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| New This Week for April 2, 2009 |
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This Week This week's collection includes flooding in the Red River Valley, narcissism, Swiss bank accounts, Dante, and ongoing celebrations of Abe Lincoln's 200th birthday. Bon appetit from librarians Charlotte, Jennifer, Maria, and Wendy. Tip of the Week About this time of year we generally trot out our tax humor sites, which should summon up a weak smile even as we get closer to the 15th. |
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Arts and Humanities
Danteworlds
"[A]n integrated multimedia journey -- combining artistic images, textual commentary, and audio recordings -- through the three realms of the afterlife (Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise) presented in Dante's 'Divine Comedy.'" Find material about the nine circles of hell, the seven terraces of purgatory, the ten celestial heavens (including the seven planetary spheres), and other areas discussed in Dante's epic poem. From the University of Texas at Austin.
URL: http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27820
Darkness Visible: A Resource for Studying Milton's Paradise Lost
This website discusses the "challenging epic ['Paradise Lost'] with an accessibility that will enable those new to Milton to familiarize themselves with the poet, his work and his themes, but without ... shying away from more difficult ideas." Resources include "a plot summary, character descriptions, essays with suggestions for further reading, a biography of the poet, and a gallery of illustrations including some interactive images." From Christ's College at Cambridge University.
URL: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/darknessvisible/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27198
From Shell to Symbol: Art of the Ethnic Easter Egg
This exhibit feature Easter eggs "hand-decorated with elaborate, richly symbolic designs. They represent the work of four Wisconsin artists sustaining their ethnic and religious traditions." Exhibit sections highlight eggs decorated in several Eastern European traditions, such as the pysanky wax-resist process from Ukraine, colorful ribbon decorations, and triangle and cross-hatching designs. From the Wisconsin Historical Society.
URL: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/exhibits/eggs/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27931
Business
How Swiss Bank Accounts Work
This article aims to dispel myths propagated in popular culture (such as James Bond movies and "The Da Vinci Code") about the operation of Swiss bank accounts. "People who live in countries with unstable governments and banks in particular often turn to Swiss banks because of their security and privacy." Topics include private versus retail banking, Swiss bank account advantages, history, regulations, numbered accounts, and opening an account. From HowStuffWorks.
URL: http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/banking/swiss-bank-acc...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28122
Swiss Banking
Questions and answers about the Swiss banking system. Topics include whether a Swiss bank account can be opened entirely via the Internet, the difference between "anonymous" and "numbered" accounts, the safety of Swiss banks, and how "secret" Swiss banks are ("rights to privacy can be suspended when a criminal investigation is underway"). Includes links to related issues such as client confidentiality. From the Swiss Bankers Association.
URL: http://www.swissbanking.org/en/home/dossier-bankkunden/dossier-bankkun...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28123
Treasury Announces Mutual Agreement With Switzerland Regarding Tax Information Exchange
This 2003 press release describes how U.S. and Swiss authorities are working "to ensure that no safe haven exists anywhere in the world [such as in Swiss bank accounts] for the funds associated with illicit activities, including tax evasion." Includes the text of the Mutual Agreement under the current U.S.-Swiss Income Tax Convention, and letters from American and Swiss officials. From the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
URL: http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/kd3795.htm
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28124
Government
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District
Website for this U.S. Army Corps of Engineers district whose "borders follow the edges of four river basins -- Mississippi River, Red River of the North, Souris River and Rainy River." Find details about the district's operation of dams and locks in the region, emergency response (including floods in 2009, 2001, and 1997, and the I-35W bridge collapse of 2007), and other projects in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa.
URL: http://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28172
Health
A Field Guide to Narcissism
This light-hearted 2006 article considers narcissists: "charming, exasperating, captivating -- and sometimes downright ludicrous. The weird world of the megalomaniac, explained." Discusses the narcissist in the conference room and in love, why some people become narcissistic, "your inner narcissist," and the "Hollywood Cure" (examples of movies where "[d]ropkicking a character out of their grandiosity is a cherished plot twist"). From Psychology Today Magazine.
URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20051209-000005.html
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28160
Medpedia
Website for a "project to evolve a new model for sharing and advancing knowledge about health, medicine and the body among medical professionals and the general public." Features articles about health conditions and issues. All contributors are either physicians or have Ph.D.s in a health science. Provided in association with the Harvard Medical School; Stanford School of Medicine; University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health; University of Michigan Medical School; and others.
URL: http://www.medpedia.com/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28175
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Background about narcissistic personality disorder, "a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration." Topics include definition, symptoms, causes, risk factors, when to seek medical advice, complications, treatment, and lifestyle and home remedies. From the Mayo Clinic.
URL: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS0...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28157
Researchers Shine Spotlight on Narcissistic Personality Disorder
This 2008 article considers how "[n]ow that a number of Americans have been identified as narcissists, it is time to learn more about them. For instance, why are so many narcissists men and especially young men?" Begins with a mention of Narcissus in Greek-Roman mythology, and describes the results of a study that found "the lifetime prevalence of narcissistic personality disorder among American adults is 6 percent." From the American Psychiatric Association.
