The Scout Report -- Volume 20, Number 15

The Scout Report -- Volume 20, Number 15

The Scout Report

April 18, 2014 -- Volume 20, Number 15

A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison




Research and Education

  Learn More About Climate Change
  U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Coastal Barrier Resources Act
  Howard Hughes Medical Institute: BioInteractive Virtual Labs
  Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art
  40-50-100: Milestones in Arkansas's Environmental History
  George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers
  History Center Digital Collections
  Nature Soundmap

General Interest

  The Woman's Building
  Railfan & Railroad Magazine
  The Walters Art Museum: Works of Art
  MakeUseOf
  Saskia Art Images (CARLI)
  Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont
  Worth/Mainbocher: Demystifying the Haute Couture
  Making the History of 1989

Network Tools

  InoReader
  Reboot Pro

In the News

  The 2014 Pulitzer Prizes: A complicated drama, some poems, and war in Virginia



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Research and Education

Learn More About Climate Change

·http://learnmoreaboutclimate.colorado.edu/

The phrase "climate change" might be combative to some and confusing to others. The University of Colorado's Office for University Outreach has worked with its scholars to create the Learn More About Climate (LMAC) site in order to translate climate change information into "resources and tools for teachers, policymakers, and citizens." Here, visitors can make their way through eight different areas, including Topics, Lessons, Videos, and Initiatives. In the Lessons area, educators will find model lessons about climate change, such as "Mountain Pine Beetles,? "Evidence of Climate Change,? and "What Makes You Hot.? Additionally, the Videos section offers up some excellent short films on rising sea levels and species adaption as a result of climate change. Those interested in specific LMAC projects will enjoy the Initiatives section, as it offers up brief summaries of ongoing projects, complete with two great webinars on Climate Change Conversations. [KMG]


U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Coastal Barrier Resources Act

·http://www.fws.gov/CBRA/index.html

The Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) was passed in 1982 in order to protect certain undeveloped coastal barriers along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has created this site to provide journalists, policy makers, scholars and others with information about the CBRA and its various programs and initiatives. The site includes information about the act and its implementation, its digital mapping project, and a search engine. The Property Determinations area includes helpful resources for those interested in determining whether certain parcels are eligible for insurance under the National Flood Insurance Program. Additionally, the site includes a list of ongoing projects and maps of areas covered by the act. [KMG]


Howard Hughes Medical Institute: BioInteractive Virtual Labs

·http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/browse?field_bio_format_type%5B0%5D=23451

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has created this remarkable set of virtual laboratory activities for scholars of all ages. Designed as part of its BioInteractive series, the labs cover bacterial identification, cardiology, immunology, and even stickleback fish evolution. Each one of the labs has a tutorial, along with a set of activities designed to help scientists learn more about the biological processes involved with each one. Visitors can browse the offerings here by topic or search all of the labs for specific details. [KMG]


Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art

·http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2013/our_america/

This fine site from the Smithsonian American Art Museum "presents the rich and varied contributions of Latino artists in the United States since the mid-twentieth century.? It's an ambitious undertaking and it is meant to complement an in situ exhibit held at the museum from December 2013 through March 2014. The exhibition presents works in all media by over 70 contemporary artists and visitors can get started by watching the exhibition trailer. Other great features to be explored here are the audio podcasts, the museum?s blog, Eye Level, and the expansive Flickr photo gallery. Of course, the slide show is a marvel, and it features 31 images that give interested parties an intimate sense of the collection. [KMG]


40-50-100: Milestones in Arkansas's Environmental History

·http://digitalcollections.uark.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/arknatenv

On March 1, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon signed Public Law 92-237, effectively creating the Buffalo National River in Arkansas. It was the first designated "National River" and resulted from a hard fought battle as many Arkansans were hoping that dams would be built, leading to a bit of an economic boost. This was a seminal moment for the state and the nation, and it is one of the items covered in this collection from the University of Arkansas. A range of ephemera are included here, including fact sheets, bumper stickers, plans, and photographs. Visitors can go ahead and browse the collection or navigate to The River or The Ozark Society to get more background information. The film, "Opportunity for Arkansas,? should not be missed as it provides some great context to this whole project. Additionally, visitors can click on the Recent Additions tab to view the latest items added by staff members. [KMG]


George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers

·http://oldsite.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/aearhart/

Housed at Purdue University, the George Palmer Putnam Collection of Amelia Earhart Papers offer a rare glimpse into the life of America's premier aviatrix. Her achievements are well-known, including the fact that she was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. This collection offers up over 3,500 scans of photographs, maps, documents and artifacts related to Earhart's life and accomplishments. First-time visitors would do well to look over the biographical sketch first, then move on to browse the Online Exhibit and Timeline of her life. The Search Digital Collection section provides access to aforementioned items, and visitors can browse by material type, date, or subject. [KMG]


