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The end of the year brings familiar traditions. Tinsel? Check. Cookies? Check. Bing Crosby songs? Um, check? Non-profit research? Sure! While you may not associate non-profit research with end of the year festivities, at IssueLab this time of year means it's time for the Second Annual Research Roundup!

We've got the numbers on what was popular with our readers, as well as staff picks, and the longest and shortest titles in the archive (just in case you were wondering).

And because this is our second annual roundup we can even do some comparisons. Interestingly, the most downloaded title remained the same, but was downloaded more than twice as often this year as it was last year! Two of the most viewed listings from 2008 made it into the list again this year, showing that old reports do not necessarily mean stale reports. In the list of most downloaded titles research about the nonprofit sector itself remains popular, at the same time IssueLab users continue to show an interest in the wide range of topics covered by our CloseUps and special collections. More than anything, these lists reflect the immense diversity of the IssueLab archive.

While some folks make New Year's Resolutions to get in shape, be nicer, get their dream job, or quit smoking, IssueLab resolves to do our darndest to keep supporting nonprofits and the research they produce by archiving and sharing their valuable work. We hope you'll join us in making that goal come true.

» The Most Frequently Downloaded Research Titles
» The Most Frequently Viewed Research Listing Pages
» IssueLab Staff Picks
» The Most Viewed Organization Profile Pages
» The Longest Title Added to the Collection in 2009
» The Shortest Title Added to the Collection in 2009
» The Most Downloaded Title Within A CloseUp
» The Most Viewed Title Within A CloseUp

The Most Frequently Downloaded Research Titles

Imaging, Keyboarding, and Posting Identities: Young People and New Media Technologies
The MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative
Downloads: 1112

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Computer Simulation in Introductory Undergraduate Environments
Physics Education Research Group at Colorado
Downloads: 679

Assessing The Effectiveness Of A Computer Simulation In Conjunction With Tutorials In Introductory Physics In Undergraduate Physics Recitations
Physics Education Research Group at Colorado
Downloads: 673

Strategy & Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility
FSG Social Impact Advisors
Downloads: 549

Are We There Yet? A Communications Evaluation Guide
The Communications Network
Downloads: 438

Lobbying for Good
FSG Social Impact Advisors
Downloads: 383

Community Outreach Strategies That Work
Neighborworks America
Downloads: 316

School Instructional Program Coherence: Benefits and Challenges
Consortium on Chicago School Research
Downloads: 293

Portland Public Schools: From Data and Decisions to Implementation and Results on Dropout Prevention
The Bridgespan Group
Downloads: 255

The 2008 flexAbility Toolkit
Oregon Business Leadership Network
Downloads: 213

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The Most Frequently Viewed Research Listing Pages

Imaging, Keyboarding, and Posting Identities: Young People and New Media Technologies
The MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative
Page Views: 2856

By a Thread: The New Experience of America's Middle Class
Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action
Page views: 1557

2010 Olympic Costs and Benefits
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Page views: 1195

Supplemental Security Income: So You Have Decided to Apply
National Center on Secondary Education and Transition
Page views: 1016

Strategy & Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility
FSG Social Impact Advisors
Page views: 923

Three Systems of Workers' Compensation
W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Page views: 791

Lobbying for Good
FSG Social Impact Advisors
Page views: 780

Arresting Children: Examining Recent Trends in Preteen Crime
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Page views: 749

Look Here! Attracting and Developing the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders
The Forbes Funds
Page views: 724

Ageism In America
International Longevity Center-USA
Page views: 656

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The IssueLab staff's picks for 2009

Luise
Falling Through the Cracks
The Institute For Children And Poverty

This short report by the Institute for Children and Poverty made my list because it is a much-needed call for inter-agency collaboration. In 2010, child protection and homeless services in New York City will comprise 87% of layoffs in all city agencies. The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) - focusing on preventing homelessness - and the Administration for Children's Services (ACS) - making efforts to keep families together and finding stable housing for children - are now, more than ever, in a position to streamline services and work together. By examining sets of demographic data about ACS clients, this report demonstrates that DHS could target its efforts more effectively at earlier stages. This means that more open information sharing and resource coordination between the two organizations could lead to lower rates of homelessness and child neglect overall.

