USDA Agriculture Fact Book: 2001-2002 [.pdf]
http://www.usda.gov/factbook/2002factbook.pdf
Released last week, the 169-page USDA Agriculture Fact Book offers a view of the broader trends in American agriculture, as well as the extent and nature of the outreach programs provided by the USDA and its related agencies. The topics are divided into more digestible smaller sections, including the food consumption of Americans, the transformation of American farms, and American food safety. All told, there are a total of twelve sections, many of which include helpful visual aids, such as tables, charts, and graphs. The chapter dedicated to rural development efforts will be of great interest to policy and planning professionals, as it details the extent to which the USDA is able to affect change and create growth within many of America's rural areas, some of which continue to experience severe population losses. [KMG]
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Henry James Scholar's Guide to Web Sites
http://www2.newpaltz.edu/~hathaway/
Maintained and created by Richard Hathaway, an educator at the State University of New York at New Paltz, this site is a compendium of links and writings by and about the American writer Henry James. The site begins with a collections of electronic texts of James' works. Some of the more recent additions include short stories that James wrote specifically for The Atlantic Monthly during the 1860s. While the site cannot be searched in its entirety, a table of contents provides some assistance for those hoping to navigate its sections. The contents include such topics as Henry James conferences, Finding other etexts, The Henry James E-Journal, and an on-line discussion group. The section dealing with writings by and about James will be of great interest to scholars and students, as it includes links to study guides and musings on his great works by other noted authors and scholars. [KMG]
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Atlas of the Shallow-Water Benthic Habitats of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands [.pdf]
http://ccmaserver.nos.noaa.gov/rsd/products.html#nwhi
Released by the Remote Sensing Team (part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), these detailed maps released in February 2003 focus on the Northwest Hawaiian Islands. This part of the island chain extends across over 2200 kilometers of open ocean, and the total shallow water area of the ten atolls encompasses over 8000 square kilometers. Most of the information for these maps was obtained through the use of high-resolution satellite imagery, along with field data collected during 2001. For each of the ten atolls covered in this project, visitors can read a brief description and history, along with viewing maps generated from the satellite images and the habitat cover of each particular atoll. Those seeking to learn more about the map development process will be pleased to find a document on this subject, and a description of the classification scheme used in the maps. [KMG]
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National Women's History Project
http://www.nwhp.org/
With the goal of providing a national clearinghouse for general information about women's history in mind, five women gathered in Santa Rosa, California in 1980 to start the National Women's History Project. In 1987, the National Women's History Project successfully petitioned Congress to make every March National Women's History Month. From their homepage, visitors can view a list of new and upcoming events dealing with women's history around the United States, and submit their won events to the online database. The Learning Place section offers a host of educational resources ranging from helpful thematic lists of relevant Web sites, women's museums around the country, and a fifteen question women's history quiz. One particularly nice feature located here is the Biography Center, which provides brief biographical sketches of women honored by the Project, including the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink, Maya Lin, and Rachel Carson. For persons hoping to learn more about the Project's mission, there is a frequently asked questions area and a catalog of related products. [KMG]
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US Centennial of Flight Home Page [Quick Time]
http://www.centennialofflight.gov
In 1998, the United States Congress passed the Centennial Flight of Commemoration Act, effectively establishing the organization that would assist in commemorating the Wright brother's first powered flight in 1903. Five years later, the organization has mounted an impressive Web site that contains hundreds of documents related to the history of flight. Young people will want to be sure to check out the Kids' Fly Zone, which features several films of early Wright flying machines, including the 1900 Glider. The bulk of materials fall into three main sections: the timeline, essays, and images. The essays provide helpful background reading on almost every topic related to flight, ranging from the aerospace industry, inflight refueling, air power, commercial aviation, and aerodynamics. The timeline can be searched by year, keyword, or category. The image database can be searched by category, most of which correspond to topical themes delineated by the essays. For those looking to attend events related to the centennial, a searchable calendar of events is also provided. [KMG]
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American Memory: The Chinese in California, 1850-1925
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/cichome.html
Drawn from the collections of the University of California Berkeley and the California Historical Society, this addition to American Memory presents about 8000 digitized items that document the Chinese in California from 1850 to 1925. Like other American Memory collections, both searching and browsing options are available. One nice feature is the Topical Overview section, where users can read short essays on a variety of themes, from Chinese and Westward Expansion to Sentiment Concerning the Chinese: Images from Periodicals. All topical essays have galleries of associated pictures, such as approximately 300 architectural photographs of San Francisco's Chinatown or 565 pictures of Chinese American communities outside of San Francisco. Another highlight of the collection is over 100 photographs by Arnold Genthe, many of them portraits of Chinatown's children. [DS]
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Knights Templar and the Middle Ages
http://www.veling.nl/anne/templars/
While the Order of the Knights Templar exists today, the Knights are best known as one of the orders created after the First Crusades to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land and to guard various relics associated with the early days of Christianity, such as the crown of thorns worn by Jesus. Anne Veling, a resident of Holland, has created this site dedicated to discussing the importance of the Knights Templar during the Middle Ages and the Crusades. On the site, visitors can peruse a narrative essay detailing the founding of the order in the early 12th century; learn about their various activities; and browse a timeline of the Knights, ranging from their founding in the year 1119 to their eventual dissolution in the 14th century. Finally, visitors can read about other military orders during the period, along with links to Web pages dealing with the Middle Ages. [KMG]
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The Rion-Antirion Bridge [iPIX, Flash]
http://www.gefyra.gr/English/framesetbig.htm
Located in Greece, the Corinth Gulf Strait is the site of the Rion-Antirion Bridge construction project. This Web site has a great deal of information regarding the project and its progression. When completed in 2004, the bridge will span three kilometers and will be able to withstand a collision with a tanker or an earthquake measuring seven on the Richter scale. These impressive specifications will be the result of six years of work. The engineering principles and techniques used to design the bridge are described on this site, and several pictures and panoramic views of different stages of the bridge's construction are included. This site is also reviewed in the April 11, 2003 NSDL MET Report. [CL]
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