The Scout Report -- Volume 27, Number 10

John Ashbery's Nest, courtesy of the Yale Digital Humanities Lab, allows visitors to take a tour through the poet's Hudson House home (located at 39 West Court Street in Hudson, New York and purchased by Ashbery in 1978). Along the way, users will hear Ashbery and his husband David Kermani tell stories about the furniture and artifacts in the house. Additionally, the "Show Rooms" menu icon in the top-right corner reveals options to enhance each user's tour. For example, viewers can explore a historical timeline that reveals that Hudson House was built in 1894-95 by a local architect Michael O'Connor, as well as check out architectural documents for the house. Another section of the site, House Essays (found under The Poet) includes Ashbery's writings about other people's houses, such as artist David Ireland's house in San Francisco or painter Fredric Church's Olana (also in the Hudson River Valley). John Ashbery's Nest also traces the poet's influences; for example, his visit to the Chicago Art Institute Thorne rooms in 1941 inspired him to begin sketching houses. Many of the objects in the virtual tour are connected with Ashbery's poems, and on the Collections page, readers will find an alphabetical index providing full text and links to each poem in context within a room. [DS]

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Accessibility Unlocked has three primary goals. First, to create a community and network for disabled developers. Second, to curate resources that explore the local challenges and opportunities within Australia and New Zealand. And third, to further accessibility success by connecting abled and disabled developers. In short, the team works to broaden "the profile, awareness, connections, and understanding of accessibility in the games industry." Though the group emphasizes the importance of creating local opportunities, readers outside of Oceania will still find value in the Resources posted on the site. These materials include accessibility guides for games and websites, resources for disabled developers, and tips for creating inclusive events. Plus, readers will find information on the group's worldwide, month-long game jam. To stay up-to-date on Accessibility Unlocked's activities sign up for the mailing list and follow the group on Twitter (@accessunlockanz). Readers will also find links to the core team members' social media accounts under Team. [EMB]

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The American Prison Writing Archive (APWA) developed from a book project that published writing by currently incarcerated Americans. Though the book's submission deadline passed, the "submissions never ceased." Recognizing the importance of giving currently incarcerated people an opportunity to share their stories, the APWA continues to accept and archive essays. Most of these pieces are solicited through prisoner-support newsletters and Prison Legal News, and the archive publishes work from "anyone with first-hand experience inside US carceral institutions," including "prison employees and volunteers, who materially shape the day-to-day conditions in which incarcerated people live, and who are in turn deeply affected by their work." Readers can browse the more than 2,000 essays in the APWA using the search tools in the top-left corner. For example, readers can narrow the collection by state, prison, or language. These essays cover various topics, and the archive team hopes that by sharing the lived stories and experiences of those affected by prison systems, continued study and debate around mass incarceration will be grounded "in the lived experience of those who know prisons best." APWA is a project of Hamilton College and is led by project director Doran Larson. [EMB]

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Launched in 2017, the eCampusOntario Open Library curates more than 500 open-access educational resources for post-secondary educators and learners. A range of subjects are represented in the library, including: "computing and IT," "language and linguistics," "mathematics and science," and "philosophy and religion." In addition to browsing the resource collection, readers will find several other unique OER tools on the site. For example, though the cost-saving benefits of open educational resources have been widely recognized, Open Library makes these benefits tangible through its impact calculator. Found on the Impact page, this tool allows educators to input some basic data (such as the cost of the resource they are replacing and the number of students they are teaching that term) to quickly calculate the total savings. Notably, the "average savings per educator," is more than $50,000, and the "average savings per learner," is more than $100. Educators new to OER may also want to explore the Get Support page, which hosts several helpful materials. Educators willing to share materials they created can do so via the "Make a Suggestion" box on the About page. The library is made possible by a collaboration between eCampusOntario and Ryerson University. Readers can also view the site in French. [EMB]

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Literary fans will want to check out this journal, celebrating great writing across genres. Launched in 2009, "Kweli's mission is to nurture emerging writers of color and create opportunities for their voices to be recognized and valued." Kweli derives its title from the Swahili word for truth, and the journal's work is rooted in truthful storytelling, envisioning "a world where the narratives being told reflect the truth of our histories and the possibilities for our future." Each year, Kweli publishes three online issues. Content from the current issue and the archives can be found on the Home page. Content is also topically organized under the Journal tab. Editor-in-Chief Laura Pegram leads the journal, and the full Masthead is available on the site under the About tab. Kweli receives financial support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, the Amazon Literary Partnership, and the Whiting Foundation, as well as from individual contributors. [EMB]

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Forget boring Punnett square diagrams and embrace the challenge of distilling complex genetics content into understandable and enjoyable lessons with some help from Teaching Genetics with Dragons. Readers can add some fire to genetics lessons with this platform that uses mythical creatures as a launching point for scientific discovery. Though dragons and genetics may not be an obvious pair, these games prove that creativity is boundless. Three games are available: Geniventure, Geniverse, and Genigames. The Summary of Features table on the landing page compares each game, noting the appropriate grade level, topics covered, length of curriculum, and other key features. The games share a core theme, teaching players about phenotypes, genotypes, meiosis, gametes, inheritance, and other aspects of genetics. Readers should note that the games are most compatible with recent versions of Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge web browsers. Additionally, users will have to create a free account to play. Teaching Genetics with Dragons is a project of The Concord Consortium, a nonprofit educational research and development organization, and is supported by the National Science Foundation. [EMB]