Stacy
Sites of Resistance: All-Ages Music Venues in their Local and Theoretical Contexts
All-ages Movement Project, a project of Tides Center

I picked Sites of Resistance as my favorite report of the last year because it resonated on a personal level for me. The time I spent as a teenager going to punk shows at all-ages venues (which sounds a lot cooler than the equally accurate "standing around in a gym at the local JCC") were important, fun, and formative experiences for me. It's also fascinating to see the academic analysis of the conditions that precipitate the genesis of these venues and the role these sites can play within a community. It's not surprising that these venues are often hotbeds of creativity, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement among teens. It's nice to see some attention paid to these places and the import they carry.

Lisa
An Evaluation of Private Foundation Copyright Licensing Policies, Practices and Opportunities
Berkman Center for Internet & Society

Problems, ideas, opinions, innovations, arguments, nasty court battles and more are cropping up at an increasingly faster pace where copyright is concerned. Just yesterday I heard a news report that Men At Work (remember them? '80s pop new wave band with various Australian-flavored chart toppers?) is being sued by Larrikin Music, a publishing company, for copyright infringement. Allegedly Men At Work's song, "Down Under", written in 1981, includes a refrain -- or actually a four-bar instrumental segue -- from a children's song written in the 1930s that you might remember learning in elementary school, "Kookaburra". Copyright and licensing are hot topics indeed, and not just in the pay-to-play world. This report by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society does a nice job of surveying the nonprofit sector's licensing practices, framing the current situation, naming the players, and suggesting some ways forward. We have a long way to go as a sector where copyright is concerned and it's good to read that we are starting to describe and grapple with this issue.

Gabi
Home is Where the Work Is
DataCenter

My pick of the year shines light on a topic that too often lingers in the shadows of our economy -- the topic of domestic labor. This report from the DataCenter takes a closer look at the experiences of domestic workers in New York, describing the critical role they play in supporting the lifestyles and work demands of many of New York's professionals. At the same time the report documents the challenges domestic workers face in securing safe workplaces and livable wages. I picked this report not only because this topic begs for more research and analysis but also because of the way the data was gathered. Interestingly, the data are the result of the first ever industry-wide analysis of domestic workers by other domestic workers, based on 547 worker surveys, 14 worker testimonies and interviews with 7 employers.

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The Most Viewed Organization Profile Pages

Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers
Views: 593

Americans for the Arts
Views: 539

Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform
Views: 484

The Forum for Youth Investment
Views: 345

Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations
Views 329

Consortium on Chicago School Research
Views: 293

Social IMPACT Research Center
Views: 293

National Coalition for the Homeless
Views: 279

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless
Views: 234

Rural Sociological Society
Views: 222

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The Longest Title Added to the Collection in 2009

The National Council on Crime and Delinquency's Evaluation of the Project Development of National Institute of Corrections/Child Welfare League of America's Planning and Intervention Sites Funded to Address the Needs of Children of Incarcerated Parents

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The Shortest Title Added to the Collection in 2009

Fuel Cells

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The Most Downloaded Title Within A CloseUp

The Birds and the Bees: Research on Sex Ed and Abstinence Training
Facts on Sex Education in the United States
Guttmacher Institute
Downloads: 67

Case Studies in Arts Education
2002 Original Arts For All: Los Angeles County Regional Blueprint for Arts Education
Arts for All: Los Angeles Regional Blueprint for Arts Education
Downloads: 38

Environmental Justice
ReGeneration: Young People Shaping the Environmental Justice Movement
Movement Strategy Center
Downloads: 39

Interfaith Organizing Taking Our Experience Home: A Journey in URI Peacebuilding
United Religions Initiative
Downloads: 12

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The Most Viewed Title Within A CloseUp

The Birds and the Bees: Research on Sex Ed and Abstinence Training
"Abstinence Unless Married" Education
Center for Law and Social Policy
Views: 43

Case Studies in Arts Education
Excellence on Stage and in Life: The Mosaic Model for Youth Development through the Arts
Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit
Views: 70

Environmental Justice
ReGeneration: Young People Shaping the Environmental Justice Movement
Movement Strategy Center
Views: 64

Interfaith Organizing Taking Our Experience Home: A Journey in URI Peacebuilding
United Religions Initiative
Views: 34

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