Research and Education
As it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2009, the National Mental Health Association (NMHA) remains the country’s oldest and largest nonprofit organization that deals with all aspects of mental health and mental illness. First-time users of their site will find that their homepage contains copious amounts of material related to their advocacy efforts, along with materials that deal with helping a loved one who may be suffering the effects of mental illness. The “Need Info?” area is a good place to start for these types of materials, as it provides access to information on treatment resources, support groups, and fact sheets. Visitors can also elect to sign up for one (or several) of their helpful email updates, which include work on related legislation, and mental health news coverage. [KMG]
http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/sanborn/
The Scout Report has profiled a number of map collections in the past, and it is always a delight to find new collections to offer to our readers. This latest collection was created as part of the Digital Library of Georgia project, and contains the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps for the years 1884 to 1922, inclusive. As some users might already know, the Sanborn maps were originally created and used by fire insurance assessors, but over the past several decades, urbanologists have used them extensively to study the ways in which American cities and towns have changed. Visitors to the site can perform a basic search using their search engine, or utilize the address search feature as well. Users may also wish to browse the collection by city or by year in order to get a sense of how these tremendously useful documents look and operate. To provide one example, visitors may wish to compare the maps of Atlanta in 1886 to those created in 1918. [KMG]
The growing interest in women’s health and rights can be gauged effectively by the recent emphasis placed on these matters by important leaders such as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who remarked that “…the best way for the world to thrive is to ensure that its women have the freedom, power, and knowledge to make decisions affecting their own lives and those of their families and communities.” The International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC), founded in 1984, is committed to providing financial assistance to local women’s groups in Africa, Asia, and Latin America as well as through their own advocacy work at intergovernmental conferences. One of the highlights of their site is their “Featured Resources” area, which includes a number of recent publications, and a topical list of publications dealing with such issues as youth health, contraception, and HIV/AIDS. Visitors can also search their fact sheet collection, along with annual reports, and speeches. The site is rounded out by a providing visitors the opportunity to sign up to receive email updates in English or Spanish. [KMG]
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?navtype=SU&navid=RURAL_DEVELOPMENT
The United States government has been involved in rural development support for over seventy years, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural and Community Development program has spearheaded many of these initiatives directly. Users of the site should first look at their homepage, which provides a “Spotlights” area, profiling recent announcements and website features, such as information about rural development policy and related pieces of legislation. The homepage also contains a “Related Topics” area which includes quick access to a broad range of related topics, including backyard conservation, utility services, and drought assistance. Near the bottom of the homepage, visitors will find links to recent reports, such as “Promoting Tourism in Rural America”. Additionally, the homepage also provides access to the Journal of Extension and Rural Cooperatives Magazine. Finally, the site also includes a database of farmers’ markets across the United States. [KMG]
http://www.who.int/foodsafety/en/
Growing concern about food safety has spurred a number of international organizations to action, and the World Health Organization (WHO) is one group that has been concerned with this issue for the past few years. The WHO has worked closely with a number of like-minded organizations (such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) to address food safety issues “along the entire food production chain-from production to consumption”. To help disseminate some of their findings, they have created this site that provides information on microbiological risks, food borne diseases, and consumer education. The homepage provides access to a number of recent publications and presentations, along with information about upcoming meetings and research studies. Those working in the fields of public health and food safety education will definitely want to take a look at their fact sheets, which include the publication “Five keys to safer food”, which is available in a number of different languages. [KMG]
http://www.awm.gov.au/sharedexperience/index.asp
The use of artistic expression to convey the experience of war and the battlefield has been around since antiquity, and has given rise to glorious poetry, epic stories, and more recently, paintings. This online exhibit created by the people at the Australian War Memorial presents the experiences of Australians, Britons, and Canadians in the Second World War through paintings created during this turbulent period. As the homepage suggests, “The men and women that feature in these works are shown waiting, preparing, fighting, suffering, celebrating”. First-time visitors will want to start by reading the introductory essay by Roger Tolson titled “A Shared Experience”. After doing so, they should feel free to browse around the paintings offered here, all of which are grouped into thematic categories that include “Casualties”, “Work”, and “Battle”. There are a number of rather haunting and evocative paintings scattered across these categories, but visitors should be sure to take a look at the work “Battlefield burial of three NCOs” by Ivor Hele and “Airmen In A Village Pub Yorkshire” by Miller Brittain. The site is rounded by brief biographies for each of the artists whose work is included on the site. [KMG]
