The Scout Report -- Volume 25, Number 13

Scholars, educators, and the generally curious alike may be interested in the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC). Founded in 2004, this unique resource is formed by a collaboration between more than 40 partner institutions "within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that provides users with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections." Visitors to dLOC have a wide variety of materials to explore, including digital exhibits, more than 1,100 historic and contemporary maps, a large collection of historic newspapers and periodicals, documents and archives from Caribbean leaders and governments, and more. dLOC also contains noteworthy special projects featuring rich collections on Panama and the Canal, a multifaceted collection on Cuban history, and a multimedia Vodou Archive. Educators should also check out the teaching guides, where they will find a variety of materials for students in K-12 and beyond, such as digital humanities resources, lesson plans, and syllabi. In keeping with the Caribbean region's multicultural history, the materials in dLOC's collections span a variety of languages, including Spanish, Dutch, and Haitian Creole, as well as numerous items in English. With more than 2.6 million pages of content available, dLOC is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the Caribbean. [JDC]

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Maps can be beautiful, engaging, and informative ways to learn or educate about a topic, and story maps offer a way to add multimedia and narrative to the mix as well. But for the uninitiated, the prospect of creating a high-quality digital map may be daunting. Fortunately, the team at Esri has created a free resource to help. This collection of story maps is designed to instruct visitors on how to make effective and appealing story maps (a purpose which its creators note is "a bit circular"). Here, readers will find approximately 20 story maps (as of this write-up), each focused on a different cartographic concept or technique. Examples include tutorials on creating visuals such as glowing borders or sunrise effects, an explainer on making heat maps to communicate density, as well as a series of tutorials featuring Esri's Cascade story map template and a series focused on the platform's smart mapping features. The majority of these story maps were created by Esri staff member John Nelson, with some created by Lisa Berry, Julia Holtzclaw, and Clare Trainor. [JDC]

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Science fiction engages its audience's imagination to envision speculative futures that can range from the apocalyptic to the optimistic. It is the latter that is explored in The Weight of Light, an anthology of science fiction stories, essays, and art published in February 2019 by Arizona State University's Center for Science and the Imagination (CSI). This free ebook was "inspired by a simple question: what would a world powered entirely by solar energy look like?" To answer it, CSI hosted a narrative hackathon in 2018 where authors, artists, and experts interacted to "create technically grounded, inspiring visions of a future shaped by a transition to clean, plentiful solar energy." The resulting twelve pieces can be found at the link above. Each of the four categories (Big Urban, Small Urban, Big Rural, and Small Rural) features a science fiction story and an illustration, along with at least one essay commenting on various aspects of the world depicted in the story. Visitors can read the anthology online in HTML format or download it as an ePub, iBook, or Mobi file. The Weight of Light was edited by Joey Eschrich and Clark A. Miller. [JDC]

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From the University of Iowa's Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry (POROI) comes its namesake, the open-access academic journal Poroi. Launched in 2001 and published semiannually, this peer-reviewed electronic journal publishes interdisciplinary scholarly articles that "emphasize the rhetoric of knowledge production in and across academic disciplines; how knowledge flows between technical, public, and personal spheres of discourse; and how communication media affect argumentation, its dissemination, and reception." Researchers and readers from a variety of scholarly backgrounds, particularly those with an interest in communication-related issues, may be intrigued by the types of work published in Poroi. For example, past article topics have included how CRISPR and the trope of the Book of Nature enable conceptualizing DNA as a text rather than a code (found in Volume 14.2) and how applying a cultural rhetorics approach to the issue of human trafficking could lead toward improved public understanding of and engagement in anti-trafficking efforts (found in Volume 12.2). Currently in its fourteenth volume, Poroi is published semiannually. All articles can be downloaded as PDFs, and those interested may subscribe to receive updates from this journal via email or RSS. [JDC]

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The Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, PA owns the largest collection of N.C. (Newell Convers) Wyeth's artwork and provides digital access to these works via the Catalogue Raisonne. N. C. Wyeth, A Catalogue Raisonne of Paintings was originally published in print as a two-volume set in 2008 and documented 1,922 paintings that Wyeth created between 1902 and 1945, while the online edition has grown to include over 2,800 works. Most entries in the catalogue consist of an image of the work of art, physical description, provenance, publication and exhibition records, and historical notes. In some cases, related images or photographs are also present. For example, the catalogue entry for Wyeth's painting of Abraham Lincoln from 1938/39 lets us know that the painting was created as a calendar illustration in December 1940 for "America in the Making," published by John Morrell & Company in Ottumwa, IA. The entry also includes a handwritten note written by Wyeth as he prepared his 1939 income taxes, listing expenses for the commission. In addition to documenting N.C. Wyeth, there's also a family tree tracing the many other painters in the Wyeth family, such as N.C. Wyeth's son Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), daughter Carolyn Wyeth (1909-1994), and grandson Jamie Wyeth (b. 1946). [DS]

