A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Scholars' Information Requirements in a Digital
Age--AHDS
http://ahds.ac.uk/public/uneeds/un0.html
Daniel
Greenstein and Sarah Porter of the Arts and Humanities Data Service, a program
funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), UK, have authored a
study that focuses on strategies to encourage "greater scholarly
exploitation of information technologies and digital resources within the arts
and humanities." Research for this consultation draft consisted of a
literature review and a series of six workshops. The study provides perspectives
on information requirements in the digital age from information professionals
and scholars in five different disciplines (based on workshop findings). The
draft further explores obstacles to scholarly use of digital resources and
suggests strategies for overcoming them. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
Center for International Health Information (CIHI)
[.pdf]
http://www.cihi.com/
The CIHI Website
provides data on current status and trends in population, nutrition, and health
for developing countries that receive USAID assistance. Country, regional, and
time series data are available in tables in either text or .pdf format for
sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Near East, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Indicators include infant and maternal mortality, nutritional status,
vaccination coverage, contraceptive use, and population and fertility rates.
Users can download Global Health Data Viewer (GHDV) software containing over 60
indicators from 200 countries from the site. GHDV allows users to display a
selected single point in time or time series data in spreadsheet or graphic form
for manipulation or export to other programs. Other sections of the site contain
reports of USAID projects and links to international population and health
information sources. [GW]
[Back
to Contents]
Two New Reports from the USDA
International
Agricultural Baseline Projections to 2007 [.pdf]
http://www.econ.ag.gov/epubs/pdf/aer767/
World
Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) Report [.pdf]
http://www.usda.gov/oce/waob/wasde/wasde.htm
The US Department of Agriculture offers these two reports relating to
international food production and demand. The Economic Research Service (ERS) of
the USDA produced the first report, which provides baseline projections for
international supply, demand, and trade for major agricultural commodities to
the year 2007. The report is offered in .pdf format only and includes an
introduction and separate sections for major agricultural products such as
wheat, soybeans, rice, cotton, beef, and pork. The WASDE Report, authored by
World Agricultural Board, is released each month in text and .pdf formats. The
report includes overviews of supply and demand for key commodities illustrated
with 27 detailed tables. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
Global Trends Menu--UN Cyberschoolbus
[.pdf]
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/special/globo/glotrend/
The
UN Cyberschoolbus (discussed in the December
2, 1997 Scout Report for Social Sciences) Global Trends Menu enables
teachers to quickly access useful and free visual aids for social studies
instruction. The site offers a wide variety of charts and graphs in the
following subject areas: Population, Health, Food and Agriculture, Women,
Children, Economic Development, Climate and Environment, and Social Indicators.
Most visual aids can be downloaded, and teachers are welcome to submit requests
for specific graphs not currently available at the site. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
Project DIAL
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/dial/
This
prototype project by the Asian Development Bank studies the potential use of the
Internet to assist policy makers and legislators "in the developing member
countries (DMCs) of the Asian Development Bank." However, lawyers and
political scientists interested in these countries will also find numerous
interesting and useful items. The project is comprised of three features. The
first, DIAL Index, is a collection of links to online legislative resources. The
second and most useful section of the site is DIAL Search, which allows users to
conduct automated remote (Web spider) searches of full-text documents from
selected legislation sites. The third feature, DIALogue, is an email-based
facility which allows authorized users to submit questions to a DIALogue panel
of legal specialists. Unfortunately, only government officials in DMCs or
related legal professionals may become authorized users. However, interested
users are free to use the rest of the site. Additional features a! t Project
DIAL include a Project Report and a What's New section. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
wNetSchool
http://www.wnet.org/wnetschool/
wNetSchool
merges the resources of public television programs with Internet-based resources
and lesson plans created by veteran teachers to provide an integrated tool for
K-12 educators. Registered teachers (registration is free) can consult Web
Experts, learn about select software applications, refer to the Internet primer
for basic information, read the monthly bulletin, browse a list of annotated
links, and search the National Teacher Training Institute for Math, Science, and
Technology's (NTTI) Lesson Plan Database. Other wNetSchool sections include
Teacher Talk, which offers an online forum for teachers to discuss specific
topics, and Student Gallery, a profile of exemplary student projects. [JR]
[Back to Contents]
ISSN Online
http://www.issn.org/ISSNONLINE.html
The
ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is the internationally recognized
unique numeric identifier for serial publications in any format. To date, the
ISSN network, coordinated by the ISSN International Centre in Paris, has
registered and assigned ISSNs for more than 900,000 serials, with approximately
4,000 new ISSNs added to the ISSN Register each month. Recently, this register
has been made accessible through the Web at ISSN Online. ISSN Online is a
subscription service, but it is available for free on a 30-day trial basis.
