This blog is dedicated to Slavic Studies, East and Central European Studies and Central Asian Studies librarianship.
This personal blog was created by Liladhar R. Pendse (Slavic & Eastern European Studies Librarian at Princeton University, Princeton).
Keywords: Slavic Studies, Russian, Central and East European, Eurasian Studies, Academic Librarianship, Minorities of Russian Federation, Princeton University, My Alma mater UCLA, Russian Diaspora, Caucasus, and Central Asia.
ACM Multimedia 2010 - Call for Workshop Papers Deadlines : see on Workshops websites http://www.acmmm10.org/
October 25-29th 2010 - Firenze, Italy
ACM Multimedia 2010 announces its Workshop program:
Multimedia Content
1st ACM ARTEMIS2010 International Workshop on Analysis and Retrieval of Tracked Events and Motion in Imagery Streams 3D Object Retrieval 3D video processing Machine Learning and Music (MML10) Multimodal Pervasive Video Analysis, MPVA 2010 Searching Spontaneous Conversational Speech (SSCS 2010) Surreal media and Virtual Cloning Very-Large-Scale Multimedia Corpus, Mining and Retrieval
Multimedia Systems
Advanced video streaming techniques for peer-to-peer networks and social networking Mobile Cloud Media Computing Mobile Video Delivery (MoViD)
Human Centered Multimedia
Affective Interaction in Natural Environments (AFFINE) Connected Multimedia Electronic Heritage and Digital Art Preservation (eHeritage) Social Signal Processing (SSPW 2010) Social, Adaptive and Personalized Multimedia Interaction and Access" (SAPMIA 2010) The Second SIGMM Workshop on Social Media (WSM2010)
Multimedia Applications
Automated Information Extraction in Media Production (AIEMPro10) Multimedia in Forensics, Security and Intelligence MiFor 2010 Multimedia Technologies for Distance Leaning (MTDL 2010)
Please link to the ACM MM2010 Workshop web page, look at workshops' topics and scopes and plan to submit your recent research results.
The first digital library of Azerbaijan's history, consisting of electronic versions of history books, documents and other sources and information on Azerbaijan, has been launched by "Ireli" Public Association in Azerbaijan. The trilingual library (Azerbaijani, English and Russian) contains digital versions of books and articles written by Azerbaijani and foreign scholars, historical documents, as well as maps, photo databases of historical and cultural monuments, carpets, archaeological excavations, and numismatic materials. The portal provides extensive information about all periods of Azerbaijan's history.
Transformative aspects of access to information with respect to South Asian Studies are being constantly dissected in many inter-disciplinary subjects that are taught in various universities in the North American Setting. Usually words like Globalization are used loosely to indicate how the information streams have merged and often diverged to temporarily create surging interests to the way how not only the science is packaged, how the art is described and how the humanities are re-formed to provide greater access to those who can afford the technological minimum. South Asian Studies field is not an exception to these general trends and we should examine these trends in Digital Humanities in light of the current technological development that on one hand brought many parts of the world closer together while the other parts of the world still remain somewhat isolated from the processes that are grouped under the commonly used term-the globalized knowledge creation.
Here I want to bring to our attention so of the sites that might be of interest to this discussion. Some of the clips that I would play here are from the popular music scene. These are meant to illustrate some issues that revolve around critical attribution of identity and stereotypical imagination of the "other" a la Sartre. The purpose of these illustrations is not to discuss the theories of Weberian disenchantment and dichotomies between the traditions and reforms, but to state the obvious. The processes that we are planning to name a sort of cultural globalization are real forces that move people, nations to imagine the others from their own perspectives and ideological positions. The totality of these perspectives and ideotypes is simply unending and as the person of South Asian origin various worlds like the Central Asian, Slavic and Eastern European and finally the North American setting has made me a better information professional. I will end this monologue by using a Turkish proverb- Bir Lisan, Bir Insan.
Diversity in South Asia: An Example
More Serious Stuff...
The Digital South Asia Library
The Digital South Asia Library provides dictionaries, gazetteers, photographs, prints, drawings, maps, statistics, bibliographies, indexes, books..(About the DSAL)
The Virtual Library South Asia, Heidelberg, Germany
"Welcome to Savifa, the information gateway for South Asia Studies, which offers you a comprehensive access to professionally selected and annotated internet resources as well as other scientific information."
