Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Congress In Context

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to Present. Biographical information for all individuals who have served in the United States Congress and the Continental Congress. Biographies are also included for persons who have served as delegates to Congress from the territories of the United States. This is a definite enhancement of the print version of the same name, with images of many, material from other sources, and updated through the current Congress.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Revolving Door

The Lobbying Info project serves as a tool to help the media and public track the influence of special interests in Congress and the executive branch. It provides a database of thousands of individuals who have journeyed through the “revolving door” – passing from government service to private sector lobbying. The Web site provides investigative reports examining key interests and what’s at stake in major lobbying battles. It also serves as a clearinghouse on laws related to influence peddling and of the reforms needed to clean up the system.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Disaster Relief

The American Red Cross, the site of this "emergency response organization" contains news, press releases, FAQs, and information on disaster preparedness, post-disaster dangers, giving blood, services for military members and families, and more.

Federal Emergency Management Agency, this government agency has current disaster news, storm watches, disaster assistance, mitigation, preparedness, flood insurance, and photographs and video clips of disasters. The library has a "Response and Recovery" section, information on animals in emergencies, and disaster summary maps.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Up In The Air

Canada's UFO's: The Search Within the vault of Library and Archives Canada there exist files from five government departments that were involved with collecting data and conducting investigations on unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The Department of Transport, Department of Communications, Department of National Defence, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the National Research Council all dealt with reports, sightings and investigations of UFOs across Canada. Each department had different interests and goals. The truth about their investigations is found in files held by Library and Archives Canada. A selection of these files have been digitized and made available on this site.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Seventy-Six Trombones

Historic American Sheet Music 1850-1920. Created by Duke University Digital Scriptorium, this site includes digitized images of over 3,000 pieces of sheet music. The database is searchable and clicking on the image of the cover image returned in the search brings up the score and lyrics.

Friday, August 26, 2005

Freedom Of Information

The National Security Archive combines a unique range of functions in one non governmental, non-profit institution. The Archive is simultaneously a research institute on international affairs, a library and archive of declassified U.S. documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, a public interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information through the FOIA, and an indexer and publisher of the documents in books, microfiche, and electronic formats. The National Security Archive was founded in 1985 by a group of journalists and scholars who had obtained documentation from the U.S. government under the Freedom of Information Act and sought a centralized repository for these materials. Over the past decade, the Archive has become the world's largest non governmental library of declassified documents. The Archive is designed to apply the latest in computerized indexing technology to the massive amount of material already released by the U.S. government on international affairs, make them accessible to researchers and the public, and go beyond that base to build comprehensive collections of documents on specific topics of greatest interest to scholars and the public. The Archive's holdings include more than two million pages of accessioned material in over 200 separate collections. The Archive's computer system hosts major databases of released documents (over 100,000 records), authority files of individuals and organizations in international affairs (over 30,000 records), and FOIA requests filed by Archive staff and outside requesters on international affairs (over 20,000 records).

Thursday, August 25, 2005

PDQ

AbbreviationZ was created to be the leading Internet source for acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms on the web. The site has a powerful search engine that provides comprehensive definition results for a specific term, grouped by categories. It also provides the ability to browse a list of terms that relates to a specific subject. AbbreviationZ currently has 338,994 entries in 117 categories.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

World Class Statistician

The United Nations Statistics Division compiles statistics from many international sources and produces global updates, including the Statistical Yearbook, World Statistics Pocketbook and yearbooks in specialized fields of statistics. It also provides to countries, specifications of the best methods of compiling information so that data from different sources can be readily compared.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Dig It

The Virtual Fossil Museum is an educational resource dedicated to fossils. High-quality pictures of fossils are presented that are organized by fossil sites and systematics. Geological history, paleobiology, phylogenetics and evolutionary biology are among information provided. Contributions by educators, scientists and enthusiasts are invited.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Roar!