History Center Digital Collections

·http://mdon.library.ipfw.edu

The Allen County-Fort Wayne Historical Society has created these remarkable digital collections to celebrate the unique history of this corner of Indiana. First-time visitors can explore the About mDON area to get a nice overview of its work, while the Search feature allows visitors to look over collections by historical period, title, and interpretive theme. Some thematic collections include "Making of a People" and "Miami Indians.? This last collection is quite fascinating as it includes treaty documents, letters from government officials, and information about payments made to the Miami over time. [KMG]


Nature Soundmap

·http://www.naturesoundmap.com/

What does a humpback whale sound like? Or perhaps the White-cheeked Gibbon? The Nature Soundmap provides snippets of these sounds and much, much more. Visitors will find an interactive map of the world, complete with markers that allow audio wildlife travel from Central America to Central Asia a snap. Symphonies of animal noises can also be found here, as visitors can click on Greece to listen to "Summer Ambience" or France to find "Dawn in the Lezardrieux Forest.? Each marker includes information about the animal or setting profiled, along with a link to More Info for the generally curious. [KMG]


General Interest

The Woman's Building

·http://www.womansbuilding.org/

In the 1970s, the Woman's Building in Los Angeles was a pivotal locus of activity for the feminist art movement. This website brings that history to life, providing information about its history, programs, projects, and the women behind the vision. A great place to start is with the History section which details the history of this important structure from its opening in 1973. Visitors will also find a photographic essay here that illuminates some of the work that has been housed within its walls. Moving on, the People section offers a bit of historical perspective on the women who founded the Woman's Building, including Judy Chicago and Sheila de Bretteville. The site is rounded out by the Programs area which features a listing of various seminars, exhibits, and lectures that took place on site. [KMG]


Railfan & Railroad Magazine

·http://railfan.com/

Railfan & Railroad Magazine is a compelling resource for those with an interest in the history of passenger and freight railroads in the United States. On the magazine?s site, visitors can look over specialized photo essays, online forums, and a selection of back issues. The Railnews contains links to key news items from around the railroad world and visitors can also look over the Timetable which contains news about upcoming rail fan gatherings and conferences. The site also contains web-only features, such as "Rutland Revival: Green Mountain Railroad" and "Changing times on the Maryland Midland.? Upcoming book releases area also mentioned here and interested visitors can easily join the mailing list. [KMG]


The Walters Art Museum: Works of Art

·http://art.thewalters.org/

The Walters Art Museum represents the culmination of years of collecting by William and Henry Walters. Their collection was eventually bequeathed to the city of Baltimore and this trove is an overview of world art from ancient Egypt to 20th century Europe. With funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, staff members have created this prodigious collection, which includes thousands of artworks from around the world. Each piece has detailed information, including conservation and exhibition histories. Visitors might wish to get started by clicking on the Artwork of the Day found front-and-center on the homepage. The Ways to Browse area includes eight different sections, including Medium, Places, and Creator. Also, the Featured Categories are a great way to look around and a nice starting point is "Ancient Greece.? [KMG]


MakeUseOf

·http://www.makeuseof.com/

MakeUseOf brings together thoughtful, fun, irreverent, and generally useful web tools, tutorials, podcasts, and other helpful resources from across the web. First-time visitors can get a sense of the items here by scrolling through the homepage, which includes short articles such as "You Didn't Know You Could Do These 5 Awesome Smartphone Camera Tricks" and "3 Little-Known Android Apps to Keep Your Files and Folders Organized.? Visitors can search the articles by Topics, Top List, or via the embedded search feature. The Podcasts section is a real treat as it contains over 100 recent Technophilia podcasts that cover everything from mobile currency to small business apps. [KMG


Saskia Art Images (CARLI)

·http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_saskia.php?CISOROOT=/saskia

The University of Illinois has worked with the Saskia Art Images Collection team to present this collection of more than 30,000 digital images of paintings, sculpture, and architecture. Materials hail from a variety of well-known collections including the Louvre, the Uffizi, and the Prado. First-time visitors can start with the About section to get a sense of the scope of the collection along with some suggestions for searching the archive. Additionally, the drop down menu can be used to look over images that have been used in specific art history textbooks. Even a cursory search using the words "blue", "Titian", or "landscape" will be most rewarding. [KMG]


Fire Insurance Maps of Burlington, Vermont

·http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/getCollection.xql?pid=btvfi&title=Fire%20Insurance%20Maps%20of%20Burlington,%20Vermont

What's the best way to learn about a city's history? Is it through its historic postcards? Perhaps you'd like to read an oral history or two culled from the reminiscences of residents both known and unknown? Some might suggest historic fire insurance maps and this collection from the University of Vermont Libraries is a great way to start. This collection features maps of Burlington, Vermont from 1885 to 1919 and document the commercial, industrial, and residential areas from the Lake Champlain waterfront to the University of Vermont. Visitors can explore these maps by place, format, or genre and they provide a wonderful way to explore this unique corner of the Green Mountain State. [KMG]


