General Interest
http://www.cecilvortex.com/swath/conversations_about_creativity/
For the most part, creative people tend to be rather engaging interview subjects, and this website corroborates that statement. Located on the Cecil Vortex site, this site brings together interviews with a wide range of creative types, including poets, web innovators, choreographers, visual artists, playwrights, clowns, stand-up comics, and screenwriters. Along the way, Cecil Vortex asks his interviewees about everything from the creative process to coping with (or embracing) success. Some of the more notable gems here are interviews with Dan Piraro (creator of the slightly off-beat "Pizarro" comic) and Daniel Handler, who is perhaps better known as "Lemony Snicket". Visitors can also sign up to receive RSS feeds from the site, so they will always be on top of the latest interview as it is posted online. [KMG]
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/collections/nny/index.html
Let’s face it: There have been hundreds of "notable" New Yorkers, and picking even those individuals who grew up in just one of the city's hundreds of neighborhoods would be hard. Fortunately, the good souls at the History Research Office of the Columbia University Libraries have plucked out some great interviews with ten New Yorkers from their rather prodigious collection. Now, before visitors jump into the interviews, they should take a look at one (or all three) of Dr. Ronald J. Grele’s background essays offered up here on the homepage. Dr. Grele is the director emeritus of the Oral History Research Office and here he comments on the history of the Office, the list of "Notable New Yorkers", and the social and cultural milieu of both New York and the entire nation during the time period when these interviews were conducted in the last five decades of the 20th century. After these introductions, visitors should go over to the interviews, which include conversations with noted psychologist Kenneth Clark, famed publisher and humorist Bennett Cerf, and former New York mayor, Edward I. Koch. [KMG]
http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/inscribing/index2.html
The power of the written word and its graphic form is a subject that has fascinated humankind for millennia. This relationship within the world of African art is explored by this nice online exhibit offered by the National Museum of African Art. Working with the Fowler Museum at UCLA, the exhibit looks at how various writing traditions have communicated a wide range of ideas, such as those regarding religious traditions, cultural activities, and so on. The exhibit is divided into sections titled "Ways of Knowing", "Inscribing the Body", "Sacred Scripts", and "Writing Politics". While all of the sections are worthy of attention, the “Sacred Scripts” section is a great place to start. Here, visitors can look at a talismanic Qur'an board from the Sudan and learn about the importance of amulets to the Limba peoples of Sierra Leone. [KMG]
Taking a cue from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is interested in promoting media literacy and citizen journalism "of, by and for the people." To achieve this goal, they publish a quarterly investigative journal, their "Spin of the Day", and the very useful PR Watch website. On the site, they investigate and craft critical appraisals of various public relations media. Recently, they have looked at the "green" claims made by print advertisements for various automobiles and media claims about other products. Visitors can browse through the latest material added to the site here, and they will also want to look at their investigative series as well. One particularly noteworthy set of pieces is titled "The Politics and PR of Cervical Cancer", authored by the associate director of the CMD, Judith Siers-Poisson. Overall, the site is a good resource for journalists and for people who are just plain curious about the world of journalism and investigative reporting. [KMG]
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/humanrights/
The idea of "human rights" is a relatively new development in history, but as this website from Britain’s National Archives notes in its discussion of the long trajectory of struggles for equality and so forth, "We could do worse than characterizing this history as the struggle for human rights." This visually compelling online exhibit uses original documents from The National Archives to take a long view of these struggles and movements. Visitors can start their journey through the site by picking a time period, and then reading an introductory essay on the period. Each time period includes a timeline and links to digitized version of relevant documents, such as The Poor Act of 1601 and a poster for a Staffordshire coal miners’ union public meeting from 1831. The site is rounded out by a thorough glossary and a document index. [KMG]
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/index.html
The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) has created a number of very fine online resources over the past few years, including The Handbook of Texas Online. Recently, they placed the first fifty years of the esteemed Southwestern Historical Quarterly online right here, and those with a passion for history will not be disappointed. Visitors can search the archive, which includes every issue of the Quarterly from July 1897 to April 1947. More casual users may just want to browse the contents by author, title, date, or volume. Looking over the many years, historians will appreciate the developments within the field of academic history, and even changes in tone and viewpoint are evident over the decades. Overall, it’s a great resource, and one that will merit several return visits. [KMG]
http://www.thebrainmatters.org
Understanding how the brain works can be difficult, and understanding how brain disorders work can be equally as taxing and complex. One nice online resource for understanding both subjects is "The Brain Matters" site, created by the American Academy of Neurology Foundation. About a dozen brain disorders are covered within the site, including epilepsy, brain injury, Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. For each disorder, visitors can learn about how the disorder works, its cause, its symptoms, and how it is properly diagnosed. For some visitors, the most helpful sections may be the individual "Patient Story" section, which gives visitors the opportunity to read about the personal experience of an individual who is living with one of these disorders. [KMG]
Founded in 1990 in New York, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is a broad international association of local governments and related units of governance committed to sustainable development. The ICLEI provides support to their members through technical consulting and training programs, and their website also serves as a clearinghouse for this material, along with offering additional items, including research reports, newsletters, and policy briefs. On their homepage, visitors can read about their latest news, check job postings, and also learn about recent developments from their members. Most visitors will want to continue their exploration of the site by clicking over to the "Programs" area. Here they can learn about their "Cities for Climate Protection" campaign, read up on their biodiversity initiative, and take a look at their tools for creating sustainable cities. [KMG]
