The Scout Report - November 15, 1996

November 15, 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). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.

An Acrobat .pdf version of this report is available for printing and distributing locally. For information on Adobe Acrobat Reader, visit the Adobe site.

The Scout Toolkit Version 2.0
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/scout/toolkit/
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/toolkit/
The most trusted source for information on how to make the Internet work better for you is now available in extra strength. Version 2.0 of the Scout Toolkit debuts today, with a completely new interface, many new sections, and a focus on the future. In addition to the current awareness you've come to expect from Net Scout, we've added an increased emphasis on analysis and insight. Sections include: Searching the Internet, Latest Tools and Technologies, End User's Corner, Net Scout Sidekicks, a Selective Guide to Publications on the Internet, and Future Internet Directions. The new Toolkit is mirrored on three sites to allow Internauts unhindered access.
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Two scholarly Journals from University of Chicago Press
Astrophysical Journal [.pdf at present, HTML also soon]
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/journal/
Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CDAB/journal/
The Journals Division of University of Chicago Press has recently made two of its scholarly journals available via the web. Astrophysical Journal has been published since 1895 and is one of "the foremost research journals in the world devoted to recent developments, discoveries, and theories in astronomy and astrophysics." At present, the November 1996 issue is available online in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. An Acrobat reader may be obtained at the site ("Features of the Electronic Edition"). Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography has been published since 1927 and "is the most complete and definitive source for references to the current literature related to the growth and development of children." It is both searchable and browsable back to 1990. It is being made available on a trial basis. Each issue is divided into eight subject categories. The only drawback to the site is that in browse mode, each citation is presented separately. However, the very useful information at the site makes this drawback a small price to pay.
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Moise's Bibliography of the Vietnam War
http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~eemoise/bibliography.html
Professor Edwin E. Moise of Clemson University has provided a vast bibliography of the Vietnam war. Containing mostly books, it is divided into three major sections: microfilmed document collections, general publications, and U.S. government publications. It is this organization, especially the latter two sections, that is the power of the site. General publications is divided into 45 sections (mostly chronological) and government publications is divided into 20 sections. Many entries are briefly annotated. Unfortunately, the site is not searchable, but the hundreds of citations and their categorization make this one of the more impressive bibliographies of its kind on the Internet.
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Remedial Education at Higher Education Institutions in Fall 1995 [.pdf, 65 pages]
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/97584.html
This new study from the National Center for Education Statistics "examines participation in college-level remedial education, characteristics of remedial courses and programs, and policies or laws that affect remedial education." It is "based on a survey of 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions that enroll freshmen." Among the conclusions: "Twenty-nine percent of first-time freshmen enrolled in at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995; and "about half (47 percent) of institutions offering remedial courses indicated that the number of students enrolled in remedial courses at their institution had stayed about the same in the last 5 years, 39 percent said enrollments had increased, and 14 percent said they had decreased." Instructions for downloading the Adobe Acrobat Reader are available at the site.
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Art Studio Chalkboard
http://www.saumag.edu/art/studio/chalkboard.html
The Art Studio Chalkboard, provided by Ralph Larmann of Southern Arkansas University, has been designed as a resource focusing on the "fundamentals of perspective, shading, color and painting." Organized by Drawing, Painting, Sources and Resources, and Responses to Visitor's Questions, this site contains text and illustrative graphics on drawing grids, using chiaroscuro, optical color mixing, stretching canvas, spiral staircase perspective and pointers to other sites such as Eyes on Art. What makes this site unique is its how-to, illustrative approach written in plain English.
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Neuroscience Web Search
http://www.quasar.org/21698/knowledge/neuro.html
Neuroscience Web Search, created by Fred K. Lenherr of the Applied Computing Systems Institute, attempts to provide interested users with a searchable index of over 112,000 web pages related to neuroscience. It "includes the home pages of neuroscientists, neuro-medical links, and computational neuroscience." Users can search on the text and/or titles of pages. This search tool is similar to Argos (discussed in the November 1, 1996 Scout Report). The difference is that whereas Argos is both quite clear about the sources of its database and is peer reviewed, Neuroscience Web Search is neither. It is a much larger local subject search engine, but it is more difficult to assess the quality of the materials retrieved.
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History of Economic Thought--McMaster University
http://socserv2.socsci.mcmaster.ca:80/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/index.html
As part of its History of Economic Thought class, McMaster University of Hamilton, Ontario has made available a virtual library of partial or complete works of influential economists. The site currently covers nearly 70 economists, including Jeremy Bentham, David Hume, Thomas Malthus, Alfred Marshall, Karl Marx, John Stuart Mill, Vilfredo Pareto, David Ricardo, Adam Smith, and Thorstein Veblen, among others. Works include Marshall's The Principles of Economics, Marx's Capital (Vol. I), Malthus' An Essay on the Principle of Population, J.S. Mill's Principles of Political Economy, Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class, and Smith's Wealth of Nations. It could not be determined exactly how many of the works in this archive are complete texts; even with that caveat, this is an extraordinary introduction to the history of economic thought. Note that these texts are in ASCII format and many are very large files.
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StarChild--General Astronomy Learning Center for Young Astronomers [QuickTime, .avi]
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/
Imagine the Universe [Frames, QuickTime, .avi]
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/
NASA's well known Imagine the Universe has created an astronomy site just for kids. StarChild, still under construction at this time, contains sections on the solar system, the universe, and "space stuff" (astronauts, space travel, and the Hubble Space Telescope, among others). It also includes a glossary with brief explanations of astronomy-related terms. The site is intensively graphical, includes QuickTime and .avi movies, and is intended for the 4-14 year age group. Content is written at two reading levels, with level two available now, and level one due by December. The Imagine the Universe is a high school and college level site that includes basic and advanced level discussions on its topic, an astrophysical dictionary, data and software, teacher resources, and a Cineplex with, at present, four QuickTime and .avi movies (under the HEA Village).
[Note: Site title has changed since the original Scout Report review. Site formerly referred to in the Scout Report as "High Energy Astrophysics Learning Center."] [Back to Contents]

