Animal Diversity Web"An online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan"
Biodiversity Heritage Library"Ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions have joined to form the Biodiversity Heritage Library Project. The group is developing a strategy and operational plan to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections. This literature will be available through a global 'biodiversity commons.'"
Conus Biodiversity Website"The Conus Biodiversity Website, a National Science Foundation project established by Alan Kohn and Trevor Anderson (both, Univ. of Washington) and hosted by the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture of the University of Washington, is a one-stop shop for information related to the gastropod genus Conus. This taxonomic catalog contains entries for more than 3,000 species published between 1758 and 2007. The main page lists the importance of studying various Conus species due to their biodiversity, distribution, abundance, ecology, revisionary synthesis, practical applications, and evolutionary diversification. Here users can access the Catalogue, Species Accounts, Type Gallery, and Videos.
The Catalogue provides links to a searchable database, museum abbreviations, genus-group names, and literature cited. The database allows searching by a number of fields such as subgenus, species or citation author, year, and geographic region. Search results may include species accounts, images, paleo records, genetic sequence, and original description; however, this information is not available for all species. Both the Species Accounts and the Type Gallery sections have alphabetized lists, which provide information related to the distribution of present and fossil Conus species and high-resolution images. The Videos page provides links to 15 feeding-behavior videos in vermivorous, molluscivorous, and piscivorous species of Conus in captivity, and serves as a powerful teaching tool. This Web site is an unparalleled resource for any or all aspects of Conus species. The hyperlinks to many full-length articles related to the subject as well as information ranging from geographic region to genetics is tremendously useful to students as well as advanced practitioners of molluscan biology." from Choice, April 2009
DrMetcalf, Information on Auchenorrhyncha like Cicadas and Leafhoppers"Emitting the loudest love song in the insect world, the cicada is the voice of midsummer. Cicadas are members of the group known as Auchenorrhyncha (formerly Homoptera), which are found throughout the world, and include the subgroups leafhoppers, planthoppers, spittle bugs, and treehoppers. Zeno Payne Metcalf, a professor of entomology at North Carolina State University (NCSU) from 1912 to 1950, was fascinated by these plant-eating insects. Metcalf's lifelong passion resulted in a comprehensive literature collection on Auchenorrhyncha as well as the publication of a 42-volume index entitled General Catalogue of the Homoptera of the World (1927-1971). The incentive for creating DrMetcalf, the online searchable database, is both the recognition of the research value of the Metcalf collection held at NCSU's Special Collections Library and the economic importance of this insect group.
DrMetcalf contains more than 12,000 bibliographic citations including rare books, monographs, journals, and papers. However, what sets it apart from other databases is the extensive range of coverage from 1744-1955. Another distinction is that DrMetcalf is the result of a collaboration among numerous organizations--the NCSU Libraries, the NCSU Entomology Department, the University of Illinois, the Illinois Natural History Survey, and the USDA's Systematic Entomology Laboratory. The database is easy to navigate with options for a quick search or a more sophisticated, user-defined field search using Boolean operators. Although a work in progress, DrMetcalf has well-developed help pages for creating search strategies and interpreting the results. Additionally, there are links to relevant sites, as well as overviews of each insect subgroup with photographs and descriptions, and sections titled Distribution, Morphology, and Ecology and Behavior. The digitization of Zeno Metcalf's personal library through DrMetcalf provides a freely searchable resource that is particularly important for specialists in entomology, zoology, agriculture, and the life sciences." from Choice Sept. 2010
Encyclopedia of Life (EOL)An ambitious online encyclopedia whose goal is to have a web page for each species of organism in the world.
Freshwater and Marine Image Bank"The Freshwater and Marine Image Bank is a digital collection from the University of Washington Libraries. The images are scanned and maintained specifically by the staff of the Fisheries-Oceanography Library. The site currently contains 21,000 photos related to worldwide ocean and limnological environments from the 18th- through early-20th centuries. The site is fairly easy to navigate, with logical links. However, there can be some confusion since entering one digital collection site gives a user access to all other collections; visitors need to make sure that they remain in the Freshwater and Marine Image Bank when clicking on links.
There are expected collections of images such as Fish Species, Shellfish, and Water Birds. One of the surprising sets of photos is under Stereoscopic Views, which contains some spectacular images of Niagara Falls, the Chicago River, and the Panama Canal, to name a few. Metadata for each photo includes the image date, subject, publication information, copyright, and ordering information. A search option allows users to perform subject or title searches. One nice feature is the Other Sources section, which provides links to related image sites. It is not apparent how often updates are performed, but users can register to receive updates through the feed reader of their choice. The site appears to work well using both Internet Explorer and Firefox. This site offers a useful way to view images from publications that may be too fragile to handle. It is valuable for any student, teacher, or researcher who needs access to historical images related to freshwater and marine subjects." Choice February 2010.
Longevity RecordsLife Spans of Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish.
Macaulay Library: Animal Sound and Video Catalog"Billed as the "world's largest online archive of animal sounds & videos," the Macaulay Library of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology now offers at least 100,000 free recordings online. Recordings continue to be digitized at an unknown rate. A Get Started page provides clear instructions. Only Adobe Flash 9 or higher is required. However, the archive provides access to more advanced functions, including the ability to see spectrograms and waveforms associated with the recordings, which requires QuickTime 7 and the Library's own RavenViewer, a QuickTime component that actually performs the visualizations. These downloads are quick and painless, with complete, clear documentation for RavenViewer. Frequently there are multiple recordings, sometimes running in the hundreds, for any given animal. The quality of each of these is ranked on a 1-5 scale. The site also provides catalog number, name of the animal, location, recordist, and recording length/date. Users can sort search results by any of these fields. The advanced search function offers fields for common or scientific name, location (including a latitude/longitude finder), recordist, audio/video quality, and catalog number. Searches are automatically treated as truncated. Unfortunately, there is no taxonomic browse feature, though this option is apparently under development. Thus it is impossible to know the distribution of recordings across the Animalia. Since the Macaulay Library is in Cornell's Lab of Ornithology, it should be no surprise that birds are favored. Aside from the lack of browsing, the site is easy to use and reasonably quick." (from Choice, January 2009)
OdonataCentral"This site is designed to make available what we know about the distribution, biogeography, biodiversity, and identification of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) world-wide."
