El Dorado County Library's What's New on the Internet for the Week of April 21st, 2008

What's Hot on the Internet This Week
Week of April 21st, 2008
The arrow indicates a recommended site and a points to a site with local information.

100 Calorie Snacks: 20 Choices

This Web diet has been prepared by the Univ. of Arkansas as part of its Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP): "Need some ideas? To get you started on the road to calorie-controlled snacking, try the following suggestions for healthy 100-calorie munchies." Their are other food and dietary reports available from the Program and you can find of them here at EFNEP Lessons. (Subject(s): Food)

American Rhetoric: This Website describes itself as a "Site dedicated to Public Communication of all kinds and includes a Speech Bank, Movie Speeches, Audio Figures of Speech, The Top 100 American Political Speeches of the 20th Century, The Rhetoric of 9-11 and links to Communication Associations and Journals." (Subject(s): Speeches, Addresses, etc.--United States)
Brian's Drive-In Theater: "The Brian's Drive-in Theater site offers tons of photos, information, links, and more on your favorite drive-in movies and B movie actors from the 1930s through the 1980s. Among the actors featured here are Steve Reeves, Gordon Scott, Reg Park, Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, Deborah Walley, Clint Walker, Guy Madison, Mickey Hargitay, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, and more!" (Subject(s): Movies--History)
"CFLS – Don’t Throw Them Away!: As you may know, California now requires the installation of CFLS in all new house construction. However, there's a kicker! There's mercury in them-thar bulbs. So... don't throw them in your trash! Well, this California State Webpage will explain it all! "Fluorescent lights should not be tossed in the trash. Replacing incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) is a great way to reduce electrical use and lower your energy bill, but throwing them away in your regular trash can lead to soil and water pollution because CFLs contain small amounts of mercury. Luckily, the California Take-It-Back Partnership provides free, local and convenient ways for California residents to recycle CFLs (and other household wastes such as batteries and electronic devices) in ways that do not damage the environment." The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also maintains information on the safe disposal of CFLs. (Subject(s): Environment)
NYPL Digital Gallery | Charting North America: Maps from the Lawrence H. Slaughter Collection and Others: "In 1997, on the death of Lawrence H. Slaughter, part of his magnificent private map collection came to NYPL from his estate, as a gift from his family. In 2001, the second half of the collection was given to the Map Division. His collection of maps focuses on the Middle Atlantic region, and formed the basis for the exhibition "In thy map securely saile." Another private collection came to NYPL in 1990 from the John H. Levine estate, comprised of a wonderful miscellany of antique maps for places around the world, from the Holy Lands to Bermuda, providing additional specimens for this digital presentation." For even more great online exhibitions, go the Library's Digital Gallery. (Subject(s): Maps)
Conflicts of Interest : Responsible Conduct Research: "All members of the scientific community are faced with balancing conflicting interests. In the last few years, we've seen New York Times headlines that read "Drug Trials Hide Conflicts for Doctors" (5/16/1999) and "Columbia Sets Pace In Profiting Off Research" (8/2/2000). There is growing concern by many that a commitment to profit has resulted in a loss of confidence in the integrity of institutions of higher education and research. Throughout this module we hope to stress the importance of identifying and managing conflicts of interest. Upon completion of this module we hope that the reader will be able to define the different types of conflicts of interest, and also identify conflicts of interest at the individual, institutional, and IRB levels. Also, we will present material and examples that should help the reader to understand specific guidelines in governmental, institutional, and professional organization policies that deal with conflicts of interest as well as their problematic areas." (Subject(s): Ethics & Research, Scientific)
eHow | How To Do Just About Everything!: "What would you like to do? Tie a tie? Kiss on a date? Lose weight? Negotiate a raise? Win Every Time in Monopoly? The eHow™ database of over 100,000 articles can help you. It's the world's most popular place to find clear instructions on how to do just about everything. Every month, over 8 million people visit our site. We have more than 100,000 articles that are professionally written with clear and concise directions on how to do things. We also have a rapidly growing library of articles created by eHow's members. We love sharing our knowledge with the world and have created a platform for you to share your knowledge with others. We invite you to become an eHow member, where you'll be able to comment on articles and interact with other members through a robust set of social networking tools. You can even write your own How To articles with our easy-to-use publishing tools that let you express your knowledge through text, images, and video." (Subject(s): Instructional Aids)
