One of the talents that a mediator offers is the ability to help people see their world — and the people and problems in it — in wholly different ways.

I was therefore delighted to discover in the Boston Public Library’s online map collection a map that does exactly that–invites people to see the world anew.

For centuries now traditional maps have offered a Eurocentric view, depicting the world with the northern hemisphere on top. This map, however, literally and figuratively turns convention on its head.

To explore similar cartographic creations, also pay a visit to the The Upsidedown Map Page.

A new blog with a unique perspective gets off to a good start: IDR Mediation Blog, which focuses on insurance coverage disputes and their resolution.

It is published by California-based attorney-mediators Lance LaBelle and David Ezra of Insurance Dispute Resolution Mediation Services (IDR), a firm established to respond to the growing need for dispute resolution neutrals who specialize in insurance law.

Please join me in welcoming this latest addition to the World Directory of ADR Blogs and to the always-growing mediation blogosphere.

There are so many sights (or is that sites?) worth seeing on the information highway. It’s hard to find them all, let alone have time to explore them in depth. To save you some time and mileage, here are some recommended destinations this week for conflict resolution professionals:

Stephanie West Allen continues her Legal Highlights series at her blog Idealawg with an interview with the influential Kenneth Cloke, a pioneer and leader in the alternative dispute resolution field.

Erin Gleason at Open Discourse: International Dispute Resolution gets in the last word in the spot-on post “Cross-Cultural Negotiation: The Neutral’s Responsibility“.

Josh Weiss interviews David Lax, author of: 3-d Negotiation: Powerful Tools to Change the Game in Your Most Important Deals, in this week’s edition of Negotiating Tip of the Week.

Victoria Pynchon ponders the extent to which we’re hard-wired for collaboration in “Unhappy Lawyers and the Cooperative Hard Wire” at the Settle It Now Negotiation Blog.

Ross Runkel at his Arbitration Blog asks an important question: “Arbitration – Is Justice Served?”

Geoff Sharp at Mediator Blah…Blah… presents a three-part series on BS detection, here, here, and here. Bring your shovel and hip boots.

Diversity Advantage invites thought on leveraging diversity in a brainstorming session.

Language Log looks at pseudoscience, journalism, and people’s propensity to seek out urban legends which confirm their prejudices, and also takes a poke at doublespeak in the “war on terror”.

Any mediator who’d like to get in on the blogging fun would do well to read Tammy Lenski’s latest post on “Choosing a Name for Your ADR Blog“.

Finally, happy belated birthday and wedding anniversary to Mediation Mensch Dina Lynch!

Thanks to a nifty (and free) online tool called Grazr that aggregates blog feeds, the World Directory of ADR Blogs now includes a Reading Room where you can browse through the headlines of the blogs in its catalogue. (Comfy chair and reading light not included.)

(A big hat tip to employment law blogger George Lenard, who so generously shared his discovery of Grazr’s blogrolling abilities with his readers. For those seeking an alternative to Bloglines, this may be it.)

One of the best ways for me to stay abreast of the latest in legal thinking is to read Blawg Review, the weekly review of the best in law blogging. Hosted each week by a different blogger, Blawg Review takes my curiosity to new places, bringing me a fresh perspective on the world of law and justice.

Sharp, incisive, and savvy, this week’s edition is no exception. Blawg Review #85 is hosted by Australian legal scholar Peter Black at Freedom to Differ, a blog which speaks its mind about law, the internet, and media. Blawg Review #85 takes readers on a tour of law blogs world-wide.

Next week’s Blawg Review will be hosted by Colin Samuels at the dependably excellent Infamy or Praise. Be sure to tune in.