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| New This Week for April 24, 2008 |
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This Week This week's collection includes Ian Fleming's 100th birthday, cushy plane travel, earthquakes where you might least expect them, carbon offsetting, and community gardening; the "Positive Exposure" entry is a beautiful photographic portrayal of people with genetic disorders. Bon appetit from librarians Wendy, Charlotte, Jennifer, and Maria. Tip of the Week Brush up on the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with our Cinco de Mayo sites. |
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Arts and Humanities
Asian/Pacific Americans in the U.S. Army
This presentation highlights the roles and achievements of Asian/Pacific Americans in the United States Army, covering the U.S. Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the War on Terrorism. It features profiles, photos, Medal of Honor recipients, and links to related websites. From the U.S. Army.
URL: http://www.army.mil/asianpacificsoldiers/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25886
NewsHour Extra: Poetry
This NewsHour with Jim Lehrer special for children provides a collection of material on poetry. Features contemporary poet profiles (with biographies, poems, and video clips), reports on poetry slams and performance poetry, submitted poems by students from around the world, poetry lesson plans, and links to related sites.
URL: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/poetry/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25926
Business
The Frequent Traveler: The Airline Concierge: Smoothing Out the Seams for High Fliers
This 2003 article describes the airline concierge, "a new breed of staff members whose role is the tender loving care of premium passengers, assisting them with ticketing, upgrades, connections, baggage handling, immigration and customs." It lists a few airline concierge programs, some of which are invitation-only. From the International Herald Tribune.
URL: http://www.iht.com/articles/2003/01/31/trfreq_ed3__1.php
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25862
The Merchants of Cool
Website companion to a PBS Frontline program about "the merchants of cool: creators and sellers of popular culture who have made teenagers the hottest consumer demographic in America." Features a look at the work of cool hunters (researchers specializing in youth culture), teen opinions of the program, themes of the report, interviews, and holdings of media giants. Includes the full program, classroom guide, and related material about cool hunting.
URL: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25733
Government
Congressional Tutorials Home Page
"These tutorials show you how to find Congressional materials in the Library and on the Internet." Topics of these Flash videos include finding recent bills (1989-present), hearings, and Congressional debates. Also includes a tutorial on how to contact your Congressional representatives. Note: Includes links to some sites that require a fee to use. From Jesse Silva and Karen Munro, librarians at the University of California, Berkeley.
URL: http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/wikis/congresearch/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25933
Democratic National Convention: How to Become a Delegate
This site answers the question "How do you become a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention?" Features an overview of the types of delegates: district-level, at-large, add-on, and party leaders and elected official (PLEO). Some of the add-on and PLEO delegates are unpledged, and are known as superdelegates in the media. Also includes an interactive delegate map, and a link to the 2008 delegate selection rules. From the Democratic National Convention Committee.
URL: http://www.demconvention.com/how-to-become-a-delegate/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25941
Democratic Super Delegate Tracker
"Who are Democratic super delegates? These nearly 800 Democratic party leaders and officials, who may vote independently of their state's primary or caucus results, will comprise 20 percent of the total delegate pool at the 2008 [presidential] nominating convention." This site provides a list of superdelegates with endorsement information and news updates. Part of the Online NewsHour site for the 2008 presidential election.
URL: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008/primaries/superdelegates/search.p...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25940
Health
Positive Exposure: The Spirit of Difference
Positive Exposure is a nonprofit organization that takes and displays photos of people with genetic differences in order to celebrate "the beauty and richness of human diversity. The organization is a unique partnership between visual arts, genetics, mental health and human rights." This brochure describes the program and displays beautiful photos of individuals who were born with genetic diseases such as Sturge-Weber Syndrome, Lowe Syndrome, and albinism. Opens directly into a PDF document.
URL: http://www.positiveexposure.org/files/positive_exposure.pdf
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25930
People
Ian Fleming Centenary, 1908-2008
"2008 marks the centenary of the birth of the writer, Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond. To mark Ian Fleming's extraordinary and lasting contribution to British culture and to celebrate his life, various events are planned throughout the year." This site provides a brief biography of this author of the James Bond novels and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," audio of Fleming speaking about basic ingredients of thriller writing, bibliography and details about centennial events.
URL: http://www.ianflemingcentenary.com/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25246
Regional: California
California Japantowns
This website explores "the historic legacies of Japantown communities across the state and the vibrant communities of the three remaining Japantowns in California," in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose. Features maps of the three Japantowns with architectural heritage information, profiles of other Japanese American communities in the state, stories, bibliography, preservation resources, and more. A collaboration of the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council and Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.
