African American Experience: an online database collection

Developed with the guidance of African American librarians and subject specialists, The American Mosaic: The African American Experience (AAE) has the widest depth and breadth of information available of any online database collection on African American history and culture.
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The contributions of African Americans to every aspect of the United States—from the initial settlement of the Americas to the present day—are substantial. The African American experience encompasses the myriad contributions of individuals from the African American community who have achieved prominence in the arts, entertainment, the sciences, business, the military, and politics as well as nameless others that endured the travails of slavery and institutionalized discrimination. A collection that taps a tremendous variety of sources is required to cover a topic of this magnitude and the importance to understanding African American history and its relation to greater U.S. history.
Features
• Contains primary documents, including slave narratives, speeches, court cases, quotations, advertisements, statistics, and other documentation
• Provides thesis-driven, peer-reviewed scholarly essays within the exclusive Idea Exchange sections
• Provides material directly tied to associated primary source documents, images, and other classroom resources
• Includes 1,500 photographs, maps, and other images

Highlights
• Offers the widest-ranging, easiest-to-use online collection on African American history ever assembled
• Covers the experiences of African Americans from their arrival in the Americas through to the present day; material on African origins are also included
• Facilitates in-depth research for students at all levels to support classes in history, literature, political science, art, music, and other research projects
• Provides an extensive array of primary source materials, including slave narratives and other firsthand accounts, in both print and audio formats
TCC Library provides free access to the African American Experience database - login using the number at the bottom of your TCC id card, and your pin. Call 850-201-8383 for further assistance.

American Transcendentalism Web

"This "educational hypertext" was created in 1999 by Woodlief (emer., Virginia Commonwealth Univ.) for a  graduate class on transcendentalism. Somewhat difficult to define, transcendentalism was a 19th-century philosophical, political, and literary movement centered in the Boston area that developed partially in reaction to Unitarianism. It attracted some of the most outstanding figures of the time, including Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott, the Channings, and Emily Dickinson. At this website, one may explore newly contributed papers and reviews, along with sections titled Authors and Texts, Roots and Influences, Ideas and Thought, Criticism, Resources and Bibliographies, and Communication Center. 
Each section introduces some aspect of the topic, e.g., prominent writers and their works, with full text in many cases; and the origins of the topic with many of the various changes that occurred over the years. Entering keywords into the box provided leads to a search of the VCU website, with variable results. The articles included at the top of the website are not included in the search mechanism. The site offers links to discussion groups and the opportunity to contribute new materials. It is easy to navigate, and most links are active. Given the interdisciplinary nature of transcendentalism, this will be a valuable site for a wide range of researchers. It also directs users to a considerable number of other resources related to the topic. 
Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through graduate students. -- D. D. Siles, Taylorville Public Library. "
Reviewed in ACRL's April 2013 issue of Choice.
  

QuackWatch & DeviceWatch: Your Guide to Quackery, Health Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions

Quackwatch: an international network of people who are concerned about health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct.

What is Quackwatch?

Quackwatch is an international network of people who are concerned about health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. Its primary focus is on quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere. From 1970 through 2007, it operated as a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The corporation was dissolved in 2008, but the informal network will continue as usual.

Does the fact that someone is mentioned on Quackwatch mean that you think that the person is a quack?

No. When writing about individuals, we generally stick to facts and do not engage in name-calling. Several articles on the site describe quackery's characteristics. We leave it up to the reader to decide whether an individual's behavior fits any of these patterns.

Is lack of mention on Quackwatch a sign of legitimacy?

Because Quackwatch covers so many topics, many people wonder whether lack of mention should be interpreted as a sign of legitimacy. The answer is no. We identify many people who have been in the news for one reason or another, such as criminal prosecution or discipline by a licensing board. However, the number of scams and scammers is so large that nobody could possibly write about them all. Rather than attempting to construct an endless list, we indicate how to tell whether people or ideas are trustworthy. The main ones are:

• Twenty-Five Ways to Spot Quacks and Vitamin Pushers
• More Ploys That Can Fool You
• How to Spot a "Quacky" Web Site
• Seven Warning Signs of Bogus Science

Device Watch: Our primary focus is on information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere. Our activities related to this site will include:

• Analysis of questionable health claims
• Reporting illegal claims to regulatory agencies
• Helping victims seek redress against sellers and practitioners
• An online "museum" to illustrate the colorful history of device quackery.

Cases Database, from BioMed Central

About Cases Database Documenting a patient's case history to inform physicians how the patient has been evaluated and the subsequent progression of his or her disease is arguably the oldest method of communicating medical evidence. And in the 21st century case reports play an equally important role.

