The Scout Report -- Volume 18, Number 32

August 10, 2012

A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sponsored by University of Wisconsin - Madison Libraries.




Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

In The News




Research and Education

Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology

http://tiee.esa.org/index.html

Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE) is a peer-reviewed web-based collection of ecological educational materials. It is "a resource for busy ecology faculty who are looking for new ways to reach their students, or who perhaps want to learn more about teaching and learning." Each of the volumes here contains Experiments, Issues, and Teaching. In the Experiments area, visitors can find resources for laboratory settings, while the Issues section features classroom exercises and web-based materials. On the site's homepage, visitors will find the All Volumes link, which will allow them to look over all the resources dating back to 2004. The field experiments area includes resources such as "Using Steam Leaf Packs to Explore Community Assembly" and "Biodiversity Responses Across a Gradient of Human Influence." [KMG]

To find more high-quality online resources in math and science, visit Scout's sister site: AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.



Imagine Africa

http://www.penn.museum/sites/imagineafrica/

What is Africa? It's a broad and important question, and it is something that the folks at the University of Pennsylvania's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology find fascinating. This website is part of a 12-month project designed to look into the thoughts of visitors to the museum. The museum is also concerned with the thoughts of others who can't make the trip to Philadelphia, and users of this site can chime in with their ideas as well. In the About area, visitors can read about the project and look over its themes, which include Imagine Strength, Imagine Changing, and Imagine Healing. Visitors are encouraged to give feedback on these themes, and curators will take this information into consideration as they think about crafting a new exhibit in response. In the Watch area, visitors can watch different videos, such as a group of Maasai women singing in Kenya and a piece on Nigeria's Benin kingdom. Finally, the Discuss area allows visitors to chime in on questions such as "What role did slavery play in creating America?" and "Is personal appearance an important perspective for examining a culture?" [KMG]



Great Smoky Mountains

http://libguides.utk.edu/smokies

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville has created this excellent resource on the culture, history, and geography of the Great Smoky Mountains. The resource was created as part of a collaboration with the Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project, and it includes digital collections, a regional bibliography, and a comprehensive listing of organizations in the region. The Digital Collections area includes six different photograph collections. Perhaps the most interesting one here is the William Cox Cochran collection, which includes 89 images of East Tennessee taken during August 1886. Moving on, the Colloquy area includes copies of the biannual newsletter for the Great Smoky Mountains Regional Project dating back to 2000. Finally, the Organizations area features an annotated list of organizations that work in the region, including the Friends of the Smokies and the Foothills Land Conservancy. [KMG]



National League for Nursing

http://www.nln.org/facultyprograms/teachingresources.htm

The National League for Nursing is committed to providing a range of teaching resources for those who work with students in nursing and related fields. The resources here are contained within nine areas, including Excellence Model, Hallmarks of Excellence, and Faculty Toolkits. The Hallmarks of Excellence area contains a detailed list of indicators that can help nursing faculty members learn more about the key elements of any effective nursing program. The Living Documents section includes a range of commentaries on timely topics, such as diversity in nursing education and the care of older adults. The site's Living Documents area features a series of occasional papers that comment on the future of nursing education. The titles here include "A Vision for Post-Baccalaureate Nursing Education" and "Caring for Older Adults." [KMG]

To find more high-quality online resources in math and science, visit Scout's sister site: AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.



Imagining the Internet

http://www.elon.edu/predictions/

What's next for the Internet? It's difficult to predict the future of this transformative technology, but the good folks at Elon University's School of Communications have a few thoughtful ideas on the subject. The mission of the project is "to explore and provide insights into emerging network innovations, global development, dynamics, diffusion and governance." The site includes sections like Forward 150/Back 150, which talks about the past and future of communications networks, and Visionaries Multimedia which includes videos recorded at global conferences featuring predictions about the Internet. One very fascinating area is the Early '90s Predictions. Here visitors can make their way through 4,200 statements made by a a range of people from 1990 to 1995 about the future of networked communications. The site is rounded out by the Kidzone/Teachers area, which features guides for teachers that will help them introduce concepts about the history and future of information sharing. [KMG]



Structures and Functions of Genomes

http://www.bioedonline.org/slides/slide01.cfm?tk=33

The BioEd Online website brings together a range of resources designed to help biology teachers educate their students about everything from microbes to genetics. This particular slide set was created by Dr. Raye L. Alford and it uses diagrams, charts, and a range of other illustrative materials. The topics covered here include mitochondria, eukaryotic genomes, and chromatin and DNA packaging. Visitors can download all of the slides at one time, or they can also search materials on each slide individually. It's worth noting that visitors can share these materials via Twitter and social media using the handy links on the site. [KMG]

To find more high-quality online resources in math and science, visit Scout's sister site: AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.



