These updated lists grow longer every day:
State-by-state look at colleges requiring COVID-19 vaccines (University Business); and What colleges require the COVID-19 vaccine? (Bestcolleges.com).
Archive for April, 2021
Access to Over 210,000,000 Open Access Items
CORE aggregates millions of open access items from an indefinite number of disciplines from thousands of repositories worldwide. Book reviews, peer-reviewed articles, dissertations, theses, papers, book chapters are all retrieved using this service; numerous filters allow one to drill down to a more specific level. Well worth a look.
Top High Schools in New Jersey
The 2021 US News & World Report on the best high schools has been published. See where New Jersey schools rank nationwide and within the state, and even more specifically, find out how many Jersey City schools made the list. (And let’s drill down further to see if Innovation High School appears.) Various metrics were utilized to assemble these rankings.
The First 2020 Census Results – How Did New Jersey Fare?
Contrary to what people would have you believe, New Jersey did not lose population over the past decade, but gained in numbers, even if the increase was below the national average. Facts, figures, and tables from the Census Bureau are available online. CNN does an excellent job of explaining the national results and their implications moving forward.
In 2021, Here Is What Keeps Provosts Up At Night
Chief academic officers have their own sets of worries, many of which mirror what causes insomnia among their presidents. Read the 2021 survey here.
Roman Gardens
The Gardens of the Roman Empire is an online encyclopedia examining the numerous examples of these installations throughout the breadth of the Roman Empire. Extensive entries, accompanied by line drawings, photographs, and bibliographies enhance the usability of this resource.
The 2004 monograph, Gardens of the Roman World, is sumptuously illustrated and provides additional information. Another work of importance is Ancient Herbs In the J. Paul Getty Museum Gardens that recreates a Roman garden originally located near Mount Vesuvius.
Major Climate Conference In Washington – Watch It Live
President Biden invited many world leaders to attend a virtual meeting on climate change; you can watch it here live; this same site will have both a permanent recording and a transcript as well. At the same time, Greta Thunberg, climate activist, is testifying before the House Oversight Committee . The above features also pertain to this event – live view, archived video, and proceedings transcript.
Earth Day Teaching Resources
The following sites feature lesson plans, activities, timelines, and primary sources on this important topic: Earth Day: Selected Resources (Library of Congress); Documerica (more than 15,000 photographs highlighting environmental concerns, from the EPA); Earth Day (National Park Service); The National Parks (by Ken Burns. Access to the videos are behind a paywall but numerous other important features are readily available); Celebrating Earth Day with Primary Sources (Library of Congress); Earth Day (National Geographic for Kids); and How Did Earth Day Start? (How Stuff Works).
NJCU Men’s and Women’s Basketball Teams Win Conference Titles
In an histoic first for NJCU, both teams won their respective conference championships. Here is a two-minute report from News12 New Jersey on this accomplishment; in addition, NJ101.5 has a piece on this.
What Keeps College Presidents Up At Night – the 2021 Version
COVID, race relations, immigration policies, higher education financing – the list is endless. Please peruse this survey for the details.
The Capitol Police OIG Statement to House Committee
This short but damning document can be read here; his testimony can be viewed here. The entire report is classified as “law enforecement sensitive” and is not publicly available at this time. Here is NPR’s reportage on this.
2020/21 AAUP Salary Survey
Replete with tables and appendices (state institutional figures are here), this particular iteration highlights the impact of COVID on faculty/staff salaries/benefits; the key findings are a sobering read.
Two Major Security Reports Released
The Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community highlights major areas of near-term concern for the United States: China (“near-peer competitor”), Rusia, North Korea, COVID-19, climate change, global terrorism, emerging technologies, inter alia. Previous issues can be found in the DNI archives.
And Global Trends 2040 (National Intelligence Council) presents “…trends and uncertainties that will shape the strategic environment for the United States during the next two decades.” It is issued every four years; previous volumes are here.
How Office Staffing May Look Within the Next Year
The Office Re-Entry Index from LaSalle Network will be an updated survey detailing the opinions of high-level executives as they look forward to re-opening offices. Questions posed range from mandating vaccinations to hybrid workforces to re-entry obstacles. Numerous links are provided for further guidance. One figure of note:
When asked how they believe their workforce will be modeled 12 months from now with the information currently available, 77% of respondents stated it will be a hybrid model, with a portion of employees working in-office and a portion working from home.(4)
2019-20 New Jersey School Performance Reports
These district/school reports have just been published; because of the pandemic, data on chronic absenteeism was eliminated for this year. Other significant takeaways include: enrollment dropped by 3%; high school graduation rates rose slightly; and SAT scores dropped a bit. These developments are all highlighted in 4 things we learned about N.J.’s schools during COVID from nj.com. Some informative graphs are available from the ever-reliable NJ Spotlight.
Watch the Russian Version of “The Fellowship of the Ring”
Broadcast only once on Russsian TV and then lost for three decades, this two-part adaptation is available for free on YouTube, Presently, there are no sub-titles in English, but it makes for lovely viewing anyway.The Guardian has an informative article about this re-discovery.
World’s Best Hospitals 2021
Newsweek has teamed with Statista to produce a listing of the best 200 global hospitals; they have also featured the best U.S. hospitals as well as healthcare institutions in other countries. The lists can be manipulated by ranking, city, country, state (where applicable). The methodologies are also available for perusal. See how many New Jersey hospitals made the cut (pun intended).
The Library of Congress Builds COVID Collections
In response to COVID-19, the Library of Congress has started to archive various media depicting the ravages of this pandemic. Presently, posters, graphic art work, photographs, and drawings are available. This is an ongoing project that will include more material as time goes by.
National Security Reports – March 2021 Update
Final Report (this is a 700+ page report; an executive summary is available. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence); Priorities for the Department of Defense (DOD Secretary); 2021 High Risk List (GAO); A Plan To Reform U.S. Security Assistance (Center for American Progress); 2020 Internet Crime Report (FBI); Global Change Research Needs and Opportunities for 2022-2031 (NAP); The 2020s Tri-Service Modernization Crunch (American Enterprise Institute); Ten Years In: Implementing Strategic Approaches to Cyberspace (Newport Papers 45. Naval War College); Parameters (50th anniversary issue, U.S. Army War College); A Hard Look at Hard Power: Assessing the Defense Capabilities of Key US Allies and Security Partners—Second Edition; Security Threats, American Pressure, and the Role of Key Personnel: How NATO’s Defence Planning Process is Alleviating the Burden-Sharing Dilemma; and 2019: A Changing International Order? Implications for the Security Environment (the last three volumes – Strategic Studies Institute).
Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA): Water System Security and Resilience Provisions; Transnational Crime Issues: Arts and Antiquities Trafficking; National Preparedness: A Summary and Select Issues; Climate Change Adaptation: Department of the Interior; U.S. Capitol Attack and Law Enforcement Use of Facial Recognition Technology; Coup in Burma (Myanmar): Issues for U.S. Policy; Army Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFABs); and Mexico: Challenges for U.S. Policymakers in 2021. (all CRS)
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 