Research and Education
http://scholar.library.miami.edu/anthurium/home.htm
While some may think the extent of Caribbean literature is limited to the works of Derek Walcott, the website for this journal housed at the University of Miami may help visitors to expand their horizons. Anthurium is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes original works by Caribbean writers and scholars, and appears only in a digital online edition. Started in the fall of 2003, the journal has published pieces on Caribbean slave narratives and new poems on the experiences of indigenous peoples throughout the region. Visitors can also use a number of indices to find works of interest, including those that are organized by author or title. Finally, visitors may also appreciate the fact that there are external links to other digital initiatives, along with a link to the Caribbean Literary Studies program at the University of Miami. [KMG]
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/wlhba/
For many decades, librarians and their assistants combed over newspapers for items of interest, including obituaries, colorful news stories, and advertisements. These types of clippings were mounted on note paper and subsequently placed into bound volumes. Over the past few decades, a number of institutions have begun to digitize these invaluable documents. One such institution is the Wisconsin Historical Society, which happens to have hundreds of these scrapbooks. Currently, visitors can search through 16,000 articles, which include materials on Wisconsin people and communities from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Users can perform basic searches using keywords and place names, or perform very detailed searches through headlines, country, newspaper, or main heading. From Robert La Follette to John Muir, much of Wisconsin’s past that is both grand and everyday is revealed within this site. [KMG]
For close to seventy years, the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Maryland has had a diverse set of ongoing research projects dealing with wildlife and natural resources in and around the region. Their homepage offers a great deal of material on these projects, along with some very fine information for the general public. The “Spotlight” section is a good place to start as it contains a frog call quiz and video clips of Atlantic sea ducks in their natural habitat. The “Science Features” area contains an area where visitors can ask resident biologists pressing questions and a “Did You Know?” section that provides answers to such questions as “Why are whooping cranes endangered?” The site is rounded out by an area that provides a tribute to Chandler S. Robbins, an employee of the center for over sixty years. Robbins is perhaps best known as the author of “The Field Guide to Birds of North America” and for his work on identifying the deleterious effects of DDT on bird populations. [KMG|
http://propoor-ict.comunica.org/
Much of the talk about an information society and the use of technology in such a society remains an unfulfilled promise in the developing world. This disconnect is particularly strong in rural areas, which often do not have the necessary infrastructure to take part in any social or economic improvements that may be the by-product of such developments. This report from the United Nations Development Program, authored by Sean O Siochru and Brian Girard looks at how an innovative combination of community-driven enterprises and the new wave of wireless and related technologies may assist such communities most effectively. The report is divided into five primary chapters, and a number of appendices which contain detailed case study information from such countries as Poland, Argentina, Peru, and India. Those users who may be pressed for time may wish to read the preface and the report summary offered here. [KMG]
http://www.slaveryinnewyork.org/index.html
The diversity of the city of New York for many seems to be one of the best examples of America’s “melting pot”, and for many people around the world, Gotham is the city that first comes to mind when thinking about America’s great urban metropolises. It is of course no surprise to many informed members of the public that the city was also at the heart of the slave trade for close to two hundred years, a fact that seems to stand in stark contrast with the openness of today’s city. This well-designed online exhibition, created by the New York Historical Society explores this aspect of the city’s history through the use of interactive galleries and multimedia presentations that include interviews from National Public Radio with the curators of the exhibition. The section titled “Free Blacks in New York’s Public Life” (contained within Gallery 6) is definitely worth a closer look, as it looks at how blacks were portrayed in paintings and other rendering during the Federalist period. [KMG]
Whatever one’s feelings may be about Henry Ford, his legacy to the American public is tremendous, and his love of American history is well-documented. Part of this legacy may be found at the Henry Ford Museum complex, which contains a number of operational units, such as Greenfield Village and the Benson Ford Research Center. For those who might be unable to make the pilgrimage to Michigan, the Museum’s omnibus website will help bring some of the fine edifying material into their homes. For starters, there is the “Explore & Learn” area of the site, which contains a number of online exhibits such as a tour of the bus that carried Rosa Parks on her fateful trip in Montgomery and the “Innovators” exhibit, which profiles such Americans as Thomas Edison and R. Buckminster Fuller. [KMG]