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Readers interested in hearing diverse perspectives on technology in education (or those who enjoy thought-provoking storytelling in general) should give the Nevertheless podcast a listen. Produced by Pearson and Storythings, Nevertheless describes itself as "a podcast celebrating the women transforming teaching and learning through technology." Here, visitors will find engaging, relatable audio stories exploring such issues as the importance of STEM role models, "how gender and diversity shape the ethics of products," and the myriad ways that technology affects the lives and careers of young people today. As of this write-up, Nevertheless has completed two seasons, with five episodes in its pilot season and ten in its second season. To go along with its roughly 30-minute podcast episodes, Nevertheless has also shared a series of short videos featuring young women in STEM fields and discussions with women who work in educational technology, as well as bonus content such as downloadable posters of STEM role models, background reading lists, and written articles. Readers can stream episodes of Nevertheless and access its accompanying content on Medium, and listeners may also subscribe via other platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Stitcher. [JDC]

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From Stanford University comes Gendered Innovations, a peer-reviewed project that aims to "harness the creative power of sex and gender analysis for innovation and discovery...[and] to provide scientists and engineers with practical methods for sex and gender analysis." Visitors to this project will find a wealth of resources relating to sex and gender issues in STEM fields, organized into six interconnected portals. These resources include extensive methods for STEM institutions to analyze the role of sex and gender in their organization, key terms and concepts, and checklists to help incorporate this analysis into research projects. Readers will also find case studies showing how these analysis methods have helped create innovation, policy recommendations, summaries of research literature to aid with institutional transformation towards gender equality, and a number of videos. First-time visitors may want to follow the What is Gendered Innovations? link, where they will find a helpful infographic explaining how to navigate the website. Initiated in 2009, Gendered Innovations is directed by Londa Schiebinger, Professor of History of Science at Stanford University, with participation from the European Commission and the National Science Foundation, and international collaboration with more than seventy experts in diverse fields. [JDC]

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The acclaimed 2016 film Hidden Figures, loosely based on Margot Lee Shetterly's non-fiction book by the same name, tells an inspiring story about three African-American women who performed vital work for NASA during the Space Race. Readers interested in using this film as a jumping-off point for discussion, whether in classrooms or with peers, may appreciate these guides provided by Journeys in Film (featured in the 2-5-2019 Scout Report). For educators, the 156-page curriculum guide features eight fully-developed, standards-aligned lesson plans that approach different aspects of the film from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. For example, social studies classes can learn about the Cold War, the Space Race, and the history of legal segregation, while STEM-oriented lesson plans address the mathematics of space travel, the development of computer programming, and diversity and career preparation in STEM fields. For those needing less structure, the accompanying 14-page discussion guide is designed to "support dialogue with families, educators, middle and high school students to understand the historical context of these remarkable women and inspire academic and creative ambition in their own futures." Both guides can be downloaded for free as PDFs by entering an email address to subscribe to Journeys in Films' newsletter. [JDC]

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The actress Hedy Lamarr was celebrated for her beauty and her work in classic Hollywood films like Boom Town (1940) and Samson and Delilah (1949), but she was also a talented inventor whose technological achievements went largely unrecognized until close to her death in 2000. One of her most significant innovations, which she developed with fellow tinkerer George Antheil during World War II, was a system designed to guide radio-controlled military torpedoes using "frequency-hopping" to prevent their interception, an invention that today forms the basis for wireless technologies like WiFi and Bluetooth. Lamarr and this invention are the focus of this interdisciplinary lesson plan from the National Women's History Museum. Written with middle school students in mind, this standards-aligned lesson plan introduces learners to "women's roles and limitations in World War II" and encourages them to think about gender representation in STEM fields and innovation today. The lesson plan's optional science component uses a radio-controlled toy car to explore the concepts of radio waves and frequencies that were part of Lamarr's invention. This lesson can be downloaded as an 11-page PDF and includes worksheets, instructions, and a vocabulary list. [JDC]

