The Scout Report -- Volume 23, Number 47

AustLit aims to "be the definitive information resource and research environment for Australian literary, print, and narrative cultures." The project, headed by the University of Queensland, is a collaboration between researchers from a number of Australian universities and the National Library of Australia. Launched in 2000, AustLit offers a rich and authoritative collection of resources for researchers, educators, and anyone interested in Australian literature. These items include lesson plans, online exhibits, essays, and access to over 87,000 full-text resources, including original literature and literary scholarship. Many of these text resources have been digitized or published through the AustLit project; in addition, the project provides links to full-text resources from other websites. While it is impossible to summarize the sheer breadth of resources available via AustLit in this annotation, visitors may want to start by checking out the Explore tab at the top of the site in order to get a sense of the diversity of material available. Here, one will find exhibitions on topics ranging from Asian-Australian children's literature; Australian television writers, 1953- 1977; published and unpublished works from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors (in theBlackWords exhibit); and much more. [MMB]

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One of the oldest community-based archives in North America, the Lesbian Herstory Archive was founded in 1974 by a group of New York City activists who wanted to ensure that the experiences and stories of the lesbian community were preserved for generations to come. Today, the archive (currently housed in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York) contains thousands of photographs, interviews, personal papers, and other archival materials. This database is a wonderful alternative for those who can't travel to Brooklyn to visit the physical archive. The online archive was created by graduate scholars at the Pratt Institute School of Information and features select audio and visual material from the archive. These items can be explored through a series of themed collections. One of these collections is a remarkable set of audio recordings featuring Audre Lorde, including speeches, poetry readings, and panel discussions. Another collection, the No More Invisible Women Exhibition, highlights the activism of the Women's Committee of ACT UP NY to ensure that governmental organizations recognized the experiences of women with AIDS and included women in clinical drug trials. In addition to exploring these (and other) collections, visitors may also browse by item. [MMB]

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The Southeastern Nanotechnology Infrastructure Corridor (SENIC) is a partnership between the Georgia Institute of Technology's Institute for Electronics and Nanotechnology and the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN). As outlined in its vision statement, SENIC'S aim is to strengthen discovery in nanoscience and nanoengineering in the southeastern US, provide education and outreach, and allow nanotechnology innovations to reach the market quicker. SENIC offers a number of educational resources designed to help students from K-12 through graduate school, as well as members of the general public better understand nanotechnology and its role in engineering projects. One of these resources is the "Particle in a Box Game," which is an interactive computer game that engages students in the differences between classical and quantum mechanics - this page includes a link to where students can play this game online. This collection also includes a resource guide and a series of printable instructional sheets that outline central concepts in nanotechnology. [MMB]

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For scholars of seventeenth-century English-language literature (which are often included in scholarly considerations of "the long eighteenth century") or book history, the recently launched Restoration Printed Fiction database contains 394 titles that are accompanied by bibliographic information. This Restoration Printed Fiction database was spearheaded by Texas Tech University English scholars Marta Kvande and Michael J. Faris. As explained on the site's homepage, Kvande selected texts for inclusion in this database by examining, "three main bibliographic sources (with some additions): Paul Salzman's English Prose Fiction 1558-1700, Robert Letellier's The English Novel, 1660-1700, and Robert Adams Day's Told in Letters." Visitors can search for texts by title, author, or bookseller. Alternatively, visitors can browse this collection through numerous filters, including, "Fiction that includes a patron dedication" and "Fiction that includes woodcuts." [MMB]

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Data USA was launched in 2014 with the goal of providing visitors with helpful visualizations of data collected by governmental and non-profit institutions. The project is a partnership between the UK private company Deloitte, MIT Media Lab's Macro Connections group, and the web design/programming company Datawheel. Data USA is sleekly designed and easy to use: visitors can simply search for the name of a city, county, state, or occupation to learn more about the demographics of a particular community or predicted job growth (along with other information) about a particular profession. Information is presented in a number of visually striking graphs and maps that allow visitors to easily make comparisons and observe change over time. These visualizations may be especially helpful to policy makers and grant writers. In addition, readers may want to check out the Data USA: Stories section, which features visualizations of data related to a specific topic. Recent stories include an examination of the impact of opioid addiction in the United States and an investigation of the relationship between poverty and health. [MMB]

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Launched in 1930, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) is dedicated to research and education related to all aspects of ocean science. For K-12 science educators, this organization offers a number of resources that may be of interest. These resources are divided into two sections: For Teachers and For Students; although, the two categories contain considerable overlap. While some of these resources are perhaps most helpful for those able to travel to the Cape Cod headquarters of WHOI, other resources may be useful for science educators around the globe. For example, the Interactives section (which can be found in the For Students section) features a number of hands-on, virtual learning activities addressing issues ranging from algae identification to the carbon cycle. Another highlight of this website is a list of citizen science projects, which can be found in the Resources/Materials for Teachers section. [MMB]

