Primary Source

NASA Human Spaceflight

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/

Author:

Kim Dismukes and Radislav Sinyak, NASA

Excerpt:

Human space flight starts on the ground, where thousands of NASA employees, contractors and industry partners work together to send humans safely into space.

Do you want to see the International Space Station from your back yard? Check out NASA's SkyWatch application or Sightings by Cities to get the times in which the Station will be visible in your area.

Annotation:

This site developed by NASA contains information on current projects (International Space Station etc.) as well as histories of previous NASA projects. Some of the interesting features are the extensive image galleries, mission summaries, descriptions of past project goals and outcomes, and news releases about future plans. The history pages contain large amounts of detailed historical information including several full-length books.

Titanic

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Carpathia

Author:

George Behe

Excerpt:

The author hopes to use this site to present (on a semi-regular basis) "chapters" containing little-known information about the Titanic disaster that has been overlooked by historians ever since the events in question took place. The material presented here has been culled from a wide variety of sources: period newspapers, diaries, letters, personal memoirs and primary source documents held in archives on both sides of the Atlantic. Each chapter will vary in length, but will (hopefully) provide the reader with interesting vignettes of the Titanic disaster that - until now - have lain lost and forgotten among dusty records of those steadily-receding events that make up our common past.

Annotation:

This site looks at lesser known and controversial stories about the Titanic such as how it came to be known as "unsinkable," iceberg visibility, psychic forewarnings of the sinking, and a dozen other topics. Images of the ship and many of the characters involved are available. There are also links to other Titanic sites of potential interest. (Note: last site update was February 9, 2002.)

P-38 Lightning Online

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www.p-38online.com

Author:

Thomas Guettler

Excerpt:

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was simply the most versatile aircraft used in World War II. After a lengthy developmental period, the P-38 eventually flourished in multiple roles. In its designed role, the P-38 was an effective fighter and was the main aircraft for most of the aces in the Pacific Theater of Operations. However, the P-38 was modified to become a world-class reconnaissance aircraft, an effective night fighter, and even an excellent strike/attack aircraft. Many bomber crewmembers would see its distinctive profile approaching and feel a little safer. Many enemy fighters and bombers would tremble with fear with the approach of the Fork-Tailed Devil!

Annotation:

A site devoted to documenting the history of the P-38 Lightning, a fighter which had a considerable impact on World War II campaigns. The narratives of the P-38's exploits are complemented with many images, design and model specifications, pilot biographies, a bibliography and an extensive collection of links.

Museum of Broadcast Communications

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www.mbcnet.org/

Excerpt:

The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is one of only three broadcast museums in America. It opened to the public on June 13, 1987, after five years of development, led by Chicago broadcaster Bruce DuMont. The MBC will move from its current home in the Chicago Cultural Center into its new home at State & Kinzie Street in downtown Chicago, which will open in 2005.

Annotation:

Lots of goodies. Popular culture through sights and sounds of radio and TV.

Thomas A. Edison Papers

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://edison.rutgers.edu/

Author:

Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, National Park Service, New Jersey Historical Commission, Smithsonian Institution

Excerpt:

The extensive collection of papers preserved in the archive at the Edison National Historic Site—approximately 5 million pages in all—is the product of Thomas Alva Edison's sixty-year career as inventor, manufacturer, and businessman. Until now, the sheer size and organizational complexity of the archive have deterred researchers from delving extensively into its wealth of documentary resources. With the publication of the selective microfilm and book editions, these historically significant papers are for the first time readily available to scholars and other researchers. Because the arrangement of the documents on the microfilm parallels the organizational structure of the archive itself, it is helpful to understand how the records of Edison's laboratories and companies were generated during his own lifetime and how the archivists entrusted with their guardianship have subsequently treated them.

Annotation:

This site is a vast database of Thomas Edison's papers including 71,000 pages of correspondence and 12,000 pages of technical drawings. Processes for searching the site are complicated and visitors are recommended to read a 3,000-word guide to searching it. The site may be searched by name, date, or document type, by Folder/Volume, or by Series notes. Series collect documents in groups, such as scrapbooks and legal papers. The site includes over 2,000 facsimiles of Edison patents from 1868 to 1931 for products such as the electric lamp and the phonograph. More than 7,000 clippings from 103 journals and newspapers discuss Edison's achievements. Journals range from the American Engineer to the Westminster Gazette. "Document Sampler" contains over 20 documents including Edison's wife's design for a light bulb and a list of 19 different possible names for the phonograph. A collection of photographs, maps, and prints depict Edison, his environs, and his inventions. There are two chronologies of Edison's life on the site, the longer one running 13,0000-word. The site offers an 8,000-word essay on Edison's companies and over 20 pages about Edison and the development of the motion picture industry. A 70-item bibliography and a shorter 10-item version direct visitors to books and articles about Edison. The site links to 20 Edison-related websites. Because it is somewhat difficult to search, this site will be most useful to experienced researchers.

