The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 18

Founded by Meredith Farkas, faculty librarian at Portland Community College in Oregon and open access advocate, Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki invites librarians to share success stories, resources, and tools with fellow librarians. As the site explains, "There are lots of great blogs out there sharing information about the profession [of librarianship], but there is no one place where all of this information is collected and organized. That is what we are trying to do." In line with this aim, Library Success offers an alphabetized list of more than a dozen Categories, including Community, Reference Service and Information Literacy, Services to Specific Groups, and Technology. Within each category, visitors can explore a number of specific topics for stories, tips, links to online resources, and more. Any user may update the wiki (with the sole request that those listing a specific product under technology include their initials in order to prevent the blog from turning into a promotional forum) after creating an account. [MMB]

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The Archeology Data Source (ADS), a division of the UK-based Arts and Humanities Data Service, has been dedicated to collecting, preserving, and sharing archeological data and resources for over two decades. Based at the University of York, the ADS is currently part of the Europeana network and the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) and provides archeology scholars and instructors with a number of valuable resources and information. One such resource is this helpful blog, designed to update archeology enthusiasts on new projects and developments at ADS. For example, the most recent blog post announces the launch of a BETA version of the ADS Library, which combines a number of existing ADS databases so that visitors may search for ADS journal articles, unpublished reports (or grey papers), and data sets all in one place. Another recent post alerts visitors to a new project called the Rural Settlement of Roman Britain, which allows visitors to view the location of a number of Roman artifacts on a map of Great Britain, export maps of specific archeological findings (e.g. "Pottery Production Site"), and explore metadata from this project. [MMB]

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The Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art (JHNA) is a biannual, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to art created in the Netherlands between 1400 and 1750, as well as later works of art inspired by Early Modern Netherlandish art. The journal is edited by an international team of art scholars and features articles "from the perspectives of art history, art conservation, technical studies, museum studies, historiography, and collecting history." Recent articles include an analysis of light and sight in Ter Brugghen's Man Writing by Candlelight; a consideration of how works by Hans Holbein may have influenced Rembrandt and Frans Hals; and an exploration of the role that American collectors played in bringing the works of Frans Hals to the United States. Articles include accompanying images and visitors can read all current and past articles on this website. [MMB]

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From the University of Cambridge's Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit (MIASU) and the National University of Mongolia, comes this extensive collection of 600 oral histories from individuals who lived in Mongolia throughout the twentieth century. These interviews, which highlight the diverse experiences of individuals born between 1911 and 1980, provide insight into a century that "saw Mongolia move from being a part of the Qing Empire to an aristocratic theocracy to Soviet-style socialism and democracy." Website visitors may select Browse for a chart that includes information about each interviewee's date of birth and ethnicity, along with the name of the person who conducted the interview. Each interview is summarized in English and tagged according to 20 different themes selected by the interview team (including Belief, Repression, Industrialization, and Relations Between Men and Women). Those with a reading knowledge of Mongolian can also read the interview transcripts in full. [MMB]

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Machine Learning is "the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed." Today, machine learning is used in healthcare, data mining, and transportation (most famously in self driving cars), to name just a few areas where this technology is invoked. This 11-week long online course, developed by Stanford University and powered by Coursera, teaches learners about machine learning, a field that blends mathematics, neuroscience, and computer science. While users need to pay a fee to take the entire course for credit, there is also the option of taking the course for free without credit. The course includes instructional videos, quizzes, and assignments. Prior to taking the course, visitors will want to take a short readiness quiz to ensure that they have the right math background to participate in the course. [MMB]

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News in Levels is designed for English Language Learners (ELLs) and ELL instructors. Created by a Czech company with the same name, the philosophy behind News in Levels is simple: each day, the website features a news story or two in three different "levels." Level 1 news stories use the 1,000 most common English words; Level 2 news stories use the 2,000 most common words; and Level 3 stories use the 3,000 most common words. News stories are accompanied by audio recordings and key vocabulary words are bolded. Students can switch between levels while reading each news story, enabling them to start with more challenging texts and switch when needed. Each news story is also accompanied by a glossary and questions to facilitate a writing or speaking exercise. [MMB]

