http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/animals

What are wild animals up to all the time? Curious minds want to know, and this interactive and visually stimulating site from the National Science Foundation is just the place to find out. First-time visitors should click over to the Introduction to learn about how the NSF's interdisciplinary team of scientists is designing innovative tracking and information-management systems to learn exactly how animals spend their minutes, days, and years negotiating within an ecosystem for food and mates. Moving on, visitors can click on one of five animals (such as Deer, Dragonfly, or Zebra) to learn about the tracking technology being used to study their movements and activities. Also, visitors can learn some quick facts about each animal, view a short movie of the animal in the wild, and find out who is currently conducting research. It's a great site, and one that could be effectively used in a biology or zoology course. [KMG]

http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp

So you'd like to know the boundaries of Washington's King County in the early 20th century? Or perhaps you'd like to know more about the shape of Nassau County in New York back in the 19th century? The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries can provide you such details. The project is housed at the William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture at The Newberry Library in Chicago and it was completed in 2010. The Atlas includes such features as all boundary changes in states and countries, non-county areas, separate map or polygon files for every different county configuration, and other helpful features. Users can get started by clicking on different states of interest and just exploring as they see fit. It's also useful to read over the Using the Atlas area for additional assistance. Finally, visitors can also look at the Publications section for more information on the source material for these county boundaries. [KMG]

http://vega.org.uk/video/subseries/27

These fun, intelligent, and engaging videos were created by scientist Jonathan Hare to be used in schools, workshops, and in home-study with accompanying information. On the site, visitors can make their way through 25 short films that explore the worlds of infrared photography, light beams, parabolic light collectors, generators, and seawater batteries. The videos are about five minutes long, and they feature hands-on demonstrations, witty commentary, and scientific asides that are informative and accessible. Visitors can also sign up to receive updates when new videos are released or watch them via YouTube. [KMG]

http://nwabr.org/curriculum/bioethics-101

This introductory course from the Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR) provides a systematic, five-lesson introductory course to support educators in incorporating bioethics into the classroom through the use of sequential, day-to-day lesson plans. The lessons here offer a "best of" compilation from NWABR's popular Ethics Primer, which is also available on the site. On the top of the site, visitors can make their way through the Overview, Lessons, Resources, Links, and Events. The titles of the Lessons include "Principles of Bioethics" and "Making a Strong Justification." The Resources area contains links to the National Center for Research Resources and the National Institutes of Health, both of which worked to make this resource available. [KMG]

http://www.microbelibrary.org/

Since the Scout Report last profiled this site in 2000, MicrobeLibrary has expanded its resources in magnificent ways. Visitors can click through the Collections area to look over the Gallery, which is a great place to get started. Here visitors can explore a range of animations, slides, and videos that can be used to enhance lecture or lab presentations. The materials here are divided into areas that include Laboratory Protocols, Extremophiles, Human Infectious Diseases, and Veterinary Infectious Diseases. In the Visual Media Briefs area, visitors can look over high-quality, short communications that use digital images and videos to teach interested parties about the microbial world. The site is rounded out by a collection of laboratory protocols and a marvelous critical thinking question bank. [KMG]

http://libcudl.colorado.edu:8180/luna/servlet/UCBOULDERCB1~36~36

Thomas MacLaren wandered around England, Italy, Scotland, Switzerland, and other far-flung provinces between 1880 and 1891. MacLaren received his formal education at the Royal Academy of London and then moved to Colorado, where he designed dozens of recognizable buildings. After he passed away in 1928, he left his estate to the University of Colorado in the hope that it would lead to the establishment of an architecture department. This came to pass, and along with it came this wonderful digital collection of MacLaren's drawings. Visitors to the site can look over 220 drawings executed by MacLaren, including renderings of abbey farm houses in England and the gorgeous campanile at St. Mark's Basilica. The images are large and high-quality, which makes examining them a treat for architecture students, art aficionados, and the more generally curious. [KMG]

http://www7.nationalacademies.org/bose

The Board on Science Education (BOSE) is a standing board within the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Research Council. The Board meets biannually to discuss and provide recommendations for future science education research and practice. On the homepage, visitors can look over the What's New area, which includes recently commissioned papers such as "Discipline-Based Education Research: Understanding and Improving Learning in Undergraduate Science and Engineering." Another section, titled Major Reports on K-12 Science Learning and Teaching, includes documents like "Learning Science in Informal Environments," "Taking Science to School," and "America's Lab Report." Additionally, visitors can sign up to learn about the Board's upcoming events and new publications. [KMG]

http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/resources/SPT--FullRecord.php?ResourceId=137

