http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=36&agg=1

This website should prove useful and interesting to the most dedicated opera aficionados and opera neophytes. The World of Opera "brings listeners compelling performances from top American and international opera companies." Beyond just performances, World of Opera goes beyond "traditional, operatic vernacular" to showcase opera as anything but an elitist form of art. Each opera presented here is accompanied by a short introductory article (with an available audio version as well). After the introduction, visitors can view video clips from a performance, listen to interviews which may include a conductor, stage director, and performer of the show. Also available is a short synopsis of the opera, act-by-act, as well as additional links to related NPR stories. Overall, this is a fantastic site dedicated to the World of Opera and it does a remarkable job of making this art form more accessible. [CMH]

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/VictoryMail/

Victory Mail (better known as V-mail) operated during WWII in order to expedite mail service for American armed forces overseas. Delivering such a large volume of mail posed a number of problems for the War Departments and the Post Office as they sought to reduce the bulk and weight of letters. Using the model of the British Airgraph Service, officials started microfilming messages for dispatch in order to eliminate much of the bulk. The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum has provided this site as a complement to an in situ exhibit in Washington D.C. The site provides several sections "Introducing V-mail", "Operating V-Mail", "Using V-Mail", "Letter writing in WWII", and "References". Each section provides an introduction, several related links to additional resources or articles, and a series of relevant images. For WWII or postal historians and enthusiasts this site should prove quite a treat. [CMH]

http://www.urban.org/toolkit/fivequestions/archives.cfm

In the mid-1960s, President Johnson saw the need for independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America's cities and their residents. The President created a blue-ribbon commission of civic leaders who recommended chartering a center to do that work and in 1968, the Urban Institute became that center. Today the Urban Institute analyzes policies, evaluates programs, and informs community development to "improve social, civic, and economic well-being." Working in all 50 states and abroad, the Institute shares its research with policymakers, business leaders, and academics. On this site, visitors can enjoy the Institute's series of interviews entitled "Five Questions For…" which poses five questions to the people behind the Urban Institute's research. Here, experts talk about the nature of their work and offer insights on what they've learned. The collection allows visitors to browse a chronological list of this series of interviews and each interview is easily emailed and is also available in a printer friendly format. [CMH]

http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/index.php?name=Louisiana%20Aerial%20Photographs

The Louisiana State University Cartographic Information Center currently holds 107,000 aerial photographs of Louisiana taken between 1939-1987. A fascinating collection, these photographs allow users to investigate both the historical and geographical changes throughout the state. If you are interested in the Mississippi Delta region, the loss of coastal lands, or any other number of subjects this collection should prove quite useful. While the collection holds over 100,000 photographs, only 5,000 have been digitized and made available here. Areas covered in this core group represent the major metropolitan areas of Louisiana including East and West Baton Rouge Parish and Orleans Parish. Visitors can search by creator, subject, and title or they can just browse the collection as a whole. [KMG]

http://www.iveknownrivers.org/

The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) has taken on a number of interesting and thoughtful projects in the past few years, and this website offers up material on one of their most compelling works as of late. The intent of the project is "to collect, publish, and archive 'first voices' narratives about people of African descent." As the project site notes, the endeavor is inspired by the historic WPA Federal Writers' Project. First-time visitors to the site can look through sections titled "Origins", "Movement", "Adaptation", and "Transformation" to listen and watch some of the stories they've collected thus far. Most recently, the project has been collecting stories of young people, so visitors should take a look at works that document the feelings and ideas that they have about their own family history and migration. [KMG]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bog/

Most have heard of "bog bodies", those well-preserved corpses found in the bogs of northwestern Europe, but few are aware that North America has peat bogs with their own well-preserved remains of ancient people. This website is designed to complement the NOVA program and provides articles, slideshows and interactive exercises. Visitors to the site should start with the article "America's Bog People" by Peter Tyson. Here, readers will receive a thorough introduction to "America's premier bog-body site" including details about the recovered bodies and their lifestyle 8,000 years ago. After getting acquainted, visitors can view a slideshow, view other bog sites across Europe, and meet the most famous and well- studied bog body of all "Tollund Man". As a special treat, visitors can also listen to Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney recite his poem dedicated to this remarkable find. [CMH]

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/dali/

The late Salvador Dali was a rather brilliant artist and a very effective self-promoter. Throughout his long life he remained interested in the power of cinema and he engaged in a number of collaborative works with Luis Buñuel, Alfred Hitchcock, and Walt Disney. Recently, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) decided to launch both an in situ exhibit and this interactive website in order to explore some of these collaborations. After reading a brief narrative essay, visitors can wander around an interactive version of his 1929 work, "The First Days of Spring", to learn more about some of these projects. Clicking on each element of this surrealist work will take visitors to a different collaboration (such as his work with Buñuel on "L'Age d'or") where visitors can read a bit about each project and also view images, sketches, and photographs related to each project. [KMG]

http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2008/afghanistan/index.shtm

The website for the National Gallery of Art exhibition - Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul - primarily consists of an interactive timeline of artifacts from Afghanistan dating from the Bronze Age, 2200 - 1900 B.C. through the 2nd century A.D. For example, view gold bowls from Tepe Fullol, a site discovered in 1966, providing the first evidence of Bronze Age Culture in northern Afghanistan; or a gilded silver ceremonial plate from the former Greek city of Aï Khanum, founded by a follower of Alexander the Great in 300 B.C. The purpose of the exhibition is not only to showcase, but also to preserve, the rich but endangered history and culture of Afghanistan. In ancient times a crossroads of the Silk Road, Afghanistan in the 20th and 21st centuries has been ravaged by wars and conflict. Visitors should also check out the link "History and Maps", which leads to more information from the National Geographic Society, a co-organizer of the exhibition. [DS]