The Scout Report -- Volume 27, Number 11

The Atlanta History Center's vast virtual portfolio prides itself on "connecting history and your hard drive." One of the Center's virtual projects is the Civil Rights Toolkit, a great addition to classrooms (and perfect for caregivers, too). The toolkit focuses on young people, celebrating their role as "changemakers," and the various activities are designed to accommodate several grade levels. For example, a craft designed for elementary school students shows how to turn an empty spice bottle or tin can into a musical instrument. This homemade instrument will serve learners well as they participate in one of the sing along videos also included in the toolkit. Another activity, this time aimed at middle school students, discusses "Blackout Poetry," a hybrid literary-art project that adds new meaning to existing text. The toolkit also highlights an oral history project celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. The bottom of the exhibition page links to complementary resources, including the Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow exhibition and a learning lab about Jackie Robinson. [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

With a clever name and comforting (and challenging) content, the Ilkley Literature Festival's Be All Write portal is a wonderful resource for literature enthusiasts. The festival, an annual, multi-day event that takes place just outside of Leeds, England, brings together book lovers in person. But, amidst the pandemic, the portal invites readers and writers from around the world to convene online. The portal is divided into four projects: an audio archive of author interviews, weekly writing challenges, weekly book quizzes, and a reading list. Though the challenges launched several months ago, readers can still browse the past prompts and quizzes. A range of topics are included in both; for example, writers will be challenged to broaden their repertoire by preparing a monologue (Week 6) and writing a holiday carol (Week 32). The rest of the festival's site is also stuffed with great resources. The What's On tab links to a podcast and highlights upcoming digital events; the Children and Young People tab monitors events and writing competitions of interest to young readers and writers; and the About Us tab catalogs video performances that may be of interest. [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Botanists will nod knowingly at the title of this YouTube channel, but for other readers watching just a few videos is enough to be convinced. Dr. Chris Martine created and hosts the channel, bringing together his interests and expertise in biodiversity, botany, and ecology. He launched the series in 2012 and has released videos periodically since. Videos are short (less than 20 minutes), informative (thanks to a knowledgeable host and great guests), and captivating (with lots of stunning nature imagery). Viewers can transport to the Allegheny River, where they will learn about conservation efforts to save the blue false indigo; or, hop over to Kaua'i, Hawai'i, where they will explore the National Tropical Botanical Garden and hear from tropical biodiversity experts. Another video from the island takes viewers on a virtual excursion through the archipelago, meeting various conservation specialists along the way. Plants Are Cool, Too is supported by the Botanical Society of America. [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Educators looking for guidance as they expand the role of open educational resources (OERs) in their classrooms can turn to this resource. The comprehensive guide is conveniently divided into several sections and caters to a range of audiences. Those new to OERs will find valuable information on the About page, including a breakdown of the 5 "R's" of OER: retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. For a reliable list of OER hubs, check out the Quick List page. Educators seeking advice on how to create their own OERs will find step-by-step instructions by browsing the Creating, Licensing, and Collaborating pages. The Advocacy and Sustainability pages provide tips that will be especially useful to librarians, educators, administrators, and other stakeholders hoping to implement OER policies at the macro-level. The guide is available under a Creative Commons License and was originally created by The Learning Portal. The toolkit was developed by Colleges Libraries Ontario (CLO), the Ontario Colleges Library Service (OCLS), and the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME). [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Open-source data projects provide valuable access to research, and Nextstrain harnesses this data to promote public health through its "real-time snapshot of evolving pathogens." Readers new to the site may want to begin on the Docs tab. Here, users will find a brief introduction to the project, as well as various reference guides that explain how to navigate and contribute to the project. These materials are also accessible via the Help tab. Then, users can hop over to the datasets. Nextstrain provides data for various pathogens, including the seasonal influenza and the West Nile Virus. The SARS-CoV-2 genomic data (the scientific name for a strain of coronavirus) may be particularly of interest right now. The site has an entire section dedicated to maintaining this genomic data, with geographic indexes available in multiple languages. Nextstrain is supported by several major foundations, including the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the European Research Council, as well as by world-wide research groups that provide open-access data. For additional insights on the project, check out the blog or follow along on Twitter, @nextstrain. [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

The Feminist Art Coalition (FAC) brings together arts institutions rooted in social justice and structural change, working "to generate cultural awareness of feminist thought, experience, and action." FAC recognizes that the feminist lens is shaped by many thinkers and highlights the perspectives of these scholars (e.g., Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Angela Davis, among many others). Apsara DiQuinzio launched FAC in 2017 in collaboration with several colleagues and through financial support from the Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. More than 100 institutions contributed to the project, from the Milwaukee Art Museum (Milwaukee, WI) to the Mills College Art Museum (Oakland, CA). A full list of contributors is available on the Participating Institutions page. Clicking the plus sign icon next to each museum reveals relevant exhibitions (with a brief description and show dates). The site also features a series of essays on feminist issues (under Notes on Feminisms) and a collection of books, videos, and other relevant pieces (under Resources). [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

Launched this fall, Pioneers explores British women artists who "defied the status-quo." The curation is directed by Philip Mould, an art dealer and commentator, and housed within his London art gallery, Philip Mould & Company. Spanning the 16th through 20th centuries, the exhibition shows the evolution of how women were represented in art and art history, both as muses and makers. Though in part operating as a sales portal (most of the pieces were pulled from the gallery's stock, and some are tagged as "sold"), the exhibition is also a catalog for viewers around the world to foster appreciation for the contributions of these incredible creatives. Portraits predominate the collection, though some landscape pieces can also be found. Scrolling down the page, readers will also find a brief description of each century included in the collection, a list of exhibition reviews, a short welcome video from Mould, and links to related content (including blog posts and additional videos that analyze pieces). [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

