El Dorado County Library's What's New on the Internet for the Week of May 18th, 2009

What's Hot on the Internet This Week
Week of May 18th, 2009
The arrow indicates a recommended site and a points to a site with local information.

New Monthly Data Series on the Employment Status of People With a Disability

"In June 2008, questions were added to the Current Population Survey (CPS) to identify persons with a disability in the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and older. The addition of these questions allowed BLS to begin releasing monthly labor force data from the CPS for persons with a disability. The collection of these data is sponsored by the Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy. Publication of CPS disability data began in February 2009 with the issuance of labor force data for January 2009.... In April 2009, the unemployment rate of persons with a disability was 12.9 percent, compared with 8.4 percent for persons with no disability, not seasonally adjusted. The employment-population ratio for persons with a disability was 19.9 percent, compared with 64.9 percent for persons with no disability." You can read the complete report and see the data for the last 6 months at this site. Data is collected and published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Subject(s): Disabled--Statistics & Employment--Statistics)

2009 Top Toys for Kids!: "We Are Here To Help You Find the Best Toys, In Stock. We review the lists of top toys on the Internet, ask kids to give us their opinions, and find the best deals at major retailers... Top Toys for Kids is an Affiliate Site for Amazon, Linkshare, Commission Junction, Google Affiliate Network, and Shareasale. Through These Networks, we find the best toy deals at Major Retailers." (Subject(s): Consumers & Toys)
A-Z Music Lyrics: "Browse A-Z lyrics for various songs or use the following music style (genre) categories... * Rock, * Pop, * Gospel (including hard to find black, christian, southern, bluegrass), * Rap (freestyle battle, r&b, hip hop), * Italian, * Disney, * Oldies but goodies (golden love songs of 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.), * Spanish, * Old and new country... " (Subject(s): Lyrics)
AfricaMap: "This project attempts to address a basic problem for all scholarship on Africa that treats where things happen as necessary to understanding how and why they happen: finding places on a map. Despite the existence of excellent public maps for Africa, to date there is no common source that allows students, researchers, and the general public to: 1. Interact with the best available public data for Africa 2. See the whole of Africa yet also zoom in to particular places 3. Accumulate both contemporary and historical data supplied by researchers and make it permanently accessible online [and] 4. Work collaboratively across disciplines and organizations with spatial information about Africa in an online environment." (Subject(s): Africa--Maps)
Ancient Petitions, Henry III - James I: "Search and download over 17,000 images from the series of Ancient Petitions which draws together petitions addressed to the king, to the king and council, to the king and council in parliament, to the chancellor, and to certain other officers of state. The petitions include detailed information about the circumstances of the parties involved, and the conditions of the locality. These documents reveal something of the attitude to public authority in the later Middle Ages and the social conventions and political culture. Most of the petitions are in Anglo-Norman French, although some early examples are in Latin, while English was increasingly used as the fifteenth century progressed. Most of the petitions came from England, but a significant minority were from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Aquitaine, Gascony and other parts of France... Generally the petitions fall into two categories: some ask for the redress of grievances which could not be resolved at common law; others are straightforward requests for a grant of favour. The formal statement of grievance or request which lies at the heart of each petition can include detailed information about the circumstances of the petitioner, as well as a wealth of incidental material about social, political, economic and cultural conditions." This informative Web database has been collected and placed online by The National Archives in Great Britain. (Subject(s): Great Britain--History)
A Case of Considerable Interest: This Website is companion to "An exhibition celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection of the Toronto Public Library." "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is best known for his detective stories about Sherlock Holmes, but he was also the author of many other works and one of the best known public figures of the late Victorian age. A Case of Considerable Interest presents some of the unique and varied items housed in the Toronto Public Library’s Arthur Conan Doyle Collection, an amazing collection devoted to the life and works of Conan Doyle and to the publishing phenomenon that is Sherlock Holmes." (Subject(s): Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930. Sherlock Holmes)
The Children's Book Council: "The Children’s Book Council is the national nonprofit trade association for children’s trade book publishers. The CBC offers children’s publishers the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to the industry at large, including educational programming, literacy advocacy, and collaborations with other national organizations." (Subject(s): Juvenile Literature)
