The Scout Report -- Volume 19, Number 6

The Scout Report -- Volume 19, Number 6

The Scout Report

February 8, 2013 -- Volume 19, Number 6

A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison




Research and Education

  Inside Science

  Growing the Curriculum: Open Education Resources in U.S. Higher Education

  Healthy Lifestyle

  National League for Nursing: Faculty Toolkits

  Ocean Tracks

  TechCrunch

  RAND Corporation: Measuring Teacher Effectiveness

  Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive

General Interest

  Kepler: The Volume of a Wine Barrel

  American Experience: Henry Ford

  The Rise of Phoenix

  PhotoSeed

  Q&A

  Spencer Museum of Art

  Eagleton Poll Archive

  National Galleries of Scotland: From Death to Death and Other Small Tales

Network Tools

  TwitrCovers

  Zeen

In the News

  After more than 500 years, King Richard III's remains are located




Copyright and subscription information appear at the end of the Scout Report. For more information on all services of Internet Scout, please visit our Website: http://scout.wisc.edu/ If you'd like to know how the Internet Scout team selects resources for inclusion in the Scout Report, visit our Selection Criteria page at: https://scout.wisc.edu/scout-report/selection-criteria The Scout Report on the Web: Current issue: http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/Current This issue: http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/2013/scout-{filedate} Feedback is always welcome: scout@scout.wisc.edu



Research and Education

Inside Science

http://www.insidescience.org/

Inside Science is a media organization that "provides editorially independent research news and information on science, engineering, mathematics, and related fields for general audiences through television, print and the Web." On the site, visitors can roam freely over high-quality pieces, which are organized into areas including News, Video, Opinion, and Blog. The News area is a great place to start; recent fascinating items of note have included "Dominoes: More Powerful Than You Think" and "How Running For Our Lives May Have Made Humans Smarter." The site blog contains reporting on recent events with a scientific bent, including the probability of buying affordable Super Bowl tickets and how smartphones may be able to detect earthquakes. Additionally, the Video area contains a range of short films that cover everything from a printable prosthetic hand to artificial retinas. [KMG]


Growing the Curriculum: Open Education Resources in U.S. Higher Education

http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/growingthecurriculum.pdf

Based at Babson College, the Babson Survey Research Group conducts regional, national and international research projects, including survey design, data integrity, and statistical analyses. One of their most recent papers deals with the realm of open education resources in U.S. higher education and was authored by I. Elaine Allen and Jeff Seaman, both of the Babson Survey Research Group. The 29-page report contains an executive summary and short thematic sections that include "Awareness of Open Educational Resources" and "Saving Time and Money." As part of their work, the two surveyed chief academic officers to gauge their knowledge and understanding of these vast resources. Wisely, the report also looks at the respective "gatekeepers" at different educational institutions, along with casting a critical eye on potential barriers and the viewpoint of faculty members. Finally, the report also includes a survey methodology for those interested in how the paper was researched. [KMG]


Healthy Lifestyle

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/HealthyLivingIndex/HealthyLivingIndex

The Mayo Clinic has a terrific public outreach program, and this website provides a rich array of materials that deal with common and uncommon medical conditions. The Healthy Lifestyle area contains a range of tools and information for a healthy lifestyle. The sections include Healthy Lifestyle Topics, Life Stages, and Healthy Recipes. Within each section, visitors will find multimedia clips, expert answers, additional resources, and links to commonly asked questions. The Weight Loss area is particularly useful, as it contains over 25 different resources designed to help individuals address this increasingly common desire in a way that is balanced and meaningful. On a related note, the Healthy Recipes are a nice complement to these materials as they include suggestions for drinks, entrees, and side dishes. [KMG]