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The Dictionary of Cook Islands Languages is a project of the Cook Islands Ministry of Education, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Te Ipukarea (the National Maori Language Institute), and the University of the South Pacific. Here, visitors can search for translations of words in eight different languages spoken in the Cook Islands, including Rarotonga (sometimes called "Cook Island Maori"), Penrhyn (Tongareva), Manihiki, and more. These dictionaries have been created by examining previously published dictionaries. When exploring a specific dictionary, visitors can learn more in the sources section. As noted in this section, there is currently no other comprehensive print dictionary of Cook Islands languages in print, making this online dictionary an especially important resource. Users can also download a mobile version of this dictionary on Google Play or iTunes. [MMB]

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Digital Preservation Matters is a regularly updated blog maintained by Chris Erickson, who works as a digital preservation manager. In this blog, Erickson shares news, reports, articles (from both academic and popular publications), guides and more from the digital preservation world. For example, in one recent entry, Erickson shares a recent post from the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) about how organizations should approach staffing decisions related to digital preservation. Another recent post links to a helpful guide from Scott David Witmer of the University of Michigan about preserving born-digital files. Erickson provides a helpful write-up for each featured resource, making it easy for visitors to find materials of interest. Erickson has maintained this blog since 2008: visitors can conduct a text search to explore past articles or browse by subject tag. [MMB]

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In the 1950s, McDowell County, West Virginia had a population of 100,000. A national center for coal mining, this area of the county attracted politicians like Harry Truman and John Kennedy and was home to the famous "Rocket Boys" who won the 1960 National Science Fair. In 2010, the population of McDowell County was just over 22,000. In the second half of the twentieth century, the county lost tens of thousands of jobs in the coal industry, and the county-wide poverty rate reached 37.7% in 1990. This interactive, online documentary directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon (a filmmaker and West Virginia native whose most recent documentary is Herion(e)), explores the history and future of McDowell County through the stories and voices of its current residents. Hollow is divided into five sections, each examining a different aspect of McDowell County. Visitors are invited to click on images to learn more about a particular photograph or document and are also invited watch shorter, embedded videos, which include historical footage and interviews with residents. These interviews feature residents of all ages - from children to senior citizens - describing their daily experiences and reflections regarding how the county has changed and their hopes for the future. [MMB]

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This digital archive is home to over 6,000 digitized publications from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and includes resource guides, data collections, histories, official reports, land management studies, and much more. This eclectic collection of materials, which includes items dating from 1885 through 2017, provides insight into the history of the BLM and may appeal broadly to those interested in wildlife and ecology, as well as those interested in history. Included in this collection are a 1991 report of, "Archaeological excavations at the Yarmony Pit House site, Eagle County, Colorado;" a 1992 pamphlet regarding reptiles and amphibians that one might encounter in central Nevada; and a 1985, "Photographic guide for aging nestling ferruginous hawks." This collection can be browsed by year as well as by topic/subject. [MMB]

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Created by Bruce and Katherine Cornwell, this film from 1976 includes no narration but still manages to demonstrate a number of geometric properties of a triangle, including incenter and circumcenter, through simple animation set to Bach's preludes 8 (Eb minor) and 12 (F minor). The film was created using a Tektronics 4051 Graphics Terminal and originally appeared in vivid color. Unfortunately, as the description to this animation notes, "all of that color is pretty much lost now, between prints fading and/or transfers to the VHS, and then viewing them on a computer screen which has a much more limited color gamut." Nevertheless, this animation still offers an entertaining and educational experience. Those who enjoy this film can learn more about the Cornwells through a link in the description. [MMB]

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Sound Matters is a new podcast dedicated to the science, history, and art of sound. The podcast is hosted by Tim Hinman, an artist and a producer for Danish National Radio. In each thirty-minute podcast, Hinman explores one aspect relating to sound and how we listen to it. For example, in Episode #15, In Search of the Missing Sound, Hinman explores the history of devices that record sound and the quest to find, "the mythical perfect audio experience." Episode #10, which is entitled Sounds from Outer Space, features a conversation with Tim O'Brien of the Jodrell Bank Observatory in the UK and "amateur radio satellite enthusiast" Dave Rowntree about whether or not it is really quiet in outer space. Visitors can listen to all episodes of this podcast via a link to Soundcloud on this website. Interested listeners may also subscribe via iTunes. [MMB]