MedlinePlus: Chiropractic: "Chiropractic is an alternative medical system. It takes a different approach from standard medicine in treating health problems. The basic concepts of chiropractic are * Your body has a powerful self-healing ability * Your body's structure (mainly the spine) and its function are related * The goal of chiropractic therapy is to normalize this relationship. Chiropractic professionals are doctors of chiropractic, or D.C.s. They use a type of hands-on therapy called spinal manipulation or adjustment. Many people visit chiropractors for treatment of low back pain." This site will explain the methods used by these professionals and how such service can help a patient. (Subject(s): Chiropractic)
ConnectSafely: "ConnectSafely is for parents, teens, educators, advocates - everyone engaged in and interested in the impact of the social Web. The user-driven, all-media, multi-platform, fixed and mobile social Web is a big part of young people's lives, and this is the central space – linked to from social networks across the Web - for learning about safe, civil use of Web 2.0 together. Our forum is also designed to give teens and parents a voice in the public discussion about youth online safety begun back in the '90s. ConnectSafely also has all kinds of social-media safety tips for teens and parents, the latest youth-tech news, and many other resources. ConnectSafely.org is a project of Tech Parenting Group, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Palo Alto, Calif., and Salt Lake City, Utah." (Subject(s): Internet and Children)
The Dambusters Raid: "On the night of 16 May 1943, the specially formed 617 Squadron flew 19 modified Lancaster bombers to Germany on a mission that was to become one of the most famous episodes of the Second World War, the Dambusters raid. We retell the story using original documents and images from The National Archives. You can see Barnes Wallis' concept drawings for the 'bouncing bomb', 617 Squadron's log books of the Dams raid, the first air reconnaissance photos of the successfully breached Dams and many more fascinating historical records." (Subject(s): World War, 1939-1945--History)
Earth Science World Image Bank: "The Earth Science World Image Bank is a service provided by the American Geological Institute (AGI). This Image Bank is designed to provide quality geoscience images to the public, educators, and the geoscience community... anuary 2006 - The Image Bank now has over 6,000 images available to search, making it one of the largest sources of Earth Science imagery available on the web! So start searching today!!!" (Subject(s): Earth Science--Photographs)
The Editorial Cartoons of J.N. "Ding" Darling: The Cowles Library Collection at Drake University: "Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling worked as a cartoonist for most of the first half of the 20th Century. He started his career at the Sioux City Journal, and in 1906 began working at the Des Moines Register and Leader (now known as the Des Moines Register). He subsequently worked for the New York Globe and the New York Herald Tribune. After his travels to New York, he returned to the Des Moines Register where he worked as a cartoonist until 1949. Ding’s work was celebrated with Pulitzer Prizes and was published in newspapers across the country. Ding was also a pioneer in the conservation movement. At a time when there was no organized environmental movement, he produced cartoons urging smarter use of our nation’s natural resources... The images presented in this collection are digital copies made from the collection of artist proofs held in Cowles Library's Special Collections at Drake University." (Subject(s): Cartoons and Comics & Darling, J.N.)
Pew Forum: Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the U.S.: "Americans change religious affiliation early and often. In total, about half of American adults have changed religious affiliation at least once during their lives. Most people who change their religion leave their childhood faith before age 24, and many of those who change religion do so more than once. These are among the key findings of a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. The survey documents the fluidity of religious affiliation in the U.S. and describes in detail the patterns and reasons for change." (NOTE: The complete report of this study available here has been saved in the Portable Document format (.pdf) and requires that you download and install the latest version of Adobe Reader to view the charts and text.) (Subject(s): Religion)
Harry Potters World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine: "In 1997, British author J. K. Rowling introduced the world to Harry Potter and a literary phenomenon was born. Millions of readers have followed Harry to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where he discovers his heritage, encounters new plants and animals, and perfects his magical abilities. Although a fantasy story, the magic in the Harry Potter books is partially based on Renaissance traditions that played an important role in the development of Western science, including alchemy, astrology, and natural philosophy. Incorporating the work of several 15th- and 16th-century thinkers, the seven-part series examines important ethical topics such as the desire for knowledge, the effects of prejudice, and the responsibility that comes with power. This exhibition, using materials from the National Library of Medicine, explores Harry Potter's world and its roots in Renaissance magic, science, and medicine." (Subject(s): Medicine, Medieval & Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
InfoPlease: Homework Center: "Infoplease is the world's largest free reference site. Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Almanacs, and Homework Help on English, math, history, geography, science, and social studies." This special index is designed to let students quickly access data from all of their online resources. To visit their homepage, click on this link InfoPlease. (Subject(s): Homework)