Since the launch of Journal of Medical Case Reports in 2007 and the more recent introduction of case reports to the broad-scope journal BMC Research Notes, BioMed Central has acknowledged the value of case reports to the scientific record.  To strengthen this commitment we have developed a valuable new resource – Cases Database, a continuously-updated, freely-accessible database of thousands of medical case reports from multiple publishers, including Springer, BMJ and PubMed Central.

By aggregating case reports and facilitating comparison, Cases Database provides clinicians, researchers, regulators and patients a simple resource to explore content, and identify emerging trends.
To find out more about Cases Database take a look at our launch PR and blog post.Reviewed in ACRL's June 2013 issue of Choice.

What to Do When A Tornado Threatens

Story Image: This photo was taken by
WeatherBug user Bob Wallace in
Punta Gorda, Fla., on July 15, 2005.

What to Do When A Tornado Threatens
UPDATED May 29, 2013
By WeatherBug Meteorologist, Mark Hoekzema

A TORNADO WATCH is issued when weather conditions are ripe for the development of severe thunderstorms producing tornadoes.
A TORNADO WARNING means that a tornado has been sighted or indicated by weather radar. You must take action immediately!
AT HOME, SCHOOL OR WORK:

• Your school or workplace needs to have an approved tornado safety plan for you to follow. If not then a plan needs to be developed. Every second counts!
• Go immediately to the lowest level of the building, such as a basement or storm cellar. If there is no basement, go to an interior hallway or room without windows, such as a bathroom or closet.
• Get away from windows! It is not true that opening windows will reduce damage to your home.
• Avoid large, wide places such as auditoriums, cafeterias, large hallways in shopping malls, theaters, and warehouses
• Get under a stairwell or a piece of sturdy furniture such as a workbench or heavy table or desk and hold on to it. If possible cover yourself with a rug, mattress or blanket. Otherwise, use your arms to protect your head and neck from debris.

IN A MOBILE HOME OR OUTDOORS:

• People in mobile homes and outdoors are particularly susceptible to tornado damage. Go immediately to a neighboring frame home or a storm shelter.
• If shelter is not available, lie in a ditch or low-lying area a safe distance away from the mobile home. Use your arms to protect your head and neck from debris.

IN A HIGH RISE BUILDING:

• There may not be enough time to get to the basement or storm shelter. In this case, interior rooms and halls and central stairwells are the best locations in large buildings.
• Do not use elevators, and stay away from walls or windows.
  

IN A VEHICLE:

• Never try to outdrive a tornado in a car or truck.
• Get out of the car immediately and take shelter in a nearby building. If there is no time to get indoors, lie in a ditch or low-lying area away from the vehicle. Be aware of the potential for flooding.
• Protect your head and neck from debris with your arms.

Make sure that you download the WeatherBug app on your smart phone. The mobile app now includes Spark Lightning Alerts, a GPS-based lightning detection feature providing you the location of the closest lightning strike, so you can Know Before the storm hits. Click here for the link to download.
Be sure to keep WeatherBug active to receive the latest weather in your neighborhood and get the latest updates anywhere on Twitter. ----

When Does Summer Begin?

When Does Summer Begin?
By WeatherBug Meteorologists
Most people consider the first day of summer to be the Summer Solstice, which occurs this year on June 21 at 1:04 a.m. EDT. This is because, astronomically, the sun will be directly overhead of the Tropic of Cancer.

As the earth rotates around the sun, at different times of the year the sun will be situated directly overhead at mid-day. The day the sun is straight up at noon over the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn (23.5 degrees N and S latitude) are the summer and winter solstices, respectively.

The Autumnal (Fall) Equinox is the day the sun is again highest in the sky at noon over the equator as the apex progresses south.

Many refer to Astronomical Summer on June 20th or 21st, as the first "official" day of summer. Most meteorologists will argue that summer has been well under way by then and they have been enjoying at least three weeks- - if not longer-- of "summer" already.

Meteorologists observe seasons over different time periods. Meteorological summer begins on June 1, fall begins September 1 and winter begins December 1.

There are a couple of very important reasons why this is the case. The most important is for climate record-keeping. Climatologists require set time periods to calculate averages and do seasonal comparisons over the years. Astronomical dates will fall on different days depending on the year and keeping seasonal climate records based on those dates would be confusing and inaccurate.

A second reason is that weather-wise, it makes more sense around the globe. For example, much of the northern hemisphere is entrenched in summer weather by June 1 and winter weather on December 1.

In fall, the heat of the summer is waning by September 1 and by March 1, spring, mild surges of air from the south are becoming a regular occurrence and the seasonal severe weather threats grows.

