After seeing my earlier post on Time magazine’s best websites, a colleague sent this list of A-Z New and Notable Websites, geared more towards an academic audience. Do you know PressDisplay or want to compare European countries? Or use an Engineering Dictionary? Check out the list!
“People have always been fascinated by aquatic and marine stories and imagery. Many gorgeous 18th century books provide lovingly hand-colored images of curious fish and other living creatures. Narratives of exploration have included wonderful pictures of explorers crossing polar seas and icecaps.” and 19 This is how the Freshwater and Marine Image Bank from the University of Washington introduces its new digital collection of images. This collection includes images of fish, shellfish, marine mammals, dams, vessels, fish hatcheries, and all other limological (freshwater) subjects. The collection of over 21,000 images were scanned in from sources published between 1735 and 1924. This collection also includes a list of sources for more images and related works as well as a bibliography.
URL: http://content.lib.washington.edu/fishweb/index.html
Are you looking for articles about film and television productions? Need a source that delves into the the nature of sex in Streetcar Named Desire? Then be sure to try the Film Literature Index from the Indiana University, which covers over 150 film and television journals along with 200 other periodicals with articles on film and television. The index covers the range of articles from popular to scholarly from 1976 to 2001 with over 700,000 citations included. To search for articles one may search by keyword, production title, subject, or even particular persons in film and television. This index is something you will want to bookmark for later use.
URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/fli/index.jsp
Time magazine online has their list of the 50 best Web sites of 2009 – how many are YOU familiar with? Granted, not many of them are scholarly resources, but you probably use – or could be using – a good number of them on a regular basis!
Now, if you are looking for the best free REFERENCE sites, here is a reminder to check out the ALA RUSA annual lists, including the newly published 2009 list.
Want to explore the treasures of Iraq’s long cultural history? Luckily, there is the Virtual Museum of Iraq for just that. Funded by the Italian government the museum allows visitors to explore eight galleries highlighting Iraq’s past from prehistoric to the Islamic period. Each object in the collection has a description and animated video to explain the object and its significance. Along with the selected objects each gallery also contain information and maps about each period. So if you are interested in exploring some of the history from the Fertile Crescent then explore this site.
URL: http://www.virtualmuseumiraq.cnr.it/prehome.htm
A string quartet consists of two violins, viola, and violoncello and is considered to be one of the most widely-cultivated instrumental ensemble of Classical period chamber music. The Classical String Quartet, 1770-1840 is a collection from the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library at Duke University which is exhibiting about 40 works for the string quartet. These works, or in some cases parts of works that survived, represent composers whose works are now rarely found in modern anthologies collections. Works from composers such as Emanuel Aloys Förster (1748-1823), Peter Hänsel (1770-1831), and many others. Be sure to also explore the USM Libraries Music Score collection for other great quartet works.
URL:http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/quartets/
The National Library of Medicine sent me a brochure advertising their newest, interactive Web site Tox Town. “Enhanced with lively graphics, sound effects, and animation”, you can stroll thru town and see the hazardous materials that affect your health. Definitely worth sharing with kids, especially during this October’s Children’s Health Month!
URL: http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/
The Monastic Matrix brings together information, both primary sources and images, together to document the participation of Christian women in both society and religion in medieval Europe, 400 to 1600 C.E. The site is divided into six areas; the Monasticon, a repertory of community profiles of every kind; Vitae, entries on individuals important to and associated with the women’s religious history and communities; Cartularium, a collection of primary source documents; A Bibliographia of published and unpublished bibliographies and names; Figurae, a visual library of images; and a Vocabularium explaining the vocabulary of these religious communities. All together this is a fascinating collection of images and sources for anyone looking for information on iconography, history, or gender studies.
URL: http://monasticmatrix.usc.edu/
Expeditions and Discoveries is one of the newest online collections from Harvard University. The collection contains maps, photographs, field notes, letters and even manuscript materials from various expeditions between 1626 and 1953. Harvard University acting as underwriter, participant, collector and repository for several expeditions in the 19th and 20th centuries has made some of these records available online. The collection can be search by the topic/purpose of the expedition, the locations visited/explored, or by notable persons mentioned in or taking part in the expedition. So whether you are looking for information on the Hassler Expedition to South America, 1871–1872 or maps and images from the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, 1902–1904 this would a collection to explore.
URL: http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/expeditions/expeditions.html
This collection of health care management Web sites in the September issue of C&RL News, a library journal, reviews sites on health care models, trends, foreign health systems, policy, and reform. It will be useful for students or staff researching health care reform.
URL: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2009/sep/healthcare.cfm
Author: Shikha Sharma, UConn
