Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Changing Times: Los Angeles in Photographs, 1920-1990

Changing Times: Los Angeles in Photographs, 1920-1990 [http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/dlib/lat/] - From Raymond Chandler's hardboiled gumshoes to the decline and fall of the city's streetcar system, the City of Angels underwent a dramatic transformation from 1920 to 1990. This remarkable digital archive offered by the UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections brings together over 5700 photographs from that period. Culled from the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News photographic archives of 3 million photographs, this collection covers topics that include religion, popular culture, urban development, law enforcement, and the entertainment industry. Visitors can browse through a list of subjects or search for specific items of interest by keyword. To get started, visitors may wish to search for "Bud Abbott", "Oil Wells", and "Urban renewal". >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Nineteenth Century in Print: The Making of America in Periodicals

The Nineteenth Century in Print: The Making of America in Periodicals

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpcoop/moahtml/snchome.html

In the 19th century, Americans flocked to periodicals in a fashion that would have been almost unimaginable a few decades earlier. They had many to choose from, including Atlantic Monthly, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Scientific American, and the American Missionary. This rather fine collection brings select issues from these magazines (and nineteen others) together in one place, courtesy of the American Memory project at the Library of Congress and the Cornell University Library. Visitors to the site can search through the entire archive, or just browse through individual periodicals at their leisure. Some of the articles reflect popular pursuits of the day, but others take on more weighty matters, such as the November 1884 issue of the "New Englander and Yale Review", which offers up pieces like "An Analysis of Consciousness in its Relation to Eschatology" and "Virtue, from a Scientific Standpoint". Finally, visitors should not miss the project's special presentation, found near the bottom of the homepage, which provides historical background and essays on the periodical "Garden and Forest". >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Saturday, April 18, 2009

The Willa Cather Archive

The Willa Cather Archive

http://cather.unl.edu/

Born in Virginia in 1873, Willa Cather's family moved to Nebraska at age 10. She would later attend the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and would of course share her vision of the Great Plains in novels like "O Pioneers!" and "My Antonia". In 1997, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln began a very ambitious project to digitize hundreds of Cather-authored texts and Cather scholarship for this excellent website. Currently, this collection includes digital transcriptions of five Cather books, all of her short fiction from before 1912, the complete run of "Cather Studies", multiple biographies, and several virtual tours of Cather-related locales. These materials can be located by using the search engine offered here or by clicking around sections that include "Writings", "Letters", "Life", "Gallery", and "Multimedia". Overall, it's a tremendous site, and one that merits a number of return visits. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/

The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936

The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/olympics/detail.php

During August 1936, Adolf Hitler's Nazi government played host to the Summer Olympics and many international observers and commentators wondered whether the United States might elect to boycott the Games entirely. They did not, and the triumphs of runner extraordinaire Jesse Owens were a highlight of those rather dark times in Germany. This engaging online exhibit on the Summer Games of 1936 was created by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to complement a recent in situ exhibit at their headquarters in Washington, D.C. Visitors can make their way through sections that include "Germany", "Sports", "Boycott", "To Berlin", and "The Aftermath". Each section contains brief essays on each subject, nicely complemented by period photographs, digitized documents, and other items of historical importance. Visitors should not miss the "Boycott" section, as it contains first-hand recollections from various athletes on the situation in Berlin, including the perspective of Jesse Owens. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/

The Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti

The Trial of Sacco & Vanzetti

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/SaccoV/SaccoV.htm

In 1927, Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed for the armed robbery of two pay-clerks in South Braintree, Massachusetts in 1920. Their case became a cause celebre across the world, as many felt that their trial was prejudiced by the prevailing anti-immigrant and anti-anarchist sentiment of the time. This collection of documents related to their trial is offered as part of the "Famous Trials" site created by Professor Douglas Linder at the University of Missouri, Kansas City School of Law. Visitors to the site can view a chronology of events, maps, biographies of the trial participants, and statements from the sentencing phase of the trial. Additionally, visitors can also read letters written from Sacco and Vanzetti during their incarceration and also look over a selection of images from their trial. The site is rounded out by a thorough bibliography and a short collection of additional websites. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Smart History