National League for Nursing: Faculty Toolkits

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

The National League for Nursing (NLN) was founded in 1893 as the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses. It was the first nursing organization in the United States, and its commitment to the profession includes crafting quality educational resources for those who teach in nursing schools. In the Faculty Toolkits area of this website, visitors can look over nine different resources, including the Diversity Toolkit and The Mentoring of Nursing Faculty Tool Kit. Each of these resources is designed to focus on a specific area of nursing, such as teaching diversity, crafting innovative curricula, or creating a meaningful work environment. The resources all containing helpful materials, including worksheets, discussion questions, and teacher guides. [KMG]


Ocean Tracks

http://www.oceantracks.csiro.au/

How are marine animals moving around when they are deep below the ocean's surface? It's a fascinating question, and one that has driven the work of part of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). On this website, visitors can see the "tracks" of selected marine animals tagged by CSIRO and partner agencies. It's an amazing experience, and visitors just need to download a small plug-in to get started. Some of the marine animals here include white sharks patrolling Australia's southern coast and bluefin tuna on their oceanic migrations. The About area is a great way to learn about the research and technology involved with this complicated endeavor. Also, visitors can check out the low-tech/accessible version of the site if they are so inclined. [KMG]


TechCrunch

http://techcrunch.com/

For tech junkies and others, TechCrunch is a great way to stay up-to-date with developments on new technologies, computer systems, mobile devices, software, and a wide array of tech-related matters. On the top of the homepage, visitors can check out Hot Topics, which might feature anything from updates from Microsoft to venture capital funding developments for new web-applications. On the right-hand side of the screen, visitors can look over the Trending Stories, which track some of the latest news from the industry. The What You Missed section features key pieces of business news that might have escaped the attention of those who have not visited the site recently. Further along, the Product Guides offer detailed profiles of smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, laptops, and headphones. The site is rounded out by a place where visitors can sign up to receive a daily newsletter. [KMG]


RAND Corporation: Measuring Teacher Effectiveness

http://www.rand.org/education/projects/measuring-teacher-effectiveness.html

The RAND Corporation provides research on a range of topics, and has long been interested in public school reform and related matters. This website provides access to papers and commentaries produced as part of RAND's initiative on measuring teacher effectiveness. The site is designed for teachers, administrators, policymakers, and anyone else "seeking objective, nonpartisan information on measuring teaching effectiveness." First-time visitors can get started by looking over the fact sheets, which include "Multiple Choices: Options for Measuring Teaching Effectiveness" and "Teachers Matter: Understanding Teachers' Impact on Student Achievement." After considering these items, visitors can move on to click on the "Research & Commentary" area to read the site's blog, take a look at the multimedia section, or consider the available full reports, which include "Incorporating Student Performance Measures into Teacher Evaluation Systems." [KMG]


Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive

http://repository.wellesley.edu/

The goal of the Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive is "to provide a place to collect, manage, and facilitate access to the College's scholarly output, unique research holdings, and archival records." Visitors can use the Browse tab to look over the collections, which include topical headings that range from Archives to Wellesley Centers for Women. The Archives area contains important historical publications from students, such as the Wellesley News and the Wellesley Prelude. The other areas tend to contains works by faculty members, such as those on climate change in the Biological Sciences area or those dealing with isothermic surfaces in the Mathematics area. [KMG]



General Interest

Kepler: The Volume of a Wine Barrel

http://mathdl.maa.org/mathDL/46/?pa=content&sa=viewDocument&nodeId=3499

Johannes Kepler is known for his many mathematical discoveries, and he was quite keen on calculating areas and volumes. This interest stemmed from an incident that occurred when he married for the second time in Austria. He had purchased a barrel of wine for his wedding, and was angered by the wine merchant's method for measuring the volume. Inspired by this exchange, Kepler began his study of how to calculate areas and volumes and as a result he composed the book "New Solid Geometry of Wine Barrels." This very interesting and engaging article from Roberto Cardil of Matematicas Visuales offers students and others a way to learn about Kepler's work in this area via some compelling visuals and well-written text. The site includes seven sections, such as The Wine Barrel Incident, A Problem of Maxima: Wine Barrel Design, and a collection of additional links and references. [KMG]


