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University of Huddersfield Repository Gibbs, Graham R. SocInfo Guide to IT Resources in Sociology, Politics and Social Policy Original Citation Gibbs, Graham R. (1997) SocInfo Guide to IT Resources in Sociology, Politics and Social Policy. The CTI Centre for Sociology, Politics and Social Policy, Stirling. ISBN 0951 5746 3 9 This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/5783/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full items free of charge; copies of full text items generally can be reproduced, displayed or performed and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided: • The authors, title and full bibliographic details is credited in any copy; • A hyperlink and/or URL is included for the original metadata page; and • The content is not changed in any way. For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ The CTI Centre for Sociology, Politics and Social Policy The SocInfo Guide to IT Resources in Sociology, Politics and Social Policy 1997 Edition 4 no 2 Compiled and Edited by Graham R. Gibbs University of Huddersfield Series Editor: Ms Millsom S Henry University of Stirling SocInfo Guide to IT Resources 4th Edition Published by SocInfo, the CTI Centre for Sociology, Politics and Social Policy Department of Applied Social Science University of Stirling STIRLING FK9 4LA Tel. +44 (0) 1786 467703 Fax. +44 (0) 1786 466880 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.stir.ac.uk/socinfo/ The CTI is a joint initiative of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the Department of Education for Northern Ireland. Body text set in Adobe Times Roman, with headings in Bitstream Humanist 521Roman, Bold and Extra Bold. Copyright © SocInfo 1997 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0951 5746 3 9 While the editors have endeavoured to provide accurate and up-to- date information in this guide, we cannot accept responsibility for errors in the description of software. Readers are advised to obtain full details from publishers or distributors before making a decision to purchase. Inclusion of software or other material in the guide does not constitute an endorsement of the product. ii SocInfo Guide to IT Resources 4th Edition Contents SERIES EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION V GUEST EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION VI GENERAL INFORMATION VII Hardware and operating system viii Type of Resource viii SocInfo Guide to IT Resources On-line ix socinfo@mailbase ix GENERAL SOFTWARE 1 Multimedia Authoring 1 Testing 9 Graphing & presentation 11 Writing and research tools 22 Bibliographic CD-ROMs and Information 26 Reference CD-ROMs 30 SOCIAL SCIENCE INFORMATION SOURCES 35 Bibliographic 35 Texts/Information 38 Data sets 44 DATA COLLECTION 49 DATA ANALYSIS 61 Statistical 62 Text retrievers/content analysis 88 Textbase managers 91 Code-and-retrieve packages 95 Theory-building software 101 iii SocInfo Guide to IT Resources 4th Edition Video links 105 Concordance 107 Content Analysis 109 Social Network Analysis 112 Concept Mapping and Others 113 COURSEWARE 119 Statistical/research methods 120 General Courseware 133 SIMULATION, EXPERT SYSTEMS 144 INTERNET 150 Electronic Journals 151 Web Browsers 153 HTML editors 155 GLOSSARY OF INTERNET TERMS 159 USEFUL CONTACTS 170 UK CAL initiatives 170 Information Sources 172 CTI CENTRES 182 SOFTWARE REVIEW PANEL 185 SOFTWARE SUBMISSION FORM 186 SUBSCRIPTIONS 187 SocInfo Journal 187 The SocInfo Software Directory Edition 4 187 ALPHABETIC LIST OF RESOURCES 188 iv SocInfo Guide to IT Resources 4th Edition Series Editor’s Introduction Welcome to the fourth edition of the SocInfo Software Catalogue, now called The SocInfo Guide to IT Resources in Sociology, Politics and Social Policy. Although this edition has been a long time coming, I am sure you will agree that it has been worth the wait. In July, last year, I invited Graham Gibbs, an active member of the SocInfo Advisory Group to compile and edit this edition. Since then Graham has worked tirelessly to produce this edition and I would formally like to record my sincere thanks for all his hard work. This guide is intended to provide the reader with a good overview of the range of IT resources that are available in sociology, politics and social policy. It is clearly not possible nor desirable to include everything here, but there are no duplication of items from previous editions, with the exception of up-to-date reviews. The Centre actively seeks information on and teaching and learning courseware that has been developed in and for the social science community, so if you are aware of any programs and /or have developed any, please get in touch with the Centre at the usual address. It is clear that much more UK CAL development is required in the social sciences as we are lagging well behind other discipline areas. Nevertheless, this guide does provide evidence of a growing number of programs which can be customized and used by academics in sociology, politics and social policy. In particular, the expansion of the Internet and other forms of computer-mediated communication are areas where the social science community can help to shape policy on the use technology in teaching and learning environments. The recent ESRC programme on the Virtual Society reflects a welcome change and there is some hope therefore, that not only will a number of critical studies emerge but that the call for funds to develop CAL in the social sciences will be heard. Finally, I do hope you enjoy reading this edition, please feel free to comment on the layout and content. Readers should note that primarily due to cost and time, this will be the last time that the Centre produces such a bumper hardcopy edition of the Guide. Updates will be available and extended on our web site: http://www.stir.ac.uk/socinfo/ For readers unable to access the Internet, the Centre will be able to offer more traditional assistance. Regards and Best Wishes, Ms Millsom S Henry Deputy Director and Series Editor - SocInfo v SocInfo Guide to IT Resources 4th Edition Guest Editor’s Introduction Welcome The fourth edition of the SocInfo Guide to IT Resources lists over 450 items of software or information sources that will be of interest to teachers in higher education in sociology, politics and social policy. The main focus of interest is IT materials that can be used in teaching, though much of the material in this guide could also be used for research work. The task of assembling and collating material on software and sources of interest to social scientists is huge. Not only are the sources of information very diverse, though now much of it is available on the WWW, but also the software rapidly changes and develops. Compiling this guide is rather like painting the Forth Bridge, no sooner has one reached the end than one must start revising from the beginning again. Moreover, there is not room in this printed guide for all the information of relevance to social scientists. So to keep the information up-to-date and to allow for more information, this guide will soon be available on the WWW in the SocInfo pages at: http://www.stir.ac.uk/socinfo/ I also hope that there will be a local Web search engine available soon so that the guide can be searched by key words. In particular, for lack of space I had to omit sections on software training videos, CD-ROMs etc., Geographical Information Systems, Books on software use, and information on how to use the Internet such as how to download and decompress free software (including demonstration versions of programs). Acknowledgments and thanks In the spirit of the sharing of information between CTI centres, I have used several sets of information on software gleaned from other centres. In particular I would like to acknowledge material taken from the CTI Centre for Psychology, the CTI Centre for Textual Studies and the CTI Centre for Statistics. In many cases I have edited and extended the information. Any errors introduced are mine and not those of the original centres. Several colleagues have been helpful in providing information, and in particular I would like to thank Millsom Henry and Kate Bloor. Thanks also to the members of the SocInfo software review panel whose reviews form the basis of information on many pieces of software in this guide. Graham Gibbs University of Huddersfield vi SocInfo Guide to IT Resources 4th Edition General Information Are all the programs recommended by SocInfo? No. This is a Guide to software. Where space permits there is an indication of available reviews of the software. Use them and information you get from colleagues, distributors, web pages etc. to make a judgement. You could always try sending a request to the SocInfo Mailbase list ( [email protected] ) to see if others have had experience with the software. Some distributors may be willing to give you the names of users of their software with whom you could discuss your requirements. How do I get the software? Order directly from the distributors as given in the guide except where the software is subject to a CHEST agreement. Then order via your computer centre.
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