URL: http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/43/15/38
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28159
People
21st Century Abe
Abraham Lincoln "was born two hundred years ago. ... But why are we in the 21st century still obsessed with this 19th-century man? ... What does this popular Abe have to do with the historical Abe?" This site will take six months (from February 2009) to answer these questions. Includes responses from scholars and artists, and an opportunity for you to add material. From the Rosenbach Museum & Library.
URL: http://www.21stcenturyabe.org/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28127
The Official Website of Mark Twain
In a technological twist that Samuel Langhorne Clemens might have relished, nearly 100 years after his death (April 12, 1910) Mark Twain has an official website. Includes a brief biography, fast facts, list of writings, photos, and quotes about and by Twain (such as "The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter."). Includes links to related sites. From the Estate of Mark Twain.
URL: http://www.cmgww.com/historic/twain/index.php
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27889
Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission
"Based at the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, the purpose of the Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission is to organize, arrange, and coordinate bicentennial tributes to Abraham Lincoln in Pennsylvania." Its site features a bicentennial calendar with 2009 events, and material about Lincoln in Pennsylvania, including a timeline, the text of the Gettysburg Address (November 1863), and information about the Lincoln funeral train (which passed through Pennsylvania April 21-24, 1865).
URL: http://www.palincoln.org/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28128
Ready Reference & Quick Facts
Facts for Features Special Edition: Indianapolis Motor Speedway 100th Anniversary
Quick facts and statistics related to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which celebrates its centennial in 2009. "One hundred years after the first of more than 300 races at the speedway, it remains home of the world-famous Indianapolis 500, as well as NASCAR's Brickyard 400, and some motorcycle and Formula One events." Find data on Indianapolis, Indiana, auto racing, automobiles, and recreational vehicles (RVs). From the U.S. Census Bureau.
URL: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_fe...
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28118
Regional: California
California Labor History
This website "enables users to explore, by location, date, or text search, over 1200 key events in the state's labor history that have affected the lives of working people [in California]. Detailed short essays describe the larger historical context." Mouse over the map to learn about events, and see the exhibit section to learn about topics such as foreign miners' license tax during the Gold Rush, the 1934 general strike, and Cesar Chavez.
URL: http://calpedia.sfsu.edu/calabor/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27679
Promoting Offbeat History Between the Drinks
Feature about the California organization Order of E. Clampus Vitus, "a Gold Rush-era organization whose goofball sensibilities are offset by a single, serious pursuit: a tendency to plaque all things historical, an obsession that continues to this day." Includes discussion of the Clampers' historical points of interest vs. those in the WPA Guide to California. The interactive map pinpoints sites of some of the Clampers' plaques in the Sierra Nevada. From the New York Times.
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/us/14california.html
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27050
Regions of the World
French Easter (Pâques) Traditions
Description of Easter traditions in France. Discusses Easter eggs, poisson d'Avril (French chocolate Easter fish) and the related April Fools' Day-type trick in which children try to stick "a paper fish onto the back of as many adults as possible, then run away yelling, 'Poisson d'Avril!'," cloche volant (chocolate flying bells), and Easter games. From a site providing "unique and valuable articles for those planning to visit France."
URL: http://www.frenchfriends.info/culture/easter_paques_traditions
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27934
Ukraine and Ukrainian Easter
Description of Ukrainian Easter traditions. Topics include when Easter is celebrated, contemporary practices, ritual spring songs and dances, ancient traditions, paska (Easter ritual bread), and Easter baskets (which "should contain only a sampling of the foods you are going to eat at Eastertime"), and pysanky (decorated Ukrainian Easter eggs). Includes a recipe for paska and images of decorations for the top of the paska. From a website promoting Ukrainian culture and economic development.
URL: http://www.brama.com/art/easter.html
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/27933
Science
The "Fargo Flood" Home Page
This page "provides access to scientific (i.e. geologic and hydrologic) and historic information on flooding in the Fargo [North Dakota] region." Find current water levels of the Red River, photos (including the March 2009 flooding), data, forecasts, satellite imagery, and related material. Includes links to current information about the 2009 floods and to highway, weather, and emergency websites. Also includes photos of 2009, 1997, 1897, and other floods. From North Dakota State University.
URL: http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/fargoflood/
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28171
Society & Social Science
Rothschild Haggadah
Digitized version of this 15th-century Passover haggadah that belonged to the Rothschild family until 1939, when the Nazis looted it. In 1948, Dr. Fred Towsley Murphy acquired it and donated it to the Yale University library. "In 1980, it was identified as a Rothschild manuscript and returned to its former owners who donated it to the Jewish National Library [now the National Library of Israel]." From the National Library of Israel.
URL: http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/mss/heb6130/index_eng.html
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/28174
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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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