General Interest
It's never too soon to plan for a centennial, and the National Park Service is getting things started early with this rather delightful and immersive website. First-time visitors should start their journey through the site by clicking on the interactive report titled "The Future of America's National Parks". The report will teach visitors about the future direction of the Park System and also let them learn about some of the feedback provided by American citizens on various parks across the country. Moving on, the "Listening Sessions" area lets visitors hear the suggestions offered by various citizens about how to improve the Park System over the next century. Near the top of the homepage, visitors can also read up on approved projects in each state, read the basics of the Centennial Goals, and also check out a summary page of statistics regarding the Park System. [KMG]
http://dl.lib.brown.edu/japan/index.html
Upon opening this website, visitors will be treated to an image from an anonymous Japanese scroll which depicts a steam locomotive and several Japanese onlookers. It's an excellent way to start a digital collection dedicated to Commodore Matthew Perry's visit to Japan in 1854. The collection is part of Brown University's Center for Digital Initiatives, and it was created as part of a project by Professor Susan Smulyan and her students. On the site, visitors can peruse three different sets of images, including those created by the American artist William Heine and a set of broadsides by anonymous Japanese creators. The subject matter is the same for all of these works (Commodore Perry's visit to Japan), and visitors can take a close look at each image, and also read accompanying essays by students. That's far from all, as visitors can also read accounts of the expeditions written by Commodore Perry and William Heine. The site is rounded out by a detailed bibliography containing scholarly works, journal articles, and web sources. [KMG]
http://www.worldbank.org/sixthemes
The World Bank works to combat poverty and to increase development opportunities around the world, but they also have selected six strategic themes that focus in on global development. First-time visitors to the site can listen to World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick talk about these themes, and they may also wish to follow along with the accompanying slideshow. Themes include global public goods, the Arab world, and middle-income countries. By clicking on one of these themes, visitors can read comprehensive reports, working papers, or take a look at presentations that explore these areas in greater detail. Many of these information sources are contained within a "Highlights" area. Visitors with a penchant for economic development, international political economy, or international affairs will find this site very useful. It's also easy to see how these materials might be used in a classroom setting to spark discussion or debate about some of these very timely matters. [KMG]
http://libluna.lib.ad.colorado.edu:8081/insight/sample/SoundModel/index.htm
For two decades, Ben Gray Lumpkin travelled around the state of Colorado collecting folk songs. Lumpkin was a professor of English at the University of Colorado, and over this time period he recorded approximately 2000 performances by 192 individuals. This delightful digital collection created by the University of Colorado at Boulder Libraries offers curious visitors a sampling of these performances. Visitors can browse the collection by song title or performer name. Additionally, visitors can perform detailed searches across the entire collection. There are a number of real gems here, including performances of "Babes in the Woods", "Hand Me Down My Walkin' Cane", and "Farmer's Boy". The site is rounded out by a brief biography of Professor Lumpkin which talks about how he came to work on this particular project. [KMG]
http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/campaign68/
The legacy of the 1968 presidential campaign and election continues to resonate with many Americans, and this radio documentary produced by American RadioWorks takes a close look into that fateful year. Visitors can get introduced to the candidates by clicking their photographs on the website. Further down the site, visitors can learn about some of the basic issues that informed that year's elections, including racial unrest, the powerful force of television, and the continued controversy over the conduct of the Vietnam War. Of course, visitors will also want to listen to the entire radio documentary and follow along with the transcript provided here. The site is rounded out by a listing of songs featured in the program and a timeline of the 1968 campaign season. [KMG]
http://www.haltadefinizione.com/home.jsp?lingua=en
This website aims to get fine art into people's homes. The fine art medium happens to be photographs of the originals, but they are really good photographs. For each painting, there is a very detailed explanation of the work, which can be found by clicking on the painting. Clicking on "View this artwork in detail", near the top of the explanation of the painting, will let you zoom in, and underneath the work you will also be able to read the "Technical Details" of the work, as well as other related information, such as artist, location, and the period. Fitting music also accompanies each viewing, giving it a multimedia quality. Information about the composer, and a link to the musicians can be found under the "Photo Credits" or "Credits" section. If viewing on the computer is not enough, each artwork can be purchased, in a variety of formats, such as poster, canvas, or photographic print. The works here include da Vinci's "The Last Supper" and Guadenzio Ferrari "Life Stories of Christ". There is a lot of great information on each painting, and the music and great quality make it a joy to view them. [KMG]
Oxfam, the British aid organization that banded together with a dozen other organizations in 1995 to form Oxfam International, has a website loaded with resources, one of which is a video library. There are many issues covered, such as climate change, tsunami survivors, AIDS, and many videos include celebrities, including Colin Firth, Scarlett Johansson, Helen Mirren, and Annie Lennox. To increase their reach, many of the videos are also available on Youtube. To view the video in fullscreen, click on the screen icon next to the speaker icon. One of the more heart wrenching videos is the one titled "Our Home After Sidr-Documentary from Oxfam." It is the abridged version of a documentary, but conveys, nonetheless the dire situation of these Bangladesh survivors. Visitors should also not miss short animated video "Face the Music" about climate change, which uses only music and animation to show how climate change hits the poor "first and worst." [KMG]
http://oldphoto.lb.nagasaki-u.ac.jp/en/
Last mentioned in the July 30th, 1999 Scout Report, the current database represents a redesign and standards upgrade of the inherited data. The collection now includes approximately 6,000 hand-colored photographs, taken at various locations all over Japan, during the Bakumatsu-Meiji period, 1860 - 1920. In addition to searching by photographer, category, keyword, or location, it is now possible to browse by a variety of categories from making tea or housekeeping, to scenic spot or battlefield. In addition, from the full record display, visitors can link to related images. For example, the photo "Girls having a meal", dated 1880-1905, shows two young women wearing the long-sleeved kimonos of unmarried women, seated with a maid for a meal. Related photographs retrieved are additional views of groups of young women, dining, with cups, bowls, platters, and teapots. [DS]