The Rise of Residential Segregation by Income

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/08/01/the-rise-of-residential-segregation-by-income/

The trend of residential segregation by ethnicity in the United States is well-documented. Some may be less familiar with the situation as regards residential segregation by income, but this report from the Pew Research Center is quite revealing. Written by Richard Fry and Paul Taylor, this report was released in August 2012. It includes four chapters and an appendix. The report notes that residential segregation by income has increased during the past three decades across the United States and in 27 of the nation's 30 largest major metropolitan areas. Visitors can read the entire report here, and also learn about related reports such as "The Middle Class Blues." Additionally, visitors can sign up to receive email updates from the Center. [KMG]



General Interest

The Daily Palette Digital Collection

http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/dp/index.php

Every day, the staff members at the Daily Palette Digital Collection at the University of Iowa Libraries put up a new artwork by a different Iowa artist. Since the project was launched in 2004, the collection has profiled over 1,000 artists working in the fine arts, literature, video, and the performing arts. Visitors can scroll through the Highlights of Collection section near the bottom of the page for a taste of the very intriguing offerings here. The Subcollections area includes areas like Iowa Writes, Iowa on Stage, and Iowa at 30 Frames per second. This last area has 11 rather intriguing short films, including "Body Beasts," "Back of the Mike," and "Alternative Forms of Energy." Also, Iowa Writes includes over 700 poems, including "Ode to Thresher" and "16th Avenue, Cedar Rapids." [KMG]



Puerto Rican Cultural Center Collection

http://collections.carli.illinois.edu/cdm4/index_uic_prcc.php?CISOROOT=/uic_prcc

The Puerto Rican Cultural Center Collection tells the story of the Juan Antonio Corretjer Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago. The Center was created in 1973 to address both the social and cultural needs of the community. This digital offering was produced as part of a collaborative project between the Special Collections Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Illinois Graduate School of Information and Library Science, and the Center. Users of the site can make their way through photographs, newspapers, books, and other ephemera. Currently there are over 400 items in the collection, which visitors can browse at their leisure or search via the included search engine. [KMG]



John Falter's Jazz Portraits

http://nebraskahistory.org/exhibits/john_falter_jazz/index.htm

Born in Plattsmouth, Nebraska in 1910, John P. Falter was a photographer who created a number of iconic Saturday Evening Post covers along with taking numerous photos of celebrated jazz musicians. Some of his noted works include images captured from jazz gatherings in Colorado and Odessa, Texas in the 1970s. This digital collection from the Nebraska State Historical Society brings together some of the sketches he did at these events. Visitors to the site will note that they can click on sections such as Colorado Jazz Party, Ralph Sutton, and Jazz Action. One notable area is Vic Dickenson, which features sketches of that well-known trombonist who played with other jazz luminaries like Bobby Hackett and Eddie Condon. [KMG]



Gustav Klimt: The Magic of Line

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/klimt/index.html

The Getty Museum is known for a number of firsts when it comes to creative art exhibits, and they have recently embarked on the first retrospective fully dedicated to the drawings of Gustav Klimt. This particular exhibition was organized by the Albertina Museum in Vienna, in collaboration with the Getty Museum, to mark the 150th anniversary of Klimt's birth. Klimt was one of the seminal figures of international Modernism and approximately 4,000 of his drawings survive. Many of these works depict themes such as human suffering, the longing for love and happiness, and the cycle of life from birth to death. Visitors to the site can look through thematic sections that include Cycle of Life, Klimt & Life Drawing, and The Late Work. Finally, visitors shouldn't miss the video which explains the process Klimt used to create these drawings. [KMG]



The Country Dog Gentlemen Travel to Extraordinary Worlds

http://www.sfmoma.org/explore/multimedia/interactive_features/81

Once upon a time, there were two country dog gentlemen, and they loved to travel. These two remarkable dogs are the product of the mind of artist Roy De Forest. After a jazzy introduction, visitors can travel through some very fun corners of the art world with these two canines. The site features eight different artworks by people like Frida Kahlo, Sargent Johnson, and Jackson Pollock. Visitors will find that the dogs are amicable companions as they narrate their adventures and investigations into each of these works. the Dogs' Best Friends gallery includes a place where visitors can create their own artworks and share them with other visitors. It's easy to get started and there are many templates that will inspire them to make their own new works. [KMG]



