The Scout Report

October 17, 1997

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Science Department, University of Wisconsin

A Project of the InterNIC

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators, the InterNIC's primary audience. However, everyone is welcome to subscribe to one of the mailing lists (plain text or HTML). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.

Scout Report For Science and Engineering, KIDS Report
Scout Report For Science and Engineering
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/sci-engr/current/
K.I.D.S Report
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/KIDS/current/
The third Scout Report for Science and Engineering is available. It annotates over 20 resources in physical and life sciences and engineering. In addition, its In the News section explores eight sites related to prions. The latest KIDS report, produced by students at New Vista High School in Boulder, Colorado, is titled Useful Classroom sites and is an eclectic collection of seventeen site annotations. [JS]
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Directory to the Subject Bibliographies in Environmental Ethics--Harvard Seminar on Environmental Values
http://www.hds.harvard.edu/ee/bib/
Timothy C. Weiskel, director of the Harvard Seminar on Environmental Values at the Harvard Divinity School, has provided a massive bibliographic resource for "the facilitat[ion of] interdisciplinary research and public discussion of the ethical issues embedded in the full range of the environmental concerns of our day." The core of the site is a set of twenty-nine bibliographies originally produced as research aids for environmental ethics seminars at Harvard. These include class bibliographies (sixteen, of which the most massive is Core Sources on Environmental Ethics), subject bibliographies (seven, including The Ethics of Altruism, The Ethics of Colonialism, and The Case of NAFTA), and six occasional bibliographies (including Environmental Justice and Sources for the Study of Environmental Ethics). Also included is a short title topics list and a subject category guide derived from searches of the HOLLIS Online Public Access Catalog. Taken together, these guides provide a magnificent bibliographic portal into the topic of environmental ethics. [JS]
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Two from FAO
FAO Hypermedia Collections on Desertification [QuickTime]
http://www.fao.org/desertification/default.htm
XI World Forestry Congress--Proceedings
http://www.fao.org/montes/foda/wforcong/PUBLI/DEFAULT.HTM#TOP
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has recently made these two sites available. The first site, FAO Hypermedia Collections on Desertification, was created as part of the First Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP1) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Rome, Italy September 29-October 10, 1997. The site contains a collection of documents dealing with the causes and consequences of desertification, action programs, scientific and technical cooperation, and measures to support the study and prevention of desertification. The documents are written in either French, English, or Spanish. Some documents are available at the site, others can be ordered for a fee. QuickTime film clips show agricultural practices in arid lands and the effects that desertification can have on both animals and people. Factfiles provide information about desertification around the world. The Photofiles show pictures of the effects of desertification and attempts to mitigate it. The second site, The Proceedings of the World Forestry Congress, contains selected full text articles being presented at the conference in Antalya, Turkey, October 13-22, 1997. Summaries of voluntary papers are also available. [KH]
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Educational Object Economy--Apple [Java]
http://www.eoe.org/
The Educational Object Economy (EOE) is a project of Apple's Advanced Technology Group. It aims to "encourage broader dissemination and reuse of web-based learning resources, through the creation of an online community" of developers and educators. The highlight of the site is a collection of pointers to over 1,000 educationally oriented Java-based learning objects available on the web. These applets cover a wide range of subjects from astronomy to zoology. The largest number of applets are available for physics and engineering. The site also features a message board and a collection of papers on EOE. [THN]
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Guide to U.S. Department of Education Programs and Resources
http://web99.ed.gov/GTEP/Program2.nsf
The 31st annual edition of this publication, a "ready reference for education funds allocated by Congress to the U.S. Department of Education," has been made available. It allows users to find program information via seven different gateways, including Topical Heading, Administering Office, Who May Apply, and Education Level. Each of these gateways leads to a list of titles, any of which can be clicked on (blue triangle) for a list of programs under it. An entire list can be expanded at once by clicking on "expand." Each program may contain basic information, appropriation information, program details, award information, contact information, and a link to the program's web site. [JS]
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SCAD Bibliographical Database--European Union
http://europa.eu.int/scad/
Located at Europa, the European Union's server, SCAD is a bibliographical database containing references of over 250,000 documents from 1983 to the present. References are divided into four sectors: Community legislation, Official publications, Articles from periodicals (in original language), and Opinions from the two sides of industry. Most documents (except articles) are available in English, French, and Dutch. Articles and some documents may also appear in Italian, Danish, Portuguese, or Spanish. SCAD also features a News Update that allows access by subject to the most recent documents on the European Union. Users can search the database by document number, sector, keywords, language, author, periodical, and year of publication. [MD]
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Mathematical Snippets
http://scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/Math/MathSnips.html
This site, created by the Mathematics Department at Bellevue Community College in Bellevue, Washington, contains descriptions of six mathematical concepts: the Pythagorean Theorem, Archimedes' Tombstone, the Mobius Strip, the Koch Snowflake Curve, Plateau's Problem, and Counting to Infinity. Each snippet contains a very brief history and an explanation of the concept. Illustrations are used to convey the physical meaning and consequences of each concept. Plateau's Problem and Counting to Infinity contain links to web sites that provide additional information about persons or concepts mentioned in the snippet. [KH]
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Perseus Project--Tufts University
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