This helpful set of materials is part of the "Cool Science" initiative at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). It comes from a research-inspired biochemistry laboratory course at MIT developed by professor Catherine Drennan, who also happens to be a fellow at HHMI. The intention is that these materials will introduce students to standard biochemical techniques in the context of investigating a current research topic. The resources here include detailed student and instructor laboratory manuals, equipment lists, and lecture slides and notes for accompanying background and technique lectures. There is a complete syllabus available, along with an extensive gallery of relevant images. The site also contains links to related resources, such as a classroom video on researching microorganisms that live on greenhouse gases. [KMG]

http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/getCollection.xql?pid=thayer&title=Porter%20C.%20Thayer%20Photographs

Porter Thayer was born in 1882 in Williamsville, Vermont and began photographing his surroundings in 1906. He also had an apple orchard and he got caught up in the postcard craze that reached Vermont around this time. Interestingly enough, a business directory from 1909 notes that he would come to anyone's home and make images for "a reasonable fee." At the height of his career, he sold over 1,197 "postal cards" during a six-month period. His remarkable work is now located at the Center for Digital Initiatives at the University of Vermont Libraries. His work documents the rural landscape of southeastern Vermont in the early 20th century and students of New England history and culture will find all of this to be quite remarkable. There are 1,266 photographs in the collection, which visitors can browse by place, genre, or topic. First-time visitors should start with the areas covering Rivers, Horses, or Roads. [KMG]

http://libwww.freelibrary.org/hip/

The Free Library of Philadelphia has gone above and beyond the call of duty with this collection which covers everything from Germantown to the Navy Yard. This cornucopia contains thousands of images from the Philadelphiana Collection at the Free Library, and most of them are from the second half of the 19th century. On the homepage, visitors will note that they can look around by Neighborhoods, Photographers, and Media. First-time visitors should look around neighborhoods such as Society Hill, Farmount, and Chinatown. The Chinatown area contains some rare images of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and local businesses that include the James Spear Stove and Heating Company. Moving on, the Collections area here offers up images that found their way into the 1976 book "Old Philadelphia in Early Photographs." There are over 175 photos here that offer views of Queen Street and the fabulous Wanamaker's store at 13th and Market. [KMG]

http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/georgiamarble/

Industrial films are commonly discarded after they are used for their intended purpose, so finding originals is rare indeed. The Digital Library of Georgia worked with the Institute of Museum and Library Services to digitize and provide access to these two most fascinating short industrial films made by the Georgia Marble Company in the 1950s and 1960s. The first film is "Producing America's Buried Treasures," which focuses on the history of the company and the use of Georgia marble products. The second film is "New Face on Capitol Hill," and it talks about the company's role in reconstructing the east facade of the U.S. Capitol building prior to John F. Kennedy's inauguration. The films are quite intriguing, and visitors would do well to read the Introduction before diving into either one. Here they can learn about the company, Georgia marble geology, and marble quarrying and finishing processes. [KMG]

http://www.presnc.org/

Preservation North Carolina was created in 1939, and works to promote and protect the buildings and landscape of the Tarheel State. The organization has five regional offices across the state and visitors can learn about their ambitious mission and work on this well-designed site. Here visitors can make their way through Events, In the News, and Features. This last area offers visitors insights into recent projects completed by the organization, along with instructive lessons for others involved in historic preservation, architecture, and urban design projects. The Get Answers area is a real gem, as it contains answers to questions like "How do I repair my old house?" "How can I protect my neighborhood?" and "Is preservation good for the environment?" [KMG]

http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/inauthors/welcome.do;jsessionid=86E10F919216C2CC1BBE238BE6168EA8

The Hoosier State has produced its share of well-known authors, including Theodore Dreiser, Booth Tarkington, and James Whitcomb Riley. This remarkable project from Indiana University digitized the three-volume reference work, "Indiana Authors and Their Books," which covers the years from 1816 to 1980 and contains approximately 7,000 author entries. The project was made possible via funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and visitors can make their way through the finished effort here. Visitors may browse by Authors, Books, or Years, or search for a particular term. Regardless of where one starts their exploration within this troika, they will end up spending more time here than originally planned.[KMG]

http://archive.org/details/adviews

The AdViews section of the Internet Archive site contains thousands of vintage television commercials dating from the 1950s to the 1980s. These items of commercial ephemera were created or collected by the ad agency Benton & Bowles or its successor, D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles (DMB&B). The commercials are currently found at the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History in Duke University's David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Visitors will find work created for clients such as Post, Kraft, Old Spice, Pan Am, and many others. As with other Internet Archive collections, visitors can look on the Most Downloaded Items Last Week area. Here they will most likely find advertisements for Charlie's Angels dolls, Borden's Milk, and Sugar Rice Krinkles. Visitors shouldn't miss the Subcollections area, which divides the commercials into their constituent companies, such as Beech Nut Foods, Folgers, and dozens of others. [KMG]

