General Interest
The Canadian Architectural Archives were established in 1974 as a joint venture between the University of Calgary Library and the Faculty of Environmental Design. The site contains a great deal of information about their holdings and collection, but most visitors will want to click directly over to their "Online Collections" area. Here visitors will find the Panda Digital Image Bank, the Donovan & Williams Canadian Church Collection, and the Calgary Modern Site Survey. The Panda Digital Image Bank collection contains over a million images from the twentieth century. Visitors can search the Image Bank as they see fit, or they may wish to look over some of the thematic headings as well. The Church Collection contain over 500 images of Canadian churches taken during the early 1990s and the Modern Site Survey offers up several hundred architectural images taken in 2004. [KMG]
The federal government is attempting to make finding information about business a bit easier with this website, and they have certainly succeeded. Business.gov is managed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which is working in partnership with 21 other federal agencies. Along the top of the homepage, visitors will find sections that include "Small Business Guides", "State & Local Info", and "Government Forms". In the "Small Business Guides" area, visitors can read over topical guides that address everything from e-commerce to occupational safety and health. The "State & Local Info" section allows users to click on an interactive map to find state and local regulations that pertain to businesses. Finally, the "Government Forms" area contains links to frequently requested forms, such as the I-9, the SS-4, and the W-2. Visitors should also check out the "Spotlight" area which features information on free tax training, managing small business credit, and an assessment tool for new businesses. [KMG]
http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Beckman_main
At the Beckman Center in Irvine, California they certainly leave no scientific stones unturned. Through their "Distinctive Voices" public events series they bring in experts to talk about the science of chocolate, the causes of obesity, and the transposable elements sequences of DNA. While many visitors may be unable to make it to these events in person, they are encouraged to listen and watch via the online archive provided here. Currently, the archive contains several dozen lectures, and they include such intriguing offerings as "What is the Scientific Method?", "Ghost Hunters: Can Science Explain the Supernatural?", and "The New Industrial Revolution". Visitors should also wander over to "The Sounds of Science" podcast, which is produced by The National Academies. It is quite a delight, and visitors who get hooked may wish to subscribe here. [KMG]
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/index.html
How exactly does one create an encyclopedia about television? It's a formidable task, and one that Dr. Horace Newcomb of the University of Texas at Austin took on with great relish. He worked to assemble an advisory committee that would reduce the vast array of topics to around 1000. They did so, and in 1997, The Museum of Broadcast Communications published the fruits of their labor. Visitors to the site can browse through thoughtful and thorough entries alphabetically, and they will find entries that cover specific programs, historic moments and trends, important policy disputes, tabloid television and the quiz show scandal that rocked the industry in the 1950s. Many notable personalities are covered here, including Phil Silvers, Dan Rather, and Hugh Downs. [KMG]
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Online%20Shopping.pdf
Shopping online for any number of products and services is quite ubiquitous, but some individuals are still concerned about the security of performing online transactions. This 32-page report released in February 2008 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project looks at what Americans think about online shopping. Authored by John B. Horrigan, the report is based on surveys conducted in September 2007. The report notes that while 78% of Americans find that shopping online is convenient, 75% of them also remarked that they do not like sending personal or credit card information over the Internet. Visitors can read the report summary offered here, or they can make their way through all three chapters, which include sections on trends in online shopping and low-income Internet users. [KMG]
http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/col/ccp/
Located east of Los Angeles, the Claremont Colleges include: Claremont College (now, Claremont University Consortium), Claremont Graduate University, Claremont McKenna College, Pomona College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, and the Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences. Each school has its own interesting history, and this extensive digital collection offers visual insight into the personality and development of each one. Over 6700 images were digitized with financial support from The Ann Peppers Foundation and visitors can browse around the contents at their leisure. The photographs cover topics that include student life, building construction, campus planning, administration, and special events. Visitors can use the search engine on the homepage to look for specific items of interest. Additionally, they can also look at an index of terms and subscribe to their RSS feed. [KMG]
http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/flshipwrecks/
It is not an exaggeration to say that the coastal waters of Florida are littered with shipwrecks. Humans have been making their way around those waters for well over 6000 years, and during that time many a vessel has found its way to the bottom as a result of difficult weather and other maritime difficulties. This delightful National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary will take visitors all the way to Davy Jones' Locker and back, in a matter of speaking. Visitors can use the diver icon to look over a list of sites, view a map of all the featured shipwrecks, and even learn about additional itineraries. The sites profiled here include the USS Massachusetts, the SS Tarpon, and the fabled Half Moon, which was a racing yacht constructed of chrome-nickel steel. After looking over the site's materials, more than a few users may want to get their diving certification and take a trip to the warm waters off of the Sunshine State. [KMG]
The Glaswegians Photo Archive is a byproduct of the Cranhill Arts Project, the largest documentary photography project in Scotland; 30,000 photographs taken between 1989 and 1992. This online archive provides a selection of these photographs that are "a record of Glasgow through photographs of its people - their lives, habits, quirks and cultures." The images are organized into topical albums, such as "Things You Don't See Anymore" where aspects of Glasgow that have disappeared or been altered in the sixteen years since the photographs were taken are displayed. These lost Glaswegian sites include orange and black buses, smoking in pubs, and drinking alcohol in the street. Another album, "Deep Fried", portrays the Glaswegian diet: a baker with a tray of scones and women factory workers making sausages, filling meat pies, and packing ground meat into trays. In the set are also shots of men in the street eating chips from paper cones, and schoolboys queued up to buy sweets. Visitors can sign up for an account in order to tag photos, and with or without an account, it's possible to search or browse by existing tags. [DS]
