Research and Education
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/leadership/
Created in 2000 with funding from the Wexner Foundation, the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government is “dedicated to excellence in leadership education and research.” The Center serves those persons in government, business, and nonprofits by providing access to a number of publications and research reports, along with various courses, seminars, and public events. Of course, those who cannot make it to Cambridge, Massachusetts will certainly appreciate this site, as access to a number of their publications is included on this site. Visitors will want to take a look at their in-house journal, Compass, which contains articles on leadership and leadership studies. For those with a scholarly penchant for leadership studies and allied research, the site also features a working papers archive that contains material all the way back to 2003. [KMG]
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/maps/
The Library of Congress has many productive partnerships with peer institutions and affiliates, and their thirty-year partnership with the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM) has been quite fruitful. Designed to complement a current in situ exhibit at the Library of Congress’s headquarters, this online exhibit explores cartography, surveying, and geographic information systems in their full glory. The maps provide a broad overview of the history of surveying, as they begin with maps of George Washington’s farm created in 1760 and conclude with offerings created in 1999. The selection of maps is quite catholic in its scope, as it includes an intriguing map of the University of Oregon campus at night, a map from the popular board game “Carmen Sandiego”, and a relief map of Crater Lake. After all this, even the most casual visitor may find themselves with a renewed or newfound interest in the field of geography. [KMG]
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060504_financialaccess.pdf
Improving access to various financial institutions, particularly in inner-city neighborhoods, has been of great interest to policy makers and advocates for decades. In some cases, various groups have had moderate success extending the availability of basic services (such as bank branches) to impoverished areas. This recent paper, authored by Anna Paulson, Audrey Singer, Robin Newberger, and Jeremy Smith of behalf of the Brookings Institution, presents new research on the financial practices of immigrants, and also describes how various institutions have helped moved immigrants into the financial mainstream. In this 100-page report, the authors present a number of case studies that deal with this subject, and conclude their work with a number of policy recommendations as well. [KMG]
http://www.unfpa.org/index.htm
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is “an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.” Within their general mission, the UNFPA also promotes a variety of public health initiatives, such as HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs and the reduction of maternal and infant mortality. With a pleasing visual layout and a series of tabs for each thematic area, even first-time visitors should have no problem finding their way around. Visitors can get a sense of their mission by looking over some of these tabs, which include sections titled “Making Motherhood Safer” and “Promoting Gender Equality”. Within each section, visitors can read a basic précis of their general policy approach to dealing with each population issue and also learn about their collaborative efforts with different non-governmental organizations around the globe. [KMG]
English as a Second Language (ESL) curriculum continue to be refined for different audiences both in the United States and overseas, and new teachers in this area can find their task a bit daunting. Fortunately, there exist a number of websites such as this one that can help ease this transition. Started in 1995, the Internet TESL Journal has brought together articles, research papers, lesson plans, classroom handouts, and teaching ideas to this website. Published monthly, the journal can be viewed in its entirety here, and users can also browse through the contents by category, such as questions, techniques, and lessons. ESL educators have reviewed all of the materials featured in the journal, and visitors are also encouraged to submit their own teaching materials for consideration. Some of the more recent pieces contained within the journal include features on using newspaper articles in the ESL classroom and creating an effective group learning environment. [KMG]
http://www.laguardiawagnerarchive.lagcc.cuny.edu/defaultc.htm
While some contend that the late Robert Moses had the greatest and most enduring effect on the landscape and built environment of New York, two other primary figures who loom large in the history of this megalopolis include Fiorello H. LaGuardia and Robert F. Wagner. Both men served the city as mayor during rather turbulent times, and their legacy to the city includes major road building projects, the development of public housing, and an increased effort to develop the city college system. It is quite fitting that their archives be located at the La Guardia City College, and that the staff there have created this interesting and rich website. There are a number of excellent photographic exhibits offered here, including one titled “Public Housing: New York Transformed 1939-1967”. Drawing on the collection of the New York City Housing Authority, this exhibit takes visitors through the areas demolished for public housing during the period and also into the housing created during the period. Returning to the subject of the two mayors, visitors can read extended biographical essays on both men, and also search an extensive archive of photographs that have been recently digitized. [KMG]
http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/
Does the mere mention of the phrase “sampling distributions” bring a tingle to your spine? Visitors to this site will fear this basic concept of statistics (along with many others) no longer, as it does a fine job of explaining them in a fashion that is both lucid and jargon-free. Created and maintained by Professor David M. Lane of Rice University, the HyperStat Online site contains an online introductory statistics textbook, complete with sections on normal distributions, confidence intervals, prediction, and the logic of hypothesis testing. Each section contains a number of discrete subsections, and users can feel free to browse around at their leisure. Professor Lane has also included a number of external links to related resources, including a visual statistics site by David Krus of Arizona State University and a “Stat Primer”, authored by Bud Gerstman of San Jose State University. Overall, this site is tremendously helpful, and will be of great assistance to those entering the world of statistics for the first time. [KMG]
http://virtualskies.arc.nasa.gov/aeronautics/tutorial/intro.html
Drag, lift, and thrust are all seminal concepts in terms of understanding aeronautics, and they are explained in all their glory on this very edifying website. Created by the good people at NASA, this aeronautical tutorial will be useful to those persons studying the world of flight, or just those who want a bit of insight into the world of aeronautical engineering. The site itself is divided into eight sections, including “The Work of Wings”, “Tools of Aeronautics”, and “The Forces of Aeronautics”. Within each of the eight sections, visitors will find short text passages, accompanied by various diagrams and illustrations.