How Ultra-high Definition Works

This page is part of the How Stuff Works Website. It was written by Jessika Toothman: "For gadget gurus everywhere, high definition television is all the rage right now. The United States is giving high definition TV a big push by switching broadcasting standards from the use of analog and digital signals to exclusively digital signals. Although high definition TV (HDTV) can be broadcast through both types of signals, the quality seems to be better with digital, which is generally how the images are broadcast.... Bringing HDTV to the level of an internationally recognized standard format, from its humble origins a couple of decades back, is still going on. Because the process of developing and marketing new technologies is so lengthy, engineers have already started the task of developing the technology that'll proceed HDTV. This is where ultra-high definition TV comes in. Ultra-high definition TV is still largely in the prototype stages. It was pioneered by engineers at the NHK Science and Technical Research Laboratories (Nippon Hoso Kyokai, also known as the Japan Broadcasting Corporation)." Ugh! I haven't even got my 1080p 40" LCD HDTV flat panel set yet and already something new is under development? (Subject(s): Television)

Illustrated Quixote: "In the fall of 2005, the Brown University Library celebrated the 400th anniversary of the publication of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha with an exhibit featuring book illustrations and title pages from the first edition of this novel in 1605 to 2004. Considered to be the first modern novel and one of the most widely read, publishers worldwide have produced many unique illustrated editions of El Quijote over the last four centuries. World-renowned artists such as William Hogarth, Jean-Honoeé Fragonard, Honoré Daumier, Gustave Doré, Francisco de Goya, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso have portrayed the character of Don Quixote from a madman to a misunderstood hero. This project, a digital version of physical exhibit, reproduces illustrations of El Quijote created before the turn of the 20th century and printed in editions held in the Brown University Library. Visitors will be able to access numerous renditions of Don Quixote by Charles-Antoine Coypel, John Vanderbank, Antonio Carnicero, José Brunete, François Marie Isidore Queverdo, Manuel Peleguer, José Rivelles y Helip, Robert Smirke, Henry Liverseege, Pierre Choquet, Thomas Stothard, Richard Westall, Gustave Doré, and Gustave Pierre Eugène Staal to name a few." (Subject(s): Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 1547-1616. Don Quixote de la Mancha)
Internet Law Library: "The Internet Law Library (formerly the U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library) was originally provided to the public courtesy of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. This was part of the Counsel's mission to make the law available to the public. The site provided links to a large number of legal resources relating to American (federal and state) and foreign laws." (Subject(s): Law--United States)
The Life of Birds: ""The Life of Birds" took three years to make at a cost of $15 million. Sir David Attenborough travelled 256,000 miles during filming - 10 times round the Earth. The production employed 48 cameramen and camerawomen, many of them battle-hardened veterans of overseas wildlife filming, working in 42 countries on five continents. They used up 200 miles of film on 300 bird subjects. They applied the latest techniques of ultra-slow motion filming, night vision cameras and tiny cameras that film inside nests, allied to plain old-fashioned field craft, to bring in footage of some of the world's rarest birds and examples of remarkable avian behaviour never filmed before. The few failures were greatly outnumbered by many spectacular filming successes." This is the companion Website to the series that appeared on PBS. (Subject(s): Birds)
The Mannahatta Project: "Ever wondered what New York like before it was a city? Welcome to Mannahatta, 1609. Now, after nearly a decade of research, the Mannahatta Project at the Wildlife Conservation Society has un-covered the original ecology of Manhattan. That’s right, the center of one of the world’s largest and most built-up cities was once a natural landscape of hills, valleys, forests, fields, freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, beaches, springs, ponds and streams, supporting a rich and abundant community of wildlife and sustaining people for perhaps 5000 years before Europeans arrived on the scene in 1609. It turns out that the concrete jungle of New York City was once a vast deciduous forest, home to bears, wolves, songbirds, and salamanders, with clear, clean waters jumping with fish. In fact, with over 55 different ecological communities, Mannahatta’s biodiversity per acre rivaled that of national parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite and the Great Smoky Mountains!" Follow this interesting story right here at this richly-detailed site. (Subject(s): Conservation and Restoration--New York & New York--History)