Singing Insects of North America"Singing Insects of North America (SINA) is a work in progress, as its creators Thomas Walker (Univ. of Florida) and Thomas Moore (emer., Univ. of Michigan) readily acknowledge. The site has the potential to be a good resource for entomology professionals and students when it is completed in approximately two years. For now, the home page is not graphically interesting or well organized, with broken links and a nonworking search function. SINA includes a union list of references (with many links to PDF files), which is an excellent resource for students and professionals. Unfortunately, the home page states that all references are listed, but it does not include the references found on the Cicada page.
Crickets, Katydids, and Cicadas sections are prominent at the top of the page. Walker produced the Cricket and Katydid sections, which are organized identically. Each section includes a List of Species subsection and a checklist hyperlink that breaks each family down to species names. Some species links are populated with text, images, and sound recordings; some are not. Moore created the Cicada page, which is arranged differently from the other two insect pages. The List of Species section does lead to the family and then species lists; however, few are linked to further information. Unlike the other two insect pages, the Cicada page includes a button next to the species if a recorded song is available. It would be helpful to users if these three sections were uniform in design. The final two sections, About Songs and Help, include simple bulleted lists with some hyperlinked items. The main page also displays information on how to use the site and an invitation to site visitors to contribute photographs and/or sound recordings." Choice June, 2010.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Species"This authoritative, user-friendly site provides technical information about plant and animal species, updates on legislation and policy regarding species management, and details about species conservation status. Site sections include Endangered Species, Birds, Invasive Species, Pollinators, The Image Library, and Wildlife Fact Sheets. The home page states that "restoring endangered and threatened species to a secure status in the wild is a key objective of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)," and the Endangered Species Program http://www.fws.gov/endangered/ (CH, Apr'05, 42-4630) forms the hub of the Web site.
A search box on the home page allows searching by common or scientific name. Search results provide the species scientific and common names, species group (e.g., birds), listing status (e.g., threatened, endangered, proposed, candidate, or delisted), and current distribution (states). Search results link to the Threatened and Endangered Species System, which is updated daily with species profiles for foreign/domestic terrestrial and freshwater plants and animals. Profiles include nomenclature, taxonomy, overview, an image, links to Federal Register and other regulatory documents, recovery plans, critical habitat, conservation plans, petitions, life history, and other information resources. The Birds section links to the FWS Division of Migratory Birds pages, which provides access to documents about hunting, conservation, monitoring, laws/treaties/regulations for thousands of bird species and includes informative pamphlets about backyard birds useful to consumers. The Invasive Species link points to the FWS Environmental Contaminants Program's page on invasive species. The Pollinators section links to FWS programs that assess, protect, or restore pollinators and their habitats. The Image Library offers a large collection of copyright-free images that will appeal to children and can be useful in writing reports. The Wildlife Fact Sheets point to very current species profiles." from Choice, April 2009
Western Soundscape Archive"This site features audio recordings of animals and environments throughout 11 contiguous western states and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Started in 2007, the archive is housed at the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library and features recordings contributed by volunteers, state and federal agencies, and conservation groups. Three types of recordings typically are featured: individual species, ambient soundscapes, and interviews. For individual species, representative sounds are included for approximately 90 percent of the West's bird species, 95 percent of the region's frog and toad species, and more than 100 different types of mammals and reptiles. These short recordings are useful for species identification and call analysis. Ambient soundscapes are usually longer recordings (one hour plus) that feature "all of an area's sonic components together in concert." The site indicates that "interviews with scientists and other experts are included to give added context to the sounds, and will occasionally be heard on radio broadcasts and podcasts."
Users may browse the collection or search with keywords. The simple browse is only moderately useful since it brings up the total sounds available alphabetically by first word in the descriptive titles. However, a pull-down menu on the home page allows users to select subsets of major animal categories by common or Latin names; interviews; and ambient recordings. Upon selection, sample lists of recordings for each category are available in a second pull-down menu. Each individual species, soundscape, or interview includes relevant metadata such as date recorded, description, audio and photo rights, associated notes, audio creator, and more. Most of the audio consists of MP3 files compressed from an original WAV format. Sound recordings are generally very good to excellent in quality. This is a tremendously rich resource for those interested in the region." Choice February 2010.
Xerces SocietyThe Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving invertebrates and their habitat. Its Web site, revamped in 2008, serves as both the society's home page and an educational resource. Society-related areas are chiefly in the About, Programs, News, Our Work, and Support sections located near the top of the main page below a colorful banner featuring gorgeous pictures of invertebrates. Each section has detailed subsections providing important information about the society, including its staff, board of directors, news, advocacy and policy activities, research, and details on becoming a member.