The 03-05-2021 Scout Report introduced DailyArt the app. Now, readers can indulge in its companion magazine. Launched in 2016, a few years after the app, DailyArtMagazine.com creates a "place where art history gains the voice it deserves." Though the entire online publication is bursting with interesting art and art history content, the Women's Art section is particularly relevant and exciting. This collection contains a trove of posts about women artists and their work. For example, in a December 2, 2020 post readers can learn more about the Guerrilla Girls, an "anonymous feminist collective," that "has been keeping tabs on the inequalities of the art world and beyond." Visitors can also browse relevant works of art and accompanying analysis. Posts are organized chronologically on the site, allowing users to simply scroll down the page at the link above to view all of the content. Alternatively, if readers have a certain artist in mind, they can use the search bar in the top-right corner to see if that artist is featured in the magazine. [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

What Artists Listen To is a podcast created by Pia Pack, an artist based in Los Angeles. Launched in 2018 and now with several dozen episodes, the show shares "the stories and soundtracks of artists' lives," and celebrates many women in the arts. Although the podcast pre-dated the pandemic, its aim of creating a sense of connection between individual artists working mostly alone in their studios is remarkably appropriate for the greater isolation we are all feeling during this time of COVID-19. Each episode includes an interview with the artist and Pack, a Spotify playlist, links to the artist's website, and a few examples of their work. In episode 49, from July 6, 2020, Pack speaks with Marina Adams. They begin by talking about the impact of the pandemic and the protests against police brutality. Adams mentions being unable to get to her studio and start dates of museum exhibitions being pushed back, and then the pair transitions to discussing the playlist. Adams's playlist includes an eclectic mix of Jefferson Airplane, Nina Simone, Bob Dylan, and The Notorious B.I.G., among others. The podcast's playlists generally include a range of artists; for another example, from episode 2, Allison Saar's playlist starts with Miles David, and also includes two versions of "Voodoo Child" (by Jimi Hendrix and Anjelique Kidjo). While listeners await new episodes, they can enjoy more recent content and browse each artist's work on Instagram at @whatartistslistentopodcast. [DS]

Comment on or rate this resource

Women in Film and Television - Atlantic, "WIFT-AT," brings together professionals "working in film, television, and screen-based media," in the Atlantic region of Canada. A membership fee is required to join, and select programs are members-only (for example, the mentorship program). However, non-members hoping to participate in members-only events can often purchase a one-time ticket for certain webinars and programs, and a variety of resources on the site are available free of charge. The Resources section is a great hub for filmmakers, linking to COVID-relief information, professional development materials, and webinar recordings. The Tidings Newsletter is another wonderful free resource, highlighting upcoming programs, must-see films, and member profiles. This newsletter also helps connect individuals within the industry; for example, a recent post spotlights Working While Black, an upcoming documentary about "anti-Black racism in the workplace," and puts out a call for those interested in contributing to the project. Readers will also find WIFT-AT on Facebook (@wiftatlantic), Instagram (@wift_at), and Twitter (@wiftat). [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource

mdBook is a program that creates "online book-like websites," from directories of Markdown files. It is particularly well-suited to creating online manuals and is used somewhat widely for that purpose in the Rust community. The mdBook user guide is an example of one such website. A number of plugins are available that extend mdBook with additional features, like rendering of LaTeX equation notation, checking links within a book for validity, and producing EPUB output. Detailed API documentation linked from the User Guide describes how users can write their own plugins in Rust. In the Format section of the User Guide, users will find details of the file structure that mdBook expects and information on how to customize the visual theme of the output. The Installation section of the mdBook site provides binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux systems. [CRH]

Comment on or rate this resource

Petl is a Python library and companion command-line tool to support Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) workflows on tabular data. Petl can read and write several dozen formats including Excel, XML, JSON, Delimited text, HTML, and many others. Numerous transformations are supported, including transformations of individual values, splitting compound values from one cell into multiple cells, SQL-like joins across several tables, deduplication, and validation against a set of constraints. Petl also includes a number of utility functions to perform statistical analysis and interactive inspection of the data. In the ETL Pipelines section of the Introduction page, users can locate a brief illustration of a simple ETL workflow. As a Python package, Petl can be installed via pip. On many Linux and BSD systems, Petl will also be available via the system's package manager. [CRH]

Comment on or rate this resource

Celebrate women in the arts, both as producers of work and protagonists within work, by returning to this blog featured in the 10-09-2020 Scout Report. Plus, readers will want to explore new posts discussing Lady Macbeth and Lucretia, among others.

Created by Natasha Moura (an independent writer, art curator, and educator), Women'n Art is "committed to the role of women in the arts and culture." This involves highlighting women artists and depictions of women in art. For example, a July 29, 2020 post discusses Maria Izquierdo, a painter who was the first Mexican woman to have a solo exhibition of her work in the United States in 1930. Another post, "Sirens and Mermaids" (published June 17, 2020), looks into depictions of women as mythological creatures, from 540 B.C. up to the 21st Century. The blog also features reviews of books, such as Whitney Chadwick's Women, Art, and Society (covered in an August 5, 2020 post), or of museum exhibitions, for example the May 6, 2020 post listing exhibitors of women artists cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic. Visitors can filter posts by month or conduct keyword searches using the query bar. The right-hand side of the site also includes a list of official artist websites and museums. [DS] [EMB]

Comment on or rate this resource