Facing Up | to the Nation's Finances: "Despite growing consensus on the dire nature of the nation's finances, straight talk about what we want government to do and how we plan to pay for government services is a rare commodity. "Facing Up to the Nation's Finances" is a nonpartisan initiative that is working to enable more Americans to confront and work through realistic choices for addressing the nation's long-term financial condition. "Facing Up" is a nationwide project developed in partnership with leaders from The Brookings Institution, The Concord Coalition, the Heritage Foundation, Public Agenda and Viewpoint Learning. The project has received support from the Ford Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Public Agenda's own Wadsworth Program Development Fund. "Facing Up to the Nation's Finances" will not make recommendations on how public monies should be allocated or how the long-term deficit should be reduced. Rather it aims to organize a non-partisan movement of citizens and leaders in honest public dialogue to call for meaningful action in confronting the various challenges to long-term fiscal stability. Among those challenges are the impending retirements of the Baby Boomers, the growth in health care costs, and the budget deficit and accumulated national debt. It involves new forms of opinion research, public engagement and intensive engagement of leadership." (Subject(s): Economy--United States)
ERS/USDA Briefing Room - Food CPI, Prices, and Expenditures: This report has been placed on the 'Net by the Economic Research Service (ERS) which is part of the USDA: "ERS research and reporting of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food contributes to an understanding of which food categories experience substantial price changes, how consumers spend their incomes on food, and how and why consumption patterns changes. Food prices are also affected by structural changes in the food production industry, prices farmers receive for their commodities, marketing costs, and consumer demand for food." "The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food is forecast to increase 3.5 to 4.5 percent in 2008, as retailers continue to pass on higher commodity and energy costs to consumers in the form of higher retail prices. The CPI for food increased 4.0 percent in 2007, the highest annual increase since 1990. Food-at-home prices, led by eggs, dairy, and poultry prices, increased 4.2 percent, while food-away-from-home prices were up 3.6 percent in 2007. The total spent for all food consumed in the U.S. was $1,082.5 billion dollars in 2006, a 6.6 percent increase from $1,015.1 billion in 2005. The ERS Food Expenditure data series indicated that spending on food away from home was 48.9 percent of the $1,082.5 billion in total food expenditures in 2006—spending for food at home was 51.1 percent. Families spent 9.9 percent of their disposable personal income on food—as disposable personal income continues to climb, the share spent on food declines." (Subject(s): Home Economics)
Fact Monster: Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help: "Fact Monster is a free reference site for students, teachers, and parents. Get homework help and find facts on thousands of subjects, including sports, entertainment, geography, history, biography, education, and health." (Subject(s): Encyclopedias)
Garibaldi and the Risorgimento: "The Garibaldi / Risorgimento digital archive seeks to provide a comprehensive resource for the interdisciplinary study and teaching of the life and deeds of one of the protagonists of the Italian unification process (1807-1882), against the historical backdrop of 19th-century Europe, reconstructed with the help of materials from special collections at the Brown University libraries. The project will devote particular attention to the way Garibaldi's figure, his actions and the Italian Risorgimento as a whole were portrayed in contemporary media." This is "A joint project of the Department of Italian Studies and the Center for Digital Initiatives" at Brown University. (Subject(s): Garibaldi, Giuseppe, 1807-1882 & Italy--History--19th Century)
MIT OpenCourseWare: Global Climate Change: Economics, Science, and Policy: "The class introduces scientific, economic, and ecological issues underlying the threat of global climate change, and the institutions engaged in negotiating an international response. It also develops an integrated approach to analysis of climate change processes, and assessment of proposed policy measures, drawing on research and model development within the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change." (Subject(s): Climate)
Gold Price: "GOLDPRICE.ORG provides you with fast loading charts of the current gold price per ounce, gram and kilogram in 23 major currencies. We provide you with timely and accurate silver and gold price commentary, gold price history charts for the past 30 days, 60 days, 1, 5 and 10 years and gold futures quotes and charts. You can also find out where to buy gold coins at the best gold prices." (Subject(s): Gold)

‘Google Generation’ is a Myth, Says New Research

"A new report [16 January 2008], commissioned by JISC and the British Library, counters the common assumption that the ‘Google Generation’ – young people born or brought up in the Internet age – is the most adept at using the web. The report by the CIBER research team at University College London claims that, although young people demonstrate an ease and familiarity with computers, they rely on the most basic search tools and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to asses the information that they find on the web. The report ‘Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future’ also shows that research-behaviour traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors." Documents from the JISC-sponsored Conference can be found at Google Generation. (Subject(s): Google)

