·http://millercenter.org/oralhistory

The Miller Center at the University of Virginia has "systematically and comprehensively debriefed" dozens of important figures from the administrations of Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton. In addition, they are currently building up archives for George W. Bush's presidency, and have gathered many more interviews from key players in the presidencies of Herbert Hoover and Lyndon B. Johnson. Transcripts, audio recordings, and sometimes videos of these interviews are available on the website, and it makes for fascinating reading. For instance, an interview with William Harrman, who served as security at President Hoover's rural camp, gives insight not only into Hoover himself, but into how politics was done during the Great Depression. [CNH]

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·http://www.egfi-k12.org/

Previously covered by the Scout Report in 2003, the eGFI (Engineering, Go For It!) website has been entirely revamped and provides visually stimulating resources for teachers and students of STEM subjects, as well as the general public. The home page presents a swell of colorful postcards, each emblazoned with a STEM subject, such as Mining, Agriculture, and Aerospace. Readers may select Mechanical to learn about engineers who are working on robots, electric scooters, and other projects. Educators may want to navigate to the For Teachers section, where they will find lesson plans, class activities, web resources, and other tidbits that are often browsable by grade level. In addition, the Engineer Your Path link provides welcome resources for students who are thinking about a career in engineering, including an overview of salaries, profiles of engineering students, essential steps to getting into an engineering program, and descriptions of life on the job. [CNH]

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·http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr668.pdf

Student debt has been in the news lately, and for good reason. Student debt more than doubled between 2004 and 2012, increasing from about 350 million dollars to just shy of one trillion dollars. In 2008, student debt was the smallest of household debts. Today, among household debt, student debt is second only to mortgages, and it has surpassed credit cards. What happened? This Staff Report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York susses out the details of this extremely complicated and far reaching problem. The twenty page report will be of use to policy makers, university administrators, guidance counselors, and anyone who is interested in the economics of student debt in America.
[CNH]

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·http://makerspace.nysci.org/

While Maker Space's physical home is in the New York Hall of Science in Queens, the extensive and profoundly creative projects that it posts regularly on this website can inspire children, teens, and adults all over the country. Currently, the site is featuring such wonders as a stop motion animation of penguins playing Tetris, 3D designs of robots and castles, photos of kids playing with their 3D printouts of jewelry, animals, and other wonders. There are hundreds of other inspirational posts on the site, and it is easy to scroll back and back through the work of creative kids who have been endowed with great resources. The site, which is curated much like an online museum exhibition, was created to showcase the work of young artists. Interested readers will delight in the creativity on display here. [CNH]

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·http://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/

For readers who love stats and facts, Beyond the Numbers, which is published biweekly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, will provide hours of fresh insights on a range of topics. The home page always features the latest update, as well as three recent articles (available in PDF format), such as "Understanding health plan types: What's in a name?" However, the real meat of the site can be found by browsing the Archive, which takes readers to topics dating all the way back to 1996 when the feature was first published. The archives can be browsed in chronological order. They can also be searched utilizing seven distinct themes, including employment & unemployment, global economy, regional economics, and others. [CNH]

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·http://digital.boisestate.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15948coll5

When the United Farm Workers began striking for higher wages and better living conditions in the early 1960s, the inequities that Chicano and Latino workers faced were grim. They worked for subsistence wages, with no health care and no job security. Over a period of a decade, Cezar Chavez and other labor leaders garnered national support for the plight of working families in California, Texas, and other states, and won a number of legal and social victories. Part of the Albertsons Library Digital Collections at Boise State University, these photographs by photojournalist Claudio Beagarie document the struggle. Taken between 1965 and 1967, the black and white stills depict farm workers' and their families in their homes, in the fields, and marching with Cesar Chavez. The collection is searchable, browsable, and features many stirring images from this moment in the labor rights movement. [CNH]

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·http://www.learner.org/courses/neuroscience/

Neuroscientists have discovered more about the brain in the last 20 years than in all of history. However, it's not always easy to synthesize these vast swells of information and put them to use. This course from Annenberg Learner hopes to take what we've learned about how children's brains work, and present it in a way that teachers can use. The course is presented in eight segments, including units about Different Brains, Emotion & Thinking, Seeing Others, Different Learners, Neural Networks, Implications for Schools, and an Introduction and Conclusion. Videos and a variety of Visuals and Interactives make the information compelling and accessible. Teaching Issues, offered in an FAQ style, is another great feature of the site and provides tips on how to address student questions that may arise from specific units or sections. [CNH]

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·http://digitalcollections.library.ubc.ca/cdm/landingpage/collection/darwin

