Research and Education
http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/enhanced/
Educators who are interested in incorporating new technologies into their classroom experience often wonder where to start. They may want to start by visiting the Enhancing Education site, which is maintained by staff members at the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning at Columbia University. The site is organized a bit like a weblog, as there are different posts organized into subjects that include "Noted", "Solutions", and "Primers". The "Noted" postings highlight interesting technologies that may be of interest to educators, and the "Solutions" entries are composed of a quick "how-to" that addresses a broad range of technologies and approaches to classroom learning. Finally, the "Primers" posts cover the basic elements of a compelling new technology or idea, including incorporating a weblog into the class or peer editing. Visitors can also view the top ten tags on the site, or take a look at the most recent posts. [KMG]
Formed as part of a consortium between universities, colleges, museums, and historical societies in Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, the Mountain West Digital Library contains dozens of digital collections whose content ranges far beyond that of the geographical area covered by the Mountain West region. On their homepage, visitors can learn about the "Featured Collection" and then browse all of the available collections via a list of partner institutions. All told, there are over 100 collections here, and visitors can search the entire archive for text, images, video, or audio clips. A couple of the collections should not be missed, including "Before Gaming: Las Vegas Centennial", which provides visual documentation of a (relatively) quiet Las Vegas before the emergence of gambling. Additionally, the Mormon publication "The Young Woman's Journal" provides insight into the lives of Mormon women in the early 20th century. [KMG]
http://asiasociety.org/education/islam_in_seasia/
The Asia Society in New York City has struck educational and cultural gold again with their inventive and insightful look into the emergence of Islam in Southeast Asia. On the homepage, visitors are treated to a moving collage of images that feature items from their collection. After watching the images cycle through for a minute, visitors should click on the "Essays" area to get started. Each essay is illuminated by a slideshow, and the topics covered here include the visual arts, religious practices, and geography. Educators will want to click on over to the "Curriculum" area which features lesson plans and activities like "Hajj and Local Indonesian Pilgrimage" and "Women, Education and the Veil in Contemporary Indonesia". The other sections of the site include "Images", "Maps", along with a glossary of relevant terms and an extended bibliography. The site is rounded out by a video of an Indonesian puppet show and a set of interactive maps that track the spread of Islam across Eurasia and maritime trade in Southeast Asia from the 12th to the 15th centuries. [KMG]
http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/2009/RAND_TR622.pdf
Business improvement districts (BIDs) are a tool used by concerned members of the business community and politicians to enhance a commercial retail area's economic fortunes. As it turns out, they may also improve the social environment of their neighborhoods as well. Published in 2009, this study commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was completed by the RAND Corporation. Throughout its 139-pages the study takes a critical look at how these BIDs have the potential "to reduce a youth's risk to neighborhood violence" and generally improve the social environment. The study was based on research performed in Los Angeles and the report itself is divided into six chapters. The study notes that the activities of BIDs can help increase informal social control, reducing visible signs of disorder and blight, and provide enriched employment opportunities. [KMG]
http://digital.library.cornell.edu/m/math/
The Cornell University Library Historical Math Monographs Collection has a rather interesting history. The collection began when a number of brittle and decaying math monographs were digitally scanned using equipment developed by Cornell and the Xerox Corporation. This collection brings together all of those documents, including a selection of other relevant papers and scholarly works. All told, there are over 1,000 works here, and visitors can use the "Browse" section to look over the offerings by title or author. Additionally, visitors can perform detailed searches across the entire collection. Visitors should also take a look at the "Selected Titles" on the homepage to get a sense of what lies within this rather compelling collection. Finally, there is a "Help" section that provides some hints on making the best use of the site. [KMG]
http://www.healthlit.org/scienceInside/eb_asthmaandallergies.htm
With funding from the National Institutes of Health and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Healthy People Library Project was created "to empower libraries to play an active role in increasing the quality and years of healthy life and eliminating health disparities for all Americans." Part of their work includes the electronic book series "The Science Inside". These books are intended to be used by health educators and members of the general public, and they cover topics like diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and HIV and AIDS. Visitors to the site can click on any book that sounds interesting, and a number of the booklets are also available in Spanish. The site is rounded out by the "Profiles of Healthy Living" section, which offers profiles of people who are making choices that encourage healthy living. [KMG]
http://www.loc.gov/law/help/child-rights/index.php
In the 20th century, the children's rights movement came into full flower as both the League of Nations and later the United Nations declared that children need safeguards and protections separate from those of adults. This authoritative collection created by The Law Library of Congress provides access to the various laws and policies that help protect children in sixteen nations, including Israel, Japan, Mexico, and Russia. For each nation, visitors can read the domestic laws and policies that affect child health and social welfare, education and special needs, child labor and exploitation, and juvenile justice. It's a good idea to start off by reading the introduction by Dr. Rubens Medina before diving into these materials. Dr. Medina offers a nice overview of the development of children's legal rights, and after reading this essay, visitors should click on the "Country Reports" area to learn about the specifics of children's rights and safeguards in different countries around the world. [KMG]
The Center for History and New Media at George Mason University has developed yet another fine educational resource with this site, and it's one that teachers and others will want to tell their friends and colleagues about. The site offers a multimedia approach to telling the stories of the revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe in 1989, along with offering substantive lesson plans and document based questions to be used in the classroom. The materials on the site are contained within five sections, including "Primary Sources", "Scholar Interviews", "Teaching Modules", and "Case Studies". First-time visitors may wish to read the introductory essay here, along with separate sections which briefly discuss the cultural and social milieu in Bulgaria, Hungary, and other countries in the region. The "Primary Sources" section includes a search engine, along with a listing of individual countries and a "Featured Item". Moving on, the "Scholar Interviews" allow users to listen to four different scholars discuss how they teach this subject to their own students, along with what research challenges and changing interpretations of history have informed their own work. [KMG]