American Experience: Henry Ford

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/henryford/

Henry Ford had a profound influence on America and the world in the 20th century. He was involved in a vast array of enterprises during his life, including the quest for world peace, automobile manufacturing, and even attempting to build a type of utopia in the Amazon known as "Fordlandia." This arresting documentary from PBS's American Experience series looks into his life in great detail. Visitors can watch the entire program here and also look through a range of photo galleries. The galleries include shots of workers at the Ford factory, along with videos of Ford "camping" with Thomas Edison. Perhaps the most interesting video here is one in which Ford gives dance lessons as part of his leisure time in Dearborn, Michigan. [KMG]


The Rise of Phoenix

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/phoenix/

The debate about for-profit universities continues to gain steam in the United States and around the world. The folks at American RadioWorks have crafted this intriguing portrait of one of the most well-known for-profit universities, the University of Phoenix. Correspondent Emily Hanford looks at the history of this and other institutions as she profiles its founder, John Sperling, and also interviews critics of such institutions. Visitors can listen to the complete podcast of the program here as well as look over thematic essays culled from the program such as "Who Goes to the University of Phoenix" and "The Story of the University of Phoenix." [KMG]


PhotoSeed

http://photoseed.com/

The PhotoSeed website is committed to "bringing to light the growth and artistic vision of 19th & 20th century photography." Visitors will note that the background images on the site rotate, and taking a careful glance is a fine way to get a feel for the general milieu. Clicking on the Highlights area allows visitors to browse through photos of British salons in the late 19th century, an Italian Grand Tour album from 1912, and rare images from the American photographic journal, "The Photographic Times." Visitors can also look through the items by categories and via an alphabetized list. The Collection area allows visitors to look through all of the items by photographer, artist, medium, journal, volume, year, atelier, or tag. Overall, it's a remarkable resource for art historians, photographers, architects, and others. [KMG]


Q&A

http://www.q-and-a.org/

The C-SPAN series "Q & A" brings together "interesting people who are making things happen in politics, the media, education, and science & technology in hour-long conversations about their lives and their work." The program started in 2004, and visitors can view all of the past episodes here, along with taking in the latest edition of this engaging program. Visitors can look at This Sunday to learn about the upcoming program, while the Coming Up area offers a sneak peek at what's on tap in the near future. It's easy to just dip and get started here, though first-time visitors would do well to start with the programs with Steve Inskeep, Morley Safer, and Anne Applebaum, who talks about her book "Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956." [KMG]


Spencer Museum of Art

http://luna.ku.edu:8180/luna/servlet/kuvc1sma~1~1

The University of Kansas's Spencer Museum of Art is an invaluable resource for students and scholars who come for the collegiate environment around this wonderful institution. The collection was established by Sallie Casey, a Kansas City art collector, in 1917. As part of the digital collection at the school, more than 17,000 items from this well-curated cornucopia are available here for those with a penchant for photography, material culture, sculpture, and other branches of the fine arts. The collection is also quite well-known for its offerings in Japanese Edo period painting, 20th century Chinese painting, and quilts. After clicking on the Browse Spencer Museum of Art link, visitors can use the What tab to look over items by medium and the Who tab to peruse the list of artists represented within this digital archive. Also, visitors can use the image zoom feature to look closely at key details of interest. [KMG]


Eagleton Poll Archive

http://eagleton.libraries.rutgers.edu/

The Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at the Eagleton Institute of Politics has been conducting regular polling in New Jersey since 1971. For over two decades, the ECPIP also worked with the Star-Ledger newspaper to conduct surveys on a range of topics of interest to New Jersey citizens. This website, provided by the Rutgers University Library, provides access to the survey data and questionnaires from Eagleton's quarterly statewide polls of New Jersey. Clicking on the Browse button allows visitors to view past polls by topic. Their number includes topics as varied as AIDS, blue laws, budget, roaches, and South Jersey. Also, visitors can search by keyword or consult the FAQ area, which is quite useful. [KMG]


