http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/rice/poverty_civilwar.pdf

From Indonesia to Sierra Leone, civil war has massively disrupted existing economic and social structures. These countries are but two of the many across the world that are besieged with such problems, and this latest working paper from the Global and Economy Development Group within the Brookings Institution provides some detailed information on the relationship between poverty and civil war specifically designed for policymakers. Authored by Susan E. Rice, Corinne Graff, and Janet Lewis, this 30-page paper explains some of the reasons that poor countries are at increased risk of becoming embroiled by civil war and related conflicts. Some of these reasons include the fact that education levels tend to be low in poor countries and these countries also tend to be natural resource dependent, a relationship that the authors observe would benefit from additional research. [KMG]

http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos

To say that there are a few federal agencies involved with the creation of maps would be quite an understatement. While most people probably automatically think of the United States Geological Survey, there are numerous groups within various agencies creating thousands of maps that draw on the strengths of the field of geographic information systems (GIS). This one-stop location allows users to draw on all of these resources in a timely fashion. To start, visitors can use the basic search engine that asks them to fill in the “What” (such as a river or lake) or the “Where” (such as Onalaska, Washington). After filling out one of these forms, the search engine will return all of the available map materials associated with each place. Visitors can then refine their search as they see fit. If all of this seems a bit daunting, visitors can also just browse through any number of special interest maps, such as those related to homeland security, recreation areas, fire mapping, and historical specialties such as those that detail the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Overall, this is a very helpful site, and one that will delight cartographers and anyone else who spends a few moments here. [KMG]

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/collections-at-the-museum/wallace-collection/index.jsp

One name looms large for the general public when the word ‘evolution’ is mentioned: Charles Darwin. Of course, others are quite aware that Alfred Russel Wallace co-discovered the theory of evolution with Darwin, a fact that the prescient individuals at the Natural History Museum in Britain are well aware of. In 2002, the Museum was able to purchase a rather large collection of Wallace’s personal and related family papers, correspondence, photographs, and other items from the Wallace family. With the generous support of the Mellon Foundation, the Museum has digitized approximately 200 items from this collection and placed them online at this site. Visitors may wish to start by looking over a brief biography of Wallace, and then taking a look at the detailed chronology of the main events in his life. The “Online Collection” section is where the heart of the material lies, as visitors can view Wallace’s original notes on evolution, read about his encounters with spiritualism, and a number of touching letters that include a note on Wallace’s troubles with his cats, Crumpet and Flunkie. [KMG]

http://www.lib.iastate.edu/collections/eresourc/vetmed.html

Iowa State University’s libraries have been compiling electronic subject guides for a number of years, and this is one such guide that users in the field of veterinary medicine will want to bookmark. Organized thematically, the resources are contained within one single list, and they are divided into categories such as websites, electronic journals, online abstracts, and basic pet care and health resources. Some of the gateway sites are quite helpful, particularly the link to the animal diseases database offered by the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Both potential veterinarian technicians and laypersons will appreciate the pet care links, which include links to the Healthy Pet site created by the American Animal Hospital Association and an overview to animal care created by the American Veterinary Medical Association. [KMG]

http://www.sil.si.edu/expeditions/1926/

Arriving in the Sudirman mountain range in New Guinea in 1926, Matthew Stirling and his anthropologist colleagues from the Netherlands and the United States embarked on an expeditionary mission to document the lives of the so-called “pygmy” tribes of this region of the world. Eighty years later, Paul Michael Taylor of the Asian Cultural History Program at the National Museum of Natural History embarked on an ambitious project to place materials from the expedition online for the general public, and for those with an interest in the history of anthropology. The site includes some remarkable interpretive essays by Taylor which provide lucid and important material on the expedition, and some fascinating source materials from the expedition as well. These source materials include the journals of both Stirling and his collaborator, Stanley Hedberg, and a geographic navigator which allows users to browse through the journal entries by location. Equally compelling are the expedition photographs, which are also available here, and the film footage, which has a total running time of approximately two hours. For anyone interested in the history of anthropology, this site will warrant several visits. [KMG]

https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/index.jsp

Within most major universities and colleges, a number of groups tend to work on various digitization projects. Some may be located with the library system, and others within specialized research institutes. The Ohio State University Knowledge Bank is working with a number of partners to create a knowledge management system that will support "the creation, organization, storage, dissemination and preservation of the institution’s digital information assets.” Even a casual glance at this website indicates that they are well underway in this endeavor, and there is, in many ways, something for everyone here. Visitors can begin exploring these materials by browsing through some of the collections by contributing organization, or by looking around by title, date, or author. Some of these materials include lectures and reports from the American Indian Studies department and an online archive of the Ohio Journal of Science. [KMG]

http://www.servicelearning.org/

Over the past few years, the notion of service-learning at all levels of formal education has become engrained in many places and institutions. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) is perhaps the best known organization working in this area, and on their website visitors will find a cornucopia of information and educational resources designed for persons interested in this growing field. First-time visitors may wish to take the site tour offered here, and then move along to the “Highlights” section. Here, users will find links to the NSLC’s own Journal for Civic Commitment and toolkits designed to help institutions of higher education create meaningful service-learning relationships with community groups. Visitors will also be glad to learn that the site has a very user-friendly search engine, and that they can also browse materials at their leisure. The site is rounded out by an “Events & Jobs” area that brings together complete calendars of service-learning related conferences and activities, along with an updated list of job opportunities in the service-learning field. [KMG]

http://www.humansecuritybrief.info/

While the concept of human security is a relatively new one, there is a growing consensus that the subject is one that will continue to be of the utmost importance in the coming years. Generally, the term is used to describe "the complex of interrelated threats associated with civil war, genocide and the displacement of populations.” Recently, the Human Security Centre (located at the University of British Columbia) published its annual Human Security Brief, and placed it online at this site. The report analyzes the findings of several datasets that track trends in such areas as organized violence against civilians and the conclusion of armed conflicts worldwide. While this ambitious work does have some positive findings to announce, there are a number of other troubling trends, such as the fact that four of the world’s six regions have experienced increased numbers of conflicts since 2002. [KMG]