The Scout Report -- Volume 22, Number 12

CareersInPsychology.org provides numerous tools and resources for young minds interested in the various degree paths and career options in mental health and psychology. The site opens with a big question: "Where will a career in Psychology take you?" From there, informative articles attempt to provide an answer through discussions of popular psychology trends and pressing issues. Organizational sections (Careers, Degrees, Jobs, Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Therapists) let readers research specific careers, degree programs, licensure information, and even internship opportunities. For instance, selecting the Psychologists tab produces a drop down menu with a number of subcategories, such as Psychologist Licensure, which lists the requirements for getting licensed as a psychologist in each of the 50 states, including degree requirements, clinical requirements, and other details. [CNH]

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For those of us who have become enamored with the wonders of Ceres and other asteroids, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Asteroid Watch will come as a welcome source for news, updates, and information about these potentially hazardous space rocks. Recent News items have included closest-ever photographs of Ceres, the 587-mile wide minor planet that orbits neptune, plans for a new "comet hitchhiker" that would land on multiple asteroids, and an article debunking recent Internet rumors that a giant asteroid was set to collide with the earth. Under Related Links, readers will also find Asteroid Fast Facts, as well as Images and Videos of asteroids. The site also offers a downloadable Asteroid Watch widget, which informs readers of asteroids and comets that are scheduled to make relatively close approaches to earth. However, direct download isn't available from this webpage and readers will need to conduct a search of the JPL website for download options and instructions. [CNH]

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The United Nations Environment Programme works with partners worldwide to encourage sustainable development through sound environmental practices. Over the years, the UNEP has amassed an impressive array of resources and data about a range of ecologically-related topics. Readers may search for specific resources or datasets, or scout the site based on five different Types of Content: Spatial Data/Maps, Books, Reports, Journal Papers, and Online Tools. However readers choose to sort the categories, the contents of the site are informative, featuring articles on the world's drylands, the system of environmental-economic accounting, and many other erudite topics. Readers may also opt to Search the Biodiversity Heritage Library for a collection of historical publications from the UNEP and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). [CNH]

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The Sea of Liberty site can be a support for educators of many age groups. Largely drawn from the Monticello exhibit, The Boisterous Sea of Liberty, the site "traces the development and ongoing influence of Thomas Jefferson's transformational ideas about liberty, particularly those expressed in the Declaration of Independence." To access the widest breadth of resources, educators will likely want to create a free account. From there, they may scout the site's four sections: Explore, Create, Showcase, and Teach. Explore allows readers to browse the collection of objects, paintings, books, quotes, and other primary sources from Jefferson's world. Create lets teachers and students build a digital project out of the resources available on the site. Showcase features the projects that others have created. Finally, Teach features resources for teachers of social studies, language arts, world history, government, and other subjects. [CNH]

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As the BBC's former Washington Bureau Chief, Simon Wilson, once noted, baseball is a metaphor for American life. This Library of Congress themed resource site helps educators unpack the history, values, and political consciousness of the United States, using baseball as a lens. Here educators will find a multitude of source materials related to baseball and the American psyche. The Primary Source Sets, for instance, reveals the guided lesson, "Baseball: Across a Divided Society." Along with a thematic collection of photographs that span more than a century, readers will find here a complete teacher's guide designed to help students draw out important historical themes. The Collection Connections section, on the other hand, features four collections dedicated to Baseball, from Jackie Robinson's career highlights to turn of the century Baseball Cards. Perhaps best of all, the Lesson Plans include four excellent classroom activities, three of which focus on race in America's favorite past time. [CNH]

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With this rather remarkable timeline, the staff members of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum have brought to life a pivotal year in the struggle for civil rights in the United States: 1963. While the historic events on the timeline begin in 1939 and span all the way to 1965, the interactive element is limited to this one tumultuous year. Readers will want to Enter the Timeline to access the 230+ primary sources that have been purposefully organized into seven event chapters. Taken together, these resources, which include telegrams to and from the White House, photographs of the march on Washington, memos from the Commission on Civil Rights, and video clips of JFK addressing "anti-Negro terrorism in the South," offer a behind the scenes look at the Kennedy administration's response to key events in civil rights history. Additionally, the site offers two separate resource pages, one For Educators and one For Students. Educators will enjoy the multiple lesson plans and supplemental materials that contextualize the historical background, while students are sure to appreciate the numerous Chronology and Bibliography resources that will facilitate research on topics such as Project C and The Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. [CBD]