MD-FORUM--Forum on Multilateral Diplomacy Mailing List
In the 50 years since the foundation of the United Nations, multilateral diplomacy has become an increasingly complex and dynamic process. In an effort to generate discussion about the issues involved in this political medium, the "Multilateral Diplomacy Project" of the Institute of Advanced Studies, United Nations University, will aim at developing concepts and ideas that will contribute to making multilateral negotiations more effective as problem-solving instruments for transnational issues, such as those concerning the environment. In particular, the project will focus on capacity building of developing countries so that they can more fully enhance their participation in multilateral diplomacy. To subscribe send email to:
listserv@msias.ias.unu.edu
In the body of the message type:
SUB MD-FORUM yourfirstname yourlastname, organization
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Basic Proposal for the Substantive Provisions of the Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Databases (WIPO)
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/wipo/wipo6.html
Treaty Responses at Public-Domain.org
http://www.public-domain.org/database/database.html
One of the items on the agenda for the upcoming World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Diplomatic Conference (December 2-20 1996), is a new database treaty that would effect the way databases are treated in terms of intellectual property. The proposed treaty "seeks to safeguard makers of databases against misappropriation of the fruits of their financial and professional investment in collecting, verifying and presenting the contents of databases. It does this by proposing protection that covers the whole or substantial parts of a database against certain acts by a user or by a competitor, for the limited duration of the right." Some have interpreted this to mean that the facts in the databases will become the intellectual property of the creators of the databases, a development that will have important consequences. Interested Internauts can decide for themselves by reading the treaty and a selection of responses that have been posted at public-domain.org.
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Business Week Online
http://www.businessweek.com/
Business Week, published by the McGraw Hill Companies, has recently made its web debut. The site is highlighted by the full text of articles from the print magazine. Also included are a selected browsable archive back to late 1995; a daily briefing section (frames based), with concise summaries of news and market information including performance information on new IPOs (initial public offerings); BW Plus, with topical information on such issues as the best business schools, mutual funds, and women in business; a computer buying guide; and an interactive portfolio manager. A complete five-year searchable archive (fee based) will soon be available.
[Note: This site is no longer available for free; subscription fee(s) required.]
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Institute for Global Communications
http://www.igc.org/igc/gateway/
gopher://gopher.igc.apc.org/
gopher to: gopher.igc.apc.org
The Institute for Global Communications (IGC), an Internet service provider, maintains a meta website for PeaceNet, EcoNet, LaborNet, ConflictNet, and WomensNet. Members include Amnesty International, Catholic Charities, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Essential Information, Greenpeace, National Audubon, Planned Parenthood, Socialist Labor Party, and many others. In all, the Internet sites of close to 400 member organizations are linked. Each sub-site contains a Recent Headlines, Action Alerts, and Features section in addition to an option to view news group or web site information by issue (e.g. atmosphere & climate, habitats & species, women), allowing users to create and follow their own reading list. The site is an enhancement of IGC's gopher site.
[Note: Originally reviewed as a gopher site; gopher may no longer be available.]
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NII Awards 1996 Finalists announced
NII Awards Home Page
http://www.gii.com/awards/index.html
