General Interest
Eighteenth century London bustled with musicians of all stripes. Of course, this heady brew of musical activity included those in related professions, such as music publishers, composers, and instrument makers. This database created by the Royal College of Music's Centre for Performance History provides a peek into this world. The database provides basic biographical information about such individuals, much of which is derived by a range of archival material that includes insurance records, wills, and apprenticeship records. Visitors will need to complete a brief free registration form, and then they can make their way through this material. On the left-hand side of the main page, users will note six primary sections, including "Insurance Records", "Poll Books", and "Wills". Within each section, visitors can read a brief summary about each type of historical document, and afterwards, they can begin their search of the records. [KMG]
http://www.getty.edu/conservation/
Started in 1985, The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) "works internationally to advance conservation practice in the visual arts." Their mission is quite broad, as it includes conservation projects that involve architecture, individual objects, and site examinations. First-time visitors may wish to start by looking at the "What's New" area on the right-hand side of the homepage. Here they will find short videos on Asian orange colorants, information about Middle East heritage databases, and a direct link to the latest edition of the GCI's newsletter, "Conservation". Moving on, the "Free PDF Publications" area contains access to full-length books, reports, glossaries, and short papers published by the GCI. The "Videos and Audio" area contains a number of compelling talks, including a conversation with a panel of experts about long-term preservation plans for the bridges that span the Los Angeles River. Finally, the site also contains information for potential visiting scholars, graduate students, and interns within the "Public Programs" area of the site. [KMG]
http://www.ndl.go.jp/portrait/e/index.html
Trying to capture the essence of a country's history through photographs and portraiture is difficult, but the National Diet Library of Japan has done just that through this remarkable digital exhibit. They started to compile this collection of prominent members of modern Japanese society in 2004, and the exhibit currently contains over 350 images. After reading a short introductory essay, visitors can browse the images by category (such as jurist and literary figure) or look at an alphabetical list of all the individuals profiled here. Interestingly enough, the photographs here are culled from two large volumes published in 1914 and 1934, and they include photographs and brief biographies of such personages as noted military officer Sadao Araki, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, and historian and journalist Soho Tokutomi. [KMG]
http://www.favoritearchitecture.org/
The American Institute of Architects has thrown down a gauntlet of sorts by offering up this list of the top 150 architecture projects as selected by the American public. Through a partnership with Google Earth, visitors can locate each building on an interactive map, but they might want to start by browsing through the list first. Each building profile includes a photograph, a brief overview of its general significance, and a section where visitors can chime in with their two cents. Visitors can also look at an alphabetical list of buildings, or a list of architects arranged alphabetically. The user interface for this feature is easy to use and quite compelling, and visitors will find plenty to argue about with friends, family members, and fellow lovers of the built environment. For those who are curious, the Empire State Building is ranked number one, followed by the White House, the Washington National Cathedral, and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. [KMG]
http://www.extension.uidaho.edu/idahogardens/
From tomatoes to pesky (and helpful) insects, the Idaho Landscapes & Gardens website has information for a wide range of interested parties, and not just persons who live in Idaho either. Created and maintained by the University of Idaho's Extension program, the site is divided into areas like "Gardening Basics", "Lawn & Turf", "Herbaceous Ornamentals", and "Wildlife in the Garden". For those with a budding green thumb, the "Gardening Basics" section offers some practical information on gardening equipment, composting, soil preparation, and irrigation methods. More advanced gardeners may wish to skip over to the "Plant Your Landscape" area. Here they will find resources on how to create a general landscape plan and how to install different elements of the basic plan. The site is rounded out by the "Seasonal Topics" area, which contains up-to-the minute details on summer pruning and fall lawn care. [KMG]
http://www.gettysburg.edu/library/gettdigital/maps/stuckenberg_maps.htm
As a small boy, John Henry Wilbrandt Stuckenberg emigrated to the U.S. from Germany and later served as an Army chaplain during the Civil War. Over the course of his life, Stuckenberg returned to Germany several times and it was while living in Germany that Stuckenberg purchased the majority of his collection. Upon his death in 1903, he left Gettysburg College his personal library. It contained a vast collection of maps, atlases, and personal items that belonged to the famed geographer and explorer, Alexander Von Humboldt. The Special Collections Department at the College has digitized many of his treasures, and placed them online here for use by the general public. Some of the cartographers featured here include Matthias Seutter, Willem Janszoon Blaeu, and Tobias Conrad Lotter. Visitors can search the entire collection by keywords, or they can also just click on sections such as "City", "Region", and "Country". The "Cities" area offers more than a few gems, including a 1777 map of Philadelphia and an 1832 rendering of Lisbon. Moving on, the "Country" area includes a 1579 map of Mexico and an 1808 map of Finland. [KMG]
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/taliban/
After the fall of the Taliban, a number of political experts and scholars discussed a scenario in which the Taliban and elements of Al Qaeda would set up command centers in nearby Pakistan. This episode of Frontline takes a very close look into that situation, and visitors can watch the program in its entirety here. The site also offers up a number of other features, including a detailed map of the region profiled in the film and interviews with former deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage and author Barnett Rubin. In "The Region's New Fighters", visitors can read transcripts of interviews with top Taliban lieutenants such as Haji Omar and Jalaluddin Haqqani. Visitors are also welcome to offer their own comments on the program in the "Join the Discussion" area of the site. [KMG]
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2008/ernst/index.shtm
The exhibit "Max Ernst: Illustrated Books" showcases "mysterious, species-bending creatures invented by German surrealist Max Ernst (1891–1976) during the 1920s and 1930s." Images such as bird- and insect-headed women, or a strange machine that seems to be part man, part crocodile, and part bicycle have been selected from the pages of nineteen collage novels created by Ernst. On the website visitors see pages from five or six of these titles, including Rêve d'une petite fille qui voulut entrer au Carmel (A little girl dreams of taking the veil), Une semaine de bonté (Kindness Week), and Spectacle metallique (1930). There are also some examples from Ernst's Histoire naturelle that the artist created by rubbing a pencil over various textures and surfaces, producing shapes reminiscent of bamboo, seed balls, rabbit ears, and bird's claws. [DS]