United States Department of Transportation: Briefing Room

http://www.dot.gov/briefing-room.html

The United States Department of Transportation's Briefing Room is a one-stop center for journalists, policy scholars, and members of the general public to obtain the latest news, multimedia, and other updates from this government agency. On the homepage, visitors can look over the Latest News, view the Featured Video, or look through the recent Speeches. Along the right-hand side of the home page, visitors can make their way through specialized sites that look at various initiatives, such as open government and the implementation of the Recovery Act at the DOT. For those people looking for updates on pressing transportation policy matters, the Videos area has features on distracted driving, surface transportation initiatives, and the future of publicly-funded rail projects. [KMG]



WPA Art Inventory Project

http://wpa.cslib.org/

Many works created as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s and 1940s no longer exist. Some of these artworks were temporary, and others have been removed due to insensitive renovation projects in public buildings like schools and post offices. This initiative from the Connecticut State Library was the result of a bill passed by Connecticut representative David McCluskey, who thought it would be a good idea to create a catalogue and inventory of these works. This website provides access to information about the artworks produced in the state under the Federal Art Project, and it remains a work in progress. The site includes information about the artists involved in the project, along with photographs and other documentation of their known works. Currently, there are over 160 artists represented here, and it's fun to browse around and learn about these works. [KMG]



American Railroad Journal

http://digital.library.umsystem.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?page=home;c=arj

The University of Missouri Digital Library has over three dozen digital collections, including those that focus on the Civil War and historical Missouri newspapers. One of the more recent additions is this archive of the American Railroad Journal. This publication was started in 1832, and it covered all aspects of the railroad industry for over 70 years. Taken as a whole, this archive offers a fascinating look into the dynamic growth of the railroad industry. Visitors can search the entire collection by keyword, or they can browse each issue. First-time users may wish to look through the issues in the 1830s, as they contain a range of articles that detail the key technological innovations during this time. [KMG]



Network Tools

Spotflux

http://launch.spotflux.com/

Spotflux uses the power of the cloud "to conduct millions of real-time checks for invasive tracking, advertisements, malware, and other bugs that pose a threat to your identity or your data." The application helps scan and protect users' connections from malware and other viruses, along with concealing the identity and location of users' devices. This version is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]



PhotoChron 1.17

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.photochron

Perhaps you'd like to create a collection of images documenting your child's growth and development? Or maybe a time-lapse collection of plants growing in your garden? PhotoChron can make all of this possible. Visitors can use the application to assemble their photos and create a slideshow to share with friends and others. It's easy to use and there's also a FAQ area which is most useful. This version is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]



In The News

As universities ready to welcome new students, some wonder about the financial health of higher education

The college-cost calamity
http://www.economist.com/node/21559936

After Leadership Crisis Fueled by Distance-Ed Debate, UVA will put Free Classes Online
http://chronicle.com/article/After-Leadership-Crisis-Fueled/132917/

Why the Education Bubble Will Be Worse Than the Housing Bubble
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/economic-intelligence/2012/06/12/the-government-shouldnt-subsidize-higher-education

Book Review: "The Higher Education Bubble"
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/25/education-bubble-toil-and-trouble/

Is College Over?
http://chronicle.com/article/After-Leadership-Crisis-Fueled/132917/

College Costs: Find out how much college costs
http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/collegecost/collegecost.html

As young people get ready for the first days of college, there will be talk of leaving home for a new environment and the promise of an exciting and interesting new intellectual setting. Institutions of higher education are changing as much as these young people, and there may be rocky shoals ahead. The Economist reported last week that long-term debt at not-for-profit universities in the United States has been growing at 12% a year. Some universities have been increasing their debt by paying for high-profile items like rock-climbing walls in student athletic facilities, a vast array of specialty programs, facilities, and so on. Since 2001, the cost of tuition has increased from 23% of median annual earnings to 38%. There is talk of a bubble, which the law professor and blogger Glenn Reynolds has predicted will burst. Some have also noted that for-profit universities seem to be doing quite well, but they face increased scrutiny from politicians who raise eyebrows at their recruitment strategies and failure to deliver on promises regarding post-college job placements. [KMG]

The first link leads to the previously mentioned piece from The Economist which offers a bit more perspective on the situation facing a number of universities in the United States. The second link will take interested parties to a piece from The Chronicle of Higher Education about the decision by the University of Virginia to put some of their courses online for free. Moving along, the third link leads to a recent post from the US News's "Economic Intelligence" blog. Authored by scholars Antony Davies and James R. Harrigan, the piece provides insight on why the education bubble may be worse than the housing bubble. The fourth link will take visitors to a book review of the recently published "The Higher Education Bubble." The fifth link will whisk users away to a thoughtful piece by Boston Magazine's Janelle Nanos about the changing landscape of higher education in the United States. The last and final link will take users away to an online calculator on the CNN website designed to help people calculate the cost of college.






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