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Mathematics students, educators, and researchers of all genders may be interested in the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM). Founded in 1971 and based in Providence, Rhode Island, this nonprofit organization "is focused on understanding the [career] pipeline for women in mathematics" and notes that "[d]iverse perspectives are necessary to solve complex problems in ethical ways that benefit all groups." On its website, AWM provides links to a number of resources organized by target audience. For example, readers interested in the general state of women in mathematics should visit On Women in Math, where they will find statistics and reports on this topic, as well as profiles of women mathematicians. There are also a variety of teaching and learning resources for K-12 educators and students, AWM's mentor network and funding opportunities for students and academics at the undergraduate level and beyond, and information on career paths in mathematics. Additionally, AWM co-sponsors an annual student essay contest (found under the programs tab) that focuses on "contemporary women mathematicians and statisticians in academic, industrial, and government careers." Under the publications tab, AWM provides PDFs of its bimonthly newsletters, which feature articles, book reviews, upcoming events, and job announcements from a range of institutions. [JDC]

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Inkscape is a professional quality vector graphics editor. Graphics files can be encoded in two main ways. Most common formats are raster formats (e.g., jpg, gif, tiff, png), which encode images as a grid of colored pixels. These are the kinds of images produced by scanners and digital cameras. Images in these formats can become distorted when resized and will become blocky when zoomed. In a vector format, images are encoded as a series of mathematical formulas. They can be resized and zoomed with no loss of crispness and will never become blocky. This is why graphic designers and professional print shops prefer vector formats for logos and line artwork. Inkscape's main format is SVG, but it can also import PDFs and files from Illustrator, CorelDRAW, and Visio. Extensions are available to import additional formats as well. In the "learn" section of the Inkscape site, users can find a series of tutorials, including a basic introduction to vector graphics editing, calligraphy, tracing pixel art, and more. Inkscape is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Windows installers can be located in the "Download" section of the site. macOS users can install Inkscape with MacPorts or Homebrew. Users of most Linux distributions (and BSD operating systems) can find Inkscape packages in their package manager. Inkscape is free software, distributed under the GNU General Public License, with source code available on GitLab. [CRH]

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Vagrant is a tool to simplify and automate the care and feeding of virtual machines with an emphasis on reliably and reproducibly managing development environments. Many dozens of pre-configured, ready to run Vagrant "boxes" are available that users can download and spin up with a couple of commands. This can be an easy way to try new operating systems without needing to learn the minutiae of their installers. It can also provide a way to quickly test locally-developed software on a variety of operating systems. Vagrant has integration with configuration management software (e.g., Chef, Ansible) so that after a base box is installed it can be automatically configured and customized. Organizations that are already using such software to manage their production environments can often use lightly modified versions of the same recipes/playbooks in a Vagrant box to generate a development environment. Virtual machines managed by vagrant can also be packaged to provide a re-usable snapshot that can be sent to others. In addition to its utility for quickly providing new developers with a working copy of a project, this can also be helpful when reporting bugs. Users can find a getting started guide for Vagrant in the "Docs" section of the website along with a detailed operational reference. Vagrant can be downloaded for Windows, macOS, and several distributions of Linux. [CRH]

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We originally featured Overlooked in the 3-16-2018 Scout Report, and since then this fascinating project has continued to add obituaries honoring remarkable people whose contributions were not recognized at the time of their death.

When Amisha Padnani became an obituary writer for The New York Times in 2017, she noticed that a number of important women throughout history had not received obituaries in the paper. Padnani decided to team up with Jessica Bennett, a gender editor at the Times to launch Overlooked: an initiative to provide obituaries for some of the women that Padnani couldn't locate in the paper's archives. On International Women's Day (March 8, 2018), the Times published this collection of fifteen obituaries of artists, activists, writers, athletes, and other important women that the Times overlooked in their obituary section throughout the years. In one obituary, Sewell Chan writes about the life of Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender activist who played a key role in the 1969 Stonewall uprising and, posthumously, was the subject of David France's 2017 film The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. In another obituary, Aisha Khan writes about Bollywood star Madhubala, who appeared in dozens of films from the 1940s and 1950s before her premature death in 1969. Other women featured in this series include Ida B. Wells, Ada Lovelace, and Henrietta Lacks. The Times plans to add additional overdue obituaries each week, and readers are invited to nominate historical women to be featured in the series.

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