http://www.collectionscanada.ca/gramophone/index-e.html

If you have been pining for a recording of Henri Lacroix singing “La parade des ouvriers”, this website from the Library and Archives of Canada will be quite a delight. Created as a multimedia database, the site is devoted to the earliest days of recorded music in Canada, and it contains hundreds of digitized recordings that include both Canadian artists and material written by Canadians. Of course, the site isn’t just about the music; it also contains brief biographies of these artists and composers, along with a glossary that explains terms such as “magnetic recording” and “phonautograph”. The site also offers up an extended bibliography of general sources, including record catalogs, discographies, and music encyclopedias that pertain to the world of early Canadian recorded music. And in terms of recorded music, there really is something for everyone here, as the offerings range from lieder sung by Canadians of note to recordings by the Choir of the Abbey of Saint-Benoit-du-Lac. [KMG]
[KMG]

http://www.nursingworld.org/

From time to time, the Scout Report profiles a professional organization whose site will be of interest to a broad range of readers. While the American Nurses Association website does have some material that is strictly for members only, there is a significant amount of relevant and timely free content of note. The first place visitors might start is “The Nursing Insider”. This handy feature tracks news items that will be of general interest, including those that deal with the changing landscape of health care policy and service-provisioning across the United States. For those looking for older stories, their online archive for this feature dates back to 2000. Another valuable feature of the site is the area dedicated to the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Like many other peer-reviewed online academic publications, the Journal is a high-quality publication that deals with a number of compelling topics in the field. Additionally, the Publications section contains a number of free publications, including several that address the possibility of pursuing a career in nursing and some general fact sheets about the organization. [KMG]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/livingworld.shtml

Nature documentaries and like-minded programs continue to fascinate the general public, and the demand for such material would seem to be almost infinite. While some may be most familiar with those shows that appear on television, there are a number of radio-based programs that are worth considering. One such program is the BBC Radio 4’s own “The Living World”, hosted by Lionel Kelleway. Described as a “gentle weekend natural history programme”, this 25-minute show takes an inquisitive look into the world of British wildlife through interviews with experts and field excursions. Browsing through some of their recent programs, visitors will learn about the hares of Derbyshire, the woodland moths of Devon, and some recent arrivals to the London area, such as the Chinese Mitten Crab. [KMG]

http://www.prospectpark.org/

While many readers may be aware that trees grow in Brooklyn, few may be cognizant of the fact that, yes, a forest grows in Brooklyn. This urban forest just happens to be in the borough’s own lovely Prospect Park, designed by those giants of landscape architects, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Often overlooked by some who are primarily concerned with that other large swath of green in the middle of Manhattan, Prospect Park contains a 90-acre meadow, a zoo, a celebrated performing arts festival, and a lake. Visitors to the Prospect Park Alliance website can learn all about these things, and also delve into the park’s history. Those planning a visit may wish to look at the “General Info” and “Places To Go” sections for a selection of brief descriptions and photographs. For those seeking a historical perspective the “History & Nature” area is delightful. Here visitors can learn about the park’s historical development and creation, and learn more about those individuals responsible for the park’s design and aesthetic appeal. Finally, visitors should look at the online exhibit “A Glimpse Of Prospect Park” for a bit of visual perspective on the park’s history. [KMG]

http://imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Welcome.aspx

What are the shared experiences of young women across the globe today? Alternately, what are some of the unique and individual experiences that young women are having across the globe? These are but a few of the questions raised by the Imaging Ourselves website, created through a partnership started by Paula Goldman and the International Museum of Women. The idea for the site came when Goldman was having a conversation with a friend after the events of 9/11, and wanted to find a way to ask thousands of women: “What defines your generation of women?”. Each month the site takes on a new theme (such as “love, “money”, and the future”), and asks women to write in about their thoughts on each of these themes. After receiving the responses, they are posted here on the website for the web-browsing public. Currently, women from over 100 countries have posted their stories, and they include those titled “Playing with Mexico’s colors in my heart” and “Holistic Healing”. [KMG]

http://www.moadsf.org/salon/exhibits/photomosaic/index.html

Fans of Robert Silvers and his photomosaics will enjoy this Web site from the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco. A two-story tall image of an African child, photographed by Chester Higgins Jr. hangs above the main entrance to MoAD. A mosaic version of the photograph, composed of 2,000 images contributed by people from all over the world, is the centerpiece of the Web site. Clicking anywhere on the child's face retrieves a 30-thumbnail quadrant of the mosaic. Select any of the individual images in the group to enlarge them, view identifying captions, and read stories (although a story isn’t included for every picture yet). The variety of images is astounding, from a wedding in Baltimore in 1965, to a woman in traditional dress carrying a basket on her head in Mali in 2000, to a Masaai coming of age ceremony in Tanzania. In addition to browsing from the photomosaic, it is also possible to search by keyword. Furthermore, the pictures retrieved by a keyword search include related stories more often than pictures selected from the mosaic. [DS]