Of the many thousands of letters that Charles Darwin wrote during his lifetime, over 7,000 are kept in various libraries around the world. The Woodward Library at the University of British Columbia is in possession of two groups of these letters. The first, numbering about 40 letters, is drawn from Darwin's correspondence with Jim Scott Burdon Sanderson about the two scientists' research on insect-eating plants. The second, a group of about 80 letters, part of the Fox/Pearce (Darwin) Collection - 1821-1884, details observations of the natural history of insects, birds, and eggs. The letters have been scanned and uploaded to the library's website, where readers may zoom in on interesting tidbits, read about the collection, and explore the life and times of this world-renowned naturalist. The Additional Resources section is also well worth a look, providing links to related projects, such as the Darwin Correspondence Project and the Darwin Manuscripts Project. [CNH]

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·http://fermentationwineblog.com/

Tom Wark has been involved in wine one way or another since the 1990s. He has been a wine marketer, a publicist, and an advocate for both consumers and vineyards. His daily blog covers a wide range of wine-related topics, from the nitty gritty of wine production ("Urging Reviews of American Sauvignon Blanc-Semillion Blends") to the legal ins-and-outs of the industry ("The Coming Repeal of the Three Tier System for Wine, Beer, and Spirits") to commentary on wine culture ("The Meaning of 'Wine Country Casual' Revealed"). Wark is an entertaining writer and knowledgeable about his subject. For budding viticulturists or readers who simply have an interest in wine, this blog won't disappoint. A selection of additional Recommended Wine Reading and well-stocked Archives dating back to 2004 make sure there is much for readers to consume on the subject. [CNH]

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·http://abbottandcostello.net/

William Alexander (Bud) Abbott and Louis (Lou) Francis Cristillo (who later changed his name to Costello) were both born in New Jersey around the turn of the 20th century. They met on the burlesque circuit, where they perfected their straight man/clown comedy routine, and proceeded to radio, broadway, film, and then television during their decades-long partnership. This fan website offers a host of Abbott and Costello memorabilia, including scripts of such famous comedy routines as "Who's on First?" and "Loafing." The Videos section will perhaps be of the most interest to readers, offering numerous short clips and two full-length Biographies that can be streamed online. [CNH]

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·https://www.ted.com/talks/angelo_vermeulen_how_to_go_to_space_without_having_to_go_to_space#t-36817

Angelo Vermeulen is a space researcher, a biologist, and an artist. He was also crew commander of a NASA-funded Mars simulation, in which six crew members spent four months locked away together in a dome in the crater of the Mauna Loa volcano on Hawaii. The crew was conducting a food study, but the experiment gave Vermeulen other ideas. He started encouraging artists from around the world to build their own starship prototypes - and then live in them together. This is a fascinating talk by a big thinker who believes that "we will start inhabiting outer space," sooner or later, and we'd better start planning for it. The video is a little over seven minutes in length, and like most TED Talks comes with an Interactive Transcript and offers Related talks that may be of interest to readers. [CNH]

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·http://www.genealogyintime.com/

GeneologyInTime, an online Canadian genealogy magazine, has a lot to offer readers who are fascinated by the history of families - whether their own, those of notable figures, or others. Articles on the site cover such topics as how to scan old photos for genealogy research, the top 100 genealogy sites of 2015, and a feature on why immigrants change their names. Readers can peruse the latest genealogy records around the world in the Records area, or explore the News section for the latest in genealogy studies. The Genealogy Search Engine is another great feature on the site, allowing readers to search 3.6 billion records from thousands of sites around the web. [CNH]

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·http://www.oneearthsangha.org/

One Earth Sangha seeks to galvanize a Buddhist response to climate change by raising awareness of the science, providing an interactive space where teachers and community members can discuss the issues, and creating opportunities for focused action. Readers who are sympathetic to this perspective can find much to engage on the web site. Five conversations with Buddhist teachers are available in the conversation archive. Articles cover topics such as emotional resilience and reports on climate action. Perhaps the most informative part of the site, however, is found in Resources on Dharma and Climate, where readers may peruse dozens of resources on climate change with both Buddhist and Interfaith responses. [CNH]

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·http://www.mcsweeneys.net/tendency

Founded by award-winning author Dave Eggers, McSweeney's Publishing has been putting out offbeat books, magazines, and websites since 1998. Since October 2014 it has also been a nonprofit. Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency is the group's daily-updated humor and literature site. The homepage divides posts into five categories: Today's Feature, Recently, Also New, Popular, and Columns. Each article is curated with the playful postmodernism and "new sincerity" that has made Dave Eggers and the McSweeney's community beloved to millions. Recent articles have satirized natural birth techniques, gender inequities, and a column in which Joni Mitchell applies for a tenure track position in a philosophy department. There is much to enjoy on this quirky, brilliant site. [CNH]

