http://www.peacecorpswriters.org/

There are a number of organizations whose members maintain a close affinity and appreciation for their work long after they have completed their time working together. One such organization is the Peace Corps, and this website serves as testimony to those shared bonds. Established by Peace Corps alums John Coyne and Marian Haley Beil, the Peace Corps Writers website combines reflections by different generations of fellow Peace Corps volunteers and a number of special pieces on the history of the organization. Visitors to the site can read the contents of the current issue (and archived ones as well), which include interviews with fellow travelers and their lives after the Peace Corps. Interestingly enough, each issue also contains reviews of books authored by others of their number. The historical articles should not be missed as they contain early editorials about the future of Peace Corps from the early 1960s and a piece on the experience of Paul Theroux as a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi. [KMG]

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http://artport.whitney.org/

Created by the Whitney Museum, this portal to digital art has been around for some time, but is still worth another look. The portal includes current "gate pages", that point to the work of selected artists and change monthly, along with an archive of gate pages dating back to 2001. In the section on commissioned digital art projects, the current lineup includes The Dumpster (Valentine's Day, 06) by Golan Levin with Kamal Nigam and Jonathan Feinberg, blog posts about breakups scavenged in 2005, and {Software} Structures by Casey Reas (with Robert Hodgin, William Ngan, Jared Tarbell) exploring the idea of software as art. Finally, the resources section lists galleries, networks and museums on the Web, publications, and new media festivals, while the collection area showcases digital art owned by the Whitney Museum. Altogether, ARTPORT provides a great jumping off place to the far-flung and ephemeral world of Web art. [DS]

http://dl.lib.brown.edu/sheetmusic/afam/
    
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, sheet music was produced in enormous quantities in the United States. To historians and other interested parties, much of this material serves as a way to look at social and cultural mores of the times. This digital collection from Brown University takes a look at the sheet music that reflected attitudes towards African-Americans. Containing several hundred pieces of sheet music, this collection includes songs from the period of antebellum blackface and the abolitionist period. The wide range of material offered here also allows visitors the ability to trace the evolution of certain archetypes in African-American culture, including the appearances of Uncle Tom and Jim Crow. Also included here are a number of insightful essays, such as “Minstrelsy and the Construction of Race in America”. [KMG]

http://www.soros.org/

The world of public policy formation is a broad one, and the Open Society Institute is an intriguing and informative part of this broad universe. Specifically, the Institute’s goal is “to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform.” Not surprisingly, the publications area of this site is quite laudable. Here visitors will find material discussing the Institute’s wide range of work related to investigating the situation in Darfur as well as same-sex marriage amendments. Beyond this, this area also affords visitors the opportunity to view electronic newsletters. The site also contains a very nice section dedicated to the group’s “Initiatives”, which includes their work on democratic governance in Africa and other areas. Finally, the site is rounded out by a selection of opinion pieces and event listings. [KMG]

http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=15

With a title like “The Motley Fool”, visitors unacquainted with this program may wonder what exactly this series might be about. Created in 1993, the program is essentially a down-to-earth guide to personal finance and investing offered by David Gardner on National Public Radio. As might be expected, this lively program covers a wide range of subjects, including online wedding planning, helpful stock tips, and retirement funds. First-time visitors to the site will want to listen to a sample program, and then perhaps examine the program’s online archives, which date back to January 2002. One of the more recently added features to the site is the area dedicated to downloadable podcast programs. A number of these are definitely worth downloading, and taken in tandem with the actual radio show, should be considered a fine guide to the compelling area of personal finance and business acumen. [KMG]

http://www.alz.org/brain/overview.asp

The human brain is in many ways a fantastic and enigmatic part of the body, and only within the past few decades have scientists begun to understand its many nooks and crannies. When the brain is beset with any number of neurological conditions, it changes in a myriad of ways. This website, provided by the Alzheimer’s Association, provides an interactive tour of the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease. The tour contains sixteen interactive slides, and each slide contains informative text that provides background material. The first seven slides contain a bit of background information about the brain, such as what the brain is composed of and how it functions. Rounding out the site are a selection of links to sites that provide additional information on the brain, such as the Harvard University Whole Brain Atlas site and the BBC’s Interactive Brain Map. [KMG]