Digest: Studies, Books, Web Sites, and Other Publications

2003, 232 pages, $20.00. Cultural Policy Center, The Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago, 1155 East 60th St., #157, Chicago, IL 60637-2745, (773) 702-4407

Following up on Stan Hutton's introduction to arts blogs in the last Reader, in this issue we're looking at the beginnings of the philanthropic blogosphere. As with many blogs covering a specific field, philanthropic blogs tend to offer either personal journals of opinion and ideas or periodic news round-ups, brief abstracts of articles or publications and links to the original. Some, of course, provide both.

April 2002, 47 pages. Supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and the Urban Institute. (Research conducted by the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute with assistance from the Center for Survey Research at Ohio State University and the Center for Survey Research at Indiana University, Bloomington.) 202-833-7200, paffairs@ui.urban.org

May 2003, 272 pages. Southern Illinois University Press, Robert A. Shanke, Theater in America Series, editor, 800-346-2680 or 618-453-2281, www.siu.edu/~siupress

2003, 86 pages. $40 nonmembers; 1 copy free with membership. Association of Small Foundations, www.smallfoundations.org

Do you want to start a foundation? Full of practical advice, The New Foundation Guidebook is a good place to start. This book concisely describes how to establish and operate a foundation by adapting articles from pertinent experts. It is easy to skim as essential points are highlighted with bullet points.

2002, 116 pages. Larson, Allen, Weishair & Co., LLP, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Distributed by LarsonAllen Public Service Group, (612) 397-3301 or (888) 529-2648, psg@larsonallen.com, Larson, Allen, Weishair & Co., LLP

"Without getting on a soapbox, I would say that dancing is as much a calling as it is anything else. Don't think of it as a career. You're stupid if you do. You've got to have something burning in your gut that you want to express."

2003, 243 pages, $25.00, Simon & Schuster, business@simonandschuster.com

From stage to film, downtown to uptown, tap to post-modern to bravado ballet, crossing over has been a mark of choreographer Twyla Tharp's career. Likewise, her latest book spans multiple genres. Part workbook, part behind the scenes autobiography, part self-help manual, The Creative Habit has a single message: If you dream of living a creative life, get to work!

Just about everyone by this time, I suppose, has heard of blogging, the act of keeping a Web journal, often accompanied by links to related online articles, photos, or Web sites. Weblogs, blogs for short, first appeared in the late 1990s. Early on, they were a geeky pastime that served mostly as a method to pass on interesting Web links to a small circle of like-minded readers.

2003, 253 pages. Praeger, Westport, Connecticut, London, England, ISBN: 0-275-97013-2, hardback, $62.95