The site's educational areas are where the depth of content becomes apparent. The Invertebrates section profiles about 180 endangered or at-risk species, with an almost entirely North American emphasis. Each species account links to a Red List profile where applicable and provides, among other items, conservation status, identifying marks, references, photo (if available), and additional authoritative links. Unfortunately, last updated dates for the profiles are not always easy to ascertain. The Programs and Publications sections offer additional society- and education-related content. Besides describing the society's work, the programs listed in the Programs section may also have links to relevant authoritative Web pages or reports. The Publications section provides PDF files of the society's many writings, including guidelines, identification guides, petitions, comments responding to federal or state agency proposals, and reports; only the society's books and member magazine are not free to site visitors. Overall, the site is useful for undergraduates who have some training in invertebrates and are interested in conservation. Though focused mostly on pollinators and at-risk or endangered invertebrates in North America, the content is authoritative. The Xerces Society, almost 40 years old, has a worldwide reputation. Its site clearly reflects its mission and provides reliable educational information. From Choice, Jan. 2011.
Ecological Resources
Aldo Leopold Archive"The written works of one of the most forward-thinking conservationists of the 20th century, Aldo Leopold, are part of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections. Leopold had numerous interests encompassing "forestry, wildlife management, conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, restoration ecology, private land management, environmental history, literature, education, esthetics, and ethics." He authored several environmental books, including A Sand County Almanac (1949), and created and maintained a huge repertoire of letters and other correspondence, diaries, memoranda, essays, research reports, committee meeting minutes, journals, and county, state, and foreign files. Funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the Aldo Leopold Archives contains digitized resources from Leopold's main body of work from the end of the 19th century until his death in 1948." from Choice, Feb 2009.
Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, from the University of Georgia"The Web site for the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health at the University of Georgia (formerly the Bugwood Network) is actually a portal to 27 hosted sites (including Invasive.org http://www.invasive.org/, CH, Aug'09, 46-6787) that deal with all aspects of invasive species and pests plus some aspects of forest and natural resources management. The center's first goal is "to become a preeminent national and international public service and outreach center," and the creators have achieved it admirably.
The site's main page features a What's New section, which highlights important news items and fact sheets. The Topics section allows users to locate Web sites of interest by various categories, such as Bark Beetles, Prescribed Fire, Weeds, and Wildlife. The databases of forestry, insect, invasive species, and integrated pest management images are a rich source of photographs. Currently, the site offers access to nearly 130,000 images that can be used without charge, with correct attribution, after free user registration. Quality links to other governmental and academic Web sites are well chosen. The BugwoodWiki, organized by categories including Fruits and Nuts, Field Crops, and Diagnostician's Cookbook, should prove to be a valuable resource as it develops and matures. Also noteworthy is the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System (EDDMapS), which aids in the tracking and mapping of the spread of invasive species throughout the US. Users can keep up to date with the center's news through Facebook or via RSS feed. The site has some minor navigational inconsistencies, but overall, it is an excellent resource for obtaining information and images related to invasive species and associated topics." from Choice, December 2010.
Ecological Internet"The mission of the Ecological Internet (EI) has consistently been to "empower the global movement for environmental sustainability by providing retrieval tools, portal services, expert analysis," and opportunities for "eco-action." Created and managed by Glenn Barry, a conservation biologist and political ecologist, Ecological Internet Inc. is a nonprofit organization that uses the Internet to promote and support worldwide conservation issues, ecological sustainability, and restoration."
Freshwater and Marine Image Bank"The Freshwater and Marine Image Bank is a digital collection from the University of Washington Libraries. The images are scanned and maintained specifically by the staff of the Fisheries-Oceanography Library. The site currently contains 21,000 photos related to worldwide ocean and limnological environments from the 18th- through early-20th centuries. The site is fairly easy to navigate, with logical links. However, there can be some confusion since entering one digital collection site gives a user access to all other collections; visitors need to make sure that they remain in the Freshwater and Marine Image Bank when clicking on links.
There are expected collections of images such as Fish Species, Shellfish, and Water Birds. One of the surprising sets of photos is under Stereoscopic Views, which contains some spectacular images of Niagara Falls, the Chicago River, and the Panama Canal, to name a few. Metadata for each photo includes the image date, subject, publication information, copyright, and ordering information. A search option allows users to perform subject or title searches. One nice feature is the Other Sources section, which provides links to related image sites. It is not apparent how often updates are performed, but users can register to receive updates through the feed reader of their choice. The site appears to work well using both Internet Explorer and Firefox. This site offers a useful way to view images from publications that may be too fragile to handle. It is valuable for any student, teacher, or researcher who needs access to historical images related to freshwater and marine subjects." Choice February 2010.
GAP Analysis Project"The goal of the GAP Analysis Program is to keep common species common by identifying those species and plant communities that are not adequately represented in existing conservation lands. Common species are those not currently threatened with extinction. By identifying their habitats, GAP Analysis gives land managers and policy makers the information they need to make better-informed decisions when identifying priority areas for conservation."
Invasive.org"Invasive.org, a joint project of the University of Georgia's Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health (Bugwood Network) and the USDA Forest Service and USDA APHIS PPQ, aims to provide access to high-quality images related to invasive species. It is one of an array of Web sites that form the university's Bugwood Network http://www.bugwood.org/. This site uses a definition of invasive species that broadly matches those of the US federal government and most environmental and academic organizations.
