Research and Education
Born in Virginia in 1873, Willa Cather's family moved to Nebraska at age 10. She would later attend the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and would of course share her vision of the Great Plains in novels like "O Pioneers!" and "My Antonia". In 1997, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln began a very ambitious project to digitize hundreds of Cather-authored texts and Cather scholarship for this excellent website. Currently, this collection includes digital transcriptions of five Cather books, all of her short fiction from before 1912, the complete run of "Cather Studies", multiple biographies, and several virtual tours of Cather-related locales. These materials can be located by using the search engine offered here or by clicking around sections that include "Writings", "Letters", "Life", "Gallery", and "Multimedia". Overall, it's a tremendous site, and one that merits a number of return visits. [KMG]
Many researchers and parents are concerned about the effects of the media on adolescents. It's in no way a new concern, but there is a renewed interest in how media can potentially be harnessed to combat some of the more pernicious messages disseminated by mainstream media. This particular 8-page brief released in April 2008 takes on that very subject. The brief is part of "The Future of Children" initiative, which is jointly sponsored by Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. Authored by Elisabeth Hirschhorn Donahue, Ron Haskins, and Marisa Nightingale, the brief suggests that nonprofit groups and associations can effectively "draw teens into conversations by supplying them with expertise and tools they can share with their friends to become advocates to one another." The report goes on to suggest that working with new media and social networking sites may be more effective than trying to rally against such new forms of expression. [KMG]
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/Science_and_Technology/default.htm
Browsing through the Encyclopedia Smithsonian can be a bit like spending time with a friend: You'll rediscover some familiar stories, and you'll probably learn something new at the same time. This particular part of the Encyclopedia Smithsonian covers science and technology and visitors can learn about Arctic wildlife, major "firsts" in aviation history, and bird biology. The materials are drawn from different parts of the Institution, including the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation and the National Air & Space Museum. Visitors can also scan the left-hand side of the page for alphabetically organized resources from aeronautics to zoology. Overall, the site is a great way to access a few of the tremendous resources offered by the Institution, and it may just inspire a deeper search through some of their additional online offerings. [KMG]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/archstories/
From Ashland in the far north all the way south to Beloit, the state of Wisconsin is full of compelling stories that bring in the cultural and social diversity of its people and its development. Offered up by the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Wisconsin History Explorer uses the properties documented through the National Register of Historic Places "to tell stories about Wisconsin people and communities." Through the use of historic photographs and other documents, the Explorer tells thematic stories about Wisconsin's suburbs, early road development, and historic theaters. One particularly delightful collection here is "Are We There Yet? Sweet Dreams: The Evolution of the Motel in Wisconsin". In this collection, visitors will learn about the early days of stage inns in the state and progress all the way up to the emergence of the motor courts in the 1920s. [KMG]
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) has a substantial outreach mission, and this site provides a cornucopia of educational materials and resources designed for physics undergraduate majors, instructors, and those thinking about a career in physics. Near the top of the page visitors will find the "Students" section, which includes information on graduate programs in the physical sciences, along with information about the national honor society for physics students. Below that section, the "Educators" area includes resources for physics teachers such as interactive modules and learning worksheets. Near the bottom of the page the "Academic Resources" area contains reports on employment trends for physicists and links to job websites in the realm of physics and related fields. [KMG]
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/hurston/
Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist and author whose best known work remains the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God". Hurston also wrote a number of plays and in 1997, a number of her previously unknown plays were discovered in the Library of Congress's Copyright Deposit Drama Collection. The American Memory Project took the time to digitize these interesting works, and visitors to this site can browse through all ten of them at their leisure. They include "Lawing and Jawing", "Woofing", and "The Mule-Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life in Three Acts". Visitors will enjoy reading through these works, and the site also includes a timeline of important events in Hurston's life. [KMG]
http://www.povertyactionlab.org/
Many laboratories focus their attention on topics like Alzheimer's research, but this laboratory at MIT focuses on poverty. The objective of their work at the Poverty Action Lab is "to improve the effectiveness of poverty programs by providing policy makers with clear scientific results that help shape successful polices to combat poverty." The Lab was started in June 2003 by a group of professors at MIT and their collaborators. Visitors to the site will note that the materials here are divided into sections that include "Research", "People", "News", and "Courses". The "Research" section is a great place to start as policy makers and others can look over their completed projects (such as "Discrimination in the Job Market") and their publications. Moving on, visitors can click on the "People" section to learn more about their staff and directors. Finally, those who are curious about the reach of the Poverty Lab's work will want to look at their media features in the "News" section. [KMG]
http://home.pacbell.net/hgladney/ddq.htm
Henry Gladney has an established background in the field of digital document management, and he also holds a number of patents. Gladney started publishing the Digital Document Quarterly (DDQ) in 2002 as an online publication that covers everything from the information revolution to providing information about digital preservation solutions. Visitors to the site can read the introduction to the DDQ, and then make their way through all of the previous issues. It's easy to see why different information science professionals and librarians would find the archive useful, as the topics covered here include basic topics in digital preservation, preserving office records, information retrieval, and even the epistemology of digital preservation. The site is rounded out by a nice glossary of terms, which covers everything from "abstract" to "value". [KMG]
