Monday, December 19, 2011

MIT World

MIT World
http://mitworld.mit.edu/

MIT World is a free and open site that provides on demand video of significant public events at MIT.

MIT World™ answers that question by publishing key presentations by the MIT faculty and guest speakers who are shaping the future. These free, on-demand videos, available 24/7 to viewers worldwide, reflect and extend MIT’s educational mission—to provide the best education in science, technology, and related fields—to engaged learners anytime, anywhere.

More a publication of thought leadership, and less a news site, MIT World aims to capture the pulse and excitement of the range of ideas discussed at MIT every day and share them with the world. A growing archive of more than 700 works offers insights on topics ranging from architecture to innovation to technology and sustainability. Cumulatively, these presentations by world-class thinkers and doers map great ideas in the making.

>Information provided by the Website.

G. Robert Vincent Voice Library

G. Robert Vincent Voice Library
http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/

The G. Robert Vincent Voice Library is a collection of over 40,000 hours of spoken word recordings, dating back to 1888. The collection includes the voices of over 100,000 persons from all walks of life. Political and cultural leaders and minor players in the human drama are captured and cataloged to serve the research needs of a local, national and international user base.

The Vincent Voice Library is a collection of primary source sound material, found mainly in speech, interview, lecture and performance formats. It is the largest academic voice library in the United States and is part of the Michigan State University Libraries.

The collection is stored primarily on reels of magnetic recording tape. Items represent, in most cases, a migration from other recording formats, off-air broadcasts, or Voice Library original recordings. New items are mastered digitally and a retrospective digital re-mastering of existing analog recordings is underway. About 15,000 digital sound files have been created.

Voice recordings are really the product of the Twentieth Century and very few exist which were made prior to 1900. Sound was distributed more widely with the coming of radio in the 1920’s and more signals meant the likelihood of more things being recorded. The Voice Library collection begins to reflect the greater prevailing culture beginning in the 1930’s and 1940’s, with the coming of FDR.

Strong areas of collection emphasis include, American and foreign politics and government, labor history, show business and media history, academic lectures, sports, popular culture, literature and the arts and Michigan State University history.

>Information provided by the Website.

Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar

Cyberdeterrence and Cyberwar
http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG877.html

The concerns surrounding the protection of cyberspace as a function of national security are rather serious, particularly in light of recent acts of cyberterrorism against various government agencies and the like. This document from the RAND Corporation's Martin C. Libicki offers a look into how a "cyberwar" might affect various networks, counterattack strategies, the value of deterrence, and how the United States might defend against such an attack. The 213-page paper has nine chapters, including "Strategic Cyberwar" and "Operational Cyberwar". Additionally, the report has three appendixes, include the "The Dim Prospects for Cyber Arms Control". For persons studying international relations, security studies, and related fields this report will be most useful.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Voyage of the Slave Ship Sally: 1764-1765

The Voyage of the Slave Ship Sally: 1764-1765
http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/sally/

In 1764, a one hundred ton ship called the Sally set sail from Providence, Rhode Island to West Africa on a slaving voyage. The vessel was owned by Nicholas Brown and Company, which was a local merchant firm run by four brothers. The records of this particular venture are preserved in the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University and this remarkable website offers all of the records that remain from this journey. First-time visitors should peruse the "History" area to read a few thematic essays on different aspects of the Sally's journey, which cover topics like "On the African Coast", "The Middle Passage", and "Fitting out the Sally". After that, they should visit "The Documents" area. Here they will find letters, invoices, legal documents, and trade books that tell the story of how the ship was outfitted, who sailed aboard here, and what cargo she carried. This project is another well-done endeavor created by the Center for Digital Initiatives, and it merits several visits.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Sibley Music Library: Musical Scores

Sibley Music Library: Musical Scores
https://urresearch.rochester.edu/viewInstitutionalCollection.action?collectionId=63

With over 10,000 digitized pieces of music in their online archive, the University of Rochester's Sibley Music Library is a force to be reckoned with for performers, musicologists, and others. The works in the archive come from the Eastman School of Music, and they are meant to be a performance resource, as well as a resource for those with a passion for music composition. Visitors can get started by looking over the "Musical Scores Recent Submissions" area near the top of the page. Here visitors can peruse romantic songs by G.W. Chadwick, a violin concerto by Carl von Reinecke, and a concert fantasy for piano and orchestra by Tchaikovsky. Also, visitors can use their search engine to look for favorite works and they can also subscribe to the RSS feed.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Mississippi Freedom Summer Project