National Galleries of Scotland: From Death to Death and Other Small Tales

http://www.nationalgalleries.org/whatson/exhibitions/from-death-to-death-and-other-small-tales/

Use art to take on the grim topics of death and bodily decay by visting this exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Highlights of the website include "Ohne Titel [Untitled]," 1965, by Gunter Brus, a collage documenting what Brus called a "Self-painting." Brus covered his body with white paint, and over-painted black lines suggesting cracks. The collage juxtaposes pins, razor blades and a pen knife alongside photographs of the artist in his white paint coating. There is also an installation video for Ernesto Neto's room-size work, "It happens when the body is anatomy of time," 2000, that resembles a forest of the skeletal legs of some large imaginary animal. In addition to the National Gallery website highlights, visit the associated article in "The Independent" for a slideshow of 12 works of art by Sarah Lucas, Louise Bourgeois, Rene Magritte, Marcel Duchamp, Matthew Barney, and others. [DS]



Network Tools

TwitrCovers

http://www.twitrcovers.com/

If you're new to Twitter you may be looking for a compelling new image to enhance your public profile. TwitrCovers is a fine way to search for such an image, and it contains hundreds of images for general use. Visitors can scroll through the homepage to get started, or they can use the Categories tab. The sections here include abstract, animals, movies, and nature. These images are compatible with computers running all operating systems. [KMG]


Zeen

http://zeen.com/

If you have never thought about (or heard of) creating a "zeen," now might be the perfect time. A zeen is a portable, bite-sized piece of content designed to help individuals tell a story via words, images, and videos. Visitors can get a primer of how they work via the Learn More tab, and it's easy to get started. Each zeen can be shared via a variety of social media, including Facebook and Twitter. This version is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]



In the News

After more than 500 years, King Richard III's remains are located


DNA Confirms Bones Are King Richard III's
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324445904578283440611556344.html

Richard III's remains identified, but was he really Shakespeare's villain?
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0204/Richard-III-s-remains-identified-but-was-he-really-Shakespeare-s-villain-video?nav=87-frontpage-entryInsideMonitor

The Humiliation of Richard III
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2013/02/the-humiliation-of-richard-iii.html

Richard III: Shakespearean actors rake over the remains
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/feb/04/shakespearean-actors-richard-iii-remains

Richard III
http://shakespeare.mit.edu/richardiii/

Richard III Society
http://www.r3.org/

It's probably not the first place one would expect to find a king, but the lost remains of King Richard III have been found under a parking lot in the British town of Leicester. This Monday, a team of University of Leicester researchers announced that DNA test on bones recently unearthed in an archaeological dig match samples taken from two living descendants of Richard's sister. It's a tremendous discovery. Though Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, many people know this storied monarch because of their familiarity with Shakespeare's play of the same name. In the coming months, Richard's remains will be reburied in the cathedral in Leicester. Local officials have also expressed interest in a whole new crop of visitors coming to visit the area as a form of economic development. [KMG]

The first link will take visitors to a nice piece from this Monday's Wall Street Journal about this exciting new discovery. The second link will whisk interested parties away to a similar news article from the Christian Science Monitor, complete with a video clip from the official press conference from the University of Leicester. Moving along, the third link will lead parties to a nice bit of commentary on the whole affair from the New Yorker's Amy Davidson. The fourth link leads to a wonderful article from the Guardian which polls a number of actors who have played Richard to see how any new historical revelations might change their portrayal of the king. There is a wonderful clip of Laurence Olivier playing Richard III in the celebrated film version here as well. The fifth link will lead visitors to a full-text version of the play by William Shakespeare, courtesy of MIT. The final link will take users away to the homepage of the American branch of the Richard III Society. Here visitors can learn about the society, Richard III himself, the Wars of the Roses, and 15th century England.





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