Trial users must register an email address to obtain a temporary password. Then
they may conduct 40 queries, view 400 records, and download 10 records during
the test period. [AO]
[Back to
Contents]
Healthy People 2010--HHS [.pdf]
http://web.health.gov/healthypeople/
On
September 15, Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala released
"Healthy People 2010 Objectives: Draft for Public Comment," which
proposes more than 500 national objectives for improving the health of Americans
by the year 2010. First began in 1979, Healthy People, a national initiative to
prevent disease and foster better health, is widely used as a strategic
management tool by the Federal Government, States, and local communities. This
latest incarnation, which succeeds Healthy People 2000, reflects recent advances
in science and medicine, as well as emerging public health challenges. The
working draft has been placed online specifically to promote public comment and
input. Users are encouraged to submit their comments at the site or via surface
mail until December 15, 1998. The final report will be issued January 2000. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
Out of the Past--400 Years of Gay and Lesbian History--PBS
[RealPlayer]
http://www.pbs.org/outofthepast/
PBS
Online offers this site as a companion to the film Out of the Past. The
Website follows the film's lead to link personal and national history, dividing
the history of gays and lesbians into historical periods that could roughly
correspond to stages of an individual's life: Keeping Secrets, 1600-1800,
Finding Love, 1800-1900, etc. Each "era" features a timeline of events
in gay and lesbian history juxtaposed with other historical events. For
instance, in 1704, the site tells us, the Royal Governor was accused of dressing
like a woman, Bach composed his First Cantata, and Massachusetts suffered from
Franco-Indian raids. Clicking on the year brings forth a more detailed
description, in some cases accompanied by a RealPlayer clip. The site offers a
forum question inspired by each period; in the Puritan era, for example, the
question is "Have you struggled to reconcile your sexuality and your
religious beliefs?" Visitors can post their own responses or read others'
stori! es. Those inspired to learn more should check out the bibliography in the
Resources section. [TK]
[Back to
Contents]
Two Astronomy Sites
Stars--Portraits of
Stars and their Constellations
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/sow.html
Skylights
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/skylights.html
These
two sites from Jim Kaler, a Professor of Astronomy at the University of
Illinois, are geared towards amateur and budding astronomers. At the first site,
Kaler offers detailed but non-technical descriptions of selected stars and a
link to a photo of their respective constellations. Another section of the site,
The Natures of Stars, consists of basic overviews of key concepts. The star
descriptions are interesting to beginner and avid starwatchers alike, but the
photos would benefit perhaps from superimposed arrows or other finding aids. The
Stars site grows by one celestial body each week: the Star of the Week from
Kaler's other site, Skylights. Skylights also provides a synopsis of astronomy
news for the week and viewing tips. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
In the Light of the Menorah: Story of a Symbol [Windows 95
or NT platforms only; WebGlide]
http://www.imj.org.il/vrmenorah/
The
Israel Museum, Jerusalem presents this virtual version of a major exhibition
which opened at the Museum on Israel's 50th Independence Day. The exhibition
uses items from the Museum's archaeological, Judaica, and fine arts collections
to trace the history of the menorah, the seven-branched candelabrum that is both
a sacred object and the national symbol of Israel. WebGlide, a movie player,
allows virtual visitors to "walk" though the galleries and view the
exhibition. Though the feeling is a little like seeing the exhibition through a
porthole, the plug-in allows one to click on any item in the show and see an
enlarged version and accompanying text, just like stopping in front of a display
case to examine an artifact. [DS]
[Back to Contents]
The Science of Baseball [Shockwave,
RealPlayer]
http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/
Another
winning site from the Exploratorium in San Francisco, Science of Baseball
teaches students of all ages, even adults, why a curve ball curves, how to throw
a fast ball, and how to improve their swing, for starters. If they continue
exploring, visitors will find out that women first played professional baseball
in 1875, how baseball has adapted to Japanese culture, and why hitters love the
thin air at Coors Field. Additional activities include the Baseball Time Machine
and two interactive Shockwave exhibits. Finally, users who still want to know
more can investigate the suggested links and bibliography. [KH]
[Back to Contents]
Acronym Finder
http://www.mtnds.com/af/
Provided by
Mountain Data Systems, this site offers a searchable database containing over
60,000 acronyms/abbreviations and their meanings. The focus of the database is
technology, telecommunications, and the military (perhaps because of the
acronym-intensity of these fields), but many general topics are included, as
well. Users can also search for acronyms related to a particular word or topic
using the advanced search function. Search tips are provided. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
UltraEdit and UltraEdit-32
http://www.idmcomp.com/index.html
UltraEdit
is a very useful file editor that supports numerous different types of files and
includes a wide variety of handy features. This "divinely inspired"
program, created by IDM Computer Solutions, Inc., can edit any file and provide
particular support for text and binary files. Among its more interesting
features are configurable syntax highlighting for numerous programming
languages, support for loading and saving files via FTP, DOS shell command
execution, multiple editing buffers, and much more. UltraEdit's features, size,
and usability all make it one of the best shareware editors available. UltraEdit
and UltraEdit-32 run on Windows 3.x/95/NT and may be used freely for 45 days,
after which time a $30 registration fee is required. [CL]
[Back to Contents]
Workstation Security
http://www.leeric.lsu.edu/lla/1998_conference/workstation/
Monica
King, the Head of Reference at Ouachita Parish (LA) Public Library, put together
this site, which is based on a paper she delivered at a recent Louisiana Library
Association (LLA) Conference. The paper and the site address security issues for
publicly accessed workstations. King outlines five broad security issues for
libraries that offer Internet access and describes the hardware, software, and
policy solutions her library system implemented. Additional resources include a
modest bibliography and a collection of related links. [MD]
[Back to Contents]
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From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project
1994-1998.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format.
Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, is preserved on all copies.
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