The Scout Report -- Volume 24, Number 6

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst is home to the W.E.B. DuBois papers, which includes correspondence, speeches, articles, pamphlets, poetry and other items authored by the scholar and co-founder of the NAACP. In addition, the collection contains photographs, newspaper clippings, audio clips, and more. For those who can't make the trip to Amherst, the university has digitized nearly 100,000 items in this collection, which visitors can browse by type of material and by date. Included in this extraordinary collection are articles published in The Crisis; hand-written essays that DuBois penned as a student at Harvard University; and notes and clippings that DuBois used during his research. Another highlight of this collection is an audio clip of a speech DuBois gave in April 1960 before the Conference of the Association of Social Science Teachers at Johnson C. Smith University. [MMB]

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Throughout the mid to late twentieth century, musicologist Alan Lomax collected thousands of audio recordings of musical performances from around the globe. In doing so, Lomax sought to create a "global jukebox." The Global Jukebox is an interactive online resource that allows visitors to listen to a number of musical recordings organized on a world map by geographical location and by culture. If you're interested in hearing songs that are from Ethiopia, for example, simply navigate to the world map and you'll see data visualization linking locations and cultures together. Clicking on one of the nodes allows you to select songs from East African peoples, specific cultures within Ethiopia, and a further subset allows you to choose a language in which the songs were recorded. Visitors interested in the analytic aspects of this resource will find a menu on the left explaining how this map was designed and how Lomax and his colleagues were able to integrate their data. [MMB]

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Through comics and graphic novels, artists are able to communicate how illness or disability impacts their daily lives and personal perspectives. The National Library of Medicine offers this online exhibit dedicated to comics about disability, health, and illness. This exhibit includes portions of Ellen Forney's graphic novel Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me; Julia Wertz's The Infinite Wait and Other Stories (which discusses the artist's diagnosis of lupus); MK Czerwiks's Taking Turns: Stories from the HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371, and much more. For health educators, this collection is accompanied by two educational resources. The first is a lesson plan designed for students between grades 7-10 and is centered on Forney's book. The second is a multi-class module designed for university-level students who are considering entering the healthcare profession. These modules allow students to explore how society and environment inform our conceptions of disabilities, consider how bias and stigmatization impact individuals with disabilities, examine how illness affects caretakers, and much more. [MMB]

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Educators, administrators, and policymakers who work in higher education settings may be interested in this series of reports and materials published by EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR) in June 2017. Collectively, these reports investigate "technology ownership, use patterns, and expectations as they relate to the student experience." These reports are based on data collected from institutions around the world. Included in this collection are a student report, which examines how undergraduates relate to technology (based on a survey of 43,559 students at 124 institutions in 10 countries); a faculty report (based on a survey of 13,451 faculty members at 157 institutions across seven countries); and a learning environment report. This last report examines student and faculty attitudes towards online learning and blended-learning environments, which combines online learning with traditional face-to-face classes. In addition to these three reports, this series includes infographics and almanacs of survey data. [MMB]

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On January 16, 2018, the team behind the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Willa Cather Archive (last featured in the 05-16-2008 Scout Report) made an exciting announcement. With support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and UNL's Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, the archive has digitized 428 letters authored by Cather. On the Complete Letters of Willa Cather page, visitors can browse these letters by recipient (who include Cather's brother, Roscoe Cather and the writer Ferris Greenslet), by people mentioned (who include Louisa May Alcott, Ernest Hemingway, and Alfred A. Knopf); by place (in reference to places listed in the letter), and by the repository in which the letter can currently be found. Each letter in the collection has been both digitized and transcribed. Best of all, the transcribed versions of these letters are also annotated, allowing readers to understand their contents with ease and learn more about the writer's life. The Willa Cather Archive plans to digitize hundreds of additional letters throughout 2018, so stay tuned. [MMB]

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Science teacher Steve Spangler has appeared on a variety of television shows, including regular appearances on Denver, Colorado's KUSA 9 News and a number of guest appearances on Ellen. On this YouTube channel, which might especially appeal to elementary school teachers, after-school teachers, and youth workers (as well as anyone young at heart), visitors can check out these short, televised lab activities. Many of these experiments can be replicated in a classroom. For example, in one recent video, Color Milk Explosion, Spangler demonstrates how one can create a gorgeous marbling pattern using milk, food coloring, and a cotton ball soaked with dish soap. Why? Dish soap is attracted to the fat in the milk, causing the food coloring in the milk to move. Other videos in this collection are not appropriate for reproducing in the classroom (in fact, one playlist is entitled "Don't try this at home!"), but can be enjoyed from afar. [MMB]