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G3 covers three important, and interrelated, topics: genes, genomes, and genetics. A project of the Genetics Society of America, the journal publishes open-access scholarship under a Creative Commons Attribution License. While the journal centers on genetics, it strives to publish work that will draw the attention of multidisciplinary scholars, from biology to mycology to botany. G3 is also notable for its publishing frequency, with 12 issues released each year. Readers can browse the journal's content on the Issues tab. Though it will automatically pull up the latest issue, filters at the top of the page allow readers to sort by year and volume (2011-present). The right-hand panel also has links for readers to sign up for email alerts, follow RSS feeds, and view the "most read" and "most cited" articles. Researchers interested in publishing with the journal will find relevant guidelines and policies on the Submit tab. Brenda Andrews (University of Toronto) serves as the journal's current editor-in-chief. [EMB]

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Black in Genetics is on a mission to disseminate scientific knowledge and dismantle racism within the field. The organization connects Black geneticists to employers and resources and also provides a space for conversation on advancing equity. To advance the first goal, the group launched a job board that highlights world-wide employment opportunities. The site also posts short biographies of Black geneticists, genetic counselors, educators, and other members of the field, creating opportunities for mentorship and visibility. Additionally, readers will find information about the group's events. For example, in August 2020 the organization launched a week-long series of programming, #BlackInGeneticsWeek, to "celebrate both Blackness and the wonderful field of Genetics." The work to amplify Black geneticists continues on social media platforms and users can find @BlackInGenetics on both Twitter and Instagram. Black in Genetics is led by its founder, Alexis Stutzman (a PhD Candidate in Genetics and Molecular Biology Curriculum at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) and its President, Markia Smith (a PhD Student in Pathobiology and Translational Science, also at the UNC Chapel Hill). [EMB]

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The Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School launched pgEd in 2006, largely in response to the expanding role of genetics in all aspects of society. The pgEd team empowers people with genetics knowledge so that they can make informed decisions in whatever ways the field affects them. Users may want to begin with the What is Personal Genetics? tab, where they will find background information about the discipline and links to relevant news articles. Educators will want to check out the trove of lesson plans found under the Teacher Corner tab. Here, readers will find comprehensive lesson plans covering scientific, legal, social, and ethical aspects of the field. In addition to traditional lesson plans, pgEd released a collection of Educational Resources for Distance Learning modules tailored to virtual environments. The site also hosts a Blog and maintains a running list of Events. Readers can keep in touch with the organization by following the various social media channels (linked in the top-right corner) or signing up for the newsletter (under the Stay in touch! tab). [EMB]

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Produced by the Genetics Society, recognized as "one of the world's oldest 'learned societies,'" Genetics Unzipped is a wonderful resource for science podcast fans. Dr. Kat Arney hosts the show, and her skills as an award-winning science writer shine as she "unzips" complex genetics topics for listeners outside of the field. With three seasons (totaling more than 75 episodes and counting), the show has tackled everything from cancer cells (see the "Genetics Shambles 5: The evolution of cancer" episode) to creating comfortable research studies (see the "Nothing About Me Without Me" episode). Perhaps, in honor of International Women's Day earlier this week, readers will want to check out the March 2019 episode, "Not just the wife," which celebrates four incredible women scientists. Or, those eagerly awaiting St. Patrick's Day may enjoy the December 2019 episode, "The genomic history of Ireland," a short piece discussing geography and genomes with Dr. Lara Cassidy from Trinity College Dublin. A more recent episode, "100 not out?" offers tips on aging and health (spoiler: a toothbrush is perhaps the most underrated anti-aging product). Whatever episode listeners fancy can be found at the link above and on their preferred podcast platform. [EMB]

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This resource from the 11-01-2019 Scout Report remains a great tool for educators and learners searching for an accessible avenue to explore genetic technologies.

Biology educators and students, as well as those curious to learn more about genetics, may want to check out DNAdots, a free educational resource created by the team at miniPCR bio. DNAdots offers its visitors "bite-sized, simple explanations of modern genetic technologies," making them excellent ways to gain a better understanding of topics such as personal genetic ancestry testing, DNA barcoding, and gene drives. They are organized into four categories: Sequencing, Gene Expression and Physiology, Genome Editing, and Synthetic Biology. Each DNAdot includes a concise, approachable explanation of what the technology is, how it works, and what it means in a practical sense. For those interested in reading more about a particular topic, links to several related articles (also written for general audiences) are included at the end of the explanations. Additionally, DNAdots provides several review questions to check understanding as well as critical thinking and discussion questions. Teachers interested in using DNAdots in their classroom can request answer keys for these questions via email, and each DNAdot can be downloaded as a well-formatted PDF. [JDC] [EMB]

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