Computers/Information Technology

Inventing Entertainment: The Early Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies

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

URL:

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edhome.html

Author:

Library of Congress

Excerpt:

Prolific inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) has had a profound impact on modern life. In his lifetime, the "Wizard of Menlo Park" patented 1,093 inventions, including the phonograph, the kinetograph (a motion picture camera), and the kinetoscope (a motion picture viewer). Edison managed to become not only a renowned inventor, but also a prominent manufacturer and businessman through the merchandising of his inventions.

Annotation:

This excellent site features 341 motion pictures, 81 disc sound recordings, and other related materials, such as photographs and original magazine articles documenting Thomas Edison's corporate impact on the history of American entertainment. Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)—prolific inventor, manufacturer, and businessman—patented 1,093 inventions, including the phonograph, the kinetograph (a motion picture camera), and the kinetoscope (a motion picture viewer). All are searchable by keyword, title, or subject; movies are presented in QuickTime, Mpeg and RealMedia formats and a capsule description of each film is provided. Special pages focus on the life of the great inventor and histories of Edison's contribution to motion picture and sound recording technologies. Part of the American Memory Collection at the Library of Congress, drawn from collections in the Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.

Alexander Graham Bell Institute of University College of Cape Breton

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

URL:

http://bell.uccb.ns.ca

Excerpt:

The Alexander Graham Bell family collection brings together a wide range of documents accumulated by Dr. Bell and his family during their time in Baddeck, Nova Scotia. The Alexander Graham Bell Institute has developed a comprehensive index of these materials. This index, with online access to several components of the Bell collection, can be accessed using the World Wide Web.

Annotation:

An online collection of portions of the Bell Institute's holdings, which are largely reproductions from the Library of Congress. Contains a vast amount of documentation on topics which include correspondence, the Aerial Experiment Association, and lab notes. These are accessible by browsing drop down menus which allow one to choose collection, volume, and page. It also can be searched using predefined or custom keywords. The Bell Family Archive also contains a an image gallery of photos ranging from telephones to kites to family members. A virtual tour of the Institute itself is available, as are a series of printable reproductions of games, diagrams, and experiments for children. An excellent resource for researchers interested in Bell.

Thomas Edison's Home Page

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

URL:

http://www.thomasedison.com/

Author:

Gerald Beals

Excerpt:

Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison was not born into poverty in a backwater mid-western town. Actually, he was born (on Feb. 11, 1847) to middle-class parents in the bustling port of Milan, Ohio, a community that - next to Odessa, Russia - was the largest wheat shipping center in the world. In 1854, his family moved to the vibrant community of Port Huron, Michigan, which ultimately surpassed the commercial preeminence of both Milan and Odessa....

Annotation:

This site includes a biography and timeline of Thomas Edison's life, as well as information about his experiments in the production and distribution of electric power in Brockton, Massachusetts. The site serves as a good summary of Edison's work and offers a useful background on the Brockton experiments which can be a starting point for further research.

Thomas Edison and his Menlo Park Laboratory

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

URL:

http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/edison/default.asp

Author:

Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

Excerpt:

Thomas Edison was born in 1847 in Milan, Ohio He grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. There are many stories about what Edison was like as a child. They all show that from an early age, Edison was curious about the world around him and always tried to teach himself through reading and experiments.

Annotation:

The Henry Ford Museum's online collection of information and material related to Thomas Edison provides cursory accounts of Edison's life and work. Four photographs, a small bibliography, and a handful of links are also available.

Victorian Technology

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

URL:

http://www.victorianweb.org/

Author:

George P. Landow

Excerpt:

General
Ages of Technology
Science and Technology Timeline
Technology and Leisure in Britain after 1850
Carlyle and the Institution as Technology
Sublimity, Urbanization, and Technology
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution: An Overview
The Industrial Revolution: A Chronology
Science, Technology, and the Industrial Revolution: Selected Readings

Annotation:

Website with information and links regarding the technological environment of the Victorian age, i.e. the Industrial Revolution, Mining, Information Technology, etc..

Uniting a Nation: Two Giants of Telecommunications, Alexander Graham Bell and Samuel F.B. Morse

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

URL:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/atthtml/

Author:

Library of Congress

Excerpt:

The invention of the telegraph and the telephone provided the first "paving stones" for what has today become the information superhighway. The Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress holds the main body of the papers of the two American inventors most responsible for the 19th century revolution in telecommunications, Samuel F. B. Morse and Alexander Graham Bell. During the next few years, manuscripts and photographs donated to the Library of Congress by descendents of Morse and Bell will be made available online as part of the American Memory Historical Collections. The production of these collections is supported by a generous gift from the AT&T Foundation.

Annotation:

This Library of Congress site is devoted to Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel F. B. Morse, and the early developement of telecommunications. The site is divided into two sections. The first section provides access to a selection of the Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers. The selection includes 4,695 items dated from 1862 to 1939. The Bell Family Papers are indexed by series, subject, and name, and the collection is searchable. However, the second section dealing with Samuel F. B. Morse, remains in the preview stage as of 09/08/2004. It gives a brief overview of the life of Morse, but it is not yet searchable and makes no reference to Morse's career as a nativist.

American Experience: The Telephone

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

URL:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/index.html

Author:

PBS

Excerpt:

The telephone was first introduced at the Centennial Exposition in 1876 and was an instant success. Although first rented only to "persons of good breeding" and seen as an expensive luxury for doctors and businessmen, the telephone soon transformed American life. Trees gave way to telephone poles as operators known as "hello girls" began to connect a sprawling continent.

Annotation:

A web presence for the American Experience's documentary about the telephone. Online resources include capsules on Alexander Graham Bell, Elisha Gray, Thomas Alva Edison, Thomas A. Watson and their relationship to the development of the telephone; accounts of significant events in the development of the telephone; and gallery of phones from different eras. The site also has a more general "Technology Timeline," a page devoted to forgotten inventors, and links to other American Experience sites.

Charles Babbage's First Difference Engine

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

URL:

http://mycetes.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/babbage/default.htm

Author:

CJD Roberts

Excerpt:

NARA Archival Information Locator (NAIL)

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

URL:

http://www.nara.gov/nara/nail.html

Author:

National Archives and Records Administration

Excerpt:

The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) is the online catalog of NARA's nationwide holdings in the Washington, DC area, Regional Archives and Presidential Libraries. ARC allows you to perform a keyword, digitized image and location search. ARC's advanced functionalities also allow you to search by organization, person, or topic.

Annotation:

The National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) developed the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) to help users locate and access records held in a multitude of government libraries and repositories throughout the United States. To assist researchers, the site has a powerful search tool, a description of steps to finding records, and information on research tutorials and workshops. Links connect the NARA site with sites for individual archives and libraries and online articles outline government record-keeping procedures. Besides acting as a finding tool, the NARA also works to develop better techniques for preserving records that are valuable to the documentation of American history.

Past Notable Women of Computing and Mathematics

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

URL:

http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/past-women.html

Author:

Elisabeth Freeman and Susanne Hupfer, The Ada Project (TAP), Yale University

Excerpt:

Past Notable Women of Computing & Mathematics
Honoring the close connection between mathematics and computing, TAP provides information on pioneers in both areas