In the news this week, the National Archives National Declassification Center has announced a Prioritization Plan for releasing documents, Georgia shifts its look at the Civil War, the National Library of Medicine  adds to its Frankenstein exhibit, and two sites offer ways to search wikileaks.org. Then, check out an art history online textbook, 50 useful apps, and Charles Babbage’s “difference engine.” Finally, remember JFK through pictures and read a little girl’s letter to Abraham Lincoln encouraging him to grow a beard.

News

• National Archives Releases Final Plan for Tackling 400 Million-Page Backlog
  The National Archives National Declassification Center (NDC) has “announced the release of its Prioritization Plan (PDF) for eliminating the 400+ million page backlog of reviewed, but unavailable archival records by December 2013.”
• Georgia Takes a New Look at the Causes of the Civil War
  See two articles from the New York Times, “One State Takes a New Look at Causes of War” and “Celebrating Secession Without the Slaves,”on Georgia’s more public recognition that Abraham Lincoln was “anti-slavery.”
• Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature
  The National Library of Medicine (the world’s largest medical library), has recently updated their online Frankenstein exhibit, which tells the history of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and how her story has changed over the years. The site also provides related lesson plans.
• U.S. embassy cables: browse the database
  Due to cyberattacks, the controversial wikileaks.org web site is sometimes off line, but you can still peruse the material in the Guardian’s  interactive guide. See also Newsweek’s article on “How to Search the Wikileak Cable Dump.”

Technology

• ‘Smarthistory’ Rethinks the Art-History Textbook Online
  The Chronicle takes a look at Smarthistory.org, an art history site that incorporates video, images, and text. The site won a Webby award for best education Web site in 2009.
• 50 Free Apps We’re Most Thankful For
  Lifehacker offers a list of 50 free apps, for “desktop, mobile phone, and devices in between,” that they and their readership are fans of.
• Booting Up a Computer Pioneer’s 200-Year-Old Design
  Smithsonian magazine looks back at Charles Babbage’s “difference engine” and how it led to the modern day computer.

U.S. Presidents

• The presidency of JFK, 50 years ago
  The Flickr blog takes a look back at John F. Kennedy through pictures.
• All the ladies like whiskers
  An exchange of letters between an 11 year old and Abraham Lincoln on growing a beard and how it might help his chances in securing the presidency.

Contributors: Elisabeth Grant and Vernon Horn

This post first appeared on AHA Today.