MedicineNet: "MedicineNet.com is an online, healthcare media publishing company. It provides easy-to-read, in-depth, authoritative medical information for consumers via its robust, user-friendly, interactive web site. Since 1996, MedicineNet.com has had a highly accomplished, uniquely experienced team of qualified Webster's New World Medical Dictionary - authored by MedicineNetexecutives in the fields of medicine, healthcare, Internet technology, and business to bring you the most comprehensive, sought after healthcare information anywhere." "Read doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns." (Subject(s): Medicine--Encyclopedias & Medicine--News)
MykoWeb: Mushrooms, Fungi, Mycology: "Welcome to MykoWeb, WWW pages devoted to the science of mycology (the study of the fungi) and the hobby of mushrooming (the pursuit of mushrooms). It is a production of Michael Wood, a past president of the Mycological Society of San Francisco. MykoWeb was started in the fall of 1995 and was one of the first internet mycology mushrooming sites." For even more info on mushrooms and fungi, visit this site from the University of California Introduction to the Fungi of Athlete's Foot, Champignons, and Beer.... (Subject(s): Fungi & Mushrooms)
The Getty: A Nation Emerges: Sixty-five Years of Photography in Mexico: Photographs of Mexico from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century from the special collections of the Getty Research Library at the Getty Research Institute. "A Nation Emerges: Sixty-five Years of Photography in Mexico represents the work of 30 known Mexican, European, and American photographers, as well as that of anonymous photographers, with over 600 images. Photographic formats include albumen, collodion, and gelatin silver prints, cartes-de-visite, cabinet cards, photo albums, and postcards. The earliest images in the site were made in 1857, the same year that Benito Juárez was appointed acting president of the Republic of Mexico. However, the majority span the period from the beginning of the French Intervention in the early 1860s to the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1920. This tumultuous and dynamic period in the history of Mexico coincided with rapid developments in the new field of photography. This resource provides a case study of how quickly photography came to be an indispensable means of documenting, recording, and disseminating multiple views of history." Info about visiting or viewing other online exhibitions can be found at the Museums homepage The Getty. (Subject(s): Mexico--History--Photographs)
Nevada Test Site Oral History Project: "The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas is a comprehensive program dedicated to documenting, preserving and disseminating the remembered past of persons affiliated with and affected by the Nevada Test Site during the era of Cold War nuclear testing. From September 2003 through January 2008 a wide range of oral history narrators participated in the project including: national laboratory scientists & engineers; labor trades and support personnel; cabinet-level officials, military personnel & corporate executives; Native American tribal & spiritual leaders; peace activists and protesters; Nevada ranchers, families & communities downwind of the test site. Interviews with more than 150 people totaling 335 hours, related transcripts, documents and photographs are housed in UNLV Lied Library's Department of Special Collections. Searchable transcripts, selected audio and video clips, scanned photographs and images are available on this website. In December 1950, President Harry S. Truman approved the establishment of a continental nuclear proving ground 65 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. Between 1951 and 1992, 1021 nuclear detonations took place at the Nevada Test Site - one-hundred explosions were in the atmosphere and 921 were underground. It is estimated that the test site employed 125,000 during the Cold War." To visit the official U.S. Government site describing the Test Site area, visit this page from the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office. (Subject(s): Atomic Bombs--History & Nuclear Energy--History)

