Thursday, October 6, 2016

LOUIE B. NUNN CENTER FOR ORAL HISTORY

LOUIE B. NUNN CENTER FOR ORAL HISTORY

kentuckyoralhistory.org

In 1973, the University of Kentucky began to collect oral histories from around the Bluegrass state. The project continues to this day. On this website, visitors can browse or search through over 8,000 of these oral history interviews, which are arranged by broad topics including Agriculture, Industries, Diversity, Education, Gender, and Veterans and Conflict. Within each of these categories, visitors will find dozens of oral history projects, which each feature interviews with multiple individuals around a specific topic or theme. Project titles include: Black Life in Mississippi in the 1950s; Midwifery; Immigrants in the Coal Fields; and Beyond Wood, Wires, and Glue: Young Banjo Players of Kentucky. As one can gather from this diverse list, this website features material that will be of interest to history students in a wide variety of fields and areas. Most of these interviews are available in their entirety online, and some include transcripts as well. [MMB] >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2016. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Ross Archive of African Images

Ross Archive of African Images
http://raai.library.yale.edu/

One can explore over 5,000 pictures of African art published before 1921 as part of the James J. Ross Archive of African Images (RAAI). This intoxicating tonic of wonderful items is the result of an eight year collaboration between Ross and Susan Vogel, the project's co-directors, as well as other research specialists. First-time visitors should read over the History section, which offers a narrative essay by Ross on his motivations and inspirations for creating such an archive. The archive aspires to include all the African art in books, periodicals, catalogs, newspapers, and other publications appearing in 1920 and earlier. This is an ambitious goal; visitors can check the Archive's progress via the Search link. One neat feature here is that visitors can use the Compare Images option to look at images side-by-side. Additionally, visitors ca n browse by author and also perform a complete publication search. [From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/]

Sophia Smith Collection: Population and Reproductive Health Oral History Project

Sophia Smith Collection: Population and Reproductive Health Oral History Project
http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/ssc/prh/prh-intro.html

Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Population and Reproductive Health Oral History Project includes accounts of individuals throughout the world who have made valued contributions to the field. The materials here are part of the Women's History Archives at Smith College and the series includes the voices and perspectives of advocates, communication specialists, lawyers, managers, physicians, researchers, and social workers from the period 1965 to 2005. First-time visitors should read the Project History essay and then take a closer look at the several dozen interviews offered here. Those profiled here include the "mother of Asian demography," Mercedes Concepcion, and Lee Minto, the president of Planned Parenthood of Seattle-King County from 1967 to 1993. Other people interviewed here include Dan iel E. Pellegrom, Nafis Sadik, and Sara Seims. It's a wonderful archive for persons interested in public health, women's studies, and a range of other crucial areas of academic study.[From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/]

William J. Clinton Presidential Library

William J. Clinton Presidential Library
http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/

Located in Little Rock, Arkansas, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library is the official repository for the documents and related materials that narrate the life and times of President Clinton. Visitors to the site will find six separate sections, including Research, Biographies, Museum, and Education. In the Biographies area, visitors can find essays on both President Clinton and his wife and former US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, along with photo galleries and detailed research guides. The Research area contains a video gallery, a digital library, and finding aids for the papers contained within these collections. The video gallery is a great resource, as it contains several dozen important addresses, including the 1993 State of the Union Address and the Transportation Equity Act bill signing in 1998. The Education area con tains lesson plans for those who might visit the Library, along with information for families who may be hoping to enhance their young people's experiences as well. [From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/]

The Geography of Slavery in Virginia

The Geography of Slavery in Virginia
http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/gos/

Created by Tom Costa on behalf of the University of Virginia, the Geography of Slavery in Virginia presents full transcriptions and images of over 4,000 runaway and captured ads for slaves and servants placed in Virginia newspapers from 1736 to 1790. Additionally, the project offers a number of documents related to slaves, servants, and slaveholders, including court records, other newspapers notices, slaveholder correspondence, and assorted literature about slavery and indentured servitude. Photos of advertisements for escaped slaves, often situated beside other ads describing missing livestock, offer a chilling reminder of a time when humans were considered property. Users of the site can browse the advertisements by month or by location, or use the full-text search. The Essays area contains a rather fine piece which places Virginia slavery into the context of the larger colonial America and Atlantic picture. [From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/]

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Public Art Archive

Public Art Archive
http://www.publicartarchive.org/

The Public Art Archive was launched in 2009 as a free resource for comprehensive data and extensive information about thousands of public art installations across the United States. New users should visit the About area for information about the functionality of the site and its history. After a quick visit here, the Browse tab filters this information by artist, collection, location, materials, work type, placement and year. Those unacquainted with the world of public art would do well to start in several large cities like Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Miami. The clickable map interface makes it easy and quite enjoyable to look at different cities and regions quickly. Browsing around by year is interesting as well; the works are listed chronologically all the way back to the year 1802. [From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/]

Mapping for Results: The World Bank

Mapping for Results: The World Bank
http://maps.worldbank.org/

The effective visual representation of key demographic data through the use of dynamic maps is a powerful tool for policymakers, journalists, and others. The World Bank developed such a program in 2010 as part of the Mapping for Results website. So far, their team has analyzed over 2,500 World Bank-financed projects and geo-coded more than 30,000 locations spanning 144 countries. Visitors can look over the featured articles on the homepage to get a flavor of the projects here, which include stories like "Mapping for Results Goes Local" and "Mapping the Financial Sector in Africa." Visitors can use the interactive map to view projects by country or indicator, which include population density, malnutrition, and infant mortality. Visitors can also learn about the Methodology deployed throughout the maps, which will be useful to those persons looking to understand the inner workings of this complex underta king. Visitors can sign up to receive updates about the site via Twitter or RSS feed. [From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/]