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80s.NYC is an interactive map created by Brandon Liu and Jeremy Lechtzin that makes use of a unique source: photographs taken by New York City's Department of Finance in order to access the property value of buildings in the city. Today, these photographs, which are freely available via the city's online Municipal Archives, document what the city looked like three decades ago. On this website, visitors are invited to browse a number of photographs through an interactive map. Best of all, many of these photographs are accompanied by short stories that provide context and history. For example, one photograph captures J&R Music World: "the place to go to buy L.P.s, cassettes, and, starting in the 80s, CDs." Another photograph features four photographs depicting a street corner that plays a role in Tom Wolfe's novel The Bonfire of the Vanities.

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The Art Institute of Chicago is home to a number of photographs, portraits, prints, and more that feature images of children. This themed online collection features 64 digitized artworks created by many different artists. These works include Joshua Johnson's early-nineteenth-century portrait Mrs. Andrew Bedford Bankson and Son, Gunning Bedford Bankson, Mary Cassatt's The Child's Bath and Young Mother, and Sally Mann's photograph Holding Virginia. Other works include Konrad Lueg's 1967 screen print Babies, from Capitalist Realism, an early-nineteenth-century French furnishing fabric entitled Children and Pets, and Maggie Carson's Sunbonnet Sue Quilt. By putting these diverse pieces in conversation with one another, this online collection invites reflection about how perceptions and portrayals of childhood vary across time, space, and culture. [MMB]

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Isabel de Giberne Sieveking (1857-1936) was a British writer and women's suffrage activist. She lived a life that challenged many contemporary conceptions about gender roles and sexuality during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century. University of Indiana Ph.D. candidate Miranda Wojciechowski has created this fascinating online exhibit dedicated to Sieveking's life and work. Drawing on the archival material held at the University of Indiana's Lilly Library, Wojciechowski offers a glimpse into the life and perspectives of Sieveking. As these archives reveal, Sieveking was raised with both Catholic and feminist ideals, both of which and she continued to value into her adult life. In particular, her views on marriage challenged common views on the topic in Edwardian Britain. Sieveking argued that women should be careful not to idealize marriage and, in her 1913 essay, "The Celibate Englishwoman," warned that marriage to the wrong individual could "only hinder women's individual development, and stunt her faculties." In addition, Sieveking, a mother herself, deeply valued motherhood and championed education for women so that they would have the skills to raise children. To learn more about Sieveking, check out the full exhibit. [MMB]

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This year the Toronto Star celebrates its 125th anniversary and presents this online exhibit entitled, "25 photos worth remembering." Photographs range from May 31, 1900, featuring a view of Toronto citizens celebrating Britain gaining control of Pretoria, South Africa during the Second Boer War, to February 25, 2010, featuring a shot of Haley Irwin and Meghan Agosta enjoying a beer while lying on the ice after Team Canada's 2010 Olympic hockey victory over Team USA. The images present high points and low points in Toronto and Canadian history. Other photographs feature visits from Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana; the Stanley Cup, won by the Maple Leafs in 1967, and other sports victories; John Lennon and Yoko Ono; and the CN Tower under construction. There are also lots of images of fires, snow storms, and other natural disasters, such as the worst snowstorm ever to hit Toronto in December 1944, which overturned a streetcar. [DS]

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Traditional web technologies like HTML and CSS focus primarily on formatting content to make it more understandable. Semantic web technologies like RDFa, Microdata, and JSON-LD extend the traditional web in ways that make it easier for machines (primarily search engines) to understand. While it is relatively simple to determine if a page looks as it is intended to, determining if the structured data it contains is properly formatted can be more difficult. Google's Structured Data Testing Tool provides a way to validate the semantic web information exposed on a page. It shows users which elements Google actually understood and what went wrong with the ones that weren't understood. By following the "Learn more about this tool" link, users can find an introduction to semantic web and structured data concepts along with detailed reference material. The Structured Data Testing Tool works in any modern browser. [CRH]

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PixStori is a free iOS application that allows users to take pictures and record accompanying audio. Users can then share these "PixStoris" via email, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. This tool offers a unique way for users to record stories or interviews (up to 20 minutes in length) and connect them to an image of a person or object. This tool may be especially useful to archivists, librarians, and museum professionals looking to share a unique item from their collection with a bit of accompanying information. The app has also been making a splash in the field of oral history. Of course, PixStori may also appeal to those looking to use the app in their personal life, perhaps to share stories and pictures with friends and family far and near. As of this write-up, PixStori is compatible with devices with an iOS of 8 or higher. [MMB]

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