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Andy Brunning, a chemistry teacher from Cambridge, England, has created this site as a way to examine the chemical compounds we encounter on a day to day basis. With a keen eye to graphic design, Brunning's posts often feature or are accompanied by engaging graphics intended for educational purposes. For example, Brunning has crafted a wonderful category called This Week in Chemistry, in which he presents a colorful infographic with approximately five articles and studies from the weekly news that have discussed chemistry in an accessible and fun manner. During the Week of March 13 - 19, 2016, the compounds behind parmesan's signature taste were uncovered and new research revealed the mechanism behind the formation of calcite biomineral found in seashells. Each infographic is available for download as a one-page PDF and may be shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license. [CBD]

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How, and where, do adults learn once they have left formal schooling? For those who identify as lifelong learners, where does technology fit into the equation? This report from the Pew Research Center answers these questions and more as it discloses the learning activities of nearly 3,000 Americans, aged 18 and older. As researcher John Horrigan reveals, learning in a physical setting, such as in a classroom, a library, or a place of worship, is still the preferred choice for most adults. In other words, learning activities are still very much place-based pursuits of knowledge. Another finding from the study that may or may not come as a surprise to readers, is that access to information technology remains an issue. While the Internet plays an important role in personal and professional learning pursuits for those who already have high levels of education and easy access to technology, such as a home broadband connection or a smartphone, the Internet remains on the periphery of learning activities for those with less education and lower incomes. Colorful graphs and charts round out the study, and interested readers may explore these key findings and others directly from this site or via downloadable PDF. [CBD]

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The National Archives Museum exhibit, "Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History," may have finished its run on January 10, 2016, but readers may still access all of the lively and compelling information with this electronic publication. Free to download, Spirited Republic is available for mobile devices, eReaders, and personal computers. Browsing the pages reveals artifacts such as George Washington's still, a first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, Betty Ford's serenity prayer token, and Franklin Roosevelt's cocktail shaker, among many other items. With over 150 pages, the eBook features an excellent introduction, as well as four chapters that outline the history of alcohol in the United States, plus a final chapter of Additional Resources. [CNH]

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This site from the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) interrogates the changing images of women over the course of the 19th century, both as objects of beauty and as moral (or immoral) actors on the social stage. Analyzed over 13 chapters, the online exhibit uses prints and paintings to unpack such topics as the Standard of Beauty, Women & Religious Authority, Women in Public Life, and Images of Women as Advertising Strategies. Along the way readers will not only be treated to an advanced visual rhetoric centered on the images of the day, but a well composed text that elucidates these issues as they developed through the 19th century. [CNH]

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Founded in 1912, The Poetry Review from the United Kingdom's Poetry Society is one of the world's great poetry journals. From this page of the Society's website, readers will find links to an astounding assortment of poems and poem-related resources that have made their way into past issues. While not every poem is available to read online, the two or three readable poems from each of a dozen back issues make the a visit to the site more than worthwhile. Here, for instance, from Volume 100, Number 1, Spring 2010, readers may peruse John Stammers' "Like a Heatwave Burning" and Jane Hirschfield's "Red Wine is Fined By Adding Broken Eggshells." In addition, readers may browse other publications from the Poetry Society, including Poetry News, with past issues dating back to 2009. [CNH]

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This blog, written by Mills Kelly of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, "considers the intersection of digital technologies and history." As the author would likely admit, what that means changes depending on the week. Recent posts have taken on the narrative hegemony of the U.S. World & News Report's college rankings, questions about how history should be written in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the tensions between playfulness and rigor in academic scholarship. A simple search feature makes for easy scouting, as well as the option to filter posts by Scholarship, including such topics as Digital Campus, Longform Blog Essays, Making the History of 1989, and others. [CNH]