The database of invasive species covers a wide variety of organisms, including plants, diseases, insects, and many other animals. Its publication section includes a small collection of relevant online books and government reports. The site offers detailed descriptions about the species included and the ecological consequences of species invasiveness, as well as detailed and accessible taxonomic information including order and family, genus, species, authority information, and common names. However, this site is primarily a database of images. Each image comes with a description of the license granted for its use and an attribution for the photographer. The site can also facilitate commercial usage requests. A wide variety of image resolutions are available, with the highest-resolution images (e.g., 1536 x 1024 and 3072 x 2048 pixels) being available only to members. Fortunately, membership is free and can be started without delay. Invasive.org also provides links to selected news items and other helpful Web sites. This site is worthwhile for educators, students, and members of the general public interested in finding images of various invasive species. However, there are other worthwhile Web sites that provide more detail about invasive species, including Invasive and Noxious Weeds http://plants.usda.gov/java/noxiousDriver, a subset of the USDA's PLANTS Database (CH, Sup'05, 42Sup-0242), and the Global Invasive Species Database http://www.invasivespecies.net/database/welcome/." Choice, August 2009.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Species"This authoritative, user-friendly site provides technical information about plant and animal species, updates on legislation and policy regarding species management, and details about species conservation status. Site sections include Endangered Species, Birds, Invasive Species, Pollinators, The Image Library, and Wildlife Fact Sheets. The home page states that "restoring endangered and threatened species to a secure status in the wild is a key objective of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)," and the Endangered Species Program http://www.fws.gov/endangered/ (CH, Apr'05, 42-4630) forms the hub of the Web site.
A search box on the home page allows searching by common or scientific name. Search results provide the species scientific and common names, species group (e.g., birds), listing status (e.g., threatened, endangered, proposed, candidate, or delisted), and current distribution (states). Search results link to the Threatened and Endangered Species System, which is updated daily with species profiles for foreign/domestic terrestrial and freshwater plants and animals. Profiles include nomenclature, taxonomy, overview, an image, links to Federal Register and other regulatory documents, recovery plans, critical habitat, conservation plans, petitions, life history, and other information resources. The Birds section links to the FWS Division of Migratory Birds pages, which provides access to documents about hunting, conservation, monitoring, laws/treaties/regulations for thousands of bird species and includes informative pamphlets about backyard birds useful to consumers. The Invasive Species link points to the FWS Environmental Contaminants Program's page on invasive species. The Pollinators section links to FWS programs that assess, protect, or restore pollinators and their habitats. The Image Library offers a large collection of copyright-free images that will appeal to children and can be useful in writing reports. The Wildlife Fact Sheets point to very current species profiles." from Choice, April 2009
Wormatlas"A database of behavioral and structural anatomy of Caenorhabditis elegans. Also includes links, a glossary, and more."
Xerces SocietyThe Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving invertebrates and their habitat. Its Web site, revamped in 2008, serves as both the society's home page and an educational resource. Society-related areas are chiefly in the About, Programs, News, Our Work, and Support sections located near the top of the main page below a colorful banner featuring gorgeous pictures of invertebrates. Each section has detailed subsections providing important information about the society, including its staff, board of directors, news, advocacy and policy activities, research, and details on becoming a member.
The site's educational areas are where the depth of content becomes apparent. The Invertebrates section profiles about 180 endangered or at-risk species, with an almost entirely North American emphasis. Each species account links to a Red List profile where applicable and provides, among other items, conservation status, identifying marks, references, photo (if available), and additional authoritative links. Unfortunately, last updated dates for the profiles are not always easy to ascertain. The Programs and Publications sections offer additional society- and education-related content. Besides describing the society's work, the programs listed in the Programs section may also have links to relevant authoritative Web pages or reports. The Publications section provides PDF files of the society's many writings, including guidelines, identification guides, petitions, comments responding to federal or state agency proposals, and reports; only the society's books and member magazine are not free to site visitors. Overall, the site is useful for undergraduates who have some training in invertebrates and are interested in conservation. Though focused mostly on pollinators and at-risk or endangered invertebrates in North America, the content is authoritative. The Xerces Society, almost 40 years old, has a worldwide reputation. Its site clearly reflects its mission and provides reliable educational information. From Choice, Jan. 2011.
Online Resources
American Institute of Biological SciencesThe American Institute of Biological Sciences is a non-profit scientific organization federally chartered to “advance research and education in the biological sciences.” AIBS serves as an umbrella organization for professional scientific societies and organizations in providing services, support, and a voice for research and education in biology. The AIBS site includes links to news, meetings, classifieds and articles of interest.
Animal Diversity Web"An online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan"
Archival Sound Recordings, from the British Library"Archival Sound Recordings gives full access to its content to licensed UK higher education institutions. The left sidebar lists larger categories of the collections, most of which are available only in the UK. Where copyright permits, users in the US may listen to nearly 12,000 items in the following collections: British wildlife recordings; Decca West African recordings; early spoken word recordings, ethnographic wax cylinders, Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, Millennium Memory Bank (oral history project recorded by BBC local radio stations), music from India (emphasizing folk, devotional, and ritual music of rural India), Peter Cooke Uganda recordings, soundscapes (mechanical, natural, urban sounds), survey of English dialects, and traditional music in England.
License agreements for content are in various stages of negotiation, with details available. Metadata derived from the British Library Sound Archive catalog is encoded in METS (XML) and will be compliant with the Protocol for Metadata Harvesting from the Open Archives Initiative by the end of the project. Users may view notes and tags added by others to make the collection user-friendly. A Search Tips link is available, along with a button that allows one to restrict a search to recordings everyone can play. Recent blog topics include "Sound in Space" and "Recording of the month"--featuring George Martin from the Oral History of Recorded Sound. This particular interview begins in the early 1950s, documenting Martin as he records classical music, then comedy, followed by the Beatles; it ends with a discussion of emerging technologies (circa 1983) for digital sound recording and synthesizers. This Web site's strength is in its diversity, and a wide audience should find it appealing." from Choice Oct. 2009.
Biodiversity Heritage Library"Ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions have joined to form the Biodiversity Heritage Library Project. The group is developing a strategy and operational plan to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections. This literature will be available through a global 'biodiversity commons.'"