To send us your best summer photos like the one taken in Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio by WeatherBug user Janet Maczko, just click on the "Your Photos" link in the WeatherBug Today window.

Also, be sure to keep WeatherBug active to receive the latest weather in your neighborhood and get the latest updates anywhere on Twitter.
What do you think of this story?
Click here for comments or suggestions.

ATSDR Toxic Substances Portal

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), based in Atlanta, Georgia, is a federal public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ATSDR serves the public by using the best science, taking responsive public health actions, and providing trusted health information to prevent harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances.

"Users can conveniently search for substances by name or trade name, synonym, or Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number. One can also search for substances by states in the US as well as the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of Northern Marianas. The website has a search bar, but in general, the results displayed from a search here are too numerous to be useful. Every page on the site provides contact information, an embedded print command, and an e-mail link along with a function to adjust text size. The site displays equally well in Firefox and Internet Explorer; it was not viewed in other browsers. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration site also links to the ATSDR Toxic Substances Portal. A similar website for obtaining toxicological information is the National Library of Medicine's Environmental Health and Toxicology http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro.html "

 

Select a substance and a state from the drop down menus to view a map of communities where the selected substance has been found. You will be linked to a Public Health Assessment or a Health Consultation for that community. The selected substance was found during the public health assessment process.
***Please note that at this time the most recent Health Assessments and Health Consultations that appear in the results are from 2007. We are working to add more recent assessments and consultations to the system. Also, note that the results reflect only the work of ATSDR. We do not include assessments from the EPA or from state and local health departments unless ATSDR worked on or funded that assessment or consultation.***
Reviewed in the June 2013 issue of ACRL's Choice.

TED - Ideas Worth Spreading

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

Along with two annual conferences -- the TED Conference on the West Coast each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer -- TED includes the award-winning TED Talks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.

The two annual TED conferences, on the North American West Coast and in Edinburgh, Scotland, bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less).
On TED.com, we make the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free. More than 1400 TED Talks are now available, with more added each week. All of the talks are subtitled in English, and many are subtitled in various languages. These videos are released under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.


Our mission: Spreading ideas.
We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other. This site, launched April 2007, is an ever-evolving work in progress, and you're an important part of it. Have an idea? We want to hear from you.

Convert-me.com Weights and Measures: Don't know how to convert? The answer is here.

Who ever created such a mess with various units and measures?

Everyone asked this question at least once when struggling with some units conversion task. Why isn't there one measurement system that everyone uses? Alas, the World is not perfect and there are lots of measures and units that make people mad in all parts of the Globe.
There is a good point though. Our measurement converter was especially designed to make your units conversion job a whole lot easier. Here you'll find instant conversions for thousands of various units and measurements, both common (e.g. U.S. or metric) and quite exotic like ancient Greek and Roman.
Try making your conversions and feel the difference. And when you're done, don't forget to bookmark convert-me.com, so when you ever have a units conversion task again, you'll know where to go.

Start by choosing what you want to convert

Please choose what you are converting. These are the most common measurements:

• Mass and Weight
• Distance and Length
• Capacity and Volume
• Temperature
• Is that all? No! The complete list is in the menu on the left.

If you don't know what measure your unit belongs to, try searching for your unit:

You can also check our alphabetical list of all supported units

Don't miss special conversions that can be extremely helpful:

• Cooking recipe conversion is absolutely unique. It allows you instantly convert recipe values from weight to volume units for over 100 various ingredients.
• Weight to Volume conversion gives you the same option for a long list of various substances
• Fuel economy section would be interesting for thouse comparing imported car parameters. There you can easily find out which is better — 10 liters per 100 km or 20 miles per gallon.

Still could not find the answer?

Visit Units Conversion Forum. You can ask your questions there or, maybe, even find a ready to use answer by browsing the posts.

Support Measurement Converter by spreading the word about Convert-Me.Com

Our site is an effort of two individuals — my wife and myself, who work on it on our spare time. The easiest and maybe the best way to support Convert-Me.Com is letting your friends know about it. The great way to do it is using the sharing button on the top of the page. We really appreciate your support.

How to suggest other units and measurements?

We appreciate your suggestions. Unfortunately, we are not always able to find all conversion factors, especially for exotic units. If you know the conversion table or you can give us a web address where we can get the conversion chart, it would be the best option.

Please post your ideas to our suggestions forum. By posting the suggestion you give us your permission to use all the information you provided on our site. Note that we cannot guarantee acceptance of your suggestion, we only promise it will be taken into consideration. Please understand that we cannot respond to all the mail we receive, however your feedback is highly appreciated.