Research and Education
http://boundless.uoregon.edu/digcol/ulmann/index.html
Doris Ulmann, born in 1882, became known for her photographs of the people of the rural South and Appalachia. At the age of 50 Ulmann fell seriously ill, and just before her death she established the Doris Ulmann Foundation, which transferred the entire contents of her studio to the Columbia University Library. The large photograph collection eventually ended up at University of Oregon Library's Special Collections, the New York Historical Society, Berea College, and the University of Kentucky. Here, visitors can find the University of Oregon's Ulmann collection, which represents a bulk of the material originally held at Columbia. Those interested in browsing the collection can click on "Browse & Search" near the top of the homepage, and select "Browse All Items", "Browse by Theme", or "Advanced Search". The themes to browse by include, Berea College, Craftswomen, Rural Portraits, Rural Scenes, and Still Life. Visitors can even save their favorite photographs under the "My Favorites" tab, accessible once a theme has been chosen, or if in the "Browse All Items" or "Advanced Search" sections. Under the "About the Collection" link near the top of the homepage, visitors can click on "Special Collections: Doris Ulmann Collection" to read more about her field assistant and music composer, "John Jacob Niles", to which a link is located above her portrait. To learn more about one of the instrumental trustees of the Doris Ulmann Foundation, and an advocate and expert on American folk arts, visitors should click on "Allen Eaton". [KMG]
http://www.mms.gov/SandAndGravel/MarineMineralStudies.htm
The U.S. Department of the Interior's website on marine mineral mining on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), is primarily concerned with providing information about the environmental impact that dredging activity has on marine life. If visitors want to learn about the federal regulations and laws that govern the prospecting, leasing, and production of marine minerals from the OCS, they can click on "Legal Framework" on the menu on the left side of the page. There are links to the full text of the various government documents that govern marine mineral mining. For visitors who want to read about the use of sand from the OCS to nourish beaches and restore coastal areas, click on "Projects" on the menu on the left side of the page. The visitor can click on "Summary of Leases Issued by the MMS Marine Minerals Program" to see a state-by-state chart of some of the projects, which include when the project was completed, the amount of shoreline involved, and what was accomplished. For teachers or parents interested in teaching kids about the ocean's sand, erosion, and sedimentation, click on the "Kid Connection" link on the left side of the page. There are several projects and experiments listed to allow kids to see erosion and sedimentation in action. At the bottom of the page are more than a dozen links to careers in marine minerals. [KMG]
Over the past few years, there has been increasing concern about the nature of US-Russian relations, and this policy paper, published in January 2009, takes a closer look inside how renewing the spirit of cooperation between these two nations might be achieved. The 38-page paper was written by Steven Pifer, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center on the United States and Europe. The report is divided into four chapters, including "What Does Russia Want?" and "Implementing the Agenda". Among other recommendations proffered by Pifer, he suggests that the new presidential administration might offer a revived nuclear arms control dialogue and also work on expanding commercial links between the two countries. Overall, it's an intriguing paper that contains some interesting possibilities, and it's one that will engage the minds of public policy experts and others with an interest in such matters. [KMG]
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2545
The notion of devolution may be a foreign concept to some, but essentially devolution is the granting of powers from a central government to that of a state at a smaller and more localized level. One can see this process at work in the United Kingdom in regards to different powers granted to Scotland in recent years, and in the United States, within Washington, DC. This particular online course offered by the Open University provides interested parties with the opportunity to learn more about devolution. The course is divided into eight discrete sections, including "The making of the UK", "When was Britain?", and "The politics of devolution". The site also includes an online forum, and visitors can also choose to look at the materials via an RSS feed. Visitors will also need to complete a free registration, and then they will have the ability to discuss the course online, write a journal entry, and even complete an online quiz. [KMG]
http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/
The Codex Sinaiticus is certainly one of the most important books in the world, and this delightful website provides users with a way to view the book in its entirety. The goal of this project is "to reunite the entire manuscript in digital form and make it accessible to a global audience for the first time." The project partners include The British Library, the National Library of Russia, St. Catherine's Monastery, and Leipzig University Library. First-time visitors may wish to click on the "About" area to learn more about the document's tremendous significance (among other things, it includes the oldest complete copy of the New Testament) and to read answers to several frequently asked questions about the Codex Sinaiticus. Anyone with an interest in conservation, digitization, and transcription will want to check out the "About the Project" page. Here they will find information about all of these subjects, and information about translations of the Codex. Finally, visitors will obviously want to head on over to the "See The Manuscript" area. Here they can read a side-by-side translation of each page, zoom in and out on the Codex, and even browse around by passage. [KMG]
http://www.learner.org/courses/mathilluminated/
Everything (mathematics) is illuminated in this excellent thirteen-part series created by Annenberg Media for adult learners and high school teachers. As their website notes, the series "explores major themes in the field of mathematics, from humankind's earliest study of prime numbers, to the cutting-edge mathematics used to reveal the shape of the universe." First-time visitors can read a brief introduction to the series, and then look over some of the thirteen units, which include "Game Theory", "Other Dimensions", and "Geometries Beyond Euclid". Each unit includes a relevant video segment (free registration required), a video transcript, and a different interactive feature designed to complement the material within. Also, visitors can take advantage of a glossary and a "Math Family Tree", which highlights major mathematical discoveries from the year 25000 BCE to present-day Fields Medal winner, Grigori Perelman. [KMG]
http://www.mnh.si.edu/earth/main_frames.html
The history of the Earth from the perspective of the physical sciences is a fascinating one, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History brings it alive in a unique fashion with this site. After a dramatic introduction, visitors can explore the Earth's history in four sections: "Gems and Minerals", "Rocks and Mining", "Plate Tectonics and Volcanoes", and "The Solar System". Each section uses interactive graphics, demonstrations, photographs, and other rich visual materials to take the geologically curious into the world of the inner Earth, plate tectonics, meteorites, and a host of related topics. Moving along, the "GeoGallery" area lets users explore the database here for records of various gems, minerals, rocks, and volcanoes. Visitors can look around via an interactive map or they can just even click "Random Slide Show". The site is rounded out by several fun offerings, including screen savers, screen wallpapers, and some e-postcards. [KMG]
http://www.bu.edu/paideia/index.html
Based at Boston University, the Gateway to Philosophy project provides users with access to papers presented at the World Congress of Philosophy, as well as other initiatives of a philosophical nature. The site is divided into five primary sections, including "Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy", "Existenz", and "Paideia". Visitors may wish to start their journey through the site by clicking through the World Congress section, where they can read all of the papers presented at the World Congress of Philosophy and learn about the media coverage of this event. Moving on, "Existenz" contains the full-text of their online journal, which is inspired by the writings of Karl Jaspers and his "notion of philosophizing on the grounds of possible Existenz, by which he meant philosophical thinking that might elucidate the meaning of human experience and existence." Additionally, visitors also have access to a detailed search engine on the site and information about their upcoming conferences and publications. [KMG]