The 60 Internet site finalists (in 10 categories) for the 1996 NII (National Information Infrastructure) Awards have been announced at the NII Awards site. "The National Information Infrastructure (NII) Awards recognize innovation and excellence in use of the 'Information Highway.' From electronic commerce, Intranets and telemedicine to community networks, educational web sites and broadband, the NII Awards looks for projects that show the world the power and potential of networked, interactive communications." More information on the NII awards, including 1996 semi-finalists and 1995 winners, is available from the NII Awards home page. Winners will be announced in New York on December 3, 1996, and the results will be available at this site.
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New York Times BanxQuote Banking Center
http://www.nytimes.com/partners/banking/index.html
This no-nonsense site, provided by the New York Times and BanxQuote, provides daily U.S. national, regional, and state information on mortgage, home equity, auto, credit card, and student loan rates, and bank deposit yields. National and regional data are compiled from averages, and state data contain the three biggest institutions in each state.
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Two Food-Related Sites
YumYum
http://www.yumyum.com/
Mimi's Cyber Kitchen
http://www.cyber-kitchen.com/
Two sites that are sure to please your palate are YumYum, provided by Desktop Solutions, and Mimi's Cyber Kitchen, provided by Mimi Hiller. YumYum contains a searchable database of over 10,000 recipes in 16 categories from appetizers to vegetarian. Mimi's Cyber Kitchen, while containing recipes, specializes in links (Internet, not smoky). The site claims thousands of food-related links, in the categories of chocolate, Jewish/Kosher, health foods, seafood, and restaurants, among others. These two sites will stimulate you to leave your computer and head toward your kitchen or favorite restaurant.
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Rugby News Today
http://www.rugbynews.com/rnt.htm
Think football is a rough sport? Think again. Rugby is every bit as rough, and though the players are smaller than the behemoths of the NFL, they play in shorts and without pads. Interested Internauts can follow the sport at the Rugby News Today site. Provided by Ivan Calhoun, it is highlighted by its News Today section, a compilation of pointers to stories about latest developments in the sport. It also contains match result information from 13 countries, and a calendar of upcoming events, and information on selected rugby magazines, among other features.
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Red Rock Eater News Service
Information about RRE, and a searchable archive of past messages
http://communication.ucsd.edu/pagre/rre.html
The Red Rock Eater News Service, moderated by Phil Agre of the Department of Communication at the University of California, San Diego, is one of the Internet's most respected sources of information on the social and political aspects of networking and computing. Subscribers receive five to ten messages a week on topics such as privacy, Internet architecture, community networks, information economics, political uses of the net, and whatever else the editor finds interesting.
To subscribe, send a message to:
rre-request@weber.ucsd.edu
In the SUBJECT LINE type:
subscribe firstname lastname
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Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing
http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/index.html
A great concept/project started in 1985 by Denis Howe, the Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing (FOLDOC) now contains some 7900+ entires. It is a browsable and searchable dictionary of "acronyms, programming languages, tools, architectures, operating systems, networking, theory, mathematics, telecoms, institutions, companies, projects, products, history..." and etc. Definitions are voluntarily contributed by users and filtered through the editor. Following a search, the list of terms alphabetically nearest to the search pattern are displayed along with any cross-references--a bonus for the spelling-challenged user. Several mirror sites are provided.
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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.

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The Scout Report - November 15, 1996

November 15, 1996

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