General Interest
From Manchester to Dubai, the Emporis website is a real treat for architects, urbanists, geographers, and anyone with an interest in buildings. Currently, the site contains detailed information on buildings and companies in over 50,000 cities, and visitors can enter a city of interest in the search engine to get started. For the spatially-minded, there's also a "World Map" area where they may click on the continents to take a tour of buildings large and small. Each entry contains a selection of photographs and details about the building's materials, architectural style, height, and other details. Some buildings also have a "Facts" section which offers up other relevant tidbits. Overall, it is a well-designed site that is worth several return visits. [KMG]
http://www.ccd.rpi.edu/Eglash/csdt/
Through the ages, various forms of visual expression have implicitly (and explicitly) drawn on a variety of mathematical principles. The people at the Center for Cultural Design at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are interested in reaching out to a wide range of people through culturally-situated design tools, so they have created this fine site to do just that. The activities offered on the site are designed to help students learn standards-based mathematics through examinations of pre-Columbian pyramids, basket weaving, and rhythm wheels. Within each of the activities, visitors can read a bit of historical background, and then participate in a number of interactive activities designed to reinforce a range of mathematical principles and axioms. Educators will appreciate the teaching materials that are included with each activity, as they include links to other materials and examples of student work. [KMG]
Terpsichorean pursuits sometimes get short shrift on arts sites, but this site celebrates all aspects of dance and ballet. CriticalDance is an international non-profit entity established to support all of the dance arts, and their site includes forums, photo galleries, external links, and articles culled from their magazine. First-time visitors may want to start by looking through the online "Ballet-Dance" magazine, where they can read both the current issue, and issues dating back to July 2003. Here they will be delighted to find pieces on British choreography, reviews of recent performances, and information about upcoming dance performances and conferences. Moving on, visitors should also browse through the photo galleries and take a dip into the online forums where they can feel free to ask questions about all aspects of dance. [KMG]
Based in Washington, D.C. and New York, Americans for the Arts is primarily interested in “representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.” From their homepage, visitors can learn about their most recent advocacy efforts and also learn more about creating and supporting arts opportunities in various communities across the country. A good place to start on the site is the "Information & Services" area. In this section, users can learn about joining their cultural policy listserv and also access the National Arts Policy Database. The database is a tool that allows users to view over 8000 records that include news articles, program profiles, and research abstracts related to arts policy and practice. Visitors should not leave the site without looking over their insightful and frequently updated weblog. [KMG]
http://www.ext.vt.edu/resources/anrpublications.html
State extension programs are a great way for interested parties to learn about everything from community development to integrated pest management. These publications from the Virginia Cooperative Extension cover these topics, and dozens more. On the site, visitors can look over a table contents that divides the papers into such headings as "Agricultural and Applied Economics", "Food Science and Technology", and "Horticulture". Most of the papers are available in one or more formats, and along with more practical publications, there are a few that may inspire a new hobby or passion. Some of these include papers that help individuals learn about home-curing pork and how to correctly site a vineyard. [KMG]
http://cdi.uvm.edu/collections/getCollection.xql?title=Letters%20Home%20From%20Congress
Letters from prominent individuals can yield valuable insights about their relationships and their views on a multitude of important (and, at times, trivial) matters. The University of Vermont recently digitized over 440 letters from three of their former elected officials that provide a number of insights into significant local and national events, traveling to and from Washington, and legislative issues under consideration in Congress. The politicians profiled here are Senator Warren R. Austin (who served from 1931-1946), and Jacob Collamer and Samuel C. Crafts who served in the middle of the 19th century. Visitors can browse the collection of letters by topic, author, and place, and for anyone with an abiding interest in either Vermont history or American political history and lore, this site will be quite a treat. [KMG]
http://www.journalism.org/files/PEJ%20FINAL%20Survey%20of%20Journalists%20in%20IraqWITH%20SURVEY.pdf
In November 2007, the Project for Excellence in Journalism published this survey of reporters working on the front lines in Iraq. The report includes responses from 111 journalists who have worked or are currently working in Iraq, and the majority of them have worked there for at least seven months since the war began. The survey for this report was conducted from September to November 2007, and there are a number of interesting findings that came out of this investigation. Almost nine out of ten journalists stated that their local staff cannot carry any type of reporting equipment (including a notebook) because it is too dangerous to be identified as working with the western media. Most of the journalists interviewed for the survey also said they had a positive view of the U.S. military's embedding program, as it afforded them access that would not be possible without it. [KMG]
http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/online/Gold/default.html
"Wine, Worship and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani", organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World of New York University, presents an array of objects that document the ancient culture of Colchis (modern-day Georgia). The objects presented here include: gold, silver and ceramic vessels; jewelry; bronze sculpture; Greek and Colchian coins; and Greek glassware. Metal - gold, silver, iron or bronze - was the main medium of Colchian art and craftsmanship. Browsing the exhibit highlights reveals a plethora of gold and precious metal, such as a gold necklace with turtle- shaped pendants, weighing in at 3 ounces, or a gold bracelet in the shape of a boar's head that weighs almost one-fourth of a pound. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the site is the close examination of Grave 24, discovered by archaeologists in August of 2004. Grave 24 contained "more than 1000 pieces of gold, hundreds of silver objects and more than 15,000 beads in glass, faience and various semi-precious stones." The web site shows a selection of these objects in their original context, and also allows visitors to zoom in for more information. [DS]
