The Scout Report -- Volume 25, Number 2

From the safety science company Underwriters Laboratories (UL) comes UL Xplorlabs: a free educational platform offering interactive, module-based learning experiences. Launched in 2016, UL Xplorlabs currently offers two multifaceted modules, each aligned with Next Generation Science Standards and focused on real-world topics. The first module, Portable Electric Power, "explores the science of lithium-ion batteries," while Fire Forensics: Claims and Evidence, introduces students to the basics of fire science and was nominated for a 2018 Webby Award. Modules include downloadable teacher guides, interactive videos and simulations, collaborative classroom activities, and extension activities. Educators may choose to do an entire module with their class or just part of it, and the modules can also be done by the students independently. While UL Xplorlabs' modules are designed for middle school students, STEM instructors at other levels may also find this resource's content helpful. The Xtensions section offers a number of experiments, resources, and challenges that educators may like to check out as well. New modules will be added as UL develops them, and those interested can subscribe to be notified of new content via email. [JDC]

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Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is an international, collaborative research project that aims "to produce new indicators of democracy for all countries since 1900." Visitors to this ambitious project will find a number of interesting resources, including their annual democracy reports (currently available for 2017 and 2018); other publications (such as country reports and thematic reports); and a variety of analysis tools, such as interactive maps and motion charts. Social science researchers may be particularly interested in the V-Dem datasets, which (at the time of this write-up) include data for 201 countries and extend as far back as the year 1789 up to 2017. These datasets, which are released yearly around April, also include "450 V-Dem indicators, 47 mid-indices and 5 high-level indices," as well as documentation for each dataset and are available in formats such as SPSS, STATA, and Excel. Originally headquartered at the University of Notre Dame's Kellogg Institute for International Studies, V-Dem is now headquartered at the V-Dem Institute in the University of Gothenburg (Sweden). The University of Notre Dame became V-Dem's Regional Center for North America in 2018. V-Dem is funded by many organizations, including the European Research Council, the National Science Foundation, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, and the World Bank. [JDC]

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Fans and scholars of medieval illuminated manuscripts may enjoy BiblioPhilly, a new digital interface for the Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis project. This three-year project, which launched in 2016, has been digitizing 160,000 manuscript pages held by 15 libraries to "create the country's largest regional online collection of medieval manuscripts." The BiblioPhilly interface was made public in November 2018, and the project is due to be completed in the spring of 2019. Visitors to BiblioPhilly can search this repository of manuscripts by keyword and filter their search by facets such as book type, century, geographic origin, and more. Upon selecting a manuscript, visitors are treated to high-resolution, full-color images with an interactive page-turning interface, as well as descriptive metadata, additional images of its binding, and other information. Images and their metadata are also freely available to download under a Creative Commons license. The Bibliotheca Philadelphiensis project was funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources, and it was organized by the Free Library of Philadelphia, Lehigh University, and the Penn Libraries. [JDC]

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Anyone with an interest in the history of science and technology will likely enjoy exploring the online collections of the Science Museum Group, which consists of five museums located in the UK. Their digital collections currently contain more than 250,000 objects and over 29,000 archival documents, all drawn from the Science Museum Group's vast collections of approximately 7.3 million items. From the homepage, visitors can search and filter the collections, explore by themes such as medicine or railways, and see a selection of collection highlights, which may include diverse categories such as cinematography, toys and games, mathematics, and creative industries. Entries for individual items generally include a brief description explaining its significance, classification details, links to related objects or people, and whether the item is currently on display at one of the group's museums. Most of the collection images are available to download under a Creative Commons Noncommercial license, and the Science Museum Group encourages visitors to use and reuse their collection data. [JDC]

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One of the challenges in crafting environmental policy is determining how to measure a policy's effectiveness. The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) aims to help simplify this process by analyzing and organizing data to "provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy goals." Here, interested readers will currently find the EPI's most recent report (released in 2018), which quantitatively "scores 180 countries on 24 performance indicators across ten issue categories covering environmental health and ecosystem vitality." This report, written in accessible language, includes an introduction, a brief explanation of their methodology, a summary of their results, and sections addressing each of the ten issue categories in greater depth, as well as an executive summary for policymakers. Readers may also be interested in the categorical lens (found under the results menu), which provides concise explanations of the EPI's issue categories and corresponding performance indicators. Those interested in accessing the report's data and the specifics of its methodology will find these in the downloads section. The EPI is produced jointly by the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and Columbia University's Earth Institute, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. New EPI reports are released biennially in even-numbered years. [JDC]

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The Kallir Research Institute, a non-profit foundation established in 2017 to continue the scholarly work of art historian Otto Kallir (1894-1978), has released a digital catalogue raisonne for Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918). This digital catalogue is based on the print version by Jane Kallir (Otto Kallir's granddaughter), entitled Egon Schiele: The Complete Works, which was published in 1998 and included over 3,000 entries. Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the artist's death, phase one of Egon Schiele was released in October of 2018 with several hundred additional entries since the print version in 1998. Although Schiele's career was cut short by his death at age 28 from influenza, his output was prolific and the online catalogue raisonne includes digital images of thousands of Schiele's works. Egon Schiele Online also features a selected bibliography, a timeline biography of Schiele, and a list of exhibitions with links to the entries for the works that appeared in each show. The Kallir Institute plans to release catalogues raisonnes for the artists Richard Gerstl and Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses. [DS]