WildFinder is a map-driven, searchable database of more than 30,000 species worldwide, with a powerful search tool that allows users to discover where species live or explore wild places to find out what species live there. Containing information on birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, WildFinder is a valuable resource for scientists, students, educators, travelers, birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts alike.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Feeding America

The Historic American Cookbook Project. The world of good cooking is one that many people find relaxing, both in the act of creating great dishes and also enjoying them with family and friends. This online collection from the Michigan State University Libraries and the Michigan State University Museum pays homage to that tradition by presenting some of the most important and influential cookbooks from the late 18th to the early 20th century. Visitors can peruse the cookbooks in alphabetical order, or they may look at them chronologically or by theme, such as children's cookery or military cooking. There are a number of true classics here, including the work of Fannie Farmer in her most celebrated "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" and some lesser-known gems, such as the stoic "Manual for Army Cooks" from 1896.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Red Alert

National Vulnerabilities Database (NVD) is a comprehensive cyber security vulnerability database that integrates all publicly available U.S. Government vulnerability resources and provides references to industry resources. The NVD contains 12,006 Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures notices, 117 US-CERT Alerts and 1,097 US-CERT Vulnerablity Notes. They update at a rate of 8 vulnerabilities per day.

Friday, August 19, 2005

In Black And White

Documenting America: America from the Great Depression to World War II 1935-45. 'The images in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection are among the most famous documentary photographs ever produced. Created by a group of U.S. government photographers, the images show Americans in every part of the nation. In the early years, the project emphasized rural life and the negative impact of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl. In later years, the photographers turned their attention to the mobilization effort for World War II. The core of the collection consists of about 164,000 black-and-white photographs. This release provides access to over 160,000 of these images; future additions will expand the black-and- white offering.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Ship Manifest

The Ships List website, online since August 1999, will help you find your ancestors on ships' passenger lists.We also have immigration reports, newspaper records, shipwreck information, ship pictures, ship descriptions, shipping-line fleet lists and more; as well as hundreds of passenger lists to Canada, USA, Australia and even some for South Africa.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

National Viewpoints

National Issues presents summary information and opposing viewpoints on major national issues, as well as links to think tanks, news sources, candidate sites, and historical documents.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Measuring Up

Measure 4 Measure is an annotated collection of interactive Web sites that "do the work for you": they estimate, calculate, evaluate, and translate everything from converting between nine units of acceleration to Morse Code to wind chill. Sections include Science and Math, Health, Finance, All 'Round the House, and A Measure of Everything Else.

Monday, August 15, 2005

I Have A Dream

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University. "The King Papers Project is a major research effort to assemble and disseminate historical information concerning Martin Luther King, Jr. and the social movements in which he participated." This site features papers, speeches, sermons, a biography, an excerpt from his autobiography, a chronology, and articles.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Under Reported

Independent Media is designed to be an independent media outlet for views and artistic expression which are currently not being represented by our corporate media. Independent Media has various areas of focus. The Under Reported and Environmental areas are designed to bring to light information, and knowledge that is otherwise not reaching the general public. "The Philosophical, and Independent Artist areas are designed to be a forum of expression for artists of Music, Movies, Writing, Art, Philosophy, and Spirituality. This is needed as the corporate media monopoly controls the majority of what we see and hear.

With no influence from business and government, the two strongest corrupting powers of true freedom of speech on our airways, we will remain independent. The website will be created with no need or desire of any advertising of products or services outside the philosophy of the site. Therefore, since money is not the motivating factor, the information will not be subjected to influence of money."

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Just The Facts

For 75 years, the Population Reference Bureau has been informing people about the population dimensions of important social, economic, and political issues. They publish, disseminate, and promote print and electronic material. PRB publishes the quarterly Population Bulletin, the annual World Population Data Sheet, and PRB Reports on America, as well as specialized publications covering population and public policy issues in the United States and abroad, particularly in developing countries. PRB's website is updated approximately every three weeks with new articles and reports, frequently country- or region-specific, that span subjects as diverse as HIV/AIDS, children's environmental health, family planning, immigration, adolescent sexual health, maternal mortality, and population growth.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Want To Play?

