http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cocoon/ihas/html/songofamerica/songofamerica.html

The Library of Congress has bringing a number of America’s musical archives to its website through the “I Hear America Singing” project, and this addition to their existing work is most welcome. The Song of America website is designed to serve as a companion piece to an ongoing 11-city concert tour which features the baritone Thomas Hampson performing a number of American songs. This site draws visitors’ attention to the world of the American art song, which began to flourish in the late 19th century as a number of American composers began to explore the world of the more serious “art song”. Influenced by the German lied and the French melody, composers such as Charles T. Griffes and Edward MacDowell began to incorporate a more refined sensibility into their works. On this website, visitors can learn more about eight of these American art songs by examining short essays about each piece, listen to an audio recording, and in many cases, viewing manuscripts of each composition. Some of the songs profiled here include Walter Damrosch’s “Danny Deever” and Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer”. [KMG]

[Macromedia Flash Player]
http://www.npg.si.edu/time/

The US National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution holds an impressive collection of portraits from the covers of Time magazine. In 1978, the magazine donated about 800 portraits to the Gallery, and the collection has since grown to over 2,000. The web version of the collection features a selection of portraits, accompanied by biographical sketches and audio where appropriate - for example, listen to a clip of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream speech" while viewing his February 18, 1957 cover. A few broad categories have been created for browsing, such as Sports, Civil Rights, and Technology & Invention. Richard M. Nixon turns out to be the most featured person on Time covers, with 57 appearances. The Resources section provides the link to search Time Magazine's comprehensive archive of covers http://www.time.com/time/coversearch. [DS]

http://www.tribalresourcecenter.org/
Over the past decades, Native Americans have fought to provide legal assistance to their number and also to provide adequate support to their tribal justice systems. In 2000, the National American Indian Court Judges Association with funds provided by the US Department of Justice established the National Tribal Justice Resource Center. Since
that time, the Center has provided a wide range of technical services to the American Indian and Alaska Native justice system. Visitors with an interest in how the Native American justice system functions will appreciate the information available here, much of which is contained with sections that deal with tribal courts, legal research, and their
outreach programs. Interested parties may wish to start by looking through the Tribal Court Opinion Search Page, which contains over 1800 Tribal Court opinions, memorandums, and orders. Persons who might be unacquainted with the history of these courts may also want to read a brief history of these institutions that is offered here. Visitors will also appreciate the fact that the homepage also offers links to relevant funding opportunities and an “In the News” digest that culls together topical news stories that deal with various tribal suits and related matters. [KMG]

http://www.adaa.org/home.asp

Millions of people across the United States live with a variety of anxiety disorders and for twenty-five years, the Anxiety Disorders Association of American (ADAA) has worked to promote the prevention, treatment and cure of these disorders. From the site’s homepage visitors can learn about some of the most common anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder, social phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The site’s homepage also offers visitors the opportunity to sign up to receive their e-newsletter. As might be expected, there is a rather useful section titled “Getting Help”. Here visitors can learn about how they find a therapist for themselves (or a loved one). There are a myriad of resources within this particular area that will be of great use, including a section where visitors can learn about how to pick a therapist and a place for first-person narratives about living with a variety of anxiety disorders.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/katrina/index.html

There have been many stories that have come out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and most of them have dealt with the human tragedies involved in this traumatic set of events. The people at the long-running PBS series, Nature, have created this website to complement a recent edition of the show that offered some insights into the effects the hurricane had on the animal population of Louisiana. On the site, visitors can take advantage of a number of special interactive features. These features allow visitors to ask questions of those involved in the animal rescue efforts and learn about the psychological and physical effects on animals. The site also contains a section where visitors can learn about other web-based resources, such as the homepages for Animal Rescue New Orleans and the Best Friends Animal Society.

http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displayfeature.php

The mission of the Baldwin Online Children’s Literature Project is to bring together a wide selection of literature for children from the period from 1880 to 1920. The project is named after the noted author James Baldwin (not to be confused with the noted African-American novelist of the 20th century) who was responsible for adapting a number of stories (such as the story of Siegfried) for children in the late 19th century. The creator of this fine online archive is Lisa Ripperton, who has a background in classics, and maintains a strong affinity for the ancient world and children’s literature. First-time visitors to the site will want to read an introductory piece offered here that explains how the site works, and then proceed to one of the 256 books that are currently part of the archive. Some of these titles include classic works by Beatrix Potter, Clara Dillingham Pierson, and M. B. Synge. Visitors may also peruse the offerings here as listed by author, title, genre, or subgenre. Persons who find themselves moved to do so may also want to sign up to volunteer to assist with this worthwhile endeavor by offering to prepare a book or two for inclusion on the site. [KMG]