Panoramic Photographs

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/panoramic_photography/panoramic_home.html

Author:

National Archives and Records Administration

Excerpt:

This exhibit of panoramic photographs is but a small sample of the wide variety of panoramic images in NARA`s still picture holdings located at the National Archives Building at College Park, Maryland. The exhibit photographs date from approximately 1864 until 1937. The vast majority of the collection, however, dates from the World War I era.

Annotation:

Online exhibit drawing on "The Long View: Panoramic Photography from the National Archives," which was displayed at the National Archives at College Park from August 15, 1998 through May 1, 2000. Collection of twenty-three panoramic photographs, many of military subjects, which are also viewable interactively through QuickTime Panoramic. Includes links to other areas of the National Archives site.

Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www.com.washington.edu/rccs/

Excerpt:

While still an emerging field of scholarship, the study of cyberculture flourished throughout the last half of the 1990s, as witnessed in the countless monographs and anthologies published by both academic and popular presses, and the growing number of papers and panels presented at scholarly conferences from across the disciplines and around the world. Significantly, the field of study has developed, formed, reformed, and transformed, adding new topics and theories when needed, testing new methods when applicable.

Annotation:

The RCCS site includes in introductory essay to the various facets of cyberculture scholarship, courses offered at universities worldwide, upcoming conference information, and links to other cyberculture sites. Submissions are accepted for both course and conference listings. Of note is a section of book reviews featuring multiple reviews for single books with author responses as well.

Naval Historical Center

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www.history.navy.mil/

Author:

United States Department of the Navy

Excerpt:

The Naval Historical Center is the official history program of the Department of the Navy. Its lineage dates back to 1800 with the founding of the Navy Department Library by President John Adams. The Center now includes a museum, art gallery, research library, archives, and curator as well as research and writing programs. The Center's origins form a rich history in themselves.

Annotation:

Excellent resource for historians, students, and those with a curiosity about the history of the United States Navy. The site contains numerous primary documents, bibliographies, biographies, and narrative accounts. Holdings are particularly extensive with regards to naval conflicts from the Revolutionary War to the present. Additionally, information is available on source holdings available outside the Naval Historical Center (organized by state). Easily searchable and well organized by topic and chronology.

Gender-Related Electronic Forums

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www-unix.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/forums.html

Author:

Joan Korenman, Center for Women and Information Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County

Excerpt:

Gender-Related Electronic Forums is an annotated, frequently-updated, award-winning listing of publicly-accessible e-mail discussion forums (also known as "lists" or "listservs") related to women or to women-focused gender issues. (If you're new to e-mail lists and would like some basic information about what they are and how you can join one, check out this page.)

Annotation:

Extensive compendium of over 600 email lists related to women and women-related issues in areas such as activism, age, arts and humanities, business/finance, cyberculture/internet/, education, health, international, motherhood, religion/spirituality, science/technology, sexuality/sexual orientation, social science, sports/recreation, women of color, and women's studies. Links to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Center for Women and Information Technology and Women's Studies Online Resources, as well as instruction on using email lists.

Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:18.

URL:

http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin

Author:

J.A. Leo Lemay

Excerpt:

I began compiling Benjamin Franklin: A Documentary History as a source for a biography of Franklin. I gradually came to think that it had scholarly value of its own, though I still intend it to be the basic documentation for the biography. Since the Documentary History (DH) is arranged chronologically, the dates in the biography can be readily checked in the DH, where bibliographical references are given. The DH calendars but does not print Franklin's writings. It refers to The Papers of Benjamin Franklin far more frequently than to any other source, citing the Papers for the innumerable scholarly contributions made by that great edition. Since The Papers of Benjamin Franklin is also arranged chronologically, the date itself in the DH can serve as a reference to the Papers.

Annotation:

This site presents a 7-Volume "Documentary History" of Benjamin Franklin with content useful for researchers and educators. The content was originally compiled by historian J. A. Leo Lemay of the University of Delaware, writing a biography of Franklin. Volume One of the Documentary History abstracts all contemporary references to Franklin. Naturally the Documentary History becomes more detailed as Benjamin Franklin became older. The latter volumes are more selective, but at least for the first three volumes (until his departure from America in 1757), Lemay attempted to include all references regarding Franklin's whereabouts and his opinions. Lemay believes that the documentary history is more accessible and useful online than as a series of expensive, ponderous volumes. In essence Lemay is correct, however the site's technology is out of date, making it difficult to use and read.