Senior Library Books

Resource Key

When accessing content use the numbers below to guide you:

LEVEL 1

brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)

LEVEL 2

provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.

LEVEL 3

lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)

Linked Databases

Britannica Schools Britannica School covers the core subject areas of English, Maths, Science and History. Interactive lessons, activities, games, stories, worksheets, manipulatives, study guides and research tools.

Research and Essay Guide

State Library of Victoria. (2017). Research skills and essay writing. Retrieved from http://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/learn-skills/research-skills
This step-by-step guide shows you how to break down research tasks into manageable parts and find reliable information.

Introduction

Welcome to the research guide for Globalisation and Scientific Advancements. This guide has been created to assist Year 10 English students with their essay on Globalisation and Scientific Advancements.

Advances in technology are one of the main reasons that globalisation has escalated in the past decade. In information and communication technology, innovations have become smaller in size, more efficient and often more affordable. In transport technology, vehicles have tended to become larger and faster, as well as becoming more environmentally friendly and cheaper to run. Whether for personal use or for business, technology has made the world seem a smaller place and assisted in the rise of globalisation. (Swirk, 2017).

Cultural Globalisation, a phenomenon by which the experience of everyday life, as influenced by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, reflects a standardisation of cultural expressions around the world. Propelled by the efficiency or appeal of wireless communications, electronic commerce, popular culture, and international travel, globalization has been seen as a trend toward homogeneity that will eventually make human experience everywhere essentially the same. This appears, however, to be an overstatement of the phenomenon. Although homogenising influences do indeed exist, they are far from creating anything akin to a single world culture. (Britannica, 2017)

Navigating Our Global Future

Goldin, I. (2009). Navigating our global future [Video File]. TEDGlobal

As globalization and technological advances bring us hurtling towards a new integrated future, Ian Goldin warns that not all people may benefit equally. But, he says, if we can recognize this danger, we might yet realize the possibility of improved life for everyone. (Goldin, 2009)

Introduction to Globalisation

National Geographic. (2011, March 28). Globalization. Retrieved from https://admin.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/globalization/
Globalization is the connection of different parts of the world. Globalization results in the expansion of international cultural, economic, and political activities. As people, ideas, knowledge, and goods move more easily around the globe, the experiences of people around the world become more similar.
Bourguignon, F. (2016). Inequality and Globalization. Foreign Affairs, 95(1), 11-15.
The article discusses the relationship between economic inequality and globalization from 1990 through the mid 2010s, including in regard to the Gini coefficient and inequality between and within countries. An overview of the economic growth in developing countries, including in China and India, is provided.
Belo Moreira. M. (2010). Changes in food chains in the context of globalization. Retrieved from http://www.ijsaf.org/archive/18/2/moreira.pdf
This article highlighting the political and ideological conditions necessary for globalization and the role of the technologies associated with this process is an attempt to explain the nature and dynamics of change in food chains.

Global Organisations

United Nations. (2017). Global issues overview. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/global-issues-overview/index.html
As the world’s only truly universal global organization, the United Nations has become the foremost forum to address issues that transcend national boundaries and cannot be resolved by any one country acting alone.
World Health Organisation. (2017). Global Health Observatory (GHO) data. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/gho/en/
The Global Health Observatory is the world’s one-stop shop for quality health information. Tailor your research by entering your own search terms into the online database to find out the latest health statistics in any country or to get a regional or global snapshot. Access reports on priority issues that impact health including the environment, road safety, alcohol and women’s health as well as reports on specific diseases such a cholera, HIV/AIDS and malaria.
World Bank. (2017). World Bank Scorecard. Retrieved from http://scorecard.worldbank.org/
The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. We are not a bank in the ordinary sense but a unique partnership to reduce poverty and support development. The World Bank Group comprises five institutions managed by their member countries. The World Bank Group has set two goals for the world to achieve by 2030: End extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day to no more than 3% and promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for every country.
OXFAM. (2016). Naughty or nice list. Retrieved from https://www.oxfam.org.au/what-we-do/ethical-trading-and-business/corporate-accountability/naughty-or-nice-2016/
Since the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh shocked the world in 2013, many companies have promised to improve their practises, updated their code of conduct and sign on to pledges designed to protect workers. Which is great. But unless a company publishes the locations of its factories, there is still no way of checking if their clothing is being made under safe and fair conditions. And, workers can’t easily raise problems and get them fixed. There’s no other way out of the Naughty List.

Key Terms

sweatshop a shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor conditions.
environmentalist any person who advocates or works to protect the air, water, animals, plants, and other natural resources from pollution or its effects.
activist an especially active, vigorous advocate of a cause, especially a political cause.
globalisation worldwide integration and development: Globablisation has resulted in the loss of some individual cultural identities.

Ethical.org

Ethical.org.au. (2017). Shop ethical. Retrieved from http://www.ethical.org.au/3.4.2/
The Ethical Consumer Group is a community based, not-for-profit organisation and network, set up to help facilitate more sustainable purchasing practices for the everyday consumer. We are based in Australia.

Our goal is to educate and empower people to make shopping choices that better reflect their values and to use their consumer power to create a better world.

Australian Trade

Australian Government. (2016). Trade and economic fact sheets for countries and regions. Retrieved from http://dfat.gov.au/trade/resources/Pages/trade-and-economic-fact-sheets-for-countries-and-regions.aspx
These fact sheets provide an economic snapshot of selected countries and regions, and are available for download.

Also available is more information on countries and regions with details about their land, people, history, government, political conditions, economy and foreign relations.