Erica Marat & Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski (12th Issue Editors)
Call for contributors: "Security and Defense Reform in Central Asia"
Two decades after the Soviet regime's collapse, the military and security institutions of Central Asia play an ever more important role in supporting national regimes and addressing national and regional challenges. After independence, the leaders of Central Asian countries increased their reliance on the military to address the challenges of independence and promote security. This inevitably influenced civil-military and intra-military relations, and society's perception of the military.
Organizations like the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization furthered this trend by encouraging greater military collaboration with Central Asia.
Joint exercises between the militaries of Russia, China, and Central Asian states are conducted annually and often become the major military drills conducted in the region. Western organizations such as NATO and the European Organization for Security and Cooperation also worked to help Central Asian military and paramilitary institutions implement democratic reform and greater involvement in the international community.
This issue will focus on the changes that have taken place in Central Asian military institutions since the fall of the Soviet Union, as well as the lingering continuities of the Soviet legacy. How do changes in Central Asian militaries compare to those of other former Soviet states? How do international actors influence change and continuity of Central Asian power institutions? Are there any signs of a revival of pre-Soviet traditions in Central Asian militaries?
The following aspects are of particular interest:
How did the breakup of the Soviet regime influence power institutions (ministries, Security Council, paramilitary), the military and political leaders across the region and in each country? How did the military's role in the state and society change? How did relationships within the military change?
How did Central Asian states proceed with defense reform? Which aspects of the military structure and command underwent transformations? How did the functions of specific institutions (e.g. border control service, police, anti-terrorism structures, recruitment, etc.) change? What has remained the same in the military structure and command since the Soviet period?
How did independence shape civil-military relations and decision-making processes? What role have military leaders played in the political domain? Who is in charge of defining security threats and developing security and military strategy?
Did the rates of individual soldier hazing increase or decrease? Did power relations within the military change? How does political leadership treat cases of hazing?
How does society perceive the military in Central Asia? How popular is the army? Do Central Asian people view the military as a national defense mechanism? Are there any NGOs seeking to influence military institutions?
What values and overall culture are promulgated in the military? Is the military serving the nation-state or ethnic-state?
What are the views of veterans toward past and current conflicts? Do veterans impact the current policy and public life? How are veteran communities organized?
How do international and regional security organizations such as SCO, CSTO, NATO and OSCE involved in the region impact national militaries?
Guidelines for article submission
The journal will be published in three languages (French, English and Russian with a 100-word abstract in English) thanks to which most authors will be able to write in their mother tongue. This will ensure greater precision in the articles and avoid a decrease in scientific quality. But we draw your attention to the fact that most pipss.org readers are essentially English speakers, therefore we do encourage articles in English in order to reach an audience as broad as possible.
The articles submitted to pipss.org for publication should be original contributions and should not be under consideration for any other publication at the same time. Manuscripts should be attached as Microsoft Word format. References should be given in footnotes. (For more details about the guidelines for article submission please check http://www.pipss.revues.org or contact the Editorial Board). There should be a cover page stating the author's background and affiliation, full address.
If you wish to submit an article, please first contact the editorial board and send a 100-word abstract in English. The deadline for article submission is September 15th, 2010, with publication in December 2010. Final decisions on publication will be made by the Editorial Board.
The 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages (AATSEEL) will be held in Pasadena, California, Jan. 6-9, 2011. The first deadline for submission of proposals is April 15, 2010. For information about this meeting and details about submission procedures, please see the Call for Papers at the following site: http://www.aatseel.org/program/
The Program Committee invites scholars in our area to submit panel proposals that can be posted on the AATSEEL website; the committee particularly encourages scholars to shape their proposed panels. This year, we have added an option to submit fully-formed panel proposals with a single-paragraph description. Descriptions of individual papers for such panels do not need to be submitted until after the panel is accepted. Scholars may also submit individual proposals of their intended papers by the above deadline. The Program Committee will find appropriate panel placements for all accepted proposals.
All individual proposals will undergo double-blind peer review; authors will be notified of the results by mid-May. Submitting a proposal by this first deadline allows authors the option to revise and resubmit the proposal, should it not be accepted. Proposals may also be submitted for the second deadline of July 1, 2010; proposals for roundtables and forums will continue to be accepted anytime up to July 1, 2010. Detailed guidelines and forms for submitting proposals are online at:
To submit a proposal, you must be an AATSEEL member in good standing for 2010, or request a waiver of membership from the Chair of the Program Committee (burry.7@osu.edu). For information on AATSEEL membership, details on conference participation, and guidelines for preparing proposals, please follow the links from AATSEEL's homepage (http://www.aatseel.org).