The Perseus Project is a continually growing digital library of resources for studying the ancient world. The project, a collaboration of several academic institutions, is headed by Gregory Crane, Editor in Chief and Associate Professor of Classics at Tufts. The collection currently focuses on ancient Greece and includes an extensive and detailed collection of ancient texts, both original and in translation, philological tools, maps, a large image database of Greek art and architecture, and secondary essays on topics like vase painting. The easy-to-navigate site caters to a range of interests from the casual browser to academic researchers. The databases of images and texts can be searched in several different ways, and the resulting records are carefully cataloged and hyperlinked together. The still-expanding project will, in the near future, include both Roman and Renaissance materials. Recently, several works of Christopher Marlowe have been added. [CL]
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LegalMinds--FindLaw
http://www.findlaw.com/
This FindLaw (discussed in the February 23, 1996 Scout Report) archive of mailing lists (in "public beta" at present) provides users with access to the discussion threads in over 60 law-related mailing lists, organized into six topical sections, ranging from legal subject lists to professions lists to legal classifieds. Users can view the archives by thread, date, or author. Top threads (by number) and most frequently cited URL's are also compiled. Subscription information is supplied with each list. List descriptions are provided when available. Note that LegalMinds provides these archives only with the permission of the list owner, and that instructions on how contributors can refuse archiving of their messages are provided (see the FAQ under About Legal Minds). [JS]
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Stephen Hawking's Universe--PBS [.pdf]
http://www.wnet.org/archive/hawking/html/home.html
This companion site to a six part Public Broadcasting System series that began October 13, 1997 features a series of essays by Astronomy Magazine associate editor Richard Talcott (the first two of which, Seeing is Believing, and In the Beginning are available at present). These essays discuss the great cosmological questions of the origins of the universe. There are also brief explanations for complex cosmological phenomena (Strange Stuff Explained) from antimatter to Hubble's Law to wormholes; short biographies of seventeen giants of cosmology including Copernicus, Eratosthenes, and Newton; explanations of eleven different universes from flat earth to steady state to big bang; and unsolved mysteries, where leading cosmologists discuss these very large, unanswered questions (three articles are available at present). A Teacher's Guide (Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format only) and Ask the Experts sections round out this site. A link section is forthcoming. [JS]
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Urban Environmental Management
http://www.soc.titech.ac.jp/uem/
The homepage of the Urban Environmental Management Research Initiative (UEMRI) was created to assist communication and information exchange between researchers of urban environments around the world. The site hosts a wealth of information related to urban environments and their management including Documents (articles, reports, and books), Numbers (i.e. statistics), and How-Tos (links to environmentally friendly technologies). Networks contains a link to an extensive listing of environmental professional associations that also includes links to associations for the life sciences, earth sciences, chemistry, and engineering, among others. [KH]
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New Library: The People's Network
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/lic/newlibrary/
This document, commissioned by the UK Department of Culture, Media, and Sport, and published by the Library and Information Commission, "argues that libraries, long seen as centres of knowledge and learning, must be repositioned as the communications backbone of the information society if the UK is to be a dynamic and competitive force into the next millennium." It posits that major changes in libraries will be stimulated by information technology. The report enumerates five major points: the new library must help people in acquiring new skills; it must be a part of a national education system; it must provide multiple information formats to all patrons; it must remain central to providing information, as well as culture to patrons; and it must use the new technology to continue to facilitate the democratic process. The report is divided into nine chapters and is arranged in the form of point by point paragraphs relating to the topics discussed. A summary of recommendations and costs, as well as a glossary of terms, is included. [JS]
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America's New Deficit: The Shortage of Information Technology Workers [.pdf, 38p.]
Press Release
http://www.ta.doc.gov/PRel/pr92997.htm
Report
http://www.ta.doc.gov/reports/itsw/itsw.pdf
America's New Deficit: The Shortage of Information Technology Workers, a new US Commerce Department Office of Technology Policy study (available in Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format only, suggests that the United States "could face a growing shortage of information technology workers that would have severe consequences for U.S. competitiveness, economic growth, and job creation." It provides evidence that fast growing companies have trouble finding enough information technology workers for their operations. As a solution to this problem, the study recommends that the United States develop its labor force skills to maintain its lead in productivity and competitiveness. [THN]
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Universal Currency Converter
http://www.xe.net/ucc/
The Universal Currency Converter site was developed by Xenon Laboratories. It provides currency conversion for most of the currencies in the world. The conversion rates for the currency are provided by The Bank of Montreal's Treasury Group. Visitors can also obtain a currency table for a selected base currency. The site also provides prices for silver, gold and platinum in the various currencies. Visitors can sign-up for the Currency Update Service which provides free currency table updates specified in the user-selected base currency once every business day. [THN]
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The Greatest Films
http://www.filmsite.org/
Timothy Dirks, Manager of Public Programs at The Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California, also wears another hat, that of dedicated amateur film buff. This site is the result of that hobby, and it is one of the better amateur sites on its topic. At the heart of the site is a list of the author's choice for 100 greatest films of all time (English language films only). Each of these films is reviewed in depth. An introductory section explains criteria. A second list of the 100 runner-ups (more briefly annotated) is also provided, as well as sections on greatest film quotes and scenes, an essay on genres, and a beautiful collection of hundreds of film posters from Adam's Rib to You Can't Take it With You. While you may not agree with Mr. Dirks' picks, that is half the fun of a site like this. Note that the popularity of the site curtails access at times. [JS]
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dovia-boards--Leaders in Professional Volunteer Resource Management Mailing List
Dovia-boards is designed to offer a forum for those leaders of DOVIAs (Directors of Volunteers in Agencies) and similar organizations supporting professional volunteer resource managers, including boards, councils, committees and other leaders. Members will share ideas, advice, and news about their local programs and member services, coordinate conference plans, and offer mutual support. [JS]