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·http://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks

Quirks & Quarks, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's bi-weekly mashup of the world's cutting edge science, has been around for almost 40 years. Nearly 800,000 Canadians tune in to listen to the show's reports on self driving cars, artificial intelligence, space comets, snake fossils, and myriad other topics. For those of us who don't live in Canada, the Quirks & Quarks website is packed with fascinating tidbits. Readers may like to start with the podcasts themselves where they can listen to hour-long episodes, or click on individual segments of approximately ten minutes. In addition, Bob McDonald's Blog contains some of the most entertaining science writing on the web, containing pieces about astronauts in space, beer's relationship to volcanoes, and other interesting topics. [CNH]

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·http://digitalcollections.oscars.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15759coll9

Now that the 2014 Oscars have been awarded, indulge your inner archivist with the Margaret Herrick Library Academy Awards Collection. The Margaret Herrick Library is the library facility for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and most of its collections are non-circulating, requiring a trip to Beverly Hills. However, its digital collections can be browsed from the comfort of your home computer. The Academy Awards digital collection contains a complete set of awards ceremony programs, posters, and rule books, dating back to the very first awards ceremony on May 16, 1929. There are also over 600 photographs, dating 1927 - 2012, and other assorted artifacts, such as menus, invitations, and tickets. Select the photos to see a host of luminaries posing with their statuettes, including Walt Disney, who received a Special Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse in 1932; Julie Andrews, who won Best Actress in 1964 for Mary Poppins; Francis Ford Coppola, when the Godfather II won for Directing, Best Picture, Writing, and Original Dramatic Score in 1974; and Kathryn Bigelow, when the Hurt Locker won Directing and Best Picture in 2009. [DS]

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·https://ifttt.com

If This Then That (IFTTT) is an innovative web-based service that helps users easily and automatically facilitate numerous computerized tasks. The service operates on the premise of user-initiated "recipes" - a combination of two "channels," or services. Readers simply enter a "trigger channel" and an "action channel" to create a recipe. Each time the trigger occurs, the action follows. For instance, readers may ask IFTTT to email them any time the temperature falls below freezing, or text them anytime the Philadelphia Eagles appear in the news. Sign up is free, and the website is simple and intuitive. IFTTT works compatibly with numerous apps, including Instagram, Dropbox, and Blogger. [CNH]

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·https://www.surveymonkey.com

For readers who would like a simple, free online survey platform, Survey Monkey is one of the top contenders. The basic service, in which readers may create surveys using more than 15 types of questions, customize logos, and send out their products by mobile, web, and social media, is free. Sign up takes less than five minutes, and surveys can be designed quickly and easily. [CNH]

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It's official: Americans should drink more coffee
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/21/its-official-americans-should-drink-more-coffee/

Coffee's Great, U.S. Panel Says in Official Diet Recommendations
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-19/coffee-s-great-u-s-panel-says-in-official-diet-recommendations

Coffee: 5 Surprising Reasons Why You Should Be Drinking More of It
http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/coffee-5-surprising-reasons-why-you-should-be-drinking-more-of-it.html

Healthful diet report: Sugary drinks out; coffee, eggs in
http://news.yahoo.com/healthful-diet-proposal-sugary-drinks-180456942.html

Current Worldwide Annual Coffee Consumption per capita
http://chartsbin.com/view/581

Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee
http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015-scientific-report/10-chapter-5/d5-5.asp

Americans have long been concerned about their coffee intake. In fact, there has been no shortage of studies linking caffeine intake to clinical depression, diabetes, heart disease, and other maladies. Research published in the last few years, however, has vociferously challenged those claims. As it turns out, most of the naysayers were failing to control for other risky behaviors like smoking. When researchers statistically account for bad habits, the results tell a very different story. In fact - coffee lovers rejoice! - it seems that coffee may not only be harmless. It could even be healthy. All of this hit the news in full force last week when a panel of top nutrition experts released the Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. According to the committee, it's time coffee consumption was reconsidered as its healthy benefits very likely outweigh any associated risks. [CNH]

The first link features the Washington Post's Wonkblog, where readers can peruse commentary on the report, as well as learn about the coffee consumption of Americans over time. The second site, from Bloomberg Business, notes that the U.S. is the world's largest consumer of coffee, among other tidbits. Next, Peter Economy, writing for Inc., lists five reasons why readers should drink more coffee. Yahoo! News, listed fourth, reviews the evidence on eggs and sugary drinks, in addition to extolling the benefits of a cup of joe. Lastly, the fifth link displays a map of coffee consumption around the world, while the sixth navigates to the Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that has caused such a stir.