Internet Reviews

Joni R. Roberts and Carol Drost

Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian for public services and collection development at Willamette University, email: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian for technical services at Willamette University, email: cdrost@willamette.edu.

Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal. Access: https://tools.niehs.nih.gov/cchhl/.

The Climate Change and Human Health Literature Portal (CCHHL Portal) is a resource of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, an institute of the United States National Institutes of Health. Created to address challenges in accessing studies related to climate change and human health, the CCHHL Portal provides a convenient single search point that brings together scientific studies on topics related to the health implications of climate change from across disciplines and publishing platforms. The database indexes relevant scholarly literature from 2007 to the present (22,695 items at the time of writing), much of which is open access, though there is a delay of up to a year before newly published studies are added.

For a thorough introduction to conducting searches and navigating results, users can click the “Portal Instructional Video” link, which connects out to a YouTube tutorial. Midway down the CCHHL Portal landing page are links to nine topic-based “Example Explorations,” which link to pre-set literature searches. These explorations can be useful in getting acquainted with the database or for a quick browse of topical literature. At the bottom of the page, users can find a link to “Frequently Asked Questions” about the database’s purpose and functions.

The CCHHL Portal provides a simple text-based search, but equally useful is their rich hierarchy of filter options, available under the expandable “Search With Filters” menu. Search filter categories include “Exposure,” “Geographic Location,” “Geographic Feature,” “Health Impact,” “Model/Methodology,” “Model Timescale,” “Resource Type,” “Special Topic,” and “Year Published.” A “Filter Criteria” link provides clear definitions of each category. On the search results page, users can add and remove filters, search within the results, and change the results sort. Each result includes an image of the geographic scope (continent or global), and clicking on a title brings up the abstract, basic metadata, and external links to access full text.

Overall, the CCHHL Portal is a useful resource for students, researchers, and practitioners looking for scholarly literature in areas related to climate change and human health education, research, and policy. It provides a curated portal of vetted scholarly publications in this interdisciplinary area, potentially simplifying and better targeting literature searches versus those in broader databases.—Amy Jankowski, University of New Mexico, ajankowski@unm.edu

Knight Foundation. Access: https://knightfoundation.org/.

Established in the 1950s by newspaper publishers John S. and James L. Knight, the Knight Foundation, with an endowment of approximately $2.4 billion, supports freedom of speech in journalism, the arts, and culture. The foundation’s easy-to-navigate website is divided into four main headings: “Programs,” “Newsroom,” “Research,” and “Events.”

The “Programs” section highlights the four main program areas that are supported by the Knight Foundation: “Journalism,” “Communities,” “Arts,” and “Learning and Impact.” Aligning themselves with the First Amendment’s main tenets of free speech and press freedom, the foundation’s “Journalism” program funds solutions in several areas such as technology and product innovation, and sustainability and revenue development. One of the highlights of this program is the launch of the Knight Election Hub, a collection of resources to support US newsrooms covering the 2024 elections.

The “Communities” program details the Knight Foundation’s funding of urban revitalization and community engagement initiatives in 26 communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers, including Akron, Detroit, and Miami. Users can click on the city links to find information about program staff in those cities and how to apply for grants. The resources for the “Learning and Impact” details recent research funded by the Knight Foundation, such as book challenges in American public schools and student perceptions of free expression on college campuses.

Under the site’s “Newsroom” heading, users will find articles, press mentions, and press releases that can be searched by content type, program, and community. Researchers may also search by topic area, such as “Arts and Technology,” “Elections and Voting,” and “Trust, Media, and Democracy.”

Under the “Research” heading, users of the site will find current research, including reports from the Pew-Knight Initiative, a research program funded jointly by The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Knight Foundation. These reports explore how Americans receive news, how they act upon it, and how they choose to share it. Several of the reports highlight perceptions of local news and the use of social media to stay informed on political news.

This site would be most helpful to students and faculty studying and teaching in several subject areas, including communications, economics, political science, sociology, and urban studies. In addition, the entire site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license, making it appropriate for inclusion in Open Educational Resources collections.—Michele Frasier-Robinson, University of Southern Mississippi, susan.frasierrobinson@usm.edu

United States Sentencing Commission. Access: https://www.ussc.gov.

The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) is an independent, bipartisan agency in the judicial branch of government, created by the Sentencing Reform Act (SRA) of 1984. The Act was created by Congress in response to inequalities in federal sentencing. The USSC created “a new era of federal sentencing” and a goal to “reduce sentencing disparities and promote transparency and proportionality in sentencing.” Seven voting members, appointed by the President and confirmed via Senate, serve staggered six-year terms. Only four members can belong to the same political party and at least three members must be judges. The Attorney General or designee, and the chair of the US Parole Commission serve as ex officio nonvoting members. Four members of the USSC must cast affirmative votes to promulgate amendments to the sentencing guidelines. The Commission advises and assists Congress and the Executive Branch in “developing crime policy and collecting and distributing information on a variety of federal crime and sentencing issues.” Additionally, it serves as a resource for the Executive Branch, courts, practitioners, academics, and the public.

Categories of information on the homepage (“Guidelines,” “Research,” “Policymaking,” “Education,” “About,” and “By Topic”) help users locate material. “Guidelines” include the 2023 annotated guideline manual, a variety of primers, and a sentencing table. “Research” provides “Data Reports,” “Datafiles,” “Research Reports,” and a “List of Publications.” “Policymaking” offers information on “Meetings and Hearings” and “Amendments.” “Education” includes topics such as “Criminal History,” “Relevant Conduct,” “Supreme Court Cases,” and more. “About” provides information on the commissioners, annual reports, employment, press releases, and podcasts. “By Topic” provides an extensive list of alphabetically arranged information such as “Amendments,” “Backgrounder,” “Escape,” “Fentanyl,” and “Recidivism,” just to name a few.

“Quick Facts” publications give readers basic facts about a single area of federal crime in an easy-to-read, two-page format. Topics include sentencing issues, drug offenses, immigration offenses, and more.

This is a premier site providing information on federal sentencing and related topics in an accessible and user-friendly resource. A valuable source for those interested in federal sentencing policies, guidelines, and associated issues.—Karen Evans, Indiana State University, karen.evans@indstate.edu