General Interest
http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal102/americabyair/
If you're not in the mood for packing up the car and going to your local airport, why not just take a look at this delightful online exhibition from the National Air and Space Museum? The moment the virtual airport terminal gates open, visitors will be presented with a set of different activities, including a virtual flight across America during different parts of the twentieth century. Visitors can click on the "Fly Across America" to view period documents that depict what the in-flight experience was like from the 1920s to the present. Moving on, the "Explore Exhibition" takes visitors through the different periods of American aviation history, complete with historic photographs, first-hand recollections, and so on. Perhaps the most enjoyable part of the site is the "Activities" section. Here visitors can learn about the responsibilities of a travel agent during the golden age of aviation, take a look at an interactive ticket price meter, and check out the frenetic world of the baggage claim, past and present. [KMG]
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Literature/21L-472Fall-2008/CourseHome/index.htm
MIT's OpenCourseWare initiative has brought education from the banks of the Charles River to all corners of the globe. One of the latest additions to the MIT OpenCourseWare site deals with the importance and nuances of major European novels, which in this case include Don Quixote, Père Goriot, Madame Bovary, and Anna Karenina. Taught by Professor Alvin Kibel, one of the motivating premises behind the course is that "it will not deal with the actions of persons of immense consequences-kings, princes, high elected officials and the like-but rather with the lives of apparently ordinary people and the everyday details of their social ambitions and desires." It's a glorious idea, and one that is reflected throughout the materials here. On this site, visitors can read the course overview, check out the syllabus, look over the readings (links to online versions are made available here), and take a look at the paper assignments and the discussion questions for each novel. [KMG]
http://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/ayp100.html
Back in 1962, Seattle played host to a World's Fair, but over fifty years prior to that, the Emerald City hosted the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. In 1909, on the grounds of the University of Washington campus, the Exposition was held to showcase the various accomplishments of the region, and it was quite a success. A number of organizations are gearing up to celebrate the centennial of the Exposition, and this website brings together archival images, maps, primary documents, and short films related to this important undertaking. First-time visitors can click on the "Digital Collection" area (marked by a photo of a dirigible on the Exposition grounds) to look at over 1200 exposition photographs depicting buildings, entertainment, and some rather exotic attractions. Additionally, visitors can look at a detailed map of the fairgrounds in 1909 and then look over some of the finding aids for the larger collection. Visitors shouldn't miss looking at the "Other A-Y-P" section, as they can learn more about various events and lectures being held to celebrate this centennial. [KMG]
http://www.wnylegacy.org/index.php
From Fredonia to Rochester and back again, this well-thought out and executed digital library brings together cultural and historical documents from the six westernmost counties of New York. The participating institutions include Amherst Museum, Niagara University, and the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. Visitors to the site can browse through the collection by contributing institution or collection title, and of course, they can also perform a detailed search across the entire archive. Additionally, users can also use the "my favorites" feature to create a list of the resources they find most compelling. All told, there are over twelve collections on the site and they include student newspapers from the University of Buffalo, 19th century monographs on the history of New York, and a collection of snow crystal slides collected by the scientist Wilson A. Bentley. [KMG]
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/blue-whales/brower-text
As a cameraman leans in to get a shot of a blue whale, this massive creature glides through the water off of Costa Rica. That's the opening photograph that visitors to this interactive article from National Geographic are presented with, and it's a rather amazing image. This interactive article and feature is derived from a March 2009 feature in the print edition of National Geographic magazine, and it features the photography of Flip Nicklin and the writing of Ken Brower. The article offers an in-depth look into the recovery of the blue whale population off the coast of Costa Rica in recent years, and along the way visitors can stop off to take a look at a special photo gallery, take a quiz on these remarkable creatures, and also watch a video the provides the story behind one of Nicklin's photographs. [KMG]
The mission of the Community Video Education Trust (CVET) in Cape Town, South Africa, is to provide the community with media access and use this access as a way to bring about social change. Additionally, CVET was also created to train community members in video and commercial productions. This website has footage from the late 1980s and early 1990s of anti-apartheid activity. Trade unions, student and political organizations, and the United Democratic Front are all represented in the videos. Visitors should check out the "About Project" link on the left side of the page to see the many organizations involved in creating the website, including Michigan State University's African Studies Center. Each organization's website can be accessed by the links on this page. Visitors can access the search function by clicking on the "Search" link on the left side of the page. Videos can be searched by title or date. To browse for videos, visitors can click on "Browse" on the left side of the page. From there, they can choose from "People", "Organizations", "Featured Videos", "Short Clips" or "Genres". In "Genres", visitors can opt for videos of "Interviews", "Demonstrations", "Speeches", "Funerals", "Meetings", "Celebrations" or "Drama". [KMG]
http://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/programs/eastern_asia/overview.html
In the library section of their website, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University shows off their digitized collection of eastern Asian photographs taken by plant explorers and collectors from the early 20th century. On the homepage visitors can learn the names of the plant explorers by rolling over the photos under the heading "Meet the explorers". Once visitors have chosen an explorer they would like to learn more about, they can click on their photo, to be taken to a brief biography of the explorer. Additionally, visitors can view a gallery of the explorer's images, or search the database for the explorer's images. For visitors interested in viewing the photographs by category of image, they can click on one of the photos under the heading "See What they Saw", to view images of "Magnificent Trees", "Buildings and Bridges", "Daily Life", or "Landscapes". Each one of the categories is further divided into subcategories, which can be seen after clicking on one of the aforementioned images. Some of the subcategories include "Boats" and "Farms" in "Landscapes"; "Food" and "Baskets" in "Daily Life"; and "Pagodas" and "Shrines" in "Buildings and Bridges". [KMG]