Chicago History Museum | Great Chicago Stories: "Read historical fiction stories that illuminate Chicago's past. Use the Interactive History Map to look closer at artifacts from the collection of the Chicago History Museum and to explore locations throughout the city from each story. Build further on your experience with classroom activities." (Subject(s): Chicago, Illinois--Narratives)
Hands Only CPR: This site from the American Heart Association (AHA) will teach adults how to simply perform CPR in an emergency: "When an adult has a sudden cardiac arrest, his or her survival depends greatly on immediately getting CPR from someone nearby. Unfortunately, less than 1/3 of those people who experience a cardiac arrest at home, work or in a public location get that help. Most bystanders are worried that they might do something wrong or make things worse. That’s why the AHA has simplified things." (Subject(s): CPR)
Health08.org: "Throughout this election season, the Kaiser Family Foundation will provide analysis of health care issues addressed by the presidential candidates." Their effort here includes news and articles health issues as proposed by the candidates or their respective parties, as well feature stories and reports from the comments made at the Presidential Candidate Forums. (Subject(s): Elections--United States, Health--United States & Politics--United States)
Home Inventory Guide: This Guide has been produced by the California Department of Insurance. It details how and in what form you should list all of the articles in your house to protect yourself in case of fire, theft, earthquake or any other disaster. For many items, you may be required by your insurance company to provide them with photographs to help the company accurately determine the worth of each article. (Subject(s): Insurance)
In Pictures: Online Computer Tutorials Based on Pictures: "In Pictures tutorials began as part of a research study we conducted for the U.S. Department of Education. The goal: to make it easier for people with learning disabilities to learn computer subjects. As part of the study, we created simple, illustration-based tutorials. Everyone who tested them—not just people with learning disabilities—said the new tutorials enabled them to learn faster and easier than conventional text-heavy books." (Subject(s): Computers--Instructional Aids)
InfoPlease: "Information Please has been providing authoritative answers to all kinds of factual questions since 1938—first as a popular radio quiz show, then starting in 1947 as an annual almanac, and since 1998 on the Internet at www.infoplease.com. Many things have changed since 1938, but not our dedication to providing reliable information, in a way that engages and entertains." (Subject(s): Almanacs & Encyclopedias)
Inspiring Impressionism: This is the companion Website for an exhibition currently on display at the Denver Art Museum: "DARING. PROVOCATIVE. REVOLUTIONARY. The Impressionists embodied all of the above. But even these innovative “painters of modern life” were influenced by the art of the past. Explore the relationship between the Impressionists and the Old Masters that inspired them in this beautiful and thought-provoking exhibition, featuring about 100 paintings and drawings from nearly 70 museums and private collections." (Subject(s): Impressionism)
J.M.W. Turner: This is the companion Website for a recent exhibition at the National Gallery of Art: "Rising from a modest background, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) became the leading British artist of his era. Over the course of six decades, he transformed the genre of landscape through works that proclaimed him heir to the old masters even while they heralded a new and visionary direction in 19th-century painting. Known for his technical brilliance and startling use of light and color, he incorporated learned references to literature, mythology, and historical events in his pictures. His commitment to the idea that watercolor equaled oil painting in complexity and expressive power raised the standard for others working in the medium. And his exquisitely rendered works, heralded for their virtuosity, inspired generations of artists. This exhibition is the most comprehensive survey of Turner's work ever presented in the United States. More than 145 paintings and watercolors reveal the astonishing talent and imagination of this artist—whom Alfred, Lord Tennyson called "The Shakespeare of landscape."" (Subject(s): Turner, J.M.W. (Joseph Mallord William))
John Steinbeck: The California Novels: This Website is the product of Ed Stephan, who teaches Demography/Sociology at Western Washington University. It includes "Character lists, plot summaries, maps and other supplementary material for Steinbeck's California novels." In addition, Mr. Stephan provides a series of links to other informational sites on the Web concerned with Steinbeck. And for more information on Steinbeck and his writings, visit this site The Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies which is housed at San Jose State University in California. (Subject(s): Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968)
The March King: John Philip Sousa: This Website provides visitors with "An online presentation of selected music manuscripts, photographs, printed music, historical recordings of the Sousa Band, copies of programs and press clippings, and more from the Sousa Collection at the Library of Congress." (Subject(s): Sousa, John Philip, 1854-1932)
