The Scout Report -- Volume 20, Number 11

The Scout Report -- Volume 20, Number 11

The Scout Report

March 21, 2014 -- Volume 20, Number 11

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




Research and Education

  Alliance for Excellent Education: Publications
  Whatcom Community College: Online Math Center
  Biodidac
  Mountains and Mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest
  Inside the WGBH Open Vault
  Labor and Workplace Studies: University of Maryland Libraries
  African American Alumni Oral Histories
  30 Ideas for Teaching Writing

General Interest

  Michigan Feminist Studies
  Mapping a New Nation: Abel Buell's Map of the United States, 1784
  Beloit College: Bartlett Collection
  ChronoAtlas
  ATCC: The Global Bioresource Center
  The Huntington Archive
  Auburn University Theatre Collection

Network Tools

  Dictation
  Tweet My Music

In the News

  Oldest case of cancer discovered in 3,200 year old skeleton



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Research and Education

Alliance for Excellent Education: Publications

·http://all4ed.org/publications/

The mission of the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) is "to promote high school transformation to make it possible for every child to graduate prepared for postsecondary learning and success in life." Based in Washington, D.C., Alliance publications include reports and fact sheets designed for use by journalists, policy experts, and others. Within its Publications area, visitors can look over recent items that include ?New Assessments: A Guide for State Policymakers" and "Leading In and Beyond the Library." Moving on, the High School Soup Blog brings together a daily serving of high school news and policy from around the United States. Webinars & Events rounds out the Alliance?s site, featuring webinars on national educational policy changes and digital learning in the classroom. [KMG]


Whatcom Community College: Online Math Center

·http://math.whatcom.ctc.edu/student-services/campus-resources/math-center/learning-math/free-courses/

The online math center at Whatcom Community College is intended for a range of audiences, particularly students looking for additional assistance on a variety of math subjects from geometry to calculus. The materials offered here are divided into five areas: Learning Math, Teaching Math, Math Resources, Calculators, and Math Events. This first area offers visitors a look over high-quality links to external mathematics instruction sites, information about scholarships for students studying math, and much more. Moving on, Teaching Math includes a link to the LiveMath software package. This neat tool enables the user to visualize mathematical concepts on the computer in areas such as linear algebra and fractals. [KMG]


Biodidac

·http://biodidac.bio.uottawa.ca/index.htm

Biodidac is a bank of digital resources for teaching biology, courtesy of the great folks at the University of Ottawa. First-time visitors will note that the materials are contained within three thematic areas, including Histology and Organismal Biology. Visitors can click on each area to view high quality resolutions of various cells and bodies that can be used to create study guides for public health, medicine, and other related health fields. The What's New? area is a great way to learn about the latest additions to the site. Additionally, an Information section brings together details on the site's focus, various reports, and funding information. Finally, visitors can click on the Images area to learn more about specific images and animations of the fungi, animalia, and the structure of a mitochondrion. [KMG]


Mountains and Mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest

·https://content.lib.washington.edu/portals/mountaineering/index.html

Completed in 2013, this portal for digital collections pertaining to mountains and mountaineering brings together thousands of images from the University of Washington Libraries. Visitors should read the narrative introduction on the homepage and then move around through the various Topics, which include The Mountaineers Activities and Early Climbing and Tourism at Mt. Rainier. This last area offers a piquant look through the history of the massive peak known simply as "the Mountain" by locals. Visitors can explore the records of the adventurous spirits who have climbed the mountain over the years, along with the papers of Dee Molenaar, a celebrated geologist and local climber. The site also includes a Resources area that includes links to mountain climbing groups and such. [KMG]


Inside the WGBH Open Vault

·http://www.wgbh.org/topics/Inside-the-WGBH-Open-Vault-353

Crack open the WGBH Open Vault and what will you find? Just a host of wonderful radio and television programs from this celebrated Boston icon. WGBH has been producing high quality programming for decades and in this treasure trove visitors can watch Julia Child in France, learn about well-known legislator Elaine Noble, and listen to Dick Dale talk about the origins of surf guitar music. The site can be browsed at one?s leisure or searched via an embedded search toolbar on the top of the page. This is an amazing collection for anyone, and it's easy to see how the clips and talks here could be used in a range of educational settings and so on. Additionally, most materials here can be shared easily via a range of social media. [KMG]


Labor and Workplace Studies: University of Maryland Libraries

·http://digital.lib.umd.edu/labor?pid=umd:78013

Based at the University of Maryland, this remarkable digital collection brings together a range of special items related to labor in America. The digitized items within the collection document a range of specific labor unions, such as the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and offer insight into the development of the labor movement from colonial days to the present. A great variety of resources related to WPA projects and union labor throughout Maryland can be found here. An introduction to the collection by subject is a great place to start; after that, users can search around by subject heading, topic, or date of creation. [KMG]