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From Oregon State University's Ecampus Research Unit comes the Research in Action (RIA) podcast, which is dedicated to "topics and issues related to research in higher education." Each episode of this podcast features a guest scholar who discusses their research process, often focusing on a particular methodology that may be of interest to emerging researchers. For example, in one recent episode Stephanie Evergreen, the author of Presenting Data Effectively, talks about data visualization. In another recent episode, media studies scholar and prolific author Jolie Jensen shares her ideas about overcoming writer's block. As of this write-up, the podcast features interviews with no fewer than 90 scholars. Each episode is available in audio format and as an interview transcript. Interested listeners may subscribe to this podcast via RSS, iTunes, or SoundCloud. Each episode is also accompanied by an instructor guide, which offers ideas about how to incorporate episode content into the classroom. [MMB]

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The Erie Canal, which was built between 1817 and 1825, had a profound impact on the economy and daily life in nineteenth-century America. The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) recently launched this exhibit dedicated to the Erie Canal. This new exhibit, curated by Heidi Ziemer and Dan Ward from the Western New York Library Resources Council, in collaboration with the Empire State Digital Network, invites visitors to engage in a number of primary documents that illuminate the canal's history. For instance, in the plans and early concepts section, visitors can view the 1792 account book of Philip Schuyler, who founded the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company. In a 1796 report to the New York Legislature, the company argued that construction of a canal would present, "the prospect of a speedy reduction of the price of transportation, would doubtless greatly enhance the value of the property of the people of this state..." Other topics covered in this exhibition include the construction of the canal ("Building the Canal"), the impact of the canal on popular culture ("Canal Culture"), and insights into how the canal facilitated migration and, by extension, the culture and politics of upstate New York ("Moving People and Ideas"). [MMB]

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How did medical professionals, artists, and members of the general public view depression and mental illness in France during the Renaissance? Created by scholar Radu Sucui at Paris-Diderot University in 2011, Medical Case Studies on Renaissance Melancholy is an "online publication project" dedicated to this question. This project centers a number of illustrations (courtesy of the Wellcome Library and British Museum) along with transcribed documents. Most illustrations are accompanied by short annotations that provide additional historical context. For example, Matthaus Greuter's 1587 allegorical sketch The Power of Venus is accompanied by an explanation of what each mythological figure represents. The exhibit includes annotations authored in both English and French, and visitors have the option of using Google Translate as they navigate the project. (Visitors should note that all transcriptions are in French). The project is organized into categories, including melancholy, extraordinary cures, and lovesickness. [MMB]

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Featured in the 12-16-2016 Scout Report, Longreads is one of our favorite ways to find quality long-form essays and investigative reporting about a variety of subjects. The website recently published its Best of 2017 series, which includes this collection of essays relating to science, technology, and business. These essays were selected by a team of prominent writers and editors, including Deborah Blum of MIT's Knight Science Journalism program and Andrea Valdez, the editor of Wired.com. This collection includes pieces about a wide variety of subjects, including artificial intelligence, the August 2017 solar eclipse, and the relationship between wolves and humans. Each featured essay is accompanied by a short description by the individual who selected the essay, allowing readers to find interesting pieces with ease. [MMB]

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The Daily Nous is a website designed for professional philosophers and mainly features insights about job opportunities and conferences. The website also features the philosophy comics section - a regularly updated series created by four philosopher cartoonists: Pete Mandik, Tanya Kostochka, Ryan Lake, and Rachel Katler. Each cartoonist authors a series, and visitors can check out archived comics of each of these four series from this webpage. While each of these cartoonists has a distinct aesthetic style, they all offer an engaging way to learn more about the history of philosophy as well as contemporary philosophical debates. [MMB]

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The British Library's Untold Lives Blog offers a delightful way to engage with materials from the library's large archive collections. Updated several times a week, this blog allows readers to explore small, curated collections and digitized material from the library, accompanied by short essays that provide historical context. For instance, one recent entry entitled, "Keeping Fit in 1900," features images from early-twentieth-century catalogs advertising gym equipment such as the "Portable Home Horizontal Bar," and a handwritten draft of rules for a gymnasium that opened in Surrey in 1902. Another recent post discusses the work of Stella Alexander, whose papers are housed at the library. During the 1960s, Alexander traveled to Yugoslavia and wrote a number of reports that documented life in Cold War-era Eastern Europe. Each blog post on Untold Lives is accompanied by subject tags for easy browsing. [MMB]

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Cartographic enthusiasts may be familiar with the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, which is a rich collection containing thousands of digitized maps. This Maps Up Close section of the collection features sixteen maps that portray, "interesting details that show unusual features, cartographic conventions, history, graphics, and places." For example, Gaylord Watson's 1871 Railroad and Distance Map features every single town or city with a railroad station in 1871. In doing so, the map provides insight into the role railroads played in economic and urban development in late nineteenth-century America. Visitors can also view an intricate map of Paris that was part of a 182-sheet map of France created by the Cassini family between 1750 and 1818. When visitors select each map in the collection, they will view the selected portion of the map in detail. Visitors can then zoom out and view each map in its entirety. [MMB]

