Welcome
to the Fourth Edition of the Online Global Problems Reader.
The staggering growth of information on the
Internet is a windfall for educators. The problem is how do we access and organize
it? This collection of Online readings and exercises represents one solution to that
problem. Its purpose is to provide educators, students, public policy analysts,
among others, with a body of Internet material on global problems, such as hunger,
poverty, disease, environmental devastation, and social unrest. The organization of
this reader follows that of the book, Global Problems
and the Culture of Capitalism by Richard H. Robbins, and is, in part, designed to
complement the book and courses in which it is used. However the Online Global Problems Reader can be used for any university or
secondary school course, or as a source of information for interested readers. Best
yet, it's free! The third edition contains some new articles, corrects
URL links that have changed, and contains more recent versions of reports on
such things as global health, global environmental issues, and so on.
The articles and exercises included in the
fourth edition of the reader are all freely available on the Internet; we have reviewed
thousands and selected those that allow some degree of continuity from selection to
selection. We have not limited ourselves in the kind of material you will find in
the reader. There are articles from Online journals, newspapers, magazines,
symposia, and courses; position papers and press releases from NGOs and think tanks,
excerpts from Online books, and presentations from museums. Some of the selections
are virtual tours, while others contain data relevant to specific topics. There are
even Online quizzes and simulations of various sorts. The selections also represent
a range of difficulty, although we have provided introductions to the readings that we
hope will make even the more difficult accessible to all students and general readers.
We will continue to review and update the selections, and we would greatly
appreciate suggestions for items to include; the Internet and projects such as this
provide a wonderful opportunity for collaboration.
You can find even more material at our Internet Resources page that includes annotated links to sites relating to
topics addressed in Global Problems and the
Culture of Capitalism, along with information on countries, corporations, and links to maps.
We plan to periodically check to ensure that
links included in the reader work. However, since the selections exist on other Web
Sites, we have no control over their maintenance. Consequently some may be removed, URLs
may change, or sites may be temporarily down. We would appreciate knowing when you
have difficulties accessing any of the selections. Just email Richard
Robbins at richard.robbins@plattsburgh.edu