[ECP] NetHappenings Newsletter



====== Research and Education ====

1.  American Museum of Natural History: Science Bulletins [Macromedia Flash
Player]
http://www.amnh.org/sciencebulletins/

Going to the American Museum of Natural History is a pretty wonderful
experience, but if you can't make it to the Upper West Side of New York on a
regular basis, you can still keep in touch via their Science Bulletins.
These online video features bring curious visitors the latest developments
in the fields of astrophysics, human biology, biodiversity, and evolution.
The Bulletins contain additional resource links, educator resources, and a
guide designed specifically for science educators to help them incorporate
the Bulletins into classroom work. All of the Bulletins are produced through
the collaboration of in-house writers, producers, and designers. They are
offered here in sections that include "Astro", "Earth", "Bio", and "Human",
and visitors are welcome to browse through the full-features,
visualizations, and snapshots. First-time visitors might want to start by
viewing either the feature on invasive species or "The Last Wild Horse: The
Return of Takhi to Mongolia". [KMG]


2.  Ruth Charney on Modeling with Cubes [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.maa.org/news/102308charney.html

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) continues to build on their
already solid online presence with the addition of this lecture by noted
mathematician and scholar Professor Ruth Charney. This particular lecture
was given at the MAA's Carriage House Conference Center in the fall of 2008
and it deals with how cubes can be used to represent a variety of systems.
As Charney notes, "The geometry of these spaces is strange, complicated, and
a lot of fun to study." Visitors to the site can watch several particularly
lucid examples from Charney's talk, read her biography, and also read a
detailed interview with her conducted by Michael Pearson. [KMG]


3.  The Archaeology Channel Video Guide [Real Player, Windows Media Player]
http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/videoguide.asp

Based in Oregon, The Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) was founded in
1999 in order to bring "the benefits of archaeology to a wider
constituency." They have succeeded mightily in this quest, and their main
website contains a wide range of educational resources, reports, and other
relevant materials. One of their most fascinating resources is their
collection of video programs. Visitors can use the "Video Guide", found on
the homepage, to view over 50 ALI programs in their entirety. Most of the
programs are under an hour in length, and they include profiles of ancient
mound builders in Louisiana, the history of an abandoned farming community
in North Carolina, and excavation work at the Foguang Temple in China.
Overall, it's a remarkable site, and if visitors are inclined to do so,
there's a place for them to make a donation on the site. [KMG]


4.  Congressional Hearings: Law Library of Congress [pdf]
http://www.loc.gov/law/find/hearings.html

Recently, the Law Library of Congress and Google teamed up on a
collaborative pilot project to digitize the Law Library's entire collection
of 75,000 volumes of printed Congressional Hearings. For those who might not
be familiar with these hearings, they typically contain testimony from
members of Congress, interest groups, and policy experts. The intent of this
initial digitization project is to produce text-readable versions of these
hearings and to make them available as quickly as possible. Currently, the
site contains three thematic collections that cover hearings on the U.S.
Census, freedom of information, and immigration. Visitors can browse through
them at their leisure and even offer their own comments on the quality of
the image and any general comments as well. [KMG]


5.  Canada Virtual Science Fair [pdf]
http://www.virtualsciencefair.com/

Real science fairs can be great fun, but there's nothing wrong with a
virtual science fair, and in the case of the Canada Virtual Science Fair,
there's so much that's right. Started in 1999, the Virtual Science Fair is
an annual online science and technology contest open to all Canadian
students in grades K-12. While non-Canadians aren't eligible to participate,
everyone can benefit from the tremendous science education resources on the
site. First off, visitors will want to learn about the past winning projects
by clicking on the "All Projects" section on the site. Visitors to this
section will learn about each project, their team, and so on. Along the
right side of the homepage visitors can view the "Special Awards" area. Here
they will find information about interesting projects that include
"Harvesting Our Nature's Gas Station", "Ice: A Slippery Topic", and "River
Pollutants Effect on River Bacteria". Additionally, visitors should be sure
to check out their weblog and their online forum. [KMG]


6.  Clara Barton National Historic Site [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.nps.gov/features/clba/feat0001/flash.html

Clara Barton, noted humanitarian and educator, spent the last fifteen years
of her life living in Glen Echo, Maryland. Her home was one of the first
National Historic Sites dedicated to the accomplishments of a woman, and
they have paid her further tribute by also creating this interactive guide
to her former residence. Upon entering the site, visitors are greeted by a
rendition of the song "America" from 1898 and an introductory screen that
talks about the resources offered here. After this pleasant experience,
visitors can click on through to the "Virtual Tour" or "Activities" section.
The "Virtual Tour" is quite impressive and thorough, as visitors can make
their way through all the rooms, staircases, and closets in her three-story
domicile. Within each space, visitors can rotate their view and read about
the objects and experiences associated with each location.  Moving on, the
"Activities" area contains nine different educational learning activities
for different ages. While these activities are intended for younger
students, they could potentially be used at a number of grade levels, and by
those who are just plain curious about Ms. Barton's life and times. [KMG]