BioEd OnlineBiology teacher resources from Baylor College of Medicine.
Everglades Digital Library"The Everglades Digital Library (EDL) is hosted by the Digital Collections Center at Florida International University (FIU) Libraries in Miami. The EDL was established in 1996 to make information resources about the Everglades more accessible to researchers, educators, and decision makers in this region. Several scholarly organizations and government offices throughout south Florida house historical information about the Everglades, so the EDL works closely with these groups to bring these resources together.
The EDL is subdivided into three separate collections: Everglades Education Consortium; Everglades Online; and Reclaiming the Everglades: South Florida's Natural History, 1884 to 1934. Additional special features include a selection of links to other historical, research, educational, and cultural sites, which contain photographic images or PDF files of the documents. One can browse the individual collections or browse by subject classification. The Advanced Search feature offers options to limit to resource type, language, audience, format, and education level. The Ask an Everglades Librarian link allows site visitors to pose additional questions via e-mail. Anyone can create an account from either the Browse or Search section on the site. Once a user is logged in, however, it is no longer possible to access some of the resources that are linked from the original home page. Visitors can post comments on the site, but this reviewer found this feature to be extremely problematic because every document she looked at contained myriad unrelated posts with questionable content or advertisements. The information resources found in the Everglade Digital Library are very useful and valuable to both undergraduate and graduate students." Choice April, 2010.
Freshwater and Marine Image Bank"The Freshwater and Marine Image Bank is a digital collection from the University of Washington Libraries. The images are scanned and maintained specifically by the staff of the Fisheries-Oceanography Library. The site currently contains 21,000 photos related to worldwide ocean and limnological environments from the 18th- through early-20th centuries. The site is fairly easy to navigate, with logical links. However, there can be some confusion since entering one digital collection site gives a user access to all other collections; visitors need to make sure that they remain in the Freshwater and Marine Image Bank when clicking on links.
There are expected collections of images such as Fish Species, Shellfish, and Water Birds. One of the surprising sets of photos is under Stereoscopic Views, which contains some spectacular images of Niagara Falls, the Chicago River, and the Panama Canal, to name a few. Metadata for each photo includes the image date, subject, publication information, copyright, and ordering information. A search option allows users to perform subject or title searches. One nice feature is the Other Sources section, which provides links to related image sites. It is not apparent how often updates are performed, but users can register to receive updates through the feed reader of their choice. The site appears to work well using both Internet Explorer and Firefox. This site offers a useful way to view images from publications that may be too fragile to handle. It is valuable for any student, teacher, or researcher who needs access to historical images related to freshwater and marine subjects." Choice February 2010.
Inside ScienceInside Science is a science news organization that provides editorially independent research news and information on science, engineering, mathematics, and related fields for general audiences through television, print and the web.
ScienceBlogs"ScienceBlogs provides access to more than 70 blogs by selected leading bloggers from a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The scope is quite broad; topics range from women in science to bisphenol A. ScienceBlogs was launched in January 2006 by Seed Media Group, which also publishes the scientific magazine Seed. Seed Media Group was founded in 2005 by Adam Bly (formerly, National Research Council of Canada). Bloggers are selected 'based on their originality, insight, talent, and dedication.' Selected bloggers include professors in scientific disciplines, a freelance science journalist, and more. ScienceBlogs staff do not edit the bloggers' work.
Excellent site organization enables users to easily browse or search for blogs, which are organized by ten channels of content: Life Science, Physical Science, Environment, Humanities and Social Science, Education and Careers, Politics, Medicine and Health, Brain and Behavior, Technology, and Last 24 Hours (most recent posts). Special features include Top 5 Readers' Picks, direct links to the science news section of The New York Times online, RSS feeds including 'ScienceBlogs posts analyzing peer-reviewed journal articles,' e-mail notification of specific blogs or channels, Page 3.14 Editorial Musings, Ask a Science Blogger, and ScienceBlogs Weekly Recap (a newsletter that can be mailed to users' inboxes). The site loads fairly quickly and features only a few advertisements." from Choice, May 2009.
Science.gov"'Science.gov searches over 36 databases and 1,850 selected websites, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information, including research and development results.' Content is provided by 13 federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The site offers both basic keyword and advanced search options. Searching across one or all 12 topics yields ranked results that are clustered by subtopic or date, have links to Wikipedia, and may be sorted by date, title, or author. A summary of all results ranks the sources used in the search. Refining the search, limiting the results, or creating an alert is available from the results page. In addition to searching the entire site for documents, users can explore selected science Web sites from the home page. Sites are selected by information specialists/librarians, and each component is regularly updated. The subject categories on the home page provide links to a wide variety of sites. The main page also includes featured searches and Web sites and links to special collections, including special terminology and thesauri from sources such as DTIC, MeSH, USGS, ERIC, and DOE." from Choice, April 2009
Bibliography of Fossil VertebratesFrom the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology this covers the indexed published literature of vertebrate paleontology from 1509-1993. "The BFV Online provides interactive access to the SVP's 'Bibliography of Fossil Vertebrates' series. Using the BFV Online, users can specify a search criterion, and receive a formatted list of matching literature references. Results will appear in a new window (users that have activated pop-up blocking in their browser may need to adjust their settings for this to work properly). Queries are formed like taxon = 'Tyrannosaurus'. Detailed instructions are available for writing queries, including complex Boolean statements and the use of pattern-matching."
Biodiversity Heritage Library"Ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions have joined to form the Biodiversity Heritage Library Project. The group is developing a strategy and operational plan to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections. This literature will be available through a global 'biodiversity commons.'"
Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online"This site, directed by John van Wyhe at the University of Cambridge, began in 2002 to assemble all of Darwin’s published and unpublished writings. The result is the largest Darwin resource ever created, with 75,914 pages of searchable text and 184,561 images. With the 150th anniversary of the publication of Origin of Species in 2009, the 70 million users who already visit the site should swell drastically."
Darwin Correspondence Project"Darwin's correspondence provides us with an invaluable source of information, not only about his own intellectual development and social network, but about Victorian science and society in general. They provide a remarkably complete picture of the development of his thinking, throwing light on his early formative years and the years of the voyage of the Beagle, on the period which led up to the publication of The Origin of Species and the subsequent heated debates."
Evolution Resources from the National Academies"This site from the National Academies of Science and Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council showcases their books, reports, articles, etc., about evolution as well as special events concerning evolution. Entries under topics such as Science and Religion, Legal Issues, Definitions, For Educators, and For Business turn out to be excerpts from the few titles listed under the Books and Reports section. These include brochures and scholarly books, some available online and others available for purchase in print and/or PDF format.
Content is thin, with much information derived from the National Academies' Science, Evolution, and Creationism (2008). Although the site celebrates Darwin, it contains little about him. A list of Web resources in the Additional Resources section is useful, and includes Understanding Evolution http://evolution.berkeley.edu/ (CH, Jan'09, 46-2814) from the University of California Museum of Paleontology and the National Center for Science Education. This site contains a wealth of textual and audio information about the history of related science and evolutionary theory, including pre-Darwin scholars and a link to Darwin's complete works online, as well as evidence for evolution and its impact on everyday life. Another excellent site is the Public Broadcasting Service's Evolution http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/, which offers excellent content in video and assorted entertaining Web formats, useful for teachers and appealing to students. All three sites have useful educational resources, but the California and PBS sites seem to be much richer in content. Evolution Resources from the National Academies will be useful as a secondary resource." Choice, August 2009.
Fossilworks / Paleobiology DatabaseFossilworks is a web-based portal to the Paleobiology Database. The PaleoDB is a large compilation of data about fossils. It includes a dynamically integrated master taxonomic classification and site-specific distributional records. Fossilworks adds to it an algorithmically synthesized global geological time scale that enables its query and analysis tools.
Paleontology Portal"Hosted by the University of California's Museum of Paleontology, this site is a selective collection of links to Internet resources on North American paleontology developed by the museum, the Paleontological Society, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, and the US Geological Survey. Although far from comprehensive, it offers a good introduction to paleontology, fossils, and related concepts for a broad audience ranging from K-12 students to professionals. In providing links to a wide range of paleontological resources, it is unique among Web sites related to paleontology. The portal is organized into eight sections: Exploring Time and Space, Fossil Gallery, Famous Fauna and Flora, Careers, Resources, K-12, Collections, and PaleoPeople. Exploring Time and Space includes plate tectonic reconstructions and links to virtual exhibits, research, collections, and resources on each geologic period. Fossil Gallery presents information on and images of North American fossils that users may browse by organism type and geologic time period.
Famous Fossils and Flora provides links to information and field guides on significant fossil sites that are linked from a map. Resources contains lists of links to fossil-related Internet sites, such as maps, journals, field guides, general reference works, and information on the history of paleontology. Collections allows professionals to search for fossil specimens in 13 museums. The site search engine locates links to resources and to fossil images. The site also provides RSS feeds for paleontological news and for Web site updates, which are done once or twice a month. The one drawback is the site's focus on Internet resources; a list of recommended print resources, such as books on fossils for children and interested amateurs, would be a useful addition." - L. R. Zellmer, Western Illinois University, from Choice Online
Tree of Life Web ProjectThis attractive and well organized site now containing more than 2600 pages includes contributions from biologists around the world. A goal is to have “information about the evolutionary history and characteristics of all groups of organisms.” Organized phylogenically, one can also search for a particular organism, look at the most recent additions or a randomly selected organism. Developed for professional biologists, the site is also usable by non-biologists.
Genetics Resources
Biopharmaceutical GlossariesA collection of glossaries on a variety of topics including: Drug Discovery & Development, Molecular Biology, Pharmacoeconomics, Biology, Chemistry and Informatics.
DNALC Internet Sites: Dolan DNA Learning Center"This site, under development since 1990, provides an up-to-date resource for teaching and learning about DNA and genetics. It is produced by the Dolan DNA Learning Center, a unit of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which is active in molecular genetics research. The main page is divided into two main sections: Educational Sites, and Lab and Bioinformatics Sites. The education section offers links to separate sites related to particular topics, including a historical introduction to DNA research, the history of the American Eugenics Movement, cancer, genetically based diseases, and the relationship between genes and cognition. These individual sites, often developed under grants from foundations, companies, or governmental agencies, provide a multimedia (text, animation, and audio and video clips) approach to learning about their topics. They are designed to be interactive, allowing users to choose areas of particular interest, as well as allowing teachers to select specific elements to create a tailored presentation. Each subsite opens in a new window, without providing a way to return to the previous site; navigation can sometimes be confusing. The laboratory section provides access to several sites that offer hands-on exercises for students, including experiments allowing students to work with their own DNA variations.
Content appears authoritative and includes resources for further reading. Although explanations are clear, the site appears to be aimed at those with some familiarity with genetics or at least its vocabulary; a glossary would be helpful. A Resources link provides access to more content, including animation libraries on various topics and other resources for sale. Overall, the organization and multimedia aspects of the DNALC Internet Sites will appeal to those with various learning styles and interests. Although there are other Web sites related to DNA education, this one seems to be the richest and most well thought out." Choice February 2010.