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Most readers will be familiar with the "byline gender gap," the fact that disproportionately more published journalism, online and in print, is written by men than women. Vela, founded in 2011, is tipping the balance back to women writers. Yet, as the site assures, this is not a "women's magazine;" the topics are not targeted specifically toward a female audience. However, by publishing content exclusively written by women, and by calling attention to the excellent work by women writers around the web, one hopes Vela will correct some of the biases in the magazine industry. Readers may start by scouting the publication's various Columns, such as The Writing Life, Women We Read This Week, and Bookmarked (which recommends titles). Recent articles have included a personal exploration of trauma, a review of Brooke Jarvis' "The Messengers," and a look at the ugly world of online comments sections, among other topics. [CNH]

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As the introduction to this entry of the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains, "phenomenology" is a movement in 20th century philosophy that takes as its central concern the experiencing subject. It is most fundamentally concerned, therefore, not with statement about an "objective" world, but with the subjective experiencing of that world. On this page of the IEP, a peer-reviewed academic resource, readers will find clarifying chapters on such topics as the Phenomenological Method, Intentionality, the Phenomenology of Perception, Phenomenology and the Self, and Phenomenology of Time-Consciousness. Along the way, readers will be introduced to phenomenological thinkers like Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and others. Indeed, for readers who love the careful examination of experience and the rigorous methods of 20th century continental philosophy, this page is a must read. [CNH]

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The Economist was founded in September of 1843 and professes an economically liberal and politically centrist view of global politics, economics, technology, and other facets of contemporary life. On this page, readers will find the magazine's online multimedia offerings, which may be filtered by the categories of World, Business & Economics, Science & Technology, Culture, Events, and KAL Draws. While all the videos on display are erudite and educational, the final category, KAL Draws is perhaps the most entertaining. In this series, Keviin Kallaugher (KAL), the magazine's resident cartoonist, offers two- or -three minute cartoon videos that seek to explicate the mysteries of such topics as Trade, Taxation, Hyperinflation, and Dumping, among other economic phenomena. [CNH]

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The birds-of-paradise have enthralled Western science for centuries, ever since Ferdinand Magellan's crew encountered them in the sixteenth century. Yet, as the Birds-of-Paradise Project reveals, new discoveries are continually being made about the habitat and behavior of these spectacular birds. Their brilliant colors and extravagant courtship displays provide amazing examples of two evolutionary forces at work: sexual selection through female choice and geographic isolation. With funding from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Geographic Expeditions Council, and Conservation International, Evolutionary Biologist Ed Scholes and Wildlife Photojournalist Tim Laman have spent years capturing images and videos that shed light on this species of bird found only in New Guinea, some nearby islands, and parts of eastern Australia. From analyzing the dance steps of the Parotias to documenting their quest to film and photograph all 39 species of bird-of-paradise, this site features numerous engaging visual resources and tools. Readers may also be happy to note that the Project's sound and video recordings have all been scientifically archived and can be found within the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library. [CBD]

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Created in 2010, Wunderlist remains an excellent option for managing to-do lists. Attractive and intuitive, the minimalist functionality of the app is often what wins users over. However, the fact that it's available on every major platform, allowing users to review a variety of lists (groceries, movies to watch, homework, etc.) from anywhere, is perhaps most noteworthy. Navigating the app is easy. Simply create lists, assign yourself tasks, create due dates, and search and sort through whatever you have added. Wunderlist synchronizes across devices, works well on handhelds and tablets, and is completely free. [CNH]

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After the Deadline is a simple, easy-to-use editing program that checks grammar, style, spelling, and punctuation. To start using the add-on, simply select "download" from the homepage. Then select the platform for which you would like to use After the Deadline, from a list that includes Chrome, Firefox, WordPress, and a number of other options. Once activated, the program underlines suspect words and phrases in red (for spelling errors), green (for grammatical errors), and blue (for style suggestions), offering suggestions along the way. [CNH]

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