The Arizona State University Critical Languages Institute is pleased to announce scholarships for its summer intensive courses and study-abroad programs in MACEDONIAN, POLISH, ALBANIAN, ARMENIAN. Additional funding is available for students at the intermediate level and above.
Tuition is waived for scholarship recipients. Scholarships cover all ASU fees associated with the course.
Source: Kathleen Evans-Romaine Director, Critical Languages Institute Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287-4202 Phone: 480 965 4188 Fax: 480 965 1700 http://cli.asu.edu
I have decided to revisit Qazaq popular music as it appears on the Youtube. I had in one of my previous post mentioned a talented Qazaq popular music singer- Inju (Pronounced Indzhu>). I found her new clip posted on the Youtube and I want to bring it to the attention of my readers. The Central Asia should not be imagined as a romantic exotic place that is usually forgotten when the world history is taught in many American Schools. So we thus jump from Europe to the "romanticized notion of the Orient or the East". We often forget that there is a vast area that lies between so called "Europe" and "Asia". I will not dwell upon the notion of if Indians are Asians or not as I have heard various accounts while in California on what it means to be an Asian?
The following link allows the user to access to the digitized collection of numerous publications from the treasury of National and University Library from Zagreb, Croatia. http://www.nsk.hr/HeritageUnits.aspx?id=136 Here are some of the titles you can research: Vinodolski zakon, Istarski razvod, Vrbnički statut, Status familiae Patachich, Carte geografiche Giacoma Franca, Misal po zakonu rimskoga dvora, Djela Marka Marulića, Djela Fausta Vrančića, Vazetje Sigeta grada Brne Karnarutića, Skladanya Hanibala Lucića, Skladanya Hanibala Lucića, Djela iz Knjižnice obitelji Zrinski, etc.
There you can find also some of the geographic maps, graphics and even some children picture books. This is a very interesting project out of Croatia. Also, if you haven't made a record, we remind you, new titles, digitalized electronic books are available on: http://www.elektronickeknjige.com/ The Collection is updated regularly and new titles are added several times during the year. Miljenko Jergovic, Rujana Jeger (Slavenka Drakulic'c daughter, very good), Zvonimir Mrkonjic, Gordan Nuhanovic are there with their works in full text.
Source: Janja & Branko Vukovic Knjiga trgovina d.o.o. Books Trade & Services Ltd Zagreb/Hrvatska/Croatia
We are pleased to announce that the first California Eurasian Studies Kurultai, sponsored by the UCLA Center for European and Eurasian Studies and the UCLA Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, will be held from 8:30 A. M. to 5:30 P. M. on THIS SATURDAY, April 10, 2010 in Royce Hall 306, on the UCLA campus.
The Kurultai is a graduate conference on Eurasian cultural interactions, featuring scholars whose work focuses on moments of contact and conflict in Eurasia, beyond the established disciplinary boundaries. The conference will be held in a workshop format; panelists' papers have been posted to the conference site to facilitate discussion.
The conference will open with a keynote address by Alexander Diener of Pepperdine University, author of several works on the topic of national identity and contact in present-day Eurasia, including One Homeland or Two: Nationalization and Transnationalization of Mongolia's Kazakhs (2009) and Homeland Conceptions and Ethnic Integration Among Kazakhstan's Germans and Koreans (2004).
The keynote address will be followed by three panels organized according to the themes of Culture, Theory, and Development and Policy. The panel participants are an international group, representing four different countries and a variety of academic orientations.
A complete schedule of events, including panels and individual presentations, can be found on our website:
The British Ordnance Survey has released the gov't report on the future direction of the OS, including what data will be released free of charge for private, public, and commercial use. The report is available at http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1528263.pdf . It is interesting in that the British gov't is now setting up a "commercial contract" with OS for funding at least some of the costs of the OS, whereas the OS was fully self-supporting up to now.
The OS also launched today its new "OS OpenData" website at www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendata where the public can download the various free data sets, including medium scale vector data, etc. According to the OS, the new site is very overloaded today and users may get a request for user i.d. and password. This requirement is a glitch due to the overland and OS is working to fix it.
The OS has already announced the end of its very popular 1:250,000 Travelmaster road map series as well as its single-sheet Routemaster road map.
