Sustainable seafood. From an environmental perspective, not all fish and shellfish sold in today’s markets and restaurants are good choices. The Earth’s oceans were once thought to be inexhaustible sources of food, but today scientists realize the oceans cannot sustain the demands humans have placed on them. The “Smithsonian Sustainable Seafood Web Site” is an online resource that allows seafood lovers to make environmentally sound choices about what marine species to eat—regardless if it is bought at a restaurant, seafood market or local grocery store. Based on years of research by scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, this site will give visitors insight into seafood species that are caught in an environmentally responsible manner, those not in danger of significant depletion and those cultivated using acceptable farming practices. Commercial fish that present environmental problems or are in decline are identified and alternate species suggested. Bluefin tuna, for example, is highly prized for sushi yet is becoming scarce due to overfishing. Yellowfin or blackfin tuna are more responsible choices. This site complements the recently published One Fish, Two Fish, Crawfish, Bluefish—The Smithsonian Sustainable Seafood Cookbook, by Carole Baldwin, an ichthyologist at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and Smithsonian research assistant Julie Mounts.
—www.mnh.si.edu/seafood/

Sample books. Be it wallcoverings, flooring, drapery or ceramics, the world of design relies upon the sample book—large notebooks containing samples of a company’s products.“Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product” is a new Web site from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum that takes a close look at the history of the sample book, using examples from the Smithsonian’s extensive collections. Multipurpose, and often with an accidental beauty, sample books provide a detailed view into the manufacturing processes, technological innovations, design tastes, styles and color sensibilities of other eras. In medieval times, model books with vellum pages were used as portable portfolios by itinerant artists and served as a repository of stock motifs that could be applied to sculpture, architectural ornament and textile design. The sampling formats in the Smithsonian’s collections are a resource with both historic and aesthetic value, and offer an unusual window into the past.—www.cooperhewitt.org/exhibitions/multiple_choice/