http://hcl.harvard.edu/collections/digital_collections/chile_murals.cfm

Public art has a long tradition of serving groups and individuals seeking to offer artistic protest and dissent. During the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile, hundreds of protest murals were created. Photographer Andres Romero Spethman worked alongside muralist brigades representing political parties such as the Partido Socialista and the Izquierda Cristiana. This digital archive from Harvard University brings together images of these murals, which were created in and around Santiago between 1983 and 1990. Some of the common images here include the Moneda Palace in flames, the deposed president Salvador Allende, and the martyred musician Victor Jara. [KMG]

http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Pages/default.aspx

If you're interested in learning about forest conservation, geology, wetland restoration, and myriad other topics in Washington, this site presents a wealth of material to pique your interest. Visitors can click on over to the About area to learn about the Department's mission, its various boards and councils, and the commissioner. Moving along, the Science & Environment area contains six different sections dealing with geology, conservation, forestry, and marine science. Each section contains information about long-term projects in the thematic area, along with How-To? guides that answer commonly asked questions. Also, there is a range of publications within each area, including environmental impact reports and animal population studies. Finally, the site features a complete listing of Meetings & Events and a link to an in-house blog. [KMG]

http://szoter.com

Szoter is a great way to annotate screenshots and images so that information can be shared with a wide range of people, organizations, and colleagues. Visitors can also sketch shapes, scale and rotate any image, adjust colors and outlines, or load local and network images. Visitors should look over the Features area before they dive in. This version of Szoter is compatible with all operating systems running Flash Player 10; Java Runtime is recommended. [KMG]

https://digitalpigeon.com/

If you're looking to send large files, why not give Digital Pigeon a try? With this free version of the program, users can send up to four 500MB files a month to three recipients. It's a great way to consolidate the transfer of large pieces of information, and the site includes a demonstration and an FAQ section. This version is compatible with all operating systems. [KMG]

San Francisco 49ers Santa Clara Stadium reaches new height with 'topping out' ceremony
http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_22141090/san-francisco-49ers-santa-clara-stadium-reaches-new

New San Francisco 49ers stadium on track as Woodland's Clark Pacific expands
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_22414855/new-san-francisco-49ers-stadium-track-woodlands-clark

In Stadium Building Spree, U.S. Taxpayers Lose $4 Billion
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-05/in-stadium-building-spree-u-s-taxpayers-lose-4-billion.html

Public funding for new sports stadium?
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward/2012/11/21/public-funding-for-new-sports-stadium/

If You Build It, They Might Not Come: The Risky Economics of Sports Stadiums
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/if-you-build-it-they-might-not-come-the-risky-economics-of-sports-stadiums/260900/#

In Santa Clara, Tax-Exempt NFL Looks Like a For-Profit Business
http://nonprofitquarterly.org/policysocial-context/21662-in-santa-clara-tax-exempt-nfl-looks-like-a-business.html

The San Francisco 49ers have made it to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994 and people in the Bay Area are quite excited about the upcoming showdown. There's an interesting wrinkle to this story, however: the construction of the 49ers' new stadium has raised eyebrows in some quarters. While no public monies will be used to construct the stadium in Santa Clara, some groups still feel that constructing such facilities is not in the public's best interest, regardless of funding. The 49ers had sought a site in San Francisco originally, but after negotiations with the city broke down, they decided to go with a new site in nearby Santa Clara. This new stadium will be an exception to the general financing rule, as most like-minded facilities receive some public dollars. A report from Bloomberg News recently noted that taxpayer subsidies to municipal bondholders involved with sports structures total over $4 billion. Certainly this is a far cry from many decades ago when classic structures like Fenway Park and Wrigley Field were built entirely with private funding. [KMG]

The first link will take visitors to a piece from the San Jose Mercury News about the progress on the new stadium in Santa Clara. The second link will whisk users away to a piece from the Woodland (CA) Daily Democrat which talks about a California-based company's involvement in this massive undertaking. The third link leads to a great piece from Bloomberg News about the intricacies of public financing for major sports facilities in the United States. The fourth link will take interested parties to another bit of commentary on this subject, courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The fifth link leads to a bit of reporting from The Atlantic about the imbroglio involved with the financing of the new stadium for the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes. The last link will take visitors to a nice piece from Nonprofit Quarterly about the NFL's tax-exempt status and how this affects its various operations.