Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of U.S. Public Schools

The Changing Racial and Ethnic Composition of U.S. Public Schools [http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=79] - The 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in June to strike down school desegregation plans in Seattle and Louisville has focused public attention on the degree of racial and ethnic integration in the nation's 93,845 public schools. A new analysis of public school enrollment data by the Pew Hispanic Center finds that in the dozen years from 1993-94 to 2005-06, white students became less isolated from minority students while, at the same time, black and Hispanic students became slightly more isolated from white students.

These two seemingly contradictory trends stem mainly from the same powerful demographic shift that took place during this period: an increase of more than 55% in the Hispanic slice of the public school population. Latinos in 2005-06 accounted for 19.8% of all public school students, up from 12.7% in 1993-94. [Description provided by website provider]

Read the entire report (available as a PDF) and analysis at http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=79

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

BlackPast: Remembered and Reclaimed

BlackPast: Remembered and Reclaimed [http://www.blackpast.org/ ] - BlackPast.org, an online reference center makes available a wealth of materials on African American history in one central location on the Internet. These materials include an online encyclopedia of over 1,000 entries, the complete transcript of over 100 speeches given between 1789 and 2004, over 80 full text primary documents, bibliographies, timelines and four gateway pages with links to 50 digital archive collections, 75 major African American museums and research centers and over 400 other website resources on black history. The compilation and concentration of these diverse resources allows BlackPast.org to serve as the "Google" of African American history. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Medline Plus: Herbal Medicine


Medline Plus: Herbal Medicine [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/herbalmedicine.html#cat57] - From the world of Aloe Vera to yohimbe, this site leaves no herbal medicines unexplored. As part of the Medline Plus omnibus site which was created by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, this particular section covers many aspects of the world of herbal medicine. First-time visitors will want to start by looking over the background essays on the use of botanical dietary supplements offered from the Office of Dietary Supplements. After that, they should browse through sections that include "Basics", "Learn More", "Research", and "Reference Shelf". They can also just scroll down through the homepage, which includes overviews on the use of different herbs and supplements. Those persons looking for the latest information about research findings on herbs and topical treatments can look within the "Latest News" listings, which are updated frequently. Researchers will appreciate the inclusion of a "Clinical Trials" area which provides the latest information about ongoing clinical trials that draw on various aspects of herbal medicine. [>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007. http://scout.wisc.edu/ ]


The British Library: Sacred


The British Library: Sacred [http://www.bl.uk/sacred] - The homepage of this very recent online collection of sacred texts from the British Library doesn't mince any words, declaring this clutch of materials to be "The world's greatest collection of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim holy books." The subtitle to this remarkable collection is "Discover what we share", and that is certainly an apt phrase to describe this moving online collection, which is intended to complement the in situ exhibit. First off, there are the texts themselves, which can be viewed in their entirety, and examined at leisure. There is a complete chronological list, a list organized by faith, and several editors' lists, such as "Kings and Queens" and "Pictures and Portraits". In keeping with the strong online traditions of like-minded exhibits at the British Library, visitors can take in some video highlights, including the Sufi dancer Zia Azazi and they may also watch a scribe demonstrating how old sacred texts were crafted. Additionally, there are several dozen podcasts that deal with the illumination of sacred texts and discussions on the relationship between medicine and various traditions of faith. Overall, the site is powerfully moving, inclusive, and worthy of repeat visits. [From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007. http://scout.wisc.edu/ ]

Statistics Online Computational Resource




Statistics Online Computational Resource [http://socr.stat.ucla.edu/] - What is SOCR? The goals of the Statistics Online Computational Resource (SOCR) are to design, validate and freely disseminate knowledge. This Resource specifically provides portable online aids for probability and statistics education, technology based instruction and statistical computing. SOCR tools and resources include a repository of interactive applets, computational and graphing tools, instructional and course materials. [Description provided by SOCR]

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