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RNA folding, like many biological processes, is significantly easier to understand with an interactive visual. This NOVA Lab allows young scientists to do just that. At the center of this lab is an interactive game created by the EteRNA team at Carnegie Mellon University. EteRNA is an interactive computer program that crowdsources RNA design work; the version here is designed to help young learners understand the science behind RNA folding and to create their own RNA design. The game is accompanied by an educator's guide that provides advice about incorporating this game into science classrooms along with links to additional resources. In addition, this lab includes a series of video quizzes and a library of short, educational videos about RNA. [MMB]

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This series of twelve lectures by art historian John Walsh (who holds a PhD in art history from Columbia and headed the J. Paul Getty Museum for almost two decades) explores the history of painting as a way to express stories. As Walsh notes, History painting is a genre that dominated the art world for several centuries until other forms of art - most notably abstract art - eventually became more prominent. This proliferation of abstract art has impacted how contemporary art historians and museum visitors interpret History paintings; viewers are more likely to focus on design than narrative. In this series of one hour lectures, Walsh explores the genre of History painting in depth. Lectures may especially be of interest to art history students and instructors. [MMB]

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How would you describe the mind? During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, philosophers invoked a number of metaphors to aid them in this tricky task: John Locke described the mind as a cabinet; Joseph Addison compared thinking to walking; and John Milton imagined that the muse Urania descended upon his bed at night to inspire poetry. Sean Silver, a scholar of eighteenth-century literature, has created this born-digital museum dedicated to the various metaphorical imaginings of the mind. On this website, visitors can learn more about these imaginings via short, intriguing essays and digitized images of related artifacts. Artifacts of note include Milton's bedframe, Joshua Reynolds's camera obscura, and a number of late eighteenth-century sketches by anatomist William Hunter. These items are organized into five exhibits, each one centering on a common theme: Metaphor, Design, Digression, Interiority, Conception, and Dispossession. Silver's unique museum provides insight into eighteenth-century literature, philosophy, and science. Those interested in learning more will want to check out Silver's 2015 book of the same title. [MMB]

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A team of British organizations (including the Zoological Society of London, the British Trust for Ornithology, Froglife, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) created Garden Wildlife Health with UK-based gardeners in mind. Nevertheless, this collaborative project offers plenty of information and resources for anyone interested in biodiversity and environmental issues. This crowd-sourced project provides British gardeners with information about how to identify diseases in amphibians, birds, reptiles, and hedgehogs. Gardeners and other nature observers are encouraged to report their own data about garden wildlife which are then used by Garden Wildlife Health to prepare reports and recommendations. On this website, visitors can learn more about how to spot diseases in common wildlife and check out Best Practice Advice for wildlife preservation. [MMB]

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This resource created by the New York City-based data visualization agency TWO-N, provides a number of visualizations based on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) November 2016 Global Gender Gap Report. This report, released annually since 2006, measures a variety of statistics related to gender parity in 144 countries. From these statistics, the WEF assigns each country with a percentage score that reflects the extent of gender equity in that nation. The WEF also evaluates geopolitical regions and sorts statistics into four categories: Economic, Political, Health, and Education. For this visualization project, 2-N has organized country rankings into a number of interactive graphs. Visitors may select different measurements and compare these countries to one another. There is also a timeline feature, where visitors may compare data across years as they slide the timeline marker between 2006 and 2016. Links for downloading the full 2016 report (391 pages in total) and the raw data are available at the bottom of this page. [MMB]

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Since 1996, Rhizome has been dedicated to supporting and archiving contemporary media art. Originally started as a listserv, Rhizome became a non-profit organization in 1998 and an affiliate of the New Museum of Contemporary Art in 2003. Today, its website provides a great way to check out new (and old) projects and stay abreast of developments in the world of digital art. On the homepage, visitors can learn about new events and other art related news. As of this write-up, perhaps the highlight of Rhizone is the Net Art Anthology, an ongoing project to archive internet art. Over the course of two years, Rhizome will feature 100 pieces of "net art," accompanied by artist information and a short description. These works of art will range from 1984 to the present. Interested art-lovers can also sign up for a newsletter to learn when a new item is added to the Anthology. [MMB]