African American Alumni Oral Histories

·http://collections.lib.uwm.edu/cdm/search/collection/uwmalumni

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Digital Collections has tackled everything from Golda Meir to historic street maps in its quest to offer a diverse and wonderful view of the city's rich history. This particular collection brings together a clutch of oral histories that celebrate the African American experience at the institution. Visitors can look over a panel discussion with a range of recent alums titled, "African American Alumni and Students: Stories of Education and Success." Moving on, visitors can hear Clayborn Benson talk about his long career as a photojournalist or watch and listen to G. Spencer Coggs, who has been a prominent member of the Democratic Political Party in Wisconsin for many years. This is quite a trove of first-hand memories and a great tribute to the city?s oral traditions. [KMG]


30 Ideas for Teaching Writing

·http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/922

The National Writing Project (NWP) does a spot-on job of bringing together a raft of resources for those teaching writing at all levels of interest and instruction. These thirty ideas are a great way to get started, and include tips that originated as full-length articles in various NWP publications. As suggested on its site, "readers will benefit from a variety of eclectic, classroom-tested techniques." The complete list of ideas is offered here, along with links to the aforementioned articles which often include suggestions about classroom implementation. First-time visitors should take a look at tips like "Use the shared events of students? lives to inspire writing" and "Pair students with adult reading/writing buddies." [KMG]


General Interest

Michigan Feminist Studies

·http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/mfsg/

The interdisciplinary Michigan Feminist Studies journal was first published in 1978 under the title, "Occasional Papers in Women's Studies." In 1989, the journal became Michigan Feminist Studies, an annual publication that continues to be affiliated with the Program in Women's Studies at the University of Michigan. Visitors to this site can browse through all of the archived issues here or look over the various titles and topics. Some of the special issues cover deviance, knowledge, and the future of feminism. Interested users can also sign up to receive notices when new issues are published. [KMG]


Mapping a New Nation: Abel Buell's Map of the United States, 1784

·http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mapping-a-new-nation/

What did explorers and others know of the United States in 1784? It's a fine question and one that has fascinated historians, geographers, and others for decades. This gem of an online exhibit looks at a map created in March of 1784 by Connecticut engraver, Abel Buell. It is in fact the very first map of the newly independent United States compiled, printed, and published in America by an American. The Library of Congress has created this excellent online collection to complement an in situ exhibit. Here, visitors can explore eight other 18th century maps that include John Mitchell's 1755 map of the American colonies and a Revolutionary War map of New Jersey from 1777. After looking over the items, visitors can use the Learn More feature to look through a much larger collection of maps from the period complied as part of the American Memory series. [KMG]


Beloit College: Bartlett Collection

·http://www.beloit.edu/bcdc/logan/bartlett/

Professor Harley Harris Bartlett taught botany at the University of Michigan for many decades and he also served as the director of the university's botanical gardens. During his botanical research trips to Asia he brought back diverse collections of ethnographic material. After he passed away in 1960, his sister donated over 300 objects from Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines to the Logan Museum at Beloit College. The items here include carved figures, manuscripts, textiles, and other cultural artifacts. Visitors can browse within the collection as they see fit and they may wish to start by looking at the remarkable animal figurines and armbands. It's a wonderful resource for people with a penchant for the world of material culture in Southeast Asia. [KMG]


ChronoAtlas

·http://www.chronoatlas.com/MapViewer.aspx

What if you could look around Asia Minor in the year 200 BCE? You might need a very good time machine, or you could just use the ChronoAtlas. The map viewer here interfaces with Google Earth to create a highly nuanced and completely fascinating interactive experience that allows users to explore various themes and data sets with the option of visitor-contribution of images of historic places and events. Visitors can use the tabs on the left-hand side to go to various Areas of Interest, which include "Alexander's Empire" and "Europe During the Black Death." Visitors can also add new items and share their findings via social media, which is quite wonderful. The various icons here are a great way to learn more about world history and the cultural and social milieus of different historical eras. [KMG]


ATCC: The Global Bioresource Center

·http://www.atcc.org/

The American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) is a professional science group based in Manassas, Virginia. Its Learning Center page is a great way for interested parties to learn about upcoming research and scientific projects. The ATCC Newsletters area offer another great place to start and users can peruse two newsletters entitled, "Cell Passages" and "Micro Scoop." The Resources for Cell Biology area allows visitors to explore a range of cell culture guides and online video guides, including assay training films and webinars. The site also includes a link to upcoming events and conferences that will be of interest to those in various life science fields. [KMG]


