the aims of the project. It also has data analysis on new programmes introduced in Uk HE colleges and universities. It also has papers from a conference which took place in November this includes surveys of policy and practice, case studies of factors which made new courses in Higher education Institutions work (e.g. in increasing student take up).

What are the social impacts of climate change in the Uk
Useful webpages created by the Joseph Rowntree foundation. Focuses on the impact on local communities with a strong emphasis on the effect upon disadvantaged communities. It includes twitter, blog postings and links to full text reports topics covered include data on who emits the most CO2 in the Uk.

National Library of Israel Digital Library
A redesigned website and enhanced online content from the National library of website. Much content in Hebrew but also substantial interest for |English language readers.

Sub-sections include digital books over 400 versions.
Historic newspapers includes Jewish language newspapers from around the world. Mainly 19th and early 20th century.
Maps contains nearly 1,500 ancient maps of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel Photos over 6,500 photographs.
National sound archive recordings
YouTube channel of cultural events at the library
Those interested in Israel might also like to try the free Rambi resource Index of articles on Jewish studies which is based on the holdings of the Rambi thousands of periodicals and from collections of articles – in Hebrew, Yiddish, and European languages- mainly from the holdings of the Jewish National and University Library. Abstracts from 2001 onwards.

Anti-Communism Films of the Early 1960s.
Useful new online collection from Pepperdine University Libraries. It comprises 4 films which the university sponsored in the 1960s. The series was called Crisis for Americans. And each film ‘sought to expose the threat of Soviet-based communism to capitalism and free societies around the globe ‘In addition to the full films the website also has associated archival materials including advertisements, lecturers and associated publicity materials. These add insight into the nature and concerns about communism in the post McCarthy period of the USA. Copyright and technical information is displayed on the website.

WikiBhasha
Microsoft Research India have developed a tool called , this aims to encourage more Multilanguage content on the Internet.The aim is for users use WikiBhasha to adapt English-language Wikipedia articles for local languages see the project page for more details on the project which is also involved in enhancing machine translation skills.

The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) has released the latest data on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a devinfo book
This makes it easier for users to select indicators and areas to create their own graphs.
Of course the official MDG website has definitions of the goals and further maps
Progress reports can also be read online there

L’Histoire par l’image
Is a portal created by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication with input from museums and archives. It provides free access to historic paintings, photographs, prints, engravings covering French history from 1789-1939, items can be consulted from a chronology or by theme. The politics section includes materials relating to the French revolution, republics, wars, nationalism and international relations. Many of the images have associated text (in French) which include interpretations and analysis setting the object in context plus a bibliography to guide further reading.