EcoCycEncyclopedia of Escherichia coli K-12 Genes and Metabolism
National Office of Public Health Genomics (NOPHG)"The National Office of Public Health Genomics (NOPHG) promotes the integration of genomics into public health research, policy, and practice in order to improve the lives and health of all people. Public Health Genomics is an emerging field that assesses the impact of genes and their interaction with behavior, diet and the environment on population health."
OMIM - Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man"This database is a catalog of human genes and genetic disorders authored and edited by Dr. Victor A. McKusick and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere, and developed for the World Wide Web by NCBI, the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The database contains textual information and references. It also contains copious links to MEDLINE and sequence records in the Entrez system, and links to additional related resources at NCBI and elsewhere."
PLoS Genetics"PLoS Genetics is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that reflects the full breadth and interdisciplinary nature of genetics and genomics research by publishing outstanding original contributions in all areas of biology."
Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms"Many online sources provide definitions and background information on genomics and genetics, but the Talking Glossary stands out for its multimedia features. Definitions are enhanced with recorded pronunciations and short audio clips of researchers at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) elaborating on the words' meanings. Genome.gov, where the glossary is maintained, is the official Web site of the NHGRI. The Talking Glossary defines 200-plus words in the vocabulary of genetics; additional multimedia elements include color illustrations for roughly half the terms and three-dimensional animations for about a third. Clicking on a word in the alphabetical listing on the home page leads to a page that displays the definition, with a link to hear the term pronounced. Users may then hear an NHGRI researcher expand on the definition (audio clips range from 40 seconds to three minutes), view a short profile and photograph of the researcher, look at a list of related terms (linked to their definitions), and use features titled "Send this term to a friend," "How to cite this term for research papers" (in APA or MLA styles), and "Suggest a Term" (for the glossary).
Illustrations are downloadable as PowerPoint or PDF files. Throughout the site, a Test Your Gene Knowledge link points to quizzes on terms heard in the classroom or mentioned in the news. The glossary lacks a few entries that this reviewer expected, such as the phases of meiosis (although they appear in the illustration), egg, sperm, and zygote. Comparable glossaries are available from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (CH, Jul'06, 43-6256), USGS: Biological Resource Discipline (CH, Jun'09, 46-5601), and the Human Genome Project (CH, Jul'02, 39-6163), but they lack this site's recorded pronunciations and multimedia features." Choice May, 2010.
Anatomy Resources
Anatomy Videos (MedlinePlus), from the National Library of Medicine"MedlinePlus, (CH, Jul'06, 43-6562) the National Library of Medicine's source for consumer health information, recently added free anatomy videos to its Web site. The nearly 80 videos featured were produced by A.D.A.M., a company with a long history of creating high-quality medical images with the guidance of and under review by physicians. (A.D.A.M. illustrations are included in the MedlinePlus encyclopedia.) Topics covered by the videos include normal human anatomy and physiology (blinking, blood pressure), pathophysiology of diseases (glaucoma, Parkinson's disease), and clinical interventions (liposuction heart bypass surgery). Videos have clear narration and closed-captioning. They vary in length (ranging from 15 seconds to 3 minutes) and structure (some have title screens, music, and sound effects; others do not). Some appear almost unfinished in comparison to others. Language level is appropriate for a general audience, though some videos use jargon that may be hard for a nonmedical person to understand. The videos, which are integrated into the MedlinePlus encyclopedia, appear here in an alphabetical listing only by title; given the assorted topics available, spotting a topic of interest quickly is somewhat challenging. Some titles add to this confusion, e.g., the video on pain is titled "Feeling Pain." Videos are available here in QuickTime format only." from Choice, November 2010.
Eye Resources on the InternetA MASSIVE list of links and information about the eye, ophthalmology and vision science.
MedicalMnemonics.com: World's Database of Medical Mnemonics"MedicalMnemonics.com is a large, free database of "associative learning tools" designed to help users memorize facts about the human body and its treatment. Altruistic contributors upload jingles to share with others. The interface is simple and easy to use with no intruding advertisements. A partial listing of contributors indicates that this resource is known in medical schools worldwide. The site includes links to favorable reviews. Access is through drop-down menus that filter results by category. Abridged and unabridged versions are available for PDA, Palm OS, AvantGo, and WAP phone. A competing title for the iPhone with 1,400 entries is Evan Schoenburg's Medical Mnemonics for iPhone app http://medicalmnemonicsapp.com/Medical_Mnemonics/Medical_Mnemonics.html. Popular books on this subject include B. D. Mittman's TURBO Mnemonics for the Boards (3rd ed., 2005) and K. Khan's Mnemonics for Medical Students (2003). Blackwell Science's "Visual Mnemonics" series, e.g., Visual Mnemonics for Pathology (2003), by L. L. Marbas, adds clever line drawings for visual stimulation. However, the advantages of presenting this information online are numerous--in particular, the material is continuously updated. From the librarian's perspective, mnemonics titles are often missing, so replacing books with a free, shared online resource is attractive. Robert O'Connor, a family medicine resident in Newfoundland, is listed as the contact for this Web site. Alas, the most recent updates listed are from May 2007. One wonders whether this excellent resource will continue to evolve, remain static, or disappear." from Choice March 2010.
WebAnatomy"A collection of study aids for entry-level anatomy and physiology students." Particularly useful for its self-testing features.
Plant Biology Resources
Biodiversity Heritage Library"Ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions have joined to form the Biodiversity Heritage Library Project. The group is developing a strategy and operational plan to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections. This literature will be available through a global 'biodiversity commons.'"
