http://www.amnh.org/sciencebulletins/

Going to the American Museum of Natural History is a pretty wonderful experience, but if you can't make it to the Upper West Side of New York on a regular basis, you can still keep in touch via their Science Bulletins. These online video features bring curious visitors the latest developments in the fields of astrophysics, human biology, biodiversity, and evolution. The Bulletins contain additional resource links, educator resources, and a guide designed specifically for science educators to help them incorporate the Bulletins into classroom work. All of the Bulletins are produced through the collaboration of in-house writers, producers, and designers. They are offered here in sections that include "Astro", "Earth", "Bio", and "Human", and visitors are welcome to browse through the full-features, visualizations, and snapshots. First-time visitors might want to start by viewing either the feature on invasive species or "The Last Wild Horse: The Return of Takhi to Mongolia". [KMG]

http://www.maa.org/news/102308charney.html

The Mathematical Association of America (MAA) continues to build on their already solid online presence with the addition of this lecture by noted mathematician and scholar Professor Ruth Charney. This particular lecture was given at the MAA's Carriage House Conference Center in the fall of 2008 and it deals with how cubes can be used to represent a variety of systems. As Charney notes, "The geometry of these spaces is strange, complicated, and a lot of fun to study." Visitors to the site can watch several particularly lucid examples from Charney's talk, read her biography, and also read a detailed interview with her conducted by Michael Pearson. [KMG]

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/content/videoguide.asp

Based in Oregon, The Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) was founded in 1999 in order to bring "the benefits of archaeology to a wider constituency." They have succeeded mightily in this quest, and their main website contains a wide range of educational resources, reports, and other relevant materials. One of their most fascinating resources is their collection of video programs. Visitors can use the "Video Guide", found on the homepage, to view over 50 ALI programs in their entirety. Most of the programs are under an hour in length, and they include profiles of ancient mound builders in Louisiana, the history of an abandoned farming community in North Carolina, and excavation work at the Foguang Temple in China. Overall, it's a remarkable site, and if visitors are inclined to do so, there's a place for them to make a donation on the site. [KMG]

http://www.loc.gov/law/find/hearings.html

Recently, the Law Library of Congress and Google teamed up on a collaborative pilot project to digitize the Law Library's entire collection of 75,000 volumes of printed Congressional Hearings. For those who might not be familiar with these hearings, they typically contain testimony from members of Congress, interest groups, and policy experts. The intent of this initial digitization project is to produce text-readable versions of these hearings and to make them available as quickly as possible. Currently, the site contains three thematic collections that cover hearings on the U.S. Census, freedom of information, and immigration. Visitors can browse through them at their leisure and even offer their own comments on the quality of the image and any general comments as well. [KMG]

http://www.virtualsciencefair.com/

Real science fairs can be great fun, but there's nothing wrong with a virtual science fair, and in the case of the Canada Virtual Science Fair, there's so much that's right. Started in 1999, the Virtual Science Fair is an annual online science and technology contest open to all Canadian students in grades K-12. While non-Canadians aren't eligible to participate, everyone can benefit from the tremendous science education resources on the site. First off, visitors will want to learn about the past winning projects by clicking on the "All Projects" section on the site. Visitors to this section will learn about each project, their team, and so on. Along the right side of the homepage visitors can view the "Special Awards" area. Here they will find information about interesting projects that include "Harvesting Our Nature's Gas Station", "Ice: A Slippery Topic", and "River Pollutants Effect on River Bacteria". Additionally, visitors should be sure to check out their weblog and their online forum. [KMG]

http://www.nps.gov/features/clba/feat0001/flash.html

Clara Barton, noted humanitarian and educator, spent the last fifteen years of her life living in Glen Echo, Maryland. Her home was one of the first National Historic Sites dedicated to the accomplishments of a woman, and they have paid her further tribute by also creating this interactive guide to her former residence. Upon entering the site, visitors are greeted by a rendition of the song "America" from 1898 and an introductory screen that talks about the resources offered here. After this pleasant experience, visitors can click on through to the "Virtual Tour" or "Activities" section. The "Virtual Tour" is quite impressive and thorough, as visitors can make their way through all the rooms, staircases, and closets in her three-story domicile. Within each space, visitors can rotate their view and read about the objects and experiences associated with each location. Moving on, the "Activities" area contains nine different educational learning activities for different ages. While these activities are intended for younger students, they could potentially be used at a number of grade levels, and by those who are just plain curious about Ms. Barton's life and times. [KMG]

http://www.idea.int/vt/

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) has a well-organized and very interesting voter turnout website loaded with election data from around the world. The goal of this Stockholm-based organization is to "strengthen democratic institutions and processes." It works with other democracy builders, such as the UN, policy makers and donor governments. By compiling and analyzing voter turnout statistics since 1945, for national presidential and parliamentary elections, IDEA has discovered that "high voter turnout does not necessarily mean that a multi-party democracy is stable." Check out the link "Why a Voter Turnout Website?" on the homepage to read about the data they used to come to this conclusion. To view the election statistics of any country, click on the drop down box "Choose a Country" on the far right side of the page. Once you pick one, you'll get the country's voting data in a table, or you can click in the upper right hand corner above the table, where it says "Graph," to see it in graph form. On the right hand side of the page, in the same section where you can choose a country's statistics, you can also choose other categories of analysis for which IDEA has data, such as "Voter Turnout by Gender," "Voter Turnout by Age", "Vote Counting Methods", and "Voting by Mail." You can also find a link to their "Publications" in this same section, and you'll find that they have a multitude of publications in multiple languages and formats. Some of the books can be purchased and downloaded in their entirety, or shipped via the mail. Some of the pamphlets are even free of charge, and can be downloaded or shipped as well. [KMG]

http://www.sumanasinc.com/scienceinfocus/scienceinfocus.html

Sumanas Inc.'s website offers a wide range of material, such as animations of scientific processes, for a range of scientific disciplines, but here visitors will find their "Science in Focus" section of the website. Some of the topics that are brought to life with animating technology are antibiotic resistance, stem cell research, malaria, anthrax, gene therapy, and peptic ulcers. Click on "Go to Presentation" next to your topic of choice, and you'll be taken to a page that has the animation ready to play, but also has several links to outside sources of information. When you're ready to view the animation, click on the link "Click to view animation" and you'll be shown a simple player that will allow you to listen to the narration while viewing the animation, or read the text while viewing the animation. Visitors shouldn't miss the Malaria Parasite animation for an explanation of how humans, mosquitoes, and the Plasmodium parasite all have to be involved to successfully pass on malaria. [KMG]