Mississippi Freedom Summer Project [pdf]
http://digital.lib.muohio.edu/fs/

The Mississippi Freedom Summer Project website, from Miami University of Ohio, documents the history of 1964's "Freedom Summer", which was when volunteers gathered at the former Western College for Women in order to be trained to register African-American voters in Mississippi. Three volunteers were subsequently murdered in Mississippi, and "these events called attention to racial inequality and served as a catalyst for change." The collection was created by a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council, the Miami University Libraries, and a generous grant from Catherine Ross-Loveland, a 1952 graduate of the Western College for Women. The materials here include over 765 documents related to the Freedom Summer, including reports from the FBI about those involved with the activities around this form of civil rights activism and articles from the Ohio press about the civil rights movement in the South during that time. There are also 27 videos here from conversations and tours held on campus in 2004 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Summer. The videos include walking tours of the Western College for Women and panel discussions about faith and activism. Overall, it's a tremendous collection and one that merits several visits.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Latin American Business History: Resources and Research

Latin American Business History: Resources and Research
http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/laoh/

Starting in December 2007, a team of researchers at the Harvard Business School began interviewing 21 leading business practitioners from Argentina and Chile for their Latin American business history initiative. The hope is that these oral histories will serve as a valuable resource for research on the business history of these two countries since the 1960s. On this site, visitors can listen to the interviews (in Spanish) and also read transcripts in English. Each profile contains a brief biography of each businessperson, along with material on their service to their respective industry. Moving on, visitors can also look through the rest of the Baker Library Historical Collections, which include collection of Brazilian railroad company records and the photographic records of the United Fruit Company. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Digital Library of Indigenous Science Resources

Digital Library of Indigenous Science Resources
http://www.dlisr.org/index.html

The Digital Library of Indigenous Science Resources (DLISR) is a library collection of online text, video, audio, and image files of Indigenous science. According to the DLISR, Native or Indigenous Science "involves Native persons learning about and understanding the natural world (or non-Native persons learning about and understanding the natural world in the same ways Native people do)." The library includes knowledge about the natural world as well as methods of teaching and learning about the natural world. All the resources found in the DLISR are authored or produced by Indigenous persons or organizations, or are "approved for inclusion in the library collection by an elder or other Indigenous person with the expertise to assess the resource." Visitors will note that the National Science Foundation (NSF) is one of the supporters of this digital library, and they can find more information on Indigenous or Native Science by checking out the "Introduction" tab at the top of the page. The overarching categories available in the library are "Climate Change", "Education", "Law", "Sovereignty", "Traditional Knowledge" and "Traditional Foods". There are approximately two dozen subtopics for visitors to choose under the categories. For example, under the "Traditional Foods" category visitors will find five resources, including one entitled "Alaska Traditional Knowledge and Native Foods Database", which contains measurements of contaminants found in the animals harvested by Alaska Natives.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Sophia Smith Collection: Voices of Feminism

Sophia Smith Collection: Voices of Feminism
http://www.smith.edu/library/libs/ssc/vof/vof-intro.html

Based at Smith College, the Voices of Feminism Oral History Project "documents the persistence and diversity of organizing for women in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century." The women interviewed here include labor, peace, and anti-racism activists, along with anti-poverty organizers and lesbian rights advocates. The project was funded by the Ford Foundation from 2002 to 2008, and visitors will find that they can also read transcripts of the interviews as well. The "Narrators" page features biographical profiles of each interviewee, along with links to the transcript of each interview. As a bonus feature, there are video excerpts for six of the women interviewed as part of the project.

Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America

Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America
http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/ruralatlas/

The United States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) "promotes the well-being of rural America through research and analysis to better understand the economic, demographic, environmental, and social forces affecting rural regions and communities." Part of this work includes the creation of this remarkable atlas, which provides a "spatial interpretation of county-level, economic and social conditions along four dimensions: people, jobs, agriculture, and county classifications." The atlas allows users to view county-level maps for over 60 socioeconomic indicators via the interactive map here. It is quite easy to use, and there's also a pop-up box for each county that provides easy access to additional demographic information. Visitors can also download the data sets for each indicator from the "Download the Data" tab.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