Mineral Rights - Surface Rights and Mineral Rights Are Not the Same!: This article has been created by the editors at Geology.com to explain the difference between these two types of property rights. Can you, have you, will you, should you sell the rights to a mineral deposits beneath your land..... read this to decide. (Subject(s): Mineral Rights)
Motorcycles | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA): This site has been prepared by the NHTSA to make cyclists aware of the safety issues when operating their vehicle: "Through education, enforcement, outreach, and legislation, NHTSA's motorcycle safety initiatives focus on comprehensive programs that prevent crashes, prevent injury when a crash occurs, and reduce the seriousness of injury after a crash. NHTSA's initiatives foster promoting motorcycle rider education and licensing; reducing the number of impaired motorcyclists; increasing motorist awareness of motorcycles; and increasing helmet use." (Subject(s): Motorcycles)
National Parks Traveler: "Launched in August 2005, National Parks Traveler (NPT) was the nation’s first web-log dedicated specifically to covering the National Park Service and the national park system. The blog is not a travelogue but rather strives to follow issues involving the parks. Our mission statement is clear: National Parks Traveler aims to educate the public about the national park system, inform it of issues surrounding the parks and the National Park Service, and build a stronger advocacy for the parks." (Subject(s): Parks & Travel--Guides)
Open Science Directory: "Access to scientific literature is very important for the scientific work in developing countries. As a result of different projects a large collection of e-journals is now available for researchers in developing countries. The number of Open Access Journals is growing steadily as we can see in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Major UNO organizations like WHO, FAO and UNEP have their specific programs for the scientific institutions in low-income countries. Finally a lot of universities, institutes and other organizations are supporting access programs. The most important are INASP, eIFL and eJDS. All these programs and projects have their own website and/or search engine. With the Open Science Directory IOC/IODE, with the support of EBSCO and Hasselt University Library, is creating a unique access point to all the journals contained in the different programs." (Subject(s): Science)
UO Libraries | Picturing the Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Umatilla Tribes: "Major Lee Moorhouse of Pendleton, Oregon was an Indian Agent for the Umatilla Indian Reservation and a photographer. From 1888 to 1916 he produced over 9,000 images which document urban, rural, and Native American life in the Columbia Basin, and particularly Umatilla County, Oregon. So extensive and revealing are Moorhouse's images that his collection is one of the preeminent social history collections for Oregon. Special Collections & University Archives of the University of Oregon Libraries has a collection of 7000 images by Major Moorhouse." (Subject(s): Native Americans--Oregon)
National Portrait Gallery | RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture: "Since its inception in the late 1970s, hip hop has become hugely influential in America. While images of hip hop performers are as pervasive in our culture as the music itself, some visual artists have created powerful images that both celebrate and explore the complexity of this creative form. The six artists and one poet whose work is included in RECOGNIZE! have approached hip hop culture through the lens of portraiture, and, in combination, their contributions highlight its vitality and beauty." This virtual exhibition is a companion to one of the same name currently on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. (Subject(s): Hip Hop & Portraits)
Science Research Portal: "Welcome to ScienceResearch.com Deep Web Technologies is proud to present ScienceResearch.com™ - a free, publicly available web portal allowing access to numerous scientific journals and public science databases. It allows students, teachers, professors, researchers, and the general public to access pertinent science information quickly and easily." (Subject(s): Science & Searching--Other Search Engines and Indexes)
Small Business Administration: Free Online Courses: "The Small Business Training Network (SBTN) is a customer-focused SBA strategy designed to enrich, educate and empower small businesses. It is an Internet-based learning environment - operating like a virtual campus - offering online courses, workshops, publications, information resources, learning tools and direct access to electronic counseling, and other forms of technical assistance." This site provides an index to all the online courses offered by the SBA. (Subject(s): Business--Instructional Aids)
Stonehenge: This site has been created by the folks at English Heritage to provide details about one of England's great stone monuments: "The great and ancient stone circle of Stonehenge is one of the wonders of the world. What visitors see today are the substantial remnants of the last in a sequence of such monuments erected between circa 3000BC and 1600BC. There has always been intense debate over quite what purpose Stonehenge served. Certainly, it was the focal point in a landscape filled with prehistoric ceremonial structures, now a World Heritage Site." It is now known that a group of archaeologists are re-examining Stonehenge. Find out what they're up to at Stonehenge Dig 2008. (Subject(s): England--Antiquities, Great Britain--History--To 55 B.C. & Stonehenge (England))