Botanical Dermatology Database (BoDD)BoDD is an electronic re-incarnation of BOTANICAL DERMATOLOGY by John Mitchell & Arthur Rook, which was originally published in 1979 by Greengrass Ltd, Vancouver [ISBN 0-88978-047-1].
International Plant Science Center: The New York Botanical Garden"The mission of the International Plant Science Center (IPSC) of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) is "discovering and understanding the plants of the world and their evolutionary relationships." The IPSC Web site is a well-organized, detailed resource for professionals and students of botany. In addition, the introductory text and Flash programs provide useful information for interested nonprofessionals and middle-to-high-school-age audiences.
The main page is divided into three major sections, Collections, Research, and Resources. The Collections section includes links to the Steere Herbarium and The C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium, the "electronic gateway" to the Steere collections. This virtual herbarium offers a wealth of information including project information, specimen lists, and searchable specimen catalogs, which would be of particular value to researchers. A See Also section includes Presentations of Ongoing Research with hyperlinks to Flash presentations on selected topics. These oral presentations with interesting, beautiful pictures are accessible to nonprofessionals as well as children. The Research section provides information on the IPSC's researchers and graduate students, including contact information and details of their research interests. The Meet Our Interns page, which contains short descriptions of student experiences, would be of particular importance to undergraduate students. The site also provides information about the IPSC graduate program and links to institutions with collaborative programs. The Resources section offers access to the NYBG's Index Herbariorum, a searchable database of nearly 4,000 public herbaria and 10,000 specialists/professionals. The Other Web Resources button in this section is extremely well populated with links to botanical libraries, online catalogs, botanical databases, photo collections, and more--basically everything a user might want to know about botany. The main negative of the site is the small text font size on some pages. Otherwise, IPSC is an excellent resource for a wide audience." Choice August, 2010.
Swingle Plant Digital Archive and Reference Collection"The Swingle Plant Digital Archive and Reference Collection is an online database of 1,700 digital micrographs taken from 384 specimens of flower buds, fruit, seeds, leaves, shoots, and roots. This unique tropical plant anatomy resource is drawn from specimens prepared by Walter T. Swingle, a botanist interested in economically important tropical plants (especially citrus), who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Barbara Whitlock (plant evolutionary biologist, Univ. of Miami) digitized part of Swingle's collection for the Web through a University of Miami Libraries Digital Fellowship.
The site is easy to navigate. Users can browse the images or search by order, family, name (scientific or common), plant structure, and, if available, specimen's country of origin. Images download quickly and can be saved to one's computer. The individual micrographs are of excellent quality and are well documented. The site also contains selected plant anatomy animations, brief information on Swingle's career and contributions, and a bibliography of relevant resources. The Swingle Plant Digital Archive and Reference Collection is an important contribution to plant anatomy research, an active field of study. The site will be of great value to researchers of all levels interested in tropical plant biology, and will serve as a useful reference for students of tropical plant anatomy." from Choice June, 2010.
Microbiology Resources
Microbial Life - Educational Resources"Microbial Life (ML) is a valuable addition to microbial ecology Web sites in the way it explains the wide variety of research areas and projects in the field. Funded by the National Science Foundation, ML is the product of collaboration between the Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory in Massachusetts and Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. Other sites are geared to either much younger students or individuals already involved in the field. ML targets a broader audience: the general public, high school and undergraduate students, and teachers who need accurate, current information on microbial ecology without being overwhelmed by the complexity of the information presented.
Pages load quickly and exhibit a good balance between clear, readable text and excellent, informative micrographs. Major sections of this extremely well-organized site provide information about extremophiles and marine microbes, as well as the habitats of these intensely studied microbes. A section on microbial observatories lists numerous research sites around the world along with research findings and pictures from the research groups involved. ML serves as an excellent jumping-off point for those who wish to delve more deeply into this area of research. Users will also benefit from a section on research methodologies in microbial ecology. Brief, informative pages cover the major research methods in the field, with links to a variety of educational sites where more detailed information can be found. Teachers will find a section on teaching methods, sample teaching topics and tips, and case studies, as well as an exhaustive collection of links to a multitude of online sources including image collections and databases. Overall, this excellent, resource-rich site should prove to be an invaluable resource to anyone needing current information about microbial ecology." from Choice, June 2009.
BrainWeb & Brain Information (BWBI)"The BrainWeb and Brain Information (BWBI) is a niche resource that offers excellent information for the defined areas of coverage. It is not yet a comprehensive, in-depth resource for every kind of brain research and neurological disorder, but it provides sound information in the areas addressed and legitimate Web links to more obscure disorders. BWBI was created by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, a nonprofit organization of more than 270 neuroscientists. The overall Dana Alliance Web site features broad-ranging current news and information resources about the neurosciences. BWBI features structured information on 35 disorders or areas of research: Alzheimer's disease, Anxiety, Autism, Blindness/Vision Impairment, Brain Injury, Deafness/Hearing Impairment, Depression, Headache, Imaging, Memory, Mental Illness, Pain, Sleep Disorders, Stress, Stroke, and more. Each disorder has a separate page with two kinds of links. The first section of links is to authoritative national resources. Most of the 35 items have a second section titled Dana Links that includes an extensive guide article and other quality articles posted to the site. Two technical problems need correcting. The page-loading time to internal links can be slow. Additionally, although the Dana Links sections have a printer-friendly option, the front page to each topic does not. When printing front pages, the first page is the header and the second page has the text. Any text exceeding one page does not print. Despite these glitches, the credibility and legitimacy of the expert information cited and the resources offered make this an unusually good medical resource." Choice, September 2009.