Smart History

http://smarthistory.org/

Under the headline "Art. History. Conversation.", Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker started the Smarthistory site in 2005 as a weblog that featured free audio guides. Since that time, the site as grown into a multimedia web-book "designed as a dynamic enhancement (or even substitute) for the traditional and static art history textbook." Visitors to the site will find several hundred artworks (along with videos and podcasts) organized thematically and by time period. Additionally, visitors can also use the drop down menus on the homepage to look for certain styles, artists, and themes that include "Image and Power", "The Artist as Professional", and "Bronze Casting". The videos are a real treat, and they include offerings like "Magritte's treacherous pipe" and "Mies's corporate classicism". >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2009. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Monday, April 13, 2009

National Portrait Gallery: Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture

http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/index.html

The lyricism and social consciousness of hip-hop music has been a source of inspiration for many artists working in photography, painting, film, and even contemporary multimedia projects. Recently, the National Portrait Gallery decided to create an exhibit that would explore some of these relationships and exchanges, and this website offers a taste of what visitors will find at the actual exhibition space. First-time visitors to the site can click on over to one of the main themes on the right-hand side of the homepage. Actually, the "Photography" area is a great place to start, and visitors can listen to an interview with photographer David Scheinbaum about his work and artistic vision. After that, visitors can look over a sampling of his images, which include concert photos of Gang Starr, Mos Def, and KRS-ONE. Moving on, the "Painting" area features the work of Kehinde Wiley, who is known for his large and vibrantly-colored paintings of young African American men. Some of the works featured here include portraits of Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, and Ice T. Overall, it's an interesting collection, and one that allows the National Portrait Gallery to break out into new territory. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Friday, April 3, 2009

UC Berkeley Library's Congressional Research Tutorials

http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/wikis/congresearch/

Making a clear and direct path through the vast amount of Congressional materials can be quite a chore, even for the most seasoned and experienced researcher. Fortunately, the University of California at Berkeley Library has created these fine Congressional tutorials. Designed to help users locate materials both online and in the library, these tutorials are in the form of short Flash-enabled videos. Most of the tutorials last about two minutes, and they include "Find a Bill", "How Do I Contact My Representative?", "Find Congressional Debate", and "Find a Hearing". After viewing one (or more) of these tutorials, users can also make their way to the "What's going on in Congress right now?" area to stay on top of the various activities of this important legislative body.

USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center

USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center [http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=1] - The Food and Nutrition Information Center - a leader in food and human nutrition information dissemination since 1971. Provides credible, accurate, and practical resources for nutrition and health professionals, educators, government personnel and consumers.

Stem Cells at the National Academies

Stem Cells at the National Academies [http://dels.nas.edu/bls/stemcells/] -
Stem cells continue to make news headlines on a daily basis, and for research scientists, journalists, and members of the general public, it's important to have access about developments in the field. One particularly fine resource is available on this site provided by the National Academies. Educators and the generally curious may wish to start exploring the site by clicking on the "Stem Cell Basics" area. Here they can download the booklet "Understanding Stem Cells", or just peruse the interactive online version. Moving on, visitors can then look at the amended document titled "Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research", which was first published in 2005, and then amended in 2007. Interested parties can also submit their own comments on these guidelines directly via an email link on the site. Finally, visitors can also sign up for email updates and look at the "Reports" area, which includes six substantive reports dating back to 2002

Cholera Online: A Modern Pandemic in Texts and Images

Cholera Online: A Modern Pandemic in Texts and Images [http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cholera/index.html] - Cholera is a disease which can spread quickly and it has certainly presented some tremendous challenges for public health officials and experts in recent times. This fascinating online collection brings together 221 English language monographs dating from 1817 to 1900 which deal with the cholera epidemics of that period. This project was undertaken by the National Library of Medicine, and the selection of documents was informed and inspired by the 315-page "Bibliography of Cholera" compiled by John Shaw Billings in 1875. First-time visitors would do well to start by reading the "Introduction" section before jumping in to the remainder of the site. After that, visitors can click on the "Read the Books" section to peruse the offerings by author, subject, date, and even location. The "Images" area is even better, as visitors can take in images organized by such thoughtful themes as "Social Commentary", Patients and Victims", and "Urban Outbreaks and Hygiene". >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2008. http://scout.wisc.edu/