Notable web pages for this week

FRONTLINE: Digital Nation

Frontline has created a fascinating website to accompany its television broadcast of the documentary Digital Nation. The website includes a producer's blog, as well as the ability to "Watch Online", the 90-minute video, and then read a roundtable discussion by some of the participants in the film. The topics include "Living Faster", "Waging War", and "Virtual Worlds". Notable is the brief video called "Your Brain on Google", which compares a brain scan of a person when reading a book to when they are using Google. The results are surprising.

The Secrets of Tomb10A: Egypt 2000 BC

The Museum of Fine Arts Boston offers a virtual tour of Tomb10A in Deir-el-Bersha, the final resting place of Djehutynakht, a provincial governor in Middle Kingdom Egypt, the period from 2010 - 1961 B.C. In 1915, archaeologists associated with the Museum spent a summer excavating the tomb and discovered possibly the largest assemblage of burial artifacts from the Middle Kingdom period. The find included jewelry, walking sticks, a huge collection of model boats, architectural miniatures, Djehutynakht's coffin, and a mummified head, that might be Djehutynakht's. This web exhibition includes contemporary and historic photographs of the tomb site and the results of CT scans of the head. There is also a section of zoom-able images of the coffin and the boats.

The summaries of the above two sites have been provided by the Internet Scout Project

Another site which may be valuable to readers in light of the present economy is GoBankingRates.com. Current rates can be easily compared and links are provided to many financial institution sites. Information is available on topics such as banking, investments, mortgages, investments, credit cards, loans, retirement, and debt. Especially useful at this time of year are the writings offered on filing taxes.

Recommendations from the Internet Scout Project

Online Resources courtesy of the Internet Scout Project

Cool Science
(http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/index.html)-a resource from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute contains educational science activities sorted by subject matter and academic level.

U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library
http://libraryphoto.cr.usgs.gov/
Contains 30,000 photographs taken by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1868 to the present, many of these images never published. Subject areas include "Earthquakes", "Mines, Mills, Quarries", and "Mount St. Helens". Visitors can also perform basic keyword searches, and they might wish to try out words like "dolomite", "karst", or "Colorado". Also, the site has an excellent "Portrait Gallery” containing images of famed geological pioneers.

Nature Online Video Streaming Archive
http://www.nature.com/nature/videoarchive/index.html
Nature is an international, interdisciplinary, weekly peer-reviewed journal of science that has an impressive website that conveys its information in written, audio or video formats. The video offerings here "feature interviews with scientists, behind the research, and analysis from Nature editors."

Larger than Life Nonfiction

Oversize non fiction books can now be found standing tall atop the reference materials shelving. Check out the selection as these treasures were easy to miss previously. Titles include:
The best of LIFE
The Lonely Planet travel book: A journey through every country in the world.
Horses of the World: From the desert to the racetrack.
Reef
Amazonia: The land, the wildlife, the river, the people.
The Appalachian Trail: Calling me back to the hills, text and poetry by Earl Shaffer; photography by Bart Smith.

Baby, it's cold outside...

Even though the weather is cold now, what will it be in the future? US News and World Report offers a slideshow of 10 Animals Threatened by Global Warming.
Has this peaked your interest? Learn more with these materials available at the library:

Dire predictions: Understanding global warming by Mann and Kump. (2009)

Earth's changing climate [CD audiobook] by Wolfson. (2007)

The end of the long summer: Why we must remake our civilization to survive on a volatile Earth by Dumanoski. (2009)

Now or never: Why we must act now to end climate change and create a sustainable future by Flannery. (2009)

On thin ice: The changing world of the polar bear by Ellis. (2009)

Online Resource Suggestions

A 21st century database - WolframAlpha http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Search here:

Containing over 10+ trillion pieces of data, WolframAlpha calls itself a computational knowledge engine and aims to be a 21st century leader in the way that makes it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything.


Independent Lens: Banished: American Ethnic Cleansings

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/banished/

This thoughtful and troubling documentary on the forced removal of black residents was produced as part of the Independent Lens series on PBS. Watch the documentary in its entirety on the PBS website and explore the thirteen counties in the eight states which banished their black residents.

Haiti In the News

Has the recent news coverage of the Haiti earthquake raised your curiosity about the country, its citizens, and its politics? Access these library resources on Haiti for more information.

The kingdom of this world / Alejo Carpentier ; translated by Harriet de Onís. (863 CAR)

CultureGrams 2010 (R 390 CUL v.1 & 2)

The world almanac and book of facts 2010 (R 317.3 WOR)

Online Resources (access through the library home page>Reference Services>Research Databases):

Statesman’s Yearbook online – informative sections on all aspects of the nation of Haiti

America’s Newspapers - read full text articles from national newspapers

POWERLibrary - access AP Images for hundreds of photos of damage, rescue efforts, and incoming aid

2009 in Photo Review

US News & World Report has released a slideshow review of the major events of 2009. Click here to view.