The Scout Report - May 31, 1996

May 31, 1996

A Publication of Internet Scout
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) or visit the Web version of the Scout Report. Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.
http://rs.internic.net/scout/report

Send comments and contributions to: scout@cs.wisc.edu

Scientific American Online
"Scientific American" has been publishing since 1845, and at its Web site interested readers can find two full text articles from the current issue, as well as several features including selected short articles, news and analysis, short selections from 50, 100, and 150 years ago, an interactive "ask the experts" where scientific experts answer selected email questions, and weekly explorations and exhibits of scientific concepts. There are also interviews and a marketplace where SA merchandise is for sale. An archive of selected articles is available back to March 1996, and abstracts of articles from the January and February issues are also available. The site is searchable.
http://www.sciam.com/
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"The Future Information Structure in Economics" -- a working paper
In an attempt to "start a debate in our profession," William L. Goffe and Robert P. Parks have recently uploaded "The Future Information Structure in Economics" to the Economics Working Paper Archive at Washington University at St. Louis. Although the paper uses the Economics profession as an example, the points it raises can be applied to almost any academic subject. The paper discusses the possible effects of networking on future scholarly publishing, imagining how scholars will share not only their research, but also data sets that served as the raw material for the research, enabling other researchers to verify theories "on the fly." Several possibilities for future research publishing are discussed, from electronic journals that charge for access to completely free electronic publishing. The paper is divided into sections discussing: academic principles that are independent of technology; the impact of networks on working papers, journals and libraries; the implications of increased access to data; new opportunities for scholarly publishing in a networked environment; and a "roadmap" to a possible future of scholarly publishing. "Future Information" is available in .pdf, postscript, and TeX formats, is twenty pages long, contains little economics jargon, and has over 40 references to other electronic and non-electronic sources of interest. Goffe is a Professor in the Department of Economics and International Business at the University of Southern Mississippi, and is the author of "Resources for Economists on the Internet," one of the best Internet subject guides available. Parks is the maintainer of the Economics Working Paper Archive, one of the larger and more well organized electronic working paper archives in existence.
[Note: This paper was formerly titled "The Future Information Infrastructure in Economics."]
"The Future Information Structure in Economics":
http://econwpa.wustl.edu/eprints/mic/papers/9605/9605001.abs
Economics Working Paper Archive -- Washington University at St. Louis:
http://econwpa.wustl.edu/
Goffe's "Resources for Economists" can be found on the home page.
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TEKTRAN -- Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System -- USDA ARS
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) ARS' (Agricultural Research Service) TEKTRAN (Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System) "is a dynamic database containing nearly 13,000 interpretive summaries of research results that have been peer reviewed and cleared by ARS. These are pre-publication notices, and as such, they forecast the future for improved food, feed, and fiber products and processes. TEKTRAN changes when scientists submit articles for publication and when previously submitted articles are published. TEKTRAN on the Internet is updated monthly." The system allows three different types of searches (each thoroughly explained), as well as browsing in over 60 categories from agrochemical technology to weeds. Each record contains title, author(s), an interpretive summary, keywords, contact information, and an ARS report number. The number of citations, as well as the power of the searching systems, make this one of the better agricultural bibliographic databases. As with most large databases, studying the searching FAQs is a must in order to exploit the resource.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ttic/tektran/tektran.html
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National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education "Newsline"
The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE) at George Washington University has made "Newsline," a weekly newsletter of the NCBE, which contains announcements and news from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA), as well as grant information, job and conference announcements, and links to pertinent Internet resources, available via the Web and a mailing list.
"Newsline" Web site:
http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/majordomo/newsline/archive.htm
To subscribe:
http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/majordomo/newsline/
or:
send email to:majordomo@cis.ncbe.gwu.edu
In the body of the message type:
subscribe newsline your-email-address
Other NCBE discussion groups:
http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/majordomo/
NCBE home page:
http://www.ncbe.gwu.edu/
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Lesson Plans and Resources for Social Studies Teachers
Marty Levine, a professor of Education at California State University at Northridge, has compiled a page of pointers to many lesson plans and resources for social studies teachers. It is a resource that points to lesson plans and teaching strategies for social studies, current events sites, relevant Usenet newsgroups, and other government, history, and Latino related sites. The heart of the site is the lesson plan pointers page, with connections to hundreds of lesson plans in all areas and K-12 grade groupings.
http://www.csun.edu/%7Ehcedu013/index.html
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InterPsych Newsletter is Now PsychNews International
The well known InterPsych Newsletter has changed its name to PsychNews International and is available via email subscription and the Web. It is published ten times per year. Each issue can contain a combination of research findings, job and conference listings, and listings of Internet resources. PsychNews International concentrates on issues of psychology, psychiatry, and the social sciences. The Internet resources sections are a good place for anyone interested in the field to keep abreast of useful resources.
To subscribe send email to: LISTSERV@LISTSERV.NODAK.ED
In the body of the message type:
SUBSCRIBE PSYCHNEWS yourfirstname yourlastname
Archives of both IPN and PNI:
U.S.: http://www.mhnet.org/pni/
Europe: http://userpage.FU-Berlin.de/~expert/psychnews/
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GAO Report on Computer Attacks at Department of Defense