Games-db.com is the ultimate Games Database, your one-stop source for games of all genres and types. From the old 8-bit computer games to the latest in console technology. Games-db.com archives them all and has screenshots, technical data, cheats and hints, walkthroughs, strategy guides and a lot more.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

McCloud Of The Clan McCloud

There are many places on the Web to find extensive genealogical records, but the ScotlandsPeople website may be just about the best place to find various records about persons who lived, died, and were married in Scotland. The site contains access to over 43 million records, and was created through a partnership between the General Register Office for Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland, The Court of the Lord Lyon and Scotland Online. Visitors to the site may browse indices of Scottish births from 1553 to 1904, marriages from 1553 to 1929, and deaths from 1855 to 1954. New users may want to look at the "What's in the Database" section of the site to get a sense of the entire contents of this rather vast collection. The site also provides some information about how to get started with these materials, along with the wills and testaments of some rather famous Scots, including James Boswell, Robert Adam, Robert Burns, and Adam Smith.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Spotlight Newsletter

Smithsonian: Spotlight on Science. Since 2003, the Smithsonian Institute has provided this topical online weekly newsletter to those persons interested in learning about the latest scientific discoveries and endeavors that have originated from any one of its various institutions. Visitors to the site will want to browse through the most recent newsletters, and they may also wish to search the previous newsletters by keyword or by browsing entire back issues. Some of the more recent pieces include information about the recent success story of the Florida panther, supernovae, and the river channels on the planet Mars. Each issue also contains information about recent publications in which the research appeared, and in select instances, also includes links to the full text document. Overall, this electronic newsletter will be of great interest to teachers, students, and the general public.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Eureka!

EurekAlert Reference Desk, a global news service operated by AAAS science society, provides links to glossaries, dictionaries, and databases from various scientific disciplines. The resources cited are provided and maintained by government, academic, research-oriented, and professional organizations.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Jocks

JockBio are biographies, written by published sports writers, of selected baseball, basketball, football, golf, ice hockey, soccer, and tennis players; auto racers; and Olympic athletes. Entries include a biographical narrative, facts, and quotes from and about the athlete.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Hired Guns

Well Connected presents findings from the Center for Public Integrity's "examination of the telecommunications industry, the centerpiece of which is a first-of-its-kind, 65,000 record, searchable database containing ownership information on virtually every radio station, television station, cable television system and telephone company in America." Database is searchable by geographic area, call sign, or company name, and includes industry-sponsored trips by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officials. Site also features related reports and data.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Simple Quantum Physics

Quantum Physics Made Relatively Simple, "In 1999, legendary theoretical physicist Hans Bethe delivered three lectures on quantum theory to his neighbors at the Kendal of Ithaca retirement community (near Cornell University). Given by Professor Bethe at age 93, the lectures are presented here as QuickTime videos synchronized with slides of his talking points and archival material." Also includes an introduction, brief biography, and related material about this Nobel Prize-winner, from Cornell University.

Friday, August 05, 2005

Illuminated

The Illuminated Middle Ages. The Illuminated Middle Ages database presents several hundred recently digitized illuminated texts from French national library collections. While the full collection, in even higher resolution, is available for purchase on DVD-ROM, this web site gives access to the entire database. Only a portion of the full collection has been translated into English for the web site, but visitors may also view the French-language galleries in the site, where a dozen texts from each of the ten themes are presented daily.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Feminae

Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index. This searchable, annotated index "covers journal articles, book reviews, and essays in books about women, sexuality, and gender during the Middle Ages." Over 8,000 records from more than 450 journals, beginning in 1992, are included. Materials in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian are indexed. There are also a few links to related sites.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Archiving America

Archiving Early America is a site for primary source material from eighteenth century America. It includes the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Louisiana Purchase Treaty, Whiskey Rebellion, and more. Firsts has information about the first penny, copyright law, newspaper, political cartoon, and others. The Digital Library contains portraits, places, events, early scenes, battles, maps, early-day ads, and more. Also includes Early America Review, an online journal, and The Town Crier, a discussion forum.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Endangered Peoples

The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire is an online version of 1993 book of same title. Provides brief profiles with history, population, habitat, and religion of endangered peoples in the area formerly known as the Soviet Union. The site is browsable by name, or language and dialect.

Monday, August 01, 2005

The Dubliners

Literary Locales delivers "picture links to places that figure in the lives and writings of famous authors." Features more than 100 authors and over 1,000 locations. "The sites listed here vary greatly in scope, quality, and complexity. Some are quite spare while others are more detailed and presuppose familiarity with a writer's work."