http://www.nature.org/design/

The Nature Conservancy commissioned high-profile designers such as Isaac Mizrahi, Kate Spade, and others to produce textiles, furniture, jewelry, handbags, and decorative objects that were sustainable and used materials and methods from local craftspeople around the world. Some of the innovative designs, found at the top of the page in the "Project" tab, include FSC-Certified Plywood Furniture", "Chicle Latex Vases", and "Bamboo Furniture". The materials used for the projects can be found under the "Place" tab, and include such varied locations as Gondwana Link, Australia; Lava Lake Ranch, Idaho; and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The website is well designed, and the user can view the projects by designer, project, or the place the materials originated. Once the user has chosen a mode of viewing, a slideshow and accompanying description of either the place, designer, or project will appear on the screen. At the top of the screen are available links to the complementary methods of viewing these materials, either buying the book or visiting the exhibition in person. [KMG]

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/

Sure enough, there is a good deal of "waste" online, so it's nice to learn about the Waste Online website which serves as a great repository for information about an entirely different set of waste-related matters. This British-based website has been funded by the New Opportunities Fund Digitise project. The project is overseen by Waste Watch, which is "the leading environmental charity dedicated to the reduction, reuse and recycling of household waste." First-time visitors can get started by clicking on "Wacky waste facts", which contains some basic facts about the nature of waste in the United Kingdom. In the same vicinity, visitors can dig deeper by looking into sections titled "The problem with waste", "Waste in the workplace", and "Waste at home". Moving on, the "Search our library" area allows guests to the site to look for specific items of interest related to dozens of topics, such as household recycling, office recycling, and metal recycling. Moving along, the "Information Sheets" area features almost two dozen fact sheets that can be used as guides to composting, battery recycling, and the history of waste. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia is not only an impressive museum to visit in person, but its online museum is very well done, and includes virtual tours of several parts of the museum. There is so much information on this website and after browsing around, visitors will feel like they have had a personally guided tour of the art collections and the architecture of the buildings. Visitors can learn the history of the Hermitage by clicking on "Hermitage History" near the top of the homepage. The "Timeline" will orient the visitor, and "A Walk Through the Imperial Hermitage" and "The Winter Palace Through the Ages" allows for a look at several different ages of parts of the six building museum. The Digital Collection can be searched or browsed in the usual way, such as by title, artist, year, medium, etc., but IBM's experimental Query By Image Content (QBIC) allows visitors to find "a Gauguin masterpiece simply by recalling the organisation of his subjects or locating a Da Vinci painting by searching for its predominant colours." There are short animated demonstrations to show the visitor how to do a search by color or layout. [KMG]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iran

The Guardian newspaper is known around the world for its excellent coverage of international news. They have a special site dedicated to providing up-to-the minute coverage and special reports on Iran, and it's one that any news aficionado will want to bookmark. Of course, the investigative reports and articles are solid, and the site also contains interactive situation maps, video clips, and interviews. At the top of the page, visitors will find the most recent stories, and they can scroll down to view links to various Iranian government websites and germane commentaries from the blogosphere. Visitors can also search the entire Iran news archive and sign up to receive the RSS feed. Of course, some will also want to leave their own comments as well on various news items. [KMG]

http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/DEPTS/hr/wpa/ne_fwp_1.html

In the 1930s, the Nebraska Federal Writers' Project began work on creating an authoritative guide to the Cornhusker State, along with documenting various cities and towns across the state. This web exhibit from the Lincoln City Libraries provides a narrative history of their work, along with documenting the Project's activities through good and bad times. The digital project was supported in part by the United States Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, and Stephen Cloyd assembled the exhibit and wrote the text. Visitors will note that the exhibit is divided into three parts, and the first two sections within include short essays that narrate the history of this expansive and important project. The last section contains notes and study questions about the exhibit. Special attention is paid to those writers who came over to the project from the Prairie Schooner, which was (and still is) a notable literary journal published at the University of Nebraska. [KMG]

http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/prism_on-line_journ.html

This free online journal of the study of Public Relations and Communications is a peer-refereed publication based in Australia, and first published in 2003. The journal views public relations "in its broadest sense, to encompass all communication within and between organisations or individuals and their social, environmental, and political context." Visitors can make their way through Volumes 1-6 about midway down the homepage. Each issue includes commentaries, book reviews, refereed journal articles, and conference reports. There is even a PRism Prize, a cash prize awarded to the guest editor of a special issue. Details are available from the "Click Here" link, above the list of journal issues. The Journal's current call for papers is located below the list of journal issues. General information, such as "Submission Guidelines", "Refereeing Process", "Advice to Book Reviewers", and "PRism House Style Guide" are listed near the bottom of the page. [KMG]

http://www.balzacsparis.ucr.edu/

Honoré de Balzac was a great lover of Paris, and he happened to live in the City of Lights during a time when the city was undergoing intense physical transformation. Admittedly, many of the city's most famous landmarks did not emerge until after Balzac's passing in 1850, but this rather emotional and provocative online exhibit takes users into the Paris that the writer knew most intimately. Drawing on its tremendous Vernon Duke Collection (which includes over 800 books, maps, and documents on the history of Paris), the University of California, Riverside Library has created this fine introduction and exploration of Paris during the life of Balzac. The site contains a number of virtual tours (illuminated by various primary documents), along with a biography of Balzac, and a detailed bibliography. [KMG]

http://ive.scm.tees.ac.uk/

The research goals of the British-based lab, Intelligent Virtual Environments, of the University of Teesside are to develop "new models of interactivity based on Artificial Intelligence techniques." The website contains access to current projects, past and completed projects, technologies, as well as all publications and a tool to search those publications. Visitors can view the more than two dozen articles, going all the way back to 2000 on the subject of artificial intelligence techniques. On the menu to the left-hand side of the page are the links to the lab's current projects "IRIS", "CALLAS" and "COMPANIONS", and to "ALTERNE", "BARDS" and "CHARBIS", which are the lab's past and completed projects. Visitors especially shouldn't miss learning about the "COMPANIONS" project, which will be a virtual conversation companion in the near future. Watch the "Companions Movie" and check out the "Health and Fitness Companion" and "Senior Companion" demonstrators on the COMPANIONS homepage. There is also a Companions blog, for those interested in reading and responding to various topics related to this personalized type of artificial intelligence. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.