Bert Chapman

Immigration: An Overview of Information Resources

Immigration has been a subject of intense historical and contemporary debate in US political life. Proponents of immigration cite the important contributions immigrants have made and continue to make to the USA’s national development and evolution. Advocates of more restrictive immigration policies stress concerns over the USA’s ability to support immigrant residents and whether newer immigrants threaten the US national identity and social cohesion. Proponents and opponents of current US immigration policy will use figures from the 2000 census to justify their respective arguments in upcoming debates on this subject. This article examines a variety of immigration literature resources such as scholarly books, government documents, and Websites and seeks to emphasize the subject’s complexities and contradictions along with US and transnational perspectives.

The 1907 Admission of Land-Grant University Depository Libraries: A 90-Year Perspective.

Abstract This presentation of how land-grant university libraries became federal depository libraries in 1907 examines the principal legislative statutes creating the land-grant university system. It proceeds to cover how a congressional Printing Commission, concerned with eliminating duplicative governmental publications, also produced legislation granting federal depository status to the libraries of land-grant universities. There is also discussion of the presence of GPO Access gateways at many land-grant university depositories and the continuing relevance of the land-grant university service ideal to the depository library program during its transition to an increasingly electronic environment. The historical evolution of Americas rural electric industry, community network movement, and federal information resource management initiatives also present potentially useful service models for emerging electronic depositories.

Chinese Military Space Power: U.S. Department of Defense Annual Reports

ABSTRACT Following instructions received from the U.S. Congress in the 2000 National Defense Authorization Act, the Department of Defense prepared an annual report on Chinese military power. This report contains classified and unclassified editions. Documenting Chinese military space power developments was one of the provisions in this law’s authorizing language. This article will examine how Chinese military space power documents have been described by the Department of Defense during this report’s existence through 2015 and detail how members of Congress and Congressional committee hearing witnesses reacted to these developments in Congressional hearing transcripts and in Congressional debate through Fall 2015.

Willing to provide but unable to support: The dilemma of smaller depositories in an electronic era

Abstract The increasing influence of government information in electronic format poses acute problems for smaller depositories facing financial and personnel shortages. These constraints will increase the dependence of smaller depositories on regional depositories and may compel the smaller institutions to reassess the viability of their depository status. This cumulative predicament will make some government information inaccessible to users of smaller depositories. Recognition of this should be augmented by acceptance of the reality that existing Federal budgetary pressures, coupled with trends toward user fees in other sectors of librarianship, make free and unimpeded access to all government information an unrealistic public policy option. This, in turn, will increase the importance of regional depositories as clearinghouses for technical support and resource sharing and require selective depositories to place even greater emphasis on determining the government information of greatest relevance to their constituencies.

The Geopolitics of Canadian Defense White Papers: Lofty Rhetoric and Limited Results

As the United States northern neighbor, Canada serves as a NATO ally and a strategic partner with Washington through the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Canadian forces have fought honorably and bravely in concert with American forces in many wars. Canada’s Government, however, has been less consistent in promoting a credible vision of Canadian national security policy and geopolitical interests in its defense white papers. These documents have often contained idealistic rhetoric about adhering to a rules-based international order and defending freedom. In reality, Canadian governments of varying political parties have consistently failed to provide the sustained funding and coherent national security strategy to make Ottawa an effective partner with the U.S. and the NATO alliance in addressing historical and emerging national security threats. This article examines Canadian defense white papers for several decades and recommends ways Canada can ensure its defense policy planning can have greater credibility in the national security policymaking corridors of its allies and with potential adversaries.

The Geopolitics of Rare Earth Elements: Emerging Challenge for U.S. National Security and Economics

Rare earth elements (REE) contain unique chemical and physical properties such as lanthanum, are found in small concentrations, need extensive precise processes to separate, and are critical components of modern technologies such as laser guidance systems, personal electronics such as IPhones, satellites, and military weapons systems as varied as Virginia-class fast attack submarines, DDG51 Aegis destroyers, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and precision guided munitions. The U.S. has some rare earth resources, but is heavily dependent on access to them from countries as varied as Afghanistan, Bolivia, and China. Losing access to these resources would have significant adverse economic, military, and political implications for the U.S. and its allies if their supply sources are restricted or eliminated. This article will examine the critical strategic importance of these resources, the historical origins and contemporary development of U.S. policy toward strategic minerals, and how multiple U.S. Government agencies are involved in this emerging policymaking arena. It features significant use of U.S. and foreign government statistics and analyses and scholarly journal literature. It will conclude by suggesting efforts to limit the severity of this problem to the U.S.’ economy and national security interests. JEL codes: B22; E02; L16; O11

US-China National Security Relationship: A Resource Guide

The USA and China have had a complex relationship since the 1949 establishment of the People’s Republic of China. This relationship has gone from hostility to guarded friendliness to increased tension at the beginning of the new millennium. Recent years have seen the emergence of literature stressing China’s potential emergence as a national security threat to the USA. This article will look at books, government documents, and Internet resources examining the current and possible future national security relationship between these two countries from 1995/1996 to the present. This literature presents US and international perspectives representing a variety of viewpoints on a subject that may have a major impact on international relations during the twenty‐first century.

Campaign Finance Information: An Overview of Print and Internet Resources

Revelation of controversial fundraising practices by the Clinton‐Gore reelection campaign in 1996 and continuing controversy over proposed campaign finance reform legislation has brought this subject into public focus and discussion. This article provides an overview of key recent developments in campaign finance accompanied by coverage of literature and Web sites produced by scholars, government agencies, and participants in the ongoing debate over campaign finance and its role in the American political process.