FRONTLINE/World: Pakistan: State of Emergency: "High in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province, the Swat Valley has long been an idyllic vacation destination, just 100 miles from the country’s capital, Islamabad. But Swat is also not far from the border with Afghanistan, and in the past two years, Taliban fighters have moved into the region. Joined by local insurgents, they have formed a new “Pakistani Taliban” that is trying to take over the region. In October 2007, these Taliban forces launched an offensive, overrunning 60 towns in the Swat Valley and declaring a jihad or “holy war” against the U.S.-backed government of President Pervez Musharraf. “I’ve come here to understand how this valley became a terrorist haven,” says FRONTLINE/World reporter David Montero, as he goes into a region that is now off-limits to most journalists. Once the crown jewel of Pakistan’s tourism trade, Swat is a battleground. The hotels are empty, the buildings pockmarked by bullets." Read and view this special FRONTLINE/World report here. (Subject(s): Pakistan--News)
SEAAdoc - Documenting the Southeast Asian American Experience: "SEAAdoc is an educational resource of the Southeast Asian Archive at the UC Irvine Libraries focusing on post-1975 refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and the communities they have developed in the United States. It contains 1,500 visual images and 4,000 pages of searchable text selected from the Archive to represent a cross section of our holdings. SEAAdoc documents the exodus of Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants from their homelands, their experiences in Asian refugee camps, and subsequent resettlement in the United States. Other materials reveal cultural, economic, educational, political, and social aspects of the new Southeast Asian American communities that have developed, and continue to grow, in the United States." (Subject(s): Southeast Asian Americans--History)
Sherlockian.Net: "'He sits motionless, like a spider in the centre of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them.' -- "The Final Problem' Like Professor Moriarty, Sherlockian.Net sits in the centre of the Web. This site is maintained by Chris Redmond, author of A Sherlock Holmes Handbook and other Sherlockian books." For info about Holmes' creator, visit this site Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the Prolific Writer Online Exhibit. This "Online exhibition is meant to be a companion to the display in Marylebone Reference Library and to complement the existing Sherlock Homes online exhibition." (Subject(s): Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1853-1930 & Sherlock Holmes (Fictitious Character))
Summer Movie Preview: "The summer movie season is generally a time when the studios pull out their big guns, and 2009 is no exception. In this year's Summer Movie Preview, we've got superheroes (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and a couple reboots of classic sci-fi franchises (Star Trek and Terminator Salvation). We've got wizards (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) and real American heroes (GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra). We've got brand new films from Pixar (Up), Judd Apatow (Funny People), and Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds). For those who prefer romance to explosions, there's something for you, too (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, The Ugly Truth). And what would the summer be without sequels (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Angels & Demons)? They're all here in RT's Summer Movie Preview, your guide to what's hot in theaters this season!" And all this is brought to your doorstep by the folks at Rotten Tomatoes. (Subject(s): Movies--Reviews)
National Geographic - Travel & Cultures: "Find facts, photos, information and history, travel videos, flags, and maps of countries and cities of the world from National Geographic." There's shopping guides, special features such as the article on "50 Places of a Lifetime" and as typical of NG a section allowing you to "See Photo Galleries From Around the World." (Subject(s): Travel--Guides)
TweetMeme: "TweetMeme finds the hottest stories from twitter. Videos, Images, Blogs and lots more." "Tweetmeme is a service which aggregates all the popular links on twitter to determine which links are popular. Tweetmeme is able to categorize these links into categories and subcategories, making it easy to filter out the noise to find what your interested in. We make it easy for you to subscribe to each category and the most popular through our RSS feeds and Twitter accounts, you can find out more about theses through our help." (Subject(s): Twitter)
What It Costs: "What It Costs is an online leader in providing information on the costs associated with a wide variety of services and concepts. Whether you want to know the price range of practical activities -- such as removing a tree stump from your yard, having your teeth whitened or joining a gym – or are interested in our more unusual articles – such as the cost of climbing the Seven Summits, being cryogenically frozen or cleaning up a murder scene – you will find all this and more on our website. Our experienced team of writers research and compile the latest information on these and a host of other timely topics and present the facts in a thorough and easy-to-read format. We also regularly add new content, so you will always find something new and exciting on our site." (Subject(s): Consumers)
Women in Sport Magazine: This Web database has been placed online by the editors at the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation. It provides links to all back issues of the magazine from Summer 2003 to Autumn 2007. (Subject(s): Sports for Women)
World War Poster Collection: "The Rare Book & Texana Collections includes among its holdings a collection of over 600 original World War I and World War II posters. The World War I posters include a number of French examples, while the World War II group consists primarily of American home front posters. War bonds, rationing, enlistment, security, and morale are all topics treated by these artworks. The collection includes posters by such famous artists as Normal Rockwell, Theodore Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss), and Boris Artzybasheff." Other online exhibitions and digitized books at the University of North Texas Libraries can be found in their Rare Book and Texana Collections database. (Subject(s): World War, 1914-1918--History--Posters & World War, 1939-1945--History--Posters)
YouTube - Watch TV shows on YouTube: From documentaries and biographies to comedies, horror and adventure films, you too can view both movies and TV shows from the links on this page from YouTube. Some of the most recent arrivals here are the original "Little Shop of Horrors" (with Jack Nicholson in his debut!) to Werner Herzog's mind-bending documentary entitled "Fitzcarraldo," you'll find a decent (or trashy) film to watch online right here. (Subject(s): Television)

A Brief History of: Credit Cards

Written by M.J. Stephey for the Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009 issue of Time Magazine, this article traces our addiction to credit. "It was status and convenience in two breezy words: Charge it. But in these leaner times, shoppers are thinking twice before pulling out the plastic, even as analysts predict credit-card defaults could total more than $75 billion this year.... Charge cards have been around since the 1920s, when service stations, department stores and hotel chains began offering them to automobile-loving consumers who didn't want to trek back to their hometown bank to get cash. But it wasn't until the postwar boom of the 1950s that credit cards really caught on." But are the banks wholly responsible for our nation's massive credit card debt? Well, maybe not as Time suggests. Read this article published on May 12th, 2009 and see if you agree: The Real Problem with Credit Cards: The Cardholders. (Subject(s): Credit Cards--History)


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