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The University of Iowa Libraries hosts a number of fabulous digital collections. Classical music lovers will want to check out the Ignaz Pleyel Early Editions collection, which features, "over 200 early printed and manuscript scores that represent the work of French composer and music publisher, Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831)." This collection was curated by Rita Benton, a musicologist who authored the biography Ignace Pleyel, A Thematic Catalogue of his Compositions. Today, the University of Iowa's Music Library is named in honor of Benton, who worked at the university for many years. Visitors can browse this collection by category, including piano methods, string quartets, and violin duets. Perhaps a good place to start is highlights of the collection, which visitors will find on the collection's homepage. [MMB]

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Comic strips have been appearing in newspapers for over a century, and comic strips of yesteryear offer a glimpse into the aesthetic trends, social norms, and political debates of the past. The Stripper's Guide is the blog of Allan Holtz, a self-described "comic strip historian" and the author of American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. On this blog, Holtz and frequent contributor Alex Jay share their wealth of knowledge about comic strip history (including the biographies of famous cartoonists and the history of twentieth-century newspapers) and showcase a number of historical comic strips. One recent post, published the morning after the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl victory, features a round-up of turn-of-the-twentieth-century Philadelphia cartoonists. Another recent post discusses the work and legacy of Moses Koenigsberg, who managed the comic strip distributor King Features Syndicate under William Randolph Hearst. The Stripper's Guide is updated several times a week and visitors may explore the archives of this long-running guide by subject tags. [MMB]

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The motto of the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood is Ars Longa Vita Brevis or, Art is Long, Life is Short. The website is the work of art historian Stephanie Graham Pina and has been online since 2007. In 2004, Pina created a precursor to the Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood, lizziesiddal.com - a compilation of information about Elizabeth Siddal, who was an artist model, poet, and painter. Siddal was the model for Sir John Everett Millais's Ophelia (1851-1852). which hangs in the Tate Britain and is considered a masterpiece of Pre-Raphaelite painting. Pina provides this explanation of the Pre-Raphaelites' desire to turn art back to a time before the Renaissance artist Raphael: "In the midst of the Industrial Revolution and scientific discovery, these artists looked backward and created works that celebrated a distinct Medieval aesthetic." One might wonder what the importance of Pre-Raphaelite art is during this "me too" moment. There were Pre-Raphaelite female artists, but the most well-known were male painters who were prone to depicting women with long, flowing hair and abstracted expressions. One of Pina's recent posts, "Finding Fireflies Amidst the Fireworks," on Feb 5, 2018, addresses this question and provides examples of female empowerment in Pre-Raphaelite art. [DS]

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Qutebrowser is a minimalist browser designed to be operated from the keyboard. It uses the same rendering libraries as Chrome, and can, therefore, handle any site that works in Chrome. Users of the Vimperator Firefox extension or the Vimium Chrome extension will find Qutebrowser's interface familiar. Unlike other more resource-demanding browsers, Qutebrowser does not provide a plugin system. Instead, it provides a userscript system (unrelated to javascript-based Greasemonkey/Tampermonkey scripts) that can execute scripts written in any scripting language (perl, python, ruby, etc), passing in information about the currently displayed page. Qutebrowser also includes a memory-efficient, host-based ad blocking system. To keep memory requirements low, the authors do not plan to add more complicated, Adblock-like rule-based blocking. Qutebrowser is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. [CRH]

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Bitmessage is a peer-to-peer, decentralized, encrypted system for exchanging long-form messages. Popular Science and CNET have both described Bitmessage as a secure alternative to email. In contrast to traditional email, with Bitmessage sender information cannot be forged. Bitmessage also incorporates a proof-of-work system to deter spammers and other bulk message senders. In addition to one-to-one messages, Bitmessage also supports "chans" that function much like email lists or Usenet groups. Currently, active chans cover the sorts of technical topics one might expect (online privacy, web development, Linux) as well as other topics of broader appeal (space science, chess, food, and recipes). Bitmessage is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. [CRH]

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By creating home movies, individuals around the globe have participated in documenting twentieth-century history. The Home Movie Registry, which was last featured in the Best of the Scout Report for 2016, allows visitors to view an array of home movies created around the world.

Since the 1920s, home movies have been produced by everyday people, documenting daily activities and offering a wealth of information about twentieth-century American life. The Home Movie Registry, a curated search engine from the Center for Home Movies (CHM), is an innovative project designed to bring together the swath of amateur films digitized and collected by participating archives. In the exhibits section, readers will find two exhibits currently featured on the site: "Home Movies and the African American Community," and "Home Movies and Television." Readers may also simply scroll down the fascinating list of amateur-made films on the home page, which illuminates such ephemera as a 1950s Chicago picnic and a 1975 homemade travel documentary. For more targeted research, historians, artists, documentarians, students, and others will find an excellent search bar for easy filtering through the registry's video troves.

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