Communications

The methods and technologies used by humans to communicate and share information over long distances.

Resources in this category:

Abilityhub: Assistive Technology Solutions
http://abilityhub.com/

Provides adaptive technology solutions for people with disabilities related to accessing daily information. Provides a basic overview of assistive technology, and links to companies and product descriptions for adaptive technologies.

The Benton Foundation
http://www.benton.org/

The Benton Foundation seeks to utilize the public interest use of communications to bring about social benefits. Through its seven projects, the foundation attempts to shape the public interest in emerging communications environment in the public interest. The Foundation merges philanthropy, public policy and community action to use digital media to engage, equip and connect people to solve social problems. The emphasis at this site is on library, education, public media and communications issues.

Center for Nonverbal Studies
http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/

An organization dedicated to the study of all forms of non-spoken communication. Includes thorough explanation of the various forms of non-verbal communication.

How Does a Long Distance Receiver Work?
http://www.4p8.com/eric.brasseur/receiv.html

A basic description and explanation with examples on the physics of transmitting information over long distances using a transmitter and receiver.

International Telecommunication Union
http://www.itu.int/home/index.html

The ITU is an international organization dedicated to helping coordinate the government and private sectors in developing and operating telecommunications technology. The website provides free electronic copies of its reports and free statistics such as telephone lines by country, number of PCs per country, and telecommunications indicators.

Inland Marine Radio History Archive
http://www.imradioha.org/

This history of the radio in Great Lakes and Mississippi River shipping industry provides technical descriptions as well as personal recollections of retired radio operators. This site invites its audience to contribute knowledge and facts and is constantly growing as a result.

International Marine Signal Flags
http://www.sacdelta.com/signal-flags.htm

Descriptions and images of the alphabet flags and pennants used for communication by ships at sea. Also links to a page explaining the semaphore flag signaling system, with images of all the letters in the semaphore alphabet.

MarconiCalling
http://www.marconicalling.com/

This site examines the life, science, and achievements of Guglielmo Marconi, often referred to as the pioneer of wireless communication. A timeline covers important events in Marconi's life. There are also self-contained exhibitions that cover the significant milestones of the development of wireless. The Communications section features layers and layers of fascinating information on the advent of wireless technology, and the multimedia Archive contains documents related to Marconi and the history of wireless communication.

The Media History Project
http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/

Promotes "the study of media history from petroglyphs to pixels." Includes an excellent timeline of media history covering art, music, television, the Internet, and video games from pre-history to today, along with an article archive on media resources.

A Memorial to the Bell System
http://www.navyrelics.com/tribute/bellsys/index.htm

"This web site was created to help keep the memories of the Bell System alive and to pay tribute to those that made it the greatest telecommunications system on earth. The Bell System, a.k.a. ³Ma Bell² or simply ³THE telephone company², was not a "company" but rather the sum of several corporations headed by AT&T prior to the divestiture of January 1, 1984. The American Telephone and Telegraph company (known today as simply AT&T), Western Electric (which became Lucent), Bell Labs, and the 22 local Bell operating companies (which became the so-called "Baby Bells²) made up a huge and complex corporate system providing telecommunications equipment and service to the majority of the people living in the US prior to divestiture."

MobileCrunch
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/

"MobileCrunch is a blog covering the hardware, software, and services of the mobile industry."

National Security Agency
http://www.nsa.gov/

The National Security Agency home site provides information about codes and cryptology, as well as declassified national security documents.

The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs, & Body Language Cues
http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/6101.html

Provides comprehensive definitions, relevant quotes, photos, and illustrations of different types of non-verbal communication.

UCLA's Disabilities and Computing Program
http://www.dcp.ucla.edu/

Provides information on web accessibility, adaptive computing, information access and a variety of services to the UCLA community.

Virtual Institute of Information
http://www.vii.org/

An on-line research facility open to everyone, allowing independent research in telecommunications and mass media.It is a global center for research, discussion and debate with an open architecture allowing users to contribute.