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Readers who are interested in learning the science behind creativity may want to check out Psychology of Art and Creativity, a self-paced online course taught by Shannon Whitten, an Associate Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Central Florida. Launched in May 2018, this free course invites learners from all backgrounds to "apply basic principles of psychology to the world of art and creativity." The course is designed for beginners, so no prior knowledge of psychology or art is necessary. It is organized into eight modules that introduce learners to the fundamentals of psychology, art, and creativity and explore ideas such as the intersections between art and mental illness, art as therapy, and the perceptual and cognitive aspects of art. While the course is self-paced, the suggested speed is one module per week, with approximately four hours needed to complete each module. The course also includes a list of optional recommended readings which learners whose interest is piqued may enjoy for further exploration. Psychology of Art and Creativity is taught on the Canvas platform. [JDC]

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While writing may often be thought of or portrayed as a solitary pursuit, the digital exhibition Writing in Company: Forms of Collaboration in Artistic Works and Scientific Knowledge, 1700-1914 points out that writers throughout history often collaborated in both formal and unnoticed ways, resulting in "collective creativity." These myriad forms of collaboration are explored in this exhibition which was created to accompany a physical exhibition displayed at Montreal's McGill University Library in 2014. Visitors to this exhibition will find more than fifty "examples of collaboration among writers associated with the rise of popular literature (novel and theatre), among writers and illustrators or composers, among creators and interpreters, as well as among members of a salon, an artistic movement, a religious order, an academic institution, or a scientific expedition." Readers can explore the exhibition thematically or as a whole, and each image (many of which feature works written in French) includes a brief explanatory caption in both English and French. Writing in Company was curated by graduate students Stephanie Favreau and Adina Ruiu as part of the interdisciplinary research group Interacting with Print, which studies European print culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [JDC]

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Academics in a variety of disciplines and readers with a scholarly interest in creativity may want to take a look at the open access journal Creativity Studies, which is published by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) Press, Lithuania. This English-language journal publishes "original research articles with a focus on communication within the creative society [by] scholars from diverse disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, history, politics, communication, and information sciences" using double-blind peer review. Established in 2008, Creativity Studies publishes two issues annually. Examples of recent articles published in 2018 include "Relationship Between Organizational Communication and Creativity: How It Advances in Rigid Structures?", which uses the military as a case study to examine creativity in organizational structures. Another is "European Posthuman Border Image: Performativity, Creativity, and Beyond," which analyzes discursive practices around and artistic representations of borders, migration, and refugees. Creativity Studies is indexed by multiple databases including Google Scholar, ProQuest Central, Academic Search Complete, and more. Its editor-in-chief is Tomas Kacerauskas, Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at VGTU. [JDC]

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Many of the complex problems facing communities around the world will likely require innovation and creative solutions. Educators looking for ways to encourage creativity in their students may want to check out these suggestions offered on Learner Log, the blog of Annenberg Learner (whose abundant teaching resources have been featured in the Scout Report numerous times over the years). Here, readers will find a collection of five resources drawn from Annenberg Learner's archives, all chosen with classroom creativity in mind. One highlighted resource is a workshop for middle school teachers on integrating the arts with other subjects in their classrooms. Several resources provide further ideas and materials for interdisciplinary teaching, such as combining science with history, math with literature, and art with science. This collection also includes a ten-minute video exploring the link between creativity and REM sleep. In addition to these curated resources, Learner Log includes a link to one of their previous articles on arts integration across the curriculum, as well as a link to Education World's list of suggestions for celebrating International Creativity Month in the classroom. [JDC]

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First published in the Scout Report on 06-07-2013, we feel this resource still provides an interesting glimpse into the past of the Emerald City.

If you enjoy the Pacific Northwest, you have probably encountered many tales of Seattle's storied past. It is, after all, known in some parts as the "Emerald City," and is full of tales of its rough-and-tumble Skid Row, pioneer settlers from Scandinavia, and a whole host of intriguing characters. This particular website from the Seattle Public Library offers a cornucopia of ephemera related to the city's history. As the site notes, "This collection presents some of Seattle's historical 'sawdust'--unique and interesting materials." Many of these documents have not been widely accessible for many years, a situation this archive remedies. There are 25 items here, including "A Survey of Comic Books in the State of Washington: A Report Made to the Washington State Council for Children and Youth" and a fascinating document on regrading projects in Seattle titled "How Seattle Changed Its Face." Visitors can search all of the texts and browse at their leisure; those interested in urban planning and the like will probably end up whiling away a few hours enjoying these unique items.

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