7.  International IDEA: Voter Turnout [pdf]
http://www.idea.int/vt/

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA)
has a well-organized and very interesting voter turnout website loaded with
election data from around the world.  The goal of this Stockholm-based
organization is to "strengthen democratic institutions and processes."  It
works with other democracy builders, such as the UN, policy makers and donor
governments.  By compiling and analyzing voter turnout statistics since
1945, for national presidential and parliamentary elections, IDEA has
discovered that "high voter turnout does not necessarily mean that a multi-
party democracy is stable."  Check out the link "Why a Voter Turnout
Website?" on the homepage to read about the data they used to come to this
conclusion. To view the election statistics of any country, click on the
drop down box "Choose a Country" on the far right side of the page.  Once
you pick one, you'll get the country's voting data in a table, or you can
click in the upper right hand corner above the table, where it says "Graph,"
to see it in graph form. On the right hand side of the page, in the same
section where you can choose a country's statistics, you can also choose
other categories of analysis for which IDEA has data, such as "Voter Turnout
by Gender," "Voter Turnout by Age", "Vote Counting Methods", and "Voting by
Mail."  You can also find a link to their "Publications" in this same
section, and you'll find that they have a multitude of publications in
multiple languages and formats.  Some of the books can be purchased and
downloaded in their entirety, or shipped via the mail.  Some of the
pamphlets are even free of charge, and can be downloaded or shipped as well.
[KMG]


8.  Science in Focus [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.sumanasinc.com/scienceinfocus/scienceinfocus.html

Sumanas Inc.'s website offers a wide range of material, such as animations
of scientific processes, for a range of scientific disciplines, but here
visitors will find their "Science in Focus" section of the website. Some of
the topics that are brought to life with animating technology are antibiotic
resistance, stem cell research, malaria, anthrax, gene therapy, and peptic
ulcers.  Click on "Go to Presentation" next to your topic of choice, and
you'll be taken to a page that has the animation ready to play, but also has
several links to outside sources of information.  When you're ready to view
the animation, click on the link "Click to view animation" and you'll be
shown a simple player that will allow you to listen to the narration while
viewing the animation, or read the text while viewing the animation.
Visitors shouldn't miss the Malaria Parasite animation for an explanation of
how humans, mosquitoes, and the Plasmodium parasite all have to be involved
to successfully pass on malaria. [KMG]



====== General Interest ====

9.  The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath
http://www.bath.ac.uk/holburne/

At present, the only way you can visit the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath is
online, since they have closed for refurbishing till 2010.  You can read
about the plans for the improvements and check out floor plans and the
development schedule from a link on the homepage. If you click on the
"Collections" link on left hand side of the page, you will be able to check
out the "History" of the museum's beginnings, the "Highlights" of the fine
art and decorative art collections, or use the "Online Catalogue" called
Muse, to search through the collection.  The objects located in Muse are
divided into two primary themes: "The History of the Holburne Collection"
and "Art and Culture in Georgian Bath".  The best way to learn about these
themes is not to search using Muse, but while still in the "Online
Catalogue" link, click on the left hand side of the page where it says
Georgian Bath.  You will see many categories and subcategories from which to
learn about Georgian Bath culture, such as Art, Culture, Leisure, Work, and
Building the City.  The subcategories are clickable, such as "The Urban
Environment", "The Poor", "Parades and Pleasure Gardens", and "Service and
Labour" ­ each will lead you to objects from the museum that are
representative of the topic.  Some include explanatory text with the
objects, in order to give them a little more context. If you prefer to see
glimpses of the museum exhibitions, past, present, and future, click on
"Exhibitions" on the left hand side of the page, to be transported to your
options of "Forthcoming", "Current", and "Past."  The number of images from
the exhibitions is limited in each of these, but a written description does
accompany each exhibition. [KMG]


10. Uncommon Lives
http://uncommonlives.naa.gov.au/default.asp

The Uncommon Lives series on the National Archives of Australia website
takes an approach to Australian history that not only encompasses the well-
known history-makers, but also lesser known people's role in shaping
Australian history.  One of the stated goals of the Uncommon Lives series is
to show how amateur historians and researchers alike can use the archives to
find biographical resources. There are five stories the visitor can discover
by simply clicking on the image of the person or people next to the brief
description of their story including, "Muslim Journeys", "Charles and Ruth
Lane Poole", "Jessie Street", "Wolf Klaphake", and "Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda". By
clicking on any choice, visitors will find each story divided into
subsections.  At the top of the page there are also links to additional
topics such as "Life", "Timeline", and "Records". Explanatory text
accompanies the thumbnails of each image and these can be expanded into a
high quality image by clicking on them. Each of these stories provides a
unique and compelling look into Australian history. For instance in Wolf
Klaphake's story you can listen to or read the transcript of segments of the
ABC radio play "A Doubtful Character" which is about Klaphake's life and in
Dhakiyarr Wirrpanda's story, you can view the actual court records of his
case, which was the first for an Aboriginal Australian in the High Court.
[KMG]