Tarzan of the Internet: This is a fan's site for the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs' character Tarzan. There's information and pictures for all the books, movies and TV series'. While some of the links listed are broken, most of the primary pages as created or noted by Ed Stephan, the Website creator. (Subject(s): Tarzan (Fictitious character))
The Urban Institute | Research of Record: "In the mid-1960s, President Johnson saw the need for independent nonpartisan analysis of the problems facing America's cities and their residents. The President created a blue-ribbon commission of civic leaders who recommended chartering a center to do that work. In 1968, the Urban Institute became that center. Today, we analyze policies, evaluate programs, and inform community development to improve social, civic, and economic well-being. We work in all 50 states and abroad in over 28 countries, and we share our research findings with policymakers, program administrators, business, academics, and the public online and through reports and scholarly books." (Subject(s): Urban Institute)
West Side Story Birth of a Classic - Exhibits (Library of Congress): "When West Side Story opened on Broadway on September 26, 1957, it changed the nature of the American musical and challenged the country’s view of itself. The show dealt seriously with violence, adolescent gangs, and racial prejudice—themes rarely included in musicals—and ended with one of the show’s leads dead on stage. The integration of music, dance, and script and the theatricality of the staging were a revelation to audiences. At a time when most musicals were star vehicles, with separate dancing and singing choruses, West Side Story was cast with relative unknowns who acted, sang, and danced in this exceptionally demanding work.... This exhibition draws on the Library’s rich music materials, especially the Leonard Bernstein Collection, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this extraordinary work." (Subject(s): West Side Story--History)
What is a Hostile Takeover?: "Last week, the drug companies American Home Products and Warner-Lambert agreed to a $72 billion merger. Hours later, Pfizer, another drug company, launched an $82 billion hostile takeover bid for Warner-Lambert. What makes some takeovers hostile? And how do they work?" Well, although somewhat dated, this 1999 article from the online magazine Slate still provides details on one such purchase that describe the current effort by Microsoft to buy Yahoo! If you're working for or are an investor in a publically-traded company... this could happen to you! (Subject(s): Business)
Winslow Homer: Behind the Scenes: This is a special Website that explains the techniques of the artist Winslow Homer. It accompanies a current exhibition of Homer's work at The Art Institute of Chicago: "Take an in-depth and detailed look at Winslow Homer’s tools, techniques, and watercolors through the eyes of curators, researchers, conservators, and conservation scientists." (Subject(s): Homer, Winslow)
World Food Situation: "Prices of most agricultural food commodities have risen sharply during the past two years. Several factors have contributed to this development: (1) low levels of world stocks (especially for wheat and maize) following two years of below-average harvests in Europe in 2006 and 2007; (2) crop failures in major producing countries like Australia in 2006 and 2007; (3) rapidly growing demand for grain-based biofuel production supported by subsidies; (4) gradual changes in agricultural policies of the OECD countries, where reduced levels of subsidies have led to lower surplus production; (5) strong economic growth in developing countries and expanding world population. In addition, agricultural markets are becoming increasingly intertwined with non-agricultural markets (energy, manufacturing, finance, etc.). Climate change and resource constraints (water supply in particular) are also influencing overall food supply and demand." This site tracks and reports on the global causes of raising prices and shorten stocks of basic food staples throughout the world. (Subject(s): Food)
WorldWideScience.org: "WorldWideScience.org is a global science gateway connecting you to national and international scientific databases. WorldWideScience.org accelerates scientific discovery and progress by providing one-stop searching of global science sources. The WorldWideScience Alliance, a multilateral partnership, consists of participating member countries and provides the governance structure for WorldWideScience.org. Subsequent versions of WorldWideScience.org will make additional science information resources from many nations accessible via this portal." (Subject(s): Science)

The 10 Pieces of U.S. Infrastructure We Must Fix Now

This is the online version of an article By Erik Sofge and The Editors of Popular Mechanics, published in the May 2008 issue: "No one can predict what bridge, levee or water main will fail next. But some problems are widely known, and work is long overdue. As PM's new special report makes starkly clear, we need to begin rebuilding the nation's infrastructure somewhere. Here are 10 great places to start." (Subject(s): )


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