Worth/Mainbocher: Demystifying the Haute Couture

·http://collections.mcny.org/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MNYMN3_4

Travel through over 100 years of fashion in this exhibition from the Museum of the City of New York. Images of 119 garments produced by two design houses: Worth, the Paris studio of Englishman Charles Frederick Worth, and Mainbocher, founded by Main Rousseau Bocher, who was born in Chicago, are arranged on a timeline stretching from 1860 - 1967. Biographies of both designers can be read on the website. Many of the dresses were owned and worn by fashionable New York women. The Worth examples begin with the hand-stitched and hoop-skirted garments worn during the Civil War era and end with the slimmer, sleeker lines of the 1920s - dresses that could have been worn by Lady Mary Crawley. Mainbocher designs include U.S. Waves and Girl Scout uniforms from the 1940s and dresses worn by Judy Holliday in the 1946 musical play, "Born Yesterday,? as well as by Mary Martin in, ?The Sound of Music.? The Mainbocher suits from the 1960s, the last years covered in the exhibition, would not be out of place on Mad Men. [DS]


Making the History of 1989

·http://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/

1989 was a pivotal year in recent history, marking the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany and other events throughout Europe that consumed the world's attention. This fine collection from the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University brings together historical documents in English that "convey the epochal events of 1989.? The collection has three key features, including high quality primary sources, a set of multimedia interviews, and lesson plans that provide historical context, tools and strategies for teaching the history of 1989. The gem here are the Primary Sources, consisting of over 300 items. It is a tremendously rich way to read government documents, images, videos, and artifacts, complete with introductory notes. [KMG]


Network Tools

InoReader

·http://inoreader.com/

If you follow a range of websites, you may find keeping track of all the material a bit exhausting. InoReader is a nice RSS reader that can make this process a bit easier. Visitors can download the reader here and it features a free search of all existing feeds, supporting 20 different languages. This version is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]


Reboot Pro

·http://reboot.pro/files/file/284-imdisk-toolkit/

Reboot Pro allows users to craft duplicate images of hard drives quite seamlessly. This handy tool supports a range of image files, as well, and the site also features a very useful FAQ section and online forum. This version is compatible with computers running Windows XP and newer. [KMG]


In the News

The 2014 Pulitzer Prizes: A complicated drama, some poems, and war in Virginia

'The Flick' by Annie Baker wins Pulitzer Prize for drama
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-pulitzer-prize-drama-20140414,0,3503244.story?track=rss#axzz2z5QGQTKZ

Pulitzer Prize-Winning The Flick, by Annie Baker, Will Reopen Off-Broadway
http://www.broadway.com/buzz/175478/pulitzer-prize-winning-the-flick-by-annie-baker-will-reopen-off-broadway/

Book News: a Q&A with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Vijay Seshadri
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/15/303183547/book-news-a-q-a-with-pulitzer-prize-winner-vijay-seshadri

Vijay Seshadri in the New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2014/04/vijay-seshadri-in-the-new-yorker.html

U.Va Historian Alan Taylor Wins 2014 Pulitzer for Book on Slaves and War
http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-historian-alan-taylor-wins-2014-pulitzer-book-slaves-and-war

The Pulitzer Prizes
http://www.pulitzer.org/

This week the Pulitzer Prizes for 2014 were announced. While most commentators were not surprised to see the Boston Globe win for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing, the arts had a few winners that garnered special coverage. "The Flick,? a moody and complicated drama from the mind of Annie Baker won the prize for drama. The play follows the employees of a single-screen movie theater as they clean, converse, and pass the time in front of the screen. The award for poetry went to the collection, 3 Sections, by Vijay Seshadri. This award was the true sleeper this year, despite the fact that Seshadri, a faculty member at Sarah Lawrence College, has been writing poems for decades. The Pulitzer committee called his work "a compelling collection of poems that examine human consciousness.? Finally, the history award went to University of Virginia historian Alan Taylor for his book, The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832. An expert in Colonial America, this was the second Pulitzer for Taylor, who won previously in 1996. [KMG]

The first link will take visitors to an article from the Los Angeles Times on Annie Baker?s ?The Flick.? The second link also features Annie Baker and will take visitors to a piece from Broadway.com announcing that her work will be staged again off-Broadway. The third link will take interested parties to a lovely Q&A session with Vijay Seshadri, courtesy of National Public Radio and is followed by a piece on Seshadri from the New Yorker, complete with a reading of one of his poems. The fifth link leads to a press release from the University of Virginia featuring the historian, Alan Taylor, and his award. The homepage of the Pulitzer Prize can be found via the final link. Here, visitors will find a complete listing of the 2014 awards, featuring talks by the winners, speeches, and much more.





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