Full text of a recently released GAO (General Accounting Office) report, "Information Security: Computer Attacks at Department of Defense Pose Increasing Risks," (GAO/AIMD-96-84) is available from the Government Printing Office Web site. Among GAO's findings are: "only about 1 in 500 attacks is detected and reported, but the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) estimates that DOD is attacked about 250,000 times per year; attackers have stolen, modified, and destroyed data and software, disabled protection systems to allow future unauthorized access, and shut down entire systems and networks to preclude authorized use; security breaches pose a serious risk to national security because terrorists or U.S. adversaries could disrupt the national information infrastructure; and, security breaches cost DOD hundreds of millions of dollars annually." The report is available in ASCII text and Adobe .pdf format.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html
Choose "GAO Reports" in the scrolling list of government databases:
Search: "AIMD-96-84" (with the quotes)
Download text or .pdf version.
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Family Village -- a disability resource
Family Village, provided by the Waisman Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, seeks to be a "global community that integrates information, resources, and communication opportunities on the Internet for persons with cognitive and other disabilities, their families, and those that provide them services and supports." The Library points to resources on hundreds of disabilities from Aarskog Syndrome to Xeroderma Pigmentosum. Each of these topics contains contact information, information about the disability, and links to discussion groups and Web sites when available. The Coffee Shop points to disability and health related discussion lists, and personal Web pages of families touched by disabilities. The Post Office is a message board where people with shared interests can contact each other. There are also a large number of related pointers to medical, education, recreation, religious, book, and disability research program resources.
http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/
Text only home page: http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/tindex.htm
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Language Dictionaries and Translators
Rivendell International Communications has provided a language dictionary and translator page on the Web. It contains pointers to searchable and browsable dictionaries with one way and both way translations. It points to a language for travelers page, with translations for basic words, numbers, shopping, travel, directions, places, and time and dates. In addition, a free translation (any of five languages) service is offered for messages of 200-300 words. Dictionaries, of course, vary in size and reliability, but the advantage of this site is that it is a gateway to dictionary and translation services for over thirty languages. Note that at this time, most of the dictionaries translate from and/or to English, but the language for travelers page will translate from any of 29 languages.
http://rivendel.com/~ric/resources/dictionary.html
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Directory of World Wide Electronic Newspapers
The Editor and Publisher Co. provides a massive database of world wide online newspapers (1001 at present). Each entry contains any or all of the following information: name, hyptertext connection, contacts, price, description, and entry update date. The database is accessible via a clickable map or by continent and then country. The U.S. and Canada are further broken down by states and provinces respectively. The database is searchable.
http://www.mediainfo.com/ephome/npaper/nphtm/online.htm
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Elections and Electoral Systems World Wide
Elections and Electoral Systems by Country is a page of pointers to the latest world wide election news, and is maintained as part of the Political Science Resources page at the University of Keele in the United Kingdom. Information is available on over 40 countries from Albania to Thailand, and can include election results, referendums, and electoral information. Information is up to date to the latest election. Of particular interest at this time are the pointers to Israel, Italy, India, the Dominican Republic, and Russia. Political Science Resources is among the better guides to worldwide political science resources.
Elections:
http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/election.htm
Political Science Resources home page:
http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/
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WWW Select-a-Dog -- a dog lover's resource
The highlight of the WWW Select-a-Dog site, which is aimed at aiding people in choosing a dog, is the breed page, which provides height, weight, color, coat, and possible behavior problems for over 100 dog breeds. A picture and links to other web sites of interest for the breed are provided when available. The Mutt of the Month page solicits you to send a picture and information about your mutt of every month to the site for consideration. There is also a large page of links to other dog related sites. Note that this site is a work in progress and the authors actively solicit information about dog breeds in order for them to improve the service.
http://earth.myriad.net/dogs/dogindex.html
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The Spoon Discussion List
http://www.thespoon.com/spoon/
Drop by the Spoon for a cup of coffee and a story when you get a chance. We're here to share stories about our lives, about our travels, about the people we come across. We're telling tall tales and reading our journals. We're giving away bits of ourselves and seeing through other's eyes. We're just a small place, a truck stop off the information highway. It's cold out there and warm and safe in here. Rest your feet. Rest your eyes from your weary road daze. Wrap your hands around a steaming cuppa and listen for a while and maybe talk a little. Subscription and further information is available at the above URL.
To subscribe send email to: majordomo@thespoon.com
In the body of the message type:
subscribe SPOON
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Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 Beta
Microsoft has made the 3.0 beta version of its Internet Explorer available for downloading. The new Web browser supports such features as frames, selective access to sites based on content (a feature that promises to help parents control what their children see), Web browsing from the keyboard, and multiple language character sets, among others. At present the 3.0 version is available only for Windows 95 and NT platforms.
Download:
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/download/
More information on Internet Explorer 3.0:
http://www.microsoft.com/ie/ie3/
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HTML 3.2 Standards
The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium), in association with vendors including IBM, Microsoft, Netscape Communications Corporation, Novell, SoftQuad, Spyglass, and Sun Microsystems, has recently announced HTML 3.2 standards for Web publishing. The new standards will provide backward compatibility with HTML 2.0, as well as add features such as tables, applets, text flow around images, and subscripts and superscripts. Information about the new standards, as well as draft materials concerning them, are available.
http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/Wilbur/
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Copyright Susan Calcari, 1996. 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 - May 31, 1996

May 31, 1996

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

Scout Report and Scout Report HTML Subscription Instructions