URL: http://www.californiajapantowns.org/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/24715
Roots in the Sand
Companion website to a documentary that is "a multi-generational portrait of pioneering Punjabi-Mexican families who settled, a century ago, in Southern California's Imperial Valley." Explore family and individual stories, a chronology, maps (of the Punjab region of India and of Imperial Valley and California), photos, outtakes and interviews from the film, and related features. From the National Asian American Telecommunications Association and Latino Public Broadcasting.
URL: http://www.pbs.org/rootsinthesand/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25891
Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF)
The 2007 Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities (WGCEP 2007), a multi-disciplinary collaboration of scientists and engineers, has released [in April 2008] the ...UCERF -- the first comprehensive framework for comparing earthquake likelihoods throughout all of California." The report predicts "California has a 99.7% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake during the next 30 years." Includes the full report, a fact sheet, executive summary, a podcast, and related material.
URL: http://www.scec.org/ucerf/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25942
Regions of the World
Casino Royale
This British travel site celebrates Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond, who first appeared in the novel "Casino Royale." Features a list of Bond locations, and a 2-day itinerary that lets you "[i]ndulge in the ultimate James Bond experience. Make your way around Bond's London, learn about what makes a great spy, ... and even visit the place where the phrase 'shaken, not stirred' was coined." From VisitBritain, the British the national tourism agency.
URL: http://www.visitbritain.us/things-to-see-and-do/interests/films/recent...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25902
Central United States Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC)
Website for this "partnership of the federal government and the eight states most affected by earthquakes in the central United States. Those states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee." Includes descriptions of the New Madrid Seismic Zone and the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone (site of an earthquake on April 18, 2008), a link to current earthquake activity in the central U.S., earthquake safety material, and related information.
URL: http://www.cusec.org/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25945
New Madrid Earthquakes 1811-1812
Background about the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes in the Midwest. "On the basis of the large area of damage ... the widespread area of perceptibility ... and the complex physiographic changes that occurred, the Mississippi River valley earthquakes of 1811-1812 rank as some of the largest in the United States since its settlement by Europeans." Includes an earthquake summary, subsequent historical images, eyewitness accounts, and maps. From the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
URL: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1811-1812.php
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25944
Science
Voluntary Carbon Offset Information Portal
Information about buying carbon offsets to neutralize carbon dioxide emissions created by individual air travel. Features a consumer handout on "flying green," report on voluntary offsets for air travel carbon emissions, a paper with an overview of international climate change policies and the current carbon market, description of offset project types, list of carbon offset companies, a glossary, and more. A joint project of Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Tufts Climate Initiative (TCI).
URL: http://www.tufts.edu/tie/tci/carbonoffsets/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25924
Society & Social Science
Acid Attacks: Bangladesh's Efforts to Stop the Violence
This 2002 article discusses acid attacks in Bangladesh, most of which are against women with "the most common reasons for attack being the refusal of marriage, the denial of sex, and the rejection of romance." Provides an overview of nongovernmental organization (NGO) efforts to stop the violence. From the Harvard Health Policy Review.
URL: http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~epihc/currentissue/spring2002/swanson.php
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25917
American Community Gardening Association: Learn
Background about community gardens, "[a]ny piece of land gardened by a group of people." Features profiles of U.S. community gardens (browsable by geographic location), a guide to starting a community garden, audio of gardening teleconferences, a best practices series covering topics such as children's gardening and saving seeds, a FAQ, and other related publications and links. From the American Community Gardening Association.
URL: http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25921
Asian Pacific American History and Culture
Compilation of Smithsonian Institution resources on Asian American history and culture, covering topics such as ancestor worship and Chinese-American teenagers, Japanese Americans during World War II, and Hawaiian luaus. From Encyclopedia Smithsonian.
URL: http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/History_and_Culture/AsianPacificAmer...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25888
Room to Read
"Room to Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to establish schools, libraries, and other educational infrastructure" to help children learn to read in their local language and in a foreign language, often English. The site describes programs such as local language publishing of children's books, computer and language labs, and girls' scholarships. Provides updates of activities in Cambodia, India, Nepal, South Africa, Zambia, and other countries.
URL: http://www.roomtoread.org/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25792
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): Billion Tree Campaign
This UNEP campaign encourages "communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments ... to enter tree planting pledges online with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide each year." The idea for the campaign was inspired by Professor Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2004 and founder of Kenya's Green Belt Movement. Site also includes facts and figures, tree planting tips, program album, photos, and more.
URL: http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25947
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Thanks for reading LII New This Week!
Jennifer English, Liaison to Califa Library Group
Wendy Hyman, Senior Editor
Maria Brandt, Associate Editor
Charlotte Bagby, Senior Weeder
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