To subscribe send email to:
majordomo@angus.mystery.com
In the body of the message type:
subscribe dovia-boards yourEmail@address
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Towards A European Framework for Digital Signatures And Encryption--EC
http://www.ispo.cec.be/eif/policy/97503toc.html
English, German, and French [.zip]
http://www.ispo.cec.be/eif/policy/
This European Commission European Internet Forum Policy Paper addresses the need for "a secure and trustworthy environment" in order to reap the benefits of the "commercial opportunities [for] electronic communication via open networks." The document contains major sections on digital signatures, encryption, and policy, as well as explanatory annexes on such topics as signature, encryption, key escrow, and relevant European Commission policy initiatives. A compressed Microsoft Word version of the document is available in three languages. [JS]
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BotSpot
http://www.botspot.com/
Less graphical entrance:
http://www.botspot.com/main.html
BotSpot, provided by BotSpot Inc., is a large meta-resource for robot and intelligent agent software sites and information. Users can enter via a search or browse gateway to annotated links to bot sites in fourteen subjects including commerce bots, government bots, search bots, and update bots. There is also a bot of the week, an explanation of bots, and annotated pointers to relevant articles, conferences, FAQ's, and journals. A great deal of thought and careful planning is evident in this well designed site. [JS]
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DHTML Zone--Macromedia [JavaScript, Shockwave]
http://www.dhtmlzone.com/index.html
The DHTML Zone is provided by Macromedia Inc., and offers an abundance of resources to help add Dynamic HTML to a website. The basics are covered in articles, tutorials, a discussion group, and DHTML demos. For those interested in incorporating DHTML and Shockwave together, there is an entire section devoted to accomplishing this. A listing of other resources which include reference guides, more articles, demos, tutorials, and information on Netscape Communicator 4.0 and Internet Explorer 4.O is also provided. [TB]
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Volume 1, Number 25: The Scout Report for October 14, 1994
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/10-14-94.html
Chicago Mercantile Exchange [ActiveX, .zip]
http://www.cme.com/
CME Agricultural Reports
http://www.cme.com/reports/
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange was one of the first commodity exchanges to have a web presence, and at the time of annotation, it contained mostly information about the Exchange itself. Today, as do many other exchanges, it contains much detailed statistical information about Exchange activities, highlighted by thirteen price sections, including ten minute futures updates, daily and weekly charts, daily bulletins, and time and sales. Recently, it has added daily end of day data for year to date (.zip format), and a pilot program for real time quotes for futures contracts (Windows 95 or NT only, ActiveX required). It has also recently added a section on agricultural reports, a "[calculation of] the value of the various indexes that are used as the final settlement for cash-settled futures contracts in the ag quadrant" for five agricultural commodities. [JS]
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Copyright Susan Calcari, 1994-1997. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The InterNIC provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation: NCR-9218742. The Government has certain rights in this material.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison, the National Science Foundation, AT&T, or Network Solutions, Inc.

The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published weekly by Internet Scout

Susan Calcari
Jack Solock
Jeannine Ramsey
Teri Boomsma
Michael de Nie
David Flaspohler
Aimee D. Glassel
Kathryn Harris
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The Scout Report - October 17, 1997

The Scout Report

October 17, 1997

New From Internet Scout

Research and Education

General Interest

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