http://www.nationaltrust.org/magazine/

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has received a number of awards for its magazine, Preservation, and their online version is well worth a look. The site is divided into several main sections, including “Today’s News”, “Preservation 911”, and the “Story of the Week”. The “Today’s News” feature is quite nice, and it contains brief profiles of current preservation stories written especially for this website. Recent stories have included profiles of neon signs in Los Angeles, brewery renovations in Milwaukee, and a list of the ten most endangered Civil War battlefields. The “Preservation 911” area features pressing preservation stories submitted by preservation advocates, and the “Story of the Week” focuses in on a particular ongoing preservation issue. The site is rounded out by an online archive which allows visitors to search back issues from 1992 to 2006. [KMG]

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/archives/rbml/urban/

Born in Vienna in 1872, Joseph Urban came to the United States in 1912 with thousands of other immigrants. One of the distinguishing elements of Urban’s life was that he would go on to design over 500 stage sets for more than 168 productions. By the time of his death in 1933, he had served as the art director of the Boston Opera, stage designer for the Metropolitan Opera, and had been in the employ of Florenz Ziegfeld, working on his famed Follies. This lovely online collection created by the Columbia University Libraries’ Preservation Division brings together many items that document his work for a number of these organizations. Within the collection, visitors will find images of 61 three-dimensional stage models, watercolor renderings, libretti, and other such materials. The site also contains a very lengthy and erudite series of essays on Urban’s works, along with detailed information about how the collection was preserved and stabilized. [KMG]

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/dreamanatomy/index.html

For centuries, artists and physicians have rendered the human body and its anatomy in a myriad of ways, and with the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, the number of anatomical drawings and their like multiplied. Drawing on the collections contained within the National Library of Medicine, this revealing digital exhibit explores some of the ways in which human anatomy has been imagined and represented over the past five centuries or so. These images are divided into a number of thematic sections, including “Anatomical Dreamtime”, “Getting Real”, and Visionary & Visible”. Visitors to the site can also view the winners in a related contest which asked children to draw what they thought the body looked like “under the skin”. [KMG]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/sister/index.html

While today we may take for granted that organized religion has taken on some of the trappings of entertainment and a spirit for showmanship, this trend was not common place in the early 20th century. One of the persons responsible for the melding of those two very different worlds was Aimee Semple McPherson, who was highly instrumental in bringing conservative Protestantism into mainstream culture and American politics. The long-running PBS series, American Experience, recently cast their eye on McPherson’s legacy, and along with their documentary, they also created this complementary website. On the site, visitors can take a virtual visit to the Angelus Temple, which served as McPherson’s headquarters, and also read transcripts of interviews with scholars who have studied her work and the nature of her faith. Visitors can also view a gallery of historic images, including a photo of McPherson in front of her famed “Gospel Car”. [KMG]

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/flash/Titan/index.html

Only now are we beginning to learn about Titan, one of Saturn’s most intriguing and enigmatic moons. This particular site provides an overview of Titan, courtesy of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, located at the California Institute of Technology. After watching an introductory video segment about Titan, visitors can learn more in the “Quick Facts” section. The “Latest Images” area contains twelve of the latest images of Titan as captured by the Cassini spacecraft. Visitors should also not miss the “3D Globe” area, which contains an interactive rendering of Titan which allows visitors to visit a number of features on this moon, including an ice volcano, drainage channels, and “The Smile”, the brightest spot on Titan’s surface. [KMG]

http://web.mit.edu/coal/

Across both the developed and developing worlds, the continued use of coal as an energy source has been of some concern as an agent in the process of global warming. Recently, a group of scholars at MIT convened to create an ambitious and forward-looking report titled “The Future of Coal”. The report was made possible through financial support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and a number of other organizations. Released in March 2007, the report emphatically states that carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is the “critical enabling technology” which will help reduce CO2 emissions. The report also suggests that a significant charge on carbon emissions is needed in the near term and that the U.S. government should provide assistance only to coal projects with CO2 capture in order to demonstrate technical, economic and environmental performance. Visitors to this site can read the report in its entirety, along with a complete glossary and appendices. [KMG]

http://www.celiaccentral.org/

With an increased interest in celiac disease, the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness has expanded a number of their outreach programs, and this website provides some information on the disease and related matters. From the homepage, visitors may wish to start by looking over some of the news announcements. After this, they will want to move along to the “Newsletter” area, where they will find the current edition of their informative newsletter. Additionally, visitors may also wish to browse on over to the “Do I Have Celiac?” area, which contains a checklist which may help visitors determine whether they have the disease. Finally, the “Events” section contains information on gluten-free events and other such affairs. [KMG]

http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/africanvision/

Despite recent news items announcing its financial troubles, the Smithsonian Institution carries on doing what museums are supposed to do, such as providing Web exhibits like this one featuring the Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. Paul and Ruth Tishman began collecting African art in 1959, and donated their collection to the Walt Disney Company in 1984. In 2005, Disney gave the collection of 525 works to the National Museum of African Art at Smithsonian Institution, where it is now on display. At the Web site, viewers can choose to "Follow the Art" which means visitors can see the works arranged on a time line, from the 1490s to 2007. On this timeline users can examine over two dozen masks, zooming in on details and reading short or long captions and look at figural sculptures and ceremonial objects, including an early 20th century wooden bowl with figures carved by Olowe of Ise, a divination board, and a beaded crown. The show closes with a section called "Explore African Art" that provides a set of activities and further readings for families to do at home. [DS]