Social Studies Resources

Country Info

• Dept. of State Background Notes
  Country information, including history.
• Internet Public Library
  Newspapers from around the world
• Dept. of State Human Rights Report
  An assessment of each country’s civil, political and worker rights.
• CountryWatch
  Links to news articles as well as history, people, etc.
• CIA World Factbook
  From the CIA, information on geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military and transnational issues the world over.
• The Middle East Information Network, Inc.
  Contains information on education, religion, news, countries, business and travel in the Middle East. Searchable by country.
• Latin American Network Information Center—LANIC
  Information on Latin American economy, business, finance, trade, education, government, law, military, humanities, art, languages, literature. Searchable by country.

Census & Statistics

• U.S. Census Bureau
  Information from the 2000 Census.
• FedStats
  A gateway to statistics from over 100 federal agencies.
• Counting California
  Searchable census information about California. City information. Includes Statistical Abstract of California.
• University of Michigan Documents
  Center Links to statistics on government, eduction, employment, demographics, labor, science, and more.

Legal Sites

• California Law
  California Law consists of 29 codes covering various subject areas, the State Constitution and Statutes. Information presented reflects laws currently in effect.
• FindLaw—LawCrawler
  A comprehensive set of online legal resources including codes and cases, legal news and career center.
• Oyez
  From Northwestern University, a multimedia U.S. Supreme Court database including a virtual tour of the Supreme Court building.
• Supreme Court Collection
  From Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute, an up-to- the- minute searchable archive of Supreme Court decisions.
• Legal Information Institute
  Cornell University Law School’s Legal Information Institute home page.

Government

National

• THOMAS—U.S. Congress on the Internet
  Provides the text of all bills introduced since 1992 and full-text and key-word searching Congressional Record. Links to Representatives and Senators.
• Federal Consumer Information Center
  A national contact center for all types of government information including social security, federal loans and grants, the U.S. Congress, government publications, the Draft and much more. You can even order a flag!
• C-SPAN—Congressional Information Center
  Information on elected officials, issues and legislation, elections and a media guide.
• USA.Gov
  The official gateway to U.S. government information—excellent information.

California

• Official California Legislative Information
  Maintained by the Legislative Counsel of California.
• California Department of Education
  Comprehensive information on schools, educational policy, testing, services, etc. in California. Frequently updated.
• Legislative Analyst’s Office
  Economic and other comments on proposed legislation.
• California Voter Foundation
  A clearinghouse of California election information.
• California Secretary of State
  Elections and voter information, campaign and lobbying, California business, the Golden State Museum, special programs and more.

U.S. History and Current Issues

• Internet Modern History Sourcebook
  Hundreds of links to web pages arranged by eras, topics in history, events, and areas of the world.
• American Memory Project
  American Memory is a gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from 100 historical collections of the Library of Congress.
• Documents in the News
  Searchable database of primary source documents important to stories in the news since 1995. Includes government reports, legislation, court decisions, news articles, statistics, and more. If a story was newsworthy, back-up documents may be here.
• The History Place
  An online museum of exhibits related to history including photos, timelines, and other information.
• Encyclopedia Smithsonian: American History Timeline
  Spanning Native American cultures to the end of the 20th century.
• JARDA—Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive.
  Pictures, diaries, oral histories from many viewpoints. Many unique images.
• Free Speech Movement
  Student protest at UC Berkeley in the mid 1960’s. Includes chronology, text documents, video and sound.

World History

• HistoryCentral.com
  A commercial site with many links to historical information including primary source documents.
• Internet Modern History Sourcebook
  Hundreds of links to web pages arranged by eras, topics in history, events, and areas of the world.
• The Napoleonic Guide
  Information about Napoleon Bonaparte and the French Revolution.
• WWI Document Archive
  Images, personal narratives, biographical sketches and other primary source documents.
• Trenches on the Web
  World War I battles, biographies, weapons, and more.

Maps

• Map Collection
  From the University of Texas at Austin, a comprehensive collection of world maps.
• Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century
  An interactive atlas and map collection of trends and events in world history. Includes statistics from wars, population, awards, systems of government, and much more.

Economics

• Institute for International Economics
  News articles, background, current issues, policy briefs, and more.
• WebEc
  A portal to many kinds of economic and financial information and statistics throughout the world. Links to information on a wide variety of economic topics.
• General Business File/Rand California/Business and Company Resource Center
  Oakland Public Library card needed to access these databases with economic and financial information about businesses and policy. Periodicals, investment analysis, company information, and more.