National Center for Media Engagement

National Center for Media Engagement [pdf]
http://www.mediaengage.org/

Funded by the Center for Public Broadcasting, the National Center for Media Engagement is dedicated to supporting "public media organizations nationwide in engaging their communities." They provide resources for stations and producers to engage citizens in a range of platforms, and their website is a great place to learn about their work. On the homepage, visitors will find seven sections, including "Think & Strategize", "Plan & Design", "Execute", "Renew & Upgrade" and "Communicate Impact". Public media organizations will be able to use these sections to use social media to communicate their mission to the public. Further down on the homepage, visitors can also learn about "Public Media Stories of Impact". These stories are taken from a range of public media organizations, such as pieces from Austin on the arts community and Columbus, Ohio's work on community engagement. It's also worth taking a look at their blog, which contains direct links to other resources created by public radio and television stations from around the United States.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Stem Cell Resources

Stem Cell Resources
http://www.stemcellresources.org/

The mission of the Stem Cell Resources website is "to provide timely, reliable, high-quality and scientifically credible stem cell information for the educational community worldwide." The website is a division of Bioscience Network which publishes online science education materials. On the site, visitors will find a stem cell image library, a multimedia area, and a special section titled "For Educators". In the "For Educators" area, visitors will find links to a primer on stem cells and links to educational resources on stem cells from curriculum to case studies to lesson plans from such trusted sources as the Australian Stem Cell Centre and the National Institutes of Health. Moving on, the "Multimedia" area includes videos that show how embryonic stem cell lines are made, along with other animations and graphics on the topic. Additionally, the site's "SCR Library" area includes the link to the Stem Cell Image Library, which provides dozens of photos of stem cells taken from researchers at the University of Cambridge and other institutions.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Immigrants in 2010 Metropolitan America

Immigrants in 2010 Metropolitan America [pdf]
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/1013_immigration_wilson_singer.aspx

The 2010 Census has afforded scholars and public policy experts with a wealth of data on demographics in the United States, and many people have chosen to use this data to look at urban and suburban settlement patterns. As part of their work at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program Jill H. Wilson and Audrey Singer have composed this 13-page paper which looks at the transformation of the immigrant community over the past decade. Released in October 2011, the report notes that the foreign-born population in the United States reached 40 million in 2010 and that immigrant settlement became less concentrated during the 2000s. The report also notes that 51 percent of immigrants lived in the suburbs of large metropolitan areas, up from 48 percent in 2000. The report also includes several graphs and charts that help provide some visual documentation of these various transformations.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Documenting the American South: Oral Histories

Documenting the American South: Oral Histories
http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/index.html

Telling the history of the American South is a complex process, and this wonderful collection from the University of North Carolina's Southern Oral History Program is an attempt to tell part of that story. This particular website brings together almost 500 oral history interviews collected over a period of many decades, and it has been made possible in part with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The collection has six primary themes, including "Charlotte", "Civil Rights", "Southern Politics", and "Piedmont Industrialization". On the homepage, visitors can read a brief summary of each theme, and after looking over each description they can browse around at their leisure or perform a keyword search across the interviews. Visitors shouldn't miss the "Piedmont Industrialization" area, as it provides some remarkable insights into the transformation from traditional industrial production (such as mill work) to agribusiness and financial services in the 20th century.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Study Skills Tip Sheets & Advice

Study Skills Tip Sheets & Advice [pdf]
http://www.college.emory.edu/home/academic/learning/studyskillsconsultations/tips.html

Becoming a successful college student means adapting to the pace and rigors of academic expectations. Staff members at Emory University's College of Arts and Sciences have created this set of study skills tip sheets and advice to help students accomplish their goals. On the site, visitors will find nine different documents, including "Science and Math Tips for Success", "Note-taking", and "Essential Tips for Freshmen (and other students too)". The site also includes documents on getting ready for a test and time management. Visitors will also note that the site contains links to a GPA grade calculator and the equally important "Raise Your GPA Calculator".

Nuclear Threat Initiative Research Library

Nuclear Threat Initiative Research Library
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e_index.html

Established in 2001 as a private entity, and re-established as a non-profit in 2003, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) desires to "strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and to work to build the trust, transparency and security." Visitors will find the "Research Library" to be very thorough, as it includes sections like "Country Profiles", CNS Nonproliferation "Databases", "Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations and Regimes", and "NIS Nuclear Trafficking". Visitors interested in reading open source documents on issues of proliferation and delivery of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons of eight governments, such as China, India, France, Israel and Russia, can find them under the "Official Documents" link at the top of any page. Some of the documents include China's "Laws and Regulations", Russia's "State Duma" and Pakistan's "Mission to the United Nations".

