http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/

With the ever-growing interest in information technology and digital initiatives and projects, the Current Cites website will be of great interest to persons working in these various fields. Edited by Roy Tennant (a librarian working at the California Digital Library in Oakland), Current Cites is a monthly publication that contains 10-15 annotated citations of the best literature currently available in the field of information technology. Of course, visitors to the site may elect to sign up to receive Current Cites every month, or they may peruse the contents of the publication back to its founding in August 1990. Equally helpful is the Bibliography On-Demand feature that allows users to construct their own bibliography culled from the Current Cites database of bibliographic citations. Additionally, the items that are freely available on the Internet are also retrieved and indexed so that users may perform an article search of the full-text of these various items. [KMG]

http://lnweb18.worldbank.org/ESSD/envext.nsf/46ByDocName/ClimateChange

Located within the World Bank's Environment Department, the Climate Change team "provides resources and expertise for the World Bank's participation in international climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and provides technical advice to the World Bank's Global Environment Facility Program." Understandably, the site contains a brief explication of the key themes surrounding contemporary concerns about climate change, along with offering a detailed discussion of the various programs and research projects with which the Climate Change group is engaged directly or in tandem with other related organizations and institutions. From the main page, visitors can read about the nature of international climate change (and its disproportionate effects on the developing world), peruse a list of relevant online publications, and read press releases from the Climate Change team. [KMG]

http://www.nal.usda.gov/foodborne/

Recently, there has been a great deal of concern over foodborne illnesses, particularly concerning the safety of various food products and the proper handling of certain foodstuffs that are prone to transmitting bacteria. Designed by the USDA and the FDA, this site serves as a fine clearinghouse for the general public and persons working in the field of public health. Included within the site is Foodsafe, a discussion group where individuals can network with food safety specialists from all over the world and get answers to difficult food safety questions. A nice section dedicated to other sites dealing with food safety includes several dozen links that address such important issues as children and food safety and food allergies. Finally, visitors can also read a number of food safety education success stories submitted from different parts of the United States. [KMG]

http://content.lib.washington.edu/imls/kcsnapshots/index.html

This fine photographic archive serves as both a great repository of visual historical documentation of the King County area (which includes Seattle) in the state of Washington, as a good example of a collaborative partnership between various organizations. The partnership includes bringing together the visual collections of ten small historical organizations in tandem with the University of Washington and Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. Visitors can read about the working relationship between the organizations, view training materials from three workshops (such as one on image selection), and examine a list of online resources on subjects such as scanning digital images and metadata guidelines. Lest one forget the extensive visual materials (over 12,000 items as of the last count), visitors may search across each distinct collection, or elect to browse through each one individually. To get visitors started with using the archive, a number of sample searches are provided here as well. [KMG]

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/economicdevelopment/programs/rc/

Based on ideas developed in the United Kingdom, the Community Renewal Initiative (operated under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), was launched in 1994 under President Bill Clinton. The Initiative consists of a number of discrete policy initiatives, including the Empowerment Zone program and the Enterprise Communities program. As the website notes, the Initiative has "opened new businesses and created jobs, housing, and new educational and health care opportunities for thousands of Americans." Persons interested in these novel initiatives will want to peruse this site, as it contains detailed information about each of these policy initiatives and about the various incentives for businesses interested in relocating to these various locales. The site also features frequent updates on new program incentives, along with a number of important documents, such as the recent publication Tax Incentives + Businesses = Jobs. [KMG]

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/fall2003/crane/index.html

This thorough educational website was developed through a partnership of Annenberg/CPB, Journey North, and the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership. This coalition of non-profit organizations, government agencies, and individuals are "joining forces to bring a migratory flock of whooping cranes back to eastern North America." This site connects to an extensive selection of lessons, activities and information, facts about Whooping Cranes in question/answer format, and background information about the Whooping Crane Reintroduction Study. Users can also connect to highlights from the Year 3 Reintroduction and Migration including maps, video clips, and photos. [NL] This site is also reviewed in the January 9, 2004 NSDL Life Sciences Report.

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/

Under the direction of the FreeBMD Project Founder Graham Hart, this very ambitious project has the ultimate goal to provide free Internet access to the Civil Registration index information from England and Wales. At its essence, the Civil Registration system was designed to record all of the births, marriages, and deaths in England and Wales, and has been in place since 1837. As such, it is one of the most important single genealogical resources throughout those particular parts of Britain. From the website, visitors may enter an individuals' surname, first name, and additional search criteria, such as the year of the event (birth, death, etc.) or registration district. Obviously, such a project would be unthinkable without the help of many volunteers, and there is a place on the site where interested parties may sign up and learn about volunteering opportunities to assist with the transcription of the many records that make up the database. [KMG]

http://grads.iges.org/home.html

This website features the work of two groups: the Institute of Global Environment and Society (IGES) and the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA). Both organizations were formed to improve the "understanding and prediction of Earth's climate variations and to share both the fruits of this research and the tools necessary to carry out this research with society as a whole." The Weather and Climate Data link features numerous maps and animations of the analyses of current conditions, weather forecasts, and climate outlooks for the world. Users can download GrADS, the interactive tool used to access, manipulate, and visualize earth science data. Researchers, educators, and students seeking meteorological information and maps dealing with topics such as soil moisture, pressure, and the maximum potential hurricane intensities will want to visit this website. [RME] This site is also reviewed in the January 9, 2003 NSDL Physical Sciences Report.