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Historically Black, a podcast from American Public Media (APM) and The Washington Post, explores black history through objects and artifacts. This podcast is hosted by an all-star lineup: actor Keegan-Michael Key (Key and Peele), writer Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist; Difficult Women), actress & director Issa Rae (HBO's Insecure), and Heben Nigatu and Tracey Clayton (hosts of the Buzzfeed podcast, Another Round). The podcast debuted in autumn of 2016 and coincided with the opening of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture. To date, eight episodes are organized on a timeline of significant events in Black American history. The first episode, Tracking Down a Slave's Bill of Sale, details how James McKissic was able to track down his great-great-grandfather's bill of sale and the surprising family history that it revealed. Another episode explores the photography of James Van Der Zee who depicted life in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance. [MMB]

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In 2006, Jane Smiley published a book called 13 Ways of Looking at a Novel, in which the author recounted reading 100 novels. When Brad Bigelow read Smiley's book, he recognized 99 of these titles. However, he had never heard of The Moonflower Vine, a 1966 book by Jetta Carleton. Bigelow managed to track down Carleton's book - which had since gone out of print - and blogged about the novel. Remarkably, Bigelow attracted the attention of enough folks to get the book back in print. He also established a new blog, the Neglected Book Page, dedicated to books that have slipped into obscurity. (Readers can read an in-depth profile of Bigelow and this project in the March 8, 2016 New Yorker article, "The Custodian of Forgotten Books.") Since then, Bigelow and others have written about dozens of books, authors, and poets. The team tracks down neglected books through a variety of sources, including archived book reviews from popular magazines and works of literary criticism. Each entry on the Neglected Books Page includes a description of the work or author along with available historical information. Visitors can search for past entries by the Source of each book's "discovery" or by a number of Categories, such as Gems from the Internet Archive, Reader's Recommendation, and "Justly Neglected?" [MMB]

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For the past several centuries, cartographers have tried to find different ways to portray the globe on a two-dimensional map. Many of these attempts, including the Mercator projection, distort the true size of different countries and regions. As a result, many of us have false perceptions about the proportional size of different geographical areas. This website, created by James Talmage and Damon Maneice, has one simple but important purpose: to enable visitors to compare the size of different countries and shapes and see how the Mercator projection has influenced our perceptions of country size. To use the tool, user must first type in a country or state to examine. From there, visitors can "move" this country around a Mercator map and superimpose it on any other region in order to make area comparisons. As users move each country across the map, the size of the country automatically adjusts according to lines of latitude. This adjustment demonstrates how the globe's spherical shape influences the apparent size of regions on a two-dimensional map. For instance, apparent country size is inflated near the poles and deflated at the equator. [MMB]

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In the 1970s, the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began Documerica, a project to photographically document places in the U.S. affected by air, water, and other forms of industrial pollution. The EPA hired approximately 70 well-known photographers who took pictures of beaches, mountains, urban areas, streets, buildings, and people in numerous National Parks, Lake Tahoe, the Great Lakes, the Alaskan Pipeline, Hawaii, California, Washington D.C., and other locales throughout the United States. By the time the project concluded in 1978, more than 20,000 images had been collected. The National Archives has digitized 15,992 of these photographs (primarily color slides) which may be viewed in the National Archives catalog. Selected images are also available on Flickr. From 2011 to 2013, the EPA ran the State of the Environment Photography Project, and collected another 3,000 photos, also available on Flickr. For an overview of Documerica and where to look online for more information and images, see the National Archives newsletter, Prologue, Spring 2009, vol. 41, no. 1. [DS]

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Gmail users may be interested in Google Keep, a tool that allows users to save reminders, to-do lists, URLs, images, and more in just one place. Once downloaded, users can quickly and easily create reminders, upload images, or add notes. While Google Keep is folder-free (which may appeal to those looker for simplicity), users do have the option of adding labels, color-coding items, and conducting a text search for a note or item of interest. Google Keep also syncs across multiple devices and users have the option of copying and exporting text from Google Keep into Google Docs for editing. Just like Google Docs, Google Keep also allows users to easily share notes and items with others. [MMB]

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Looking for some digital help in tracking your spending habits and meeting financial goals? Dashflow may appeal. This financial application for iOS devices allows users to organize and track spending. Financial information is presented across a number of useful graphs and the user-friendly and straight-forward interface allows users to focus on their financial life without distraction. In addition, DashFlow allows users to enter due date reminders and track multiple financial goals at once. The basic version of DashFlow is free; users have the option of purchasing Pro or Premium versions for additional features. [MMB]

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