The Huntington Archive

·http://huntingtonarchive.osu.edu/database.php

The John C. and Susan L. Huntington Photographic Archive of Buddhist and Asian Art is a remarkable collection that features more than 40,000 photographs of art and architecture from across this vast and diverse region. The National Endowment for the Humanities supported the digitization of much of this collection. Visitors can use a range of search terms to locate specific items and it's worth looking over the Search Tips before getting started. These are quite helpful as they contain helpful suggestions about using certain diacritical marks in a range of South Asian languages along with other key tips. Additionally, there are several online guides to the collection that will help users narrow down their search. [KMG]


Auburn University Theatre Collection

·http://diglib.auburn.edu/collections/theatre/

The Auburn University Theatre Collection, part of the Auburn University Digital Library, includes just under two hundred items documenting theater productions at Auburn from 1914 - 2007. The earliest item is a 5-page typescript titled, "Information About Dramatic Productions Given at Auburn," that lists titles and dates of plays produced in the 1910s, 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. The most recent item is a water color painting of the intended set design for a Midsummer Night's Dream, in 2007, by A. Lynn Lockrow. In between, visitors will find programs, newspaper clippings, photographs, and more paintings. Sorting displayed items by title reveals the repeat performances, such as Blithe Spirit, staged in 1945 and 1986; The Crucible in 1955 and 2001; or Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in 1968 and 2003. [DS]


Network Tools

Dictation

·https://dictation.io/

Dictation is a wonderful program that allows users to take advantage of "the magic of speech recognition to write emails, narrate essays and long documents in the browser without touching the keyboard.? Visitors just need to connect their microphone to their computer and get started. Additionally, users can use the Commands section to get more information about how to use the program. This version is compatible with all computers running Google Chrome. [KMG]


Tweet My Music

·https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.atredroid.tweetmymusic

Have you ever wanted to just tweet out your music? Well, now you can with this handy application. Tweet My Music gives users the ability to add a music player from their device, log in to Twitter, and then send out playlists and more. Visitors will find this app most enjoyable and it's a nice way to share thematic music collections with a wide range of people. This version is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]


In the News

Oldest case of cancer discovered in 3,200 year old skeleton

Oldest Case of Cancer Discovered in Ancient Skeleton
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2014/03/18/oldest-case-of-cancer-discovered-in-ancient-skeleton/#.Uyiewf1tdhE

World's oldest example of metastatic cancer discovered on a human skeleton in Sudan
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/worlds-oldest-example-of-metastatic-cancer-discovered-on-a-human-skeleton-in-sudan-9197922.html

New evidence of human cancer found at ancient Amara West
http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2014/03/17/new-evidence-of-human-cancer-found-at-ancient-amara-west/

Archaeologists discover 3,000-year-old skeleton with metastatic cancer
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/274181.php

On the Antiquity of Cancer: Evidence for Metastatic Carcinoma in a Young Man from Ancient Nubia (c. 1200BC)
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0090924

What Is Cancer? What Causes Cancer?
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/cancer-oncology/

Commonly thought of as a modern disease, scientists have recently discovered what they believe to be the oldest complete human skeleton displaying signs of metastatic cancer. Unearthed last year as part of an archaeological dig in northern Sudan, the skeleton belongs to a young man between 25-35 years old who was laid to rest in the Nile Valley around 1200 B.C. Using radiography and a scanning electron microscope, researchers from Durham University and the British Museum detected small bone lesions in the man?s skeleton. Based on the shape of the lesions, they determined the only likely cause was a malignant soft-tissue tumor. According to Michaela Binder, a doctoral student at Durham University who excavated the skeleton in 2013, "This find is of critical importance. It allows us to explore possible underlying causes of cancer in ancient populations, before the onset of modernity, and it could provide important new insights into the evolution of cancer in the past." While not the only archaeological example of cancer in the ancient world, scientists are hopeful that having a complete skeleton will yield valuable information about the spread of the disease and how it may have evolved into modern times. [CD]

The first and second links will take visitors to great pieces from Discover Magazine's Carl Engelking and The Independent's David Keys, respectively. The British Museum's blog is next up, providing a detailed look at the discovery along with photographs of the archaeological site, skeletal remains, and radiographic images depicting the cancerous lesions. Medical News Today's Honor Whiteman provides another great writeup on the discovery in the fourth link, providing snippets from her own interview with Durham University's Michaela Binder. The original report from Durham University, published on Monday in the scientific journal, PLOS ONE, can be found via the fifth link. This is a great find for those interested in the specific details of the findings. Lastly, for those curious about cancer itself, the final link provides a detailed look at the disease- what it is and what are its causes- complete with a short animated clip.





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