Resources

April 5, 2018

Illustrated U.S. Map From 1932 Shows the Medicinal Plants Native to Each State

Renowned for the rarity of its cartographic treasures, the David Rumsey Map Collection is a one-of-a-kind organization. Over half of its 150,000 historic documents—including one of the world's largest maps—has been digitized, allowing the public to explore the charted world like like never before. One recent addition to this virtual library is the Medicinal Plant Map of the United States, a vintage guide to each state's pharmaceutical flora.

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March 19, 2018

Literal World Map Reveals the Historical Meanings of Country Names

Each country has its own fascinating history and in linguistics a country's name is often the first clue to their historic culture. This world map—created by Credit Card Compare—shows the literal translation of each country’s name, suggesting their original meanings. By using a range of sources such as The World Fact Book and Oxford Dictionaries, each country’s name was translated into its early native language, unearthing intriguing facts from around the globe.

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March 1, 2018

Artist Creates Illustrations to Show How It Takes Time to Perfect Your Craft

Whether you’re an established artist or an aspiring one, you’ll know that practice makes perfect. And thanks to the Internet, you no longer have to attend art school to learn how to draw or paint. There’s now an abundance of online drawing tutorials with talented artists sharing their how-tos, letting you learn for free. One artist to share her secrets is Netherlands-based Floortjes, who creates hyperrealistic digital paintings.

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February 12, 2018

Library Places 1,600+ Occult Books Online With Help From ‘The Da Vinci Code’ Author

We've written about a lot of library digitization projects, but one of the more interesting collections to bring their books to the public is Amsterdam's Ritman Library. Its collection of esoteric, religious, and philosophical manuscripts is based on the private collection of 20th-century businessman Joost Ritman, whose family made their fortune selling plastic tableware to airlines. And now, a good portion of the library's core collection is online thanks to The Da Vinci Code author, Dan Brown.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.