11. Crace Collection of Maps of London [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/crace/

In the eighteenth century, wise sage and journalist Samuel Johnson opined
that when one was tired of London, they were in fact tired of life. Well,
the same might be said for this exuberant and delightful website, and it is
doubtful that visitors will be tired of its fine collection of London maps
even after several visits. Organized as part of the British Library's Online
Gallery collection, the Crace Collection of Maps of London was brought
together in the early part of the nineteenth century by society designer
Frederick Crace. All told, the collection consists of over 1200 printed and
hand-drawn maps which chart the development of the city and its immediate
vicinity from 1570 to 1860. Current map curator and head Peter Barber offers
up some of his favorite items from the collection on the homepage, including
the rather wordy "A guide for Cuntrey men in the famous Cittey of LONDON by
the helpe of wich plot they shall be able to know how farr it is to any
Street" from 1593. Visitors shouldn't stop there, as they should press on to
search through the rest of the collection and Barber's introductory essays.
[KMG]


12. goSmithsonian: Lincoln [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.gosmithsonian.com/lincoln

Many groups and organizations are gearing up for the bicentennial of Abraham
Lincoln's birth in 2009, and the Smithsonian Institution has created this
nice site to keep interested parties abreast of all the events that they and
their partner organizations are sponsoring. As the site notes, visitors can
both relive scenes from Lincoln's second inaugural ball and also tour
various city sites from the Lincoln era.  On the homepage, visitors can look
at the "Exhibits" and "Events" sections to get a jump start and on the right
side of the homepage, visitors can also make their way through related
Smithsonian magazine articles, a virtual jukebox of Lincoln-related ditties,
and also view videos from the Smithsonian Channel and the National Portrait
Gallery. Finally, visitors can also view museum floor plans here and sign up
to create their own customized Lincoln-themed itinerary. [KMG]


13. Mediastorm [Macromedia Flash Player]
http://mediastorm.org/

The principal aim of MediaStorm is "to usher in the next generation of
multimedia storytelling by publishing social documentary projects
incorporating photojournalism, interactivity, animation, audio and video for
distribution across multiple media." Many people have taken notice of their
fine work thus far, as they have garnered several Emmys and a couple of
Webby Awards in recent years. On their site, visitors can view some of their
recent work, either by clicking on any image or by clicking on "Menu" at the
top of the page.  From the menu, visitors should click on "Projects", which
includes a drop-down menu of their work and provides a brief synopsis along
with each image. The subject matter covered here is tremendous, as visitors
can look in on portraits of modern Rwanda, the global trade in wildlife, and
the aftermath of Chernobyl. Moving on, visitors can subscribe to their RSS
feed, podcasts, and newsletter in the "Subscribe" section. Finally, visitors
will also want to read up on their weblog about their latest and future
projects, and maybe even wander on over to their online store. [KMG]


14. Dying Speeches & Bloody Murders: Crime Broadsides
http://broadsides.law.harvard.edu/

"Dying speeches & Bloody Murders" might not sound like a site to visit right
before bedtime, but this engaging and fascinating collection brings together
an important set of crime broadsides that will engage the attention of
historians, legal scholars, and anyone with an interest in the history of
crime and punishment. This collection comes from the Harvard Law School
Library, and the conservation and digitization of these broadsides was made
possible by a generous grant from the Peck Stacpoole Foundation. These
broadsides would have been sold in much the same way a program would be sold
today at a major sporting event. Their price was usually quite low, and they
usually featured a description of the crime in question and a variety of
illustrations. Here visitors can view over 500 of these broadsides, and they
can browse around at their leisure, or search by category or keyword. [KMG]


15. The Albert G. Spalding Collection of Early Baseball Photographs and
Drawings
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?col_id=198

Sporting-good magnate Albert G. Spalding was quite the baseball aficionado,
and during his life he managed to collect hundreds of photographs, prints,
drawings, and printed illustrations related to baseball and other popular
American pastimes. Of course, Spalding was quite the ball player, as he
played for the National Association's Boston franchise and continued to make
his mark with the Chicago White-Stockings. This collection was created by
the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery initiative, and visitors can
browse around via the "Collection Contents" link or they can also use the
search engine to locate specific items of ephemera. Some of the highlights
here include photographs of Spalding and his colleagues and rare images of
"Town Ball" and "Old Cat" which were stick and ball games that existed as
variations on the English game of "Rounders". [KMG]


16. S'abadeb-The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists [Adobe Flash
Player]
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/exhibit/exhibitDetail.asp?eventID=13771#

This exhibition from the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) explores the art and
culture of the Salish First Peoples of Washington State and British
Columbia. The word s'abadeb translates as "gifts" in English, and represents
a wide range of beliefs and actions to the Coast Salish First People. The
web exhibition is divided into sections on the gifts of the earth,
ancestors, families, spirit world, and artists. The last is possibly the
most interesting, presenting works of modern artists working within Coast
Salish tradition, compared with historical works. For example, a 19th
century wooden spindle whorl with a pattern of fish is paired with a glass
whorl decorated with frogs, created in 1995. Other pairs include bracelets,
canoe paddles, woven items, and photographs. [DS]

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