Research and Education
http://speculum.lib.uchicago.edu/
Antonio Lafreri was a master printmaker and publisher in sixteenth century Italy, and his Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae offers a number of engravings of Rome and Roman antiquities. The University of Chicago Library happens to have a copy of this work which they have recently digitized and placed online here for the general public. It's a remarkable collection, and all told visitors can look through 994 prints which depict major monuments and antiquities in Rome. After reading a brief introduction to the work, visitors should click on over to the "Itineraries". Here they will find mini-exhibitions designed by scholars that will allow them to travel through the collection based on a theme, location, collection, or artist. Among their number are a tour of the Belvedere Cortile (an outdoor garden space) and the Castel Sant'Angelo, which is one of the largest buildings in Rome. The site concludes with a collection of related links and information about the technical processes used to create the site. [KMG]
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/structure04/activities/3860.html
Most people are familiar with Shel Silverstein's poem "Where the Sidewalk Ends", but do they know where and why sidewalks crack? It's a valid and worthy question, and this handy educational activity from Charles Onasch of Bowling Green State University explains just that. Here, students will learn to use fractures in sidewalks as an analog for natural outcrops and also learn how to make systematic observations of such fractures. This activity is offered as part of the "Teaching Structural Geology in the 21st Century" website maintained at Carleton College, and educators are welcome to use it in a variety of classroom settings. Visitors can read a brief summary of the activity, and then go on to download all of the necessary documentation related to the activity. [KMG]
As more and more individuals elect to enter the various health science professions, there is an increased demand for teaching resources designed to keep students aware of basic skills and techniques. Created by the University of Washington, these radiology anatomy teaching modules are designed to supplement regular instruction and to serve as a reference resource for medical educators and students. Along the left side of the site visitors will find a muscle atlas, an online radiology guide, and the "Teaching Files" area. Further down the homepage, visitors will find the "Anatomy Teaching Modules" section. Here visitors can take advantage of modules that cover the basic radiographic anatomy of selected parts of the skeleton and related resources. [KMG]
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
Planning for the Perseus Digital Library began in 1985, and they have made a series of ambitious changes, additions, and transformations over the past several decades. The Library is best known for their coverage of the history, literature, and culture of the Greco-Roman world. They recently unveiled this new website, and it is well worth a look. Along the top of the homepage, visitors will find sections such as "Collections", "Art & Arch", and "Publications". In the "Collections" area visitors will find thousands of primary and secondary sources for the study of ancient Greece and Rome, along with a number of resources on early modern English literature and life in the 19th century United States. The "Art & Arch" area contains an impressive library of art objects that includes over 1500 vases, 1400 sculptures, and approximately 500 coins. Additionally, the "Publications" area includes work that discusses the process of creating the Perseus collection and its related databases. [KMG]
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
Not many websites bring together whooping cranes, gray whales, and bald eagles, but this educational resource from Annenberg Media manages to do just that. The site is designed to help students learn more about the global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change by drawing on their own observations. On the homepage, visitors can click on a diverse set of animals to learn more about their migratory patterns. Moving on down the site, visitors can also contribute their own recent sightings and take a look at data that's been submitted by other users. The "Maps" section is a great way to get a visual overview of the most recent sightings and there's a great area for teachers that includes instructional activities and classroom lessons. [KMG]
The world is faced with a number of pressing issues, including climate change, food security, and a range of public health epidemics, just to name a few. In an effort to inspire solutions, the Innovation Management site allows a wide range of creative thinkers, scientists, and policy experts to exchange ideas via their Open Innovation Marketplace. Currently, the site has over 14000 persons signed up across 140 countries. Visitors can make their way to the "Solvers" area to learn more about some of the challenges currently under discussion, and also learn about a number of prominent invention contests from across the globe. Moving on, visitors can go to the "Marketplace" to learn more about some of the "challenges" in disciplines like chemistry and engineering that are waiting to be solved by willing and bright individuals. [KMG]
The digitization of historically important and interesting newspapers continues apace, and this latest collection is quite a find. The Illinois Digital Newspaper Collection is a project of the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Their first project is the digitization of select years from the Daily Illini, which is the student newspaper on campus. Currently, visitors can browse and search papers from 1916 to 1936, and there are plans to include the years 1937 to 1945 in the near future. Interested parties can also search by keyword across articles, advertisements and photo captions. One can imagine that this type of archive would be of interest to social historians, journalists, and anyone who wishes to peer into the world of campus life in the Roaring 20s and the not-so-Roaring 30s. [KMG]
Psychology is a vast and complex area of inquiry, and students entering the field may be confounded by the number of subfields within the discipline. Professor Russell A. Dewey of Georgia Southern University has created this fine online introductory textbook that covers everything from states of consciousness to social psychology. The online text includes sixteen chapters, and each chapter contains a number of parts that break each topic into smaller subtopics. The text is well-written and it draws on a number of examples and well-known experiments that will keep readers engaged. The site is rounded out by the inclusion of Professor Dewey's contact information and links to additional resources. [KMG]
