http://www.earth.nasa.gov/history/landsat/landsat.html

A variety of man-made objects have been sent into outer space for decades, and as a very large and distinguished group, they have sent back important data. NASA has been at the forefront of these efforts here in the United States, and the Landsat Program has certainly been quite successful since its inception in the early 1970s. This website provides a wealth of information on the Landsat Program, and visitors can learn about its work in remote sensing. Visitors can use the right-hand side of the page to learn about different Landsat missions ranging from the original Landsat all the way up to Landsat Seven, which was launched in 1999. Each section contains information on Landsat’s orbit, its instruments, and its vital statistics. Finally, a “Did You Know” section provides some key facts about some of the accomplishments of the Landsat program. [KMG]

http://www.icdlbooks.org/

The mission of the International Children’s Digital Library is “to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of children’s literature from the world community.” It’s a lofty goal indeed, and by looking over their website, visitors will find that they are well on their way to achieving this goal. So far, they have placed hundreds of books online, and visitors can click on “Read Books” to check out the fruits of their labors. Here they will find a selection of featured books, along with a drop-down menu that lets users look for books in dozens of languages. Of course, visitors can also click on a range of thematic listings, such as “real animal characters”, “picture books”, and “kid characters”. Visitors can also learn how they can contribute to the ongoing work of the Library, and they may also wish to sign up for a free account while they are here. [KMG]

http://content.lib.washington.edu/napoleonweb/index.html

Napoleon Bonaparte never visited the part of North America that would later become Washington State, but he probably would have been intrigued by this online collection created by the good folks at the University of Washington Libraries Digital Collection project. This latest collection brings together 83 satirical drawings from the Napoleonic period, and there are a number of real gems amidst this visually arresting collection. As might be expected they all offer a variety of political commentary on various events during this period. The site includes information about the Napoleonic Era, complete with a nice timeline, and a comparison between the French and English drawings is included in this trove of visual ephemera. Finally, the site also contains a brief piece on the publishing scene of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, along with a very nice bibliography of additional resources. [KMG]

http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govinfo/collections/mapsofafrica/

In 1948, Melville J. Herskovits established the African Studies program at Northwestern University. It was the first of its kind at a major research university in the United States, and since its creation, it has also been actively involved with collecting historic maps of Africa. This particular online collection draws on this legacy of preservation and acquisition, and all told, it contains 113 antique maps of Africa dating from the middle of the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century. Visitors can utilize a search engine to look through the maps, or they may also browse by title, cartographer, or date. There are a number of real finds here, including Frederik de Wit’s 1708 map of North Africa (titled “Barbaria”) and an early map of Zanzibar from 1740. [KMG]

http://library.nevada.edu/arch/lasvegas/index.html

The Las Vegas Architectural Guides and Collections website is a fine collection of online resources created by the staff members at the architecture studies library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The amount of material here is truly impressive, and it ranges from information on campus buildings to some recent mapping studies done on the famed “Strip” in Las Vegas. One highlight amidst all of this is the Architects and Buildings Database. Here, visitors can look up information on buildings in Las Vegas via their search engine, or they can browse through lists of architectural firms, architects, project types, and awards. [KMG]

http://www.gatewaycoalition.org/sub_category/sub_category.aspx?subcatid=1022&mcatid=105

The Gateway Engineering Education Coalition consists of a group of universities that are concerned with providing high-quality educational resources in the field of engineering education. Their site contains a number of topical sections that deal with the different branches of this field. This particular section deals with educational resources in the area of materials engineering, and visitors will be glad to learn that there are interactive features here that cover the corrosion of metals, electrical conductivity, fracture mechanics, and ten additional topics. These materials can be used in the classroom to illustrate different principles and processes within materials engineering, and students may also wish to return to them as reference points during their studies. [KMG]

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

Among the many fine names associated with public television, Bill Moyers is one that frequently comes up in conversation. Moyers recently decided to return to public television after a brief hiatus, and if this website is any indication, he appears to be back to stay for some time. The goal of this new show is to “feature analysis of vital issues, strong interviews with unique voices on politics, the arts and letters, science, religion, and the media.” Visitors to the site can listen and watch recent interviews from the program, take a look at the show’s blog, and delve into complete transcripts. Finally, visitors can sign up to receive new podcasts from the program as soon as they are released. [KMG]

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/oudry/index.html

In 2001, the Getty Museum and the Staatliches Museum, Schwerin, Germany, began a collaborative project to restore two enormous paintings by French artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686–1755). Each canvas is around 10 feet tall; Lion was painted in 1752, and Rhinoceros in 1749. Oudry was known as one of the finest animal painters in 18th century Europe, and was commissioned to paint life-size portraits of animals owned by Louis XV, the King of France. The online exhibition presents digital versions of the animals from the King's zoo, as well as highlights of the 4-year conservation process, including a 30-minute video. In addition, there is also a blog and the "Menagerie Madness" game where players are given 45 seconds to spot altered details by comparing two similar images. [DS]