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Flash Tutorials for Biological Sciences

Flash Tutorials for Biological Sciences [requires Flash Player]
http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/biology/

Over the past few years, staff members at Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Biological Sciences and the Office of Technology for Education have created an impressive suite of multimedia course materials to assist science instructors. The materials here are divided into four primary sections, including "Interactive Animations", "Biology Labs", and "Supplemental Interactives". In the "Interactive Animations" area visitors will find animations that illustrate cell membranes, transport functions (such as signal transdaction) and DNA replication. Moving on, the "Biology Labs" area contains virtual lab exercises that deal with protein purification, membrane permeability, and osmosis. Finally, the "Supplemental Interactives" contains interactive features that address topics like the ICE structure. Here users can see the operation of covalent bonds, as well as the hydrogen bonds which form the structure.

>From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Chemistry Tutorials

Chemistry Tutorials
http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~coursedev/Online%20tutorials/chemtutorials.htm

Getting students ready for college-level chemistry courses is no easy task. Fortunately, Washington University teamed up with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to create this online tutorial for persons seeking to do just that. The tutorials here offer reviews of introductory topics within the field of general chemistry, practice problems, practice quizzes, and an online diagnostic exam. On the left-hand side of the site, visitors can click through sections that include "Periodic Table" and "Constants/Equations". The "Subjects" area includes twelve different topics, including moles, chemical formulas, and stoichiometry. Each topical area has a brief overview, complete with diagrams and other illustrative materials. Also, the diagnostic exam may be quite helpful for educators and students who wish to test their mettle against the basic principles of such a chemistry course.

Cultural & Academic Films

Cultural & Academic Films
http://www.archive.org/details/culturalandacademicfilms

For those people who might be interested in little-seen films, the Cultural & Academic Films section of the Internet Archive is a site of great importance. The collection currently contains over 1,000 films that deal with everything from leper colonies in Burma to experimental films from the personal collection of Timothy Leary. Visitors can check out the "Most Downloaded Items Last Week" area to get a sense of the wisdom of the crowds, and then look at the "Sub-Collections" area. Here they will find films contributed from the Buckminster Fuller Archive, the Khan Academy, and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. First-time visitors may wish to view the 35-minute film "The Happy City" from 1959. This film follows Bill Deneen as he travels three days by cart to the remote leper colony run by Father Cesare Columbo in Burma. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

United Nations Development Programme: Open Data

United Nations Development Programme: Open Data
http://data.undp.org/

In an effort to expand access to large data sets and information about their work, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has created this website to provide access to such materials. Visitors can dive right in with the "Exploring the Data" section, and they have the option to look over information organized by country or project. The helpful diagram on the homepage provides a basic visual representation of where the UNDP directs its various resources. Recent data indicates that the top three recipients of UNDP funds are Afghanistan, the Republic of the Sudan, and Zimbabwe. On the right-hand side of the homepage, visitors can use the "Our Stories" section to learn about how the UNDP deploys its resources in Somalia to support local governance and their work supporting fishermen in Panama. When looking through the countries or projects for data sets, visitors will note that they can look over the data in a visual format, export it for other uses, and also filter through the dataset. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Shakespeare in the Parlor

Shakespeare in the Parlor
http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Exhibitions/Printsinparlor/shakespeare/index.htm

Shakespeare's works were quite popular within the United States from the time of the early colonies, but the first illustrated version of the bard's works did not appear until the 1840s. Between 1844 and 1847 Gulian C. Verplanck's "Shakespeare Plays" was published, complete with elaborate illustrations. This digital collection from the American Antiquarian Society brings together a range of illustrations of Shakespeare's works from a literary annual and gift books in the nineteenth century. The materials here are divided into different themes, including "Imagining the Man", "Comedies", "Women", and "Re-using Shakespeare". Visitors can click through each theme to learn about these various illustrations, which include depictions of Miranda, Juliet, and scenes from The Merry Wives. The exhibit is rounded out by a bibliography and an "About" area. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Anatomy and Physiology Learning Modules

Anatomy and Physiology Learning Modules
http://msjensen.cehd.umn.edu/Webanatomy/default.asp

The College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota has created this interactive and engaging set of resources designed to help college students learn about anatomy and physiology. Along with the learning modules, visitors can also take part in the rather fun "Anatomy Bowl". Here visitors can take on topics like biochemistry, the heart, and the reproductive system in a format that is quite similar to a certain popular television game show. Moving along, there's the "Self Test" section. Here visitors can take quizzes of varying lengths designed to test their knowledge of fifteen different subjects, including the endocrine system and the lymphatic system. The site also contains a "Timed Tests" area and a more comprehensive "Quiz Bowl" which allows visitors the opportunity to answer seventeen questions across a myriad of topics. >From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/