The Scout Report

January 16, 1998

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.

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

Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics, Article in Library Hi Tech
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/
The eighth issues of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics, each of which annotate over twenty new and newly discovered Internet resources, are available. The In the News section of the Social Science Report annotates eleven resources related to the ramifications of the recent claim by the US Congressional Budget Office of a balanced budget for the next ten years. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section annotates eight resources related to reforming Social Security. In addition, the Internet Scout Project was recently chosen as one of "the best library-related web sites" in a contest held by Library Hi Tech. An article written by Project Director Susan Calcari, "The Internet Scout Project," is available on p. 11-18 of Issue 59-60 (15:3-4) of that publication. [JS]
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The UCLA Television Violence Monitoring Report 1997
http://ccp.ucla.edu/1996-97.htm
Archive of Television Violence Monitoring Reports
http://ccp.ucla.edu./archive.htm
As part of a 1994 agreement between the four major US TV broadcast networks and then US Senator Paul Simon, the University of California, Los Angeles Center for Communication Policy agreed to produce three annual reports on TV violence in the US. With the recent publication of the last of the reports (1997), this task has been completed. The report contains historical background, methodology and the findings of the study for network TV, local, public and cable TV, and home video and video games. This report and the two previous reports, distinguished by their clarity and readability, are available at the CCP site. [JS]
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Handbook of International Economic Statistics 1997--CIA
http://www.cia.gov/publications/hies97/
The 1997 edition of this handy reference work, produced by the US Central Intelligence Agency, is available. The 139 tables and 30 figures "provide basic worldwide statistics for comparing the economic performance of major countries and regions." Topics covered include general economic profiles, aggregated data, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and former Soviet Republics data, sector data from five economic sectors, and environmental data. Data can be time series or snapshot. Note that the quality of figure images varies by image. [JS]
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NSSN: A National Resource for Global Standards--ANSI
http://www.nssn.org/
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) provides this National Standards Systems Network database, a searchable interface to bibliographic information about more than 225,000 approved standards. The basic search interface supports title and document number queries. Information returned includes title, document number, whether or not there is an ANSI approved standard, and ordering information. The search help applies to an enhanced version of the search interface that is fee based. [JS]
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Knowledge Discovery Nuggets Directory
http://www.kdnuggets.com/
Knowledge Discovery Nuggets is both a web site and an associated newsletter. The newsletter focuses on the latest research, new applications, conference announcements, and news about data mining and knowledge discovery. The web site offers a large index of categorized pointers to data mining and knowledge discovery software, informative reference materials, related research projects, data sets, and much more. While somewhat difficult to navigate, Knowledge Discovery Nuggets offers an excellent place to start a data mining or knowledge discovery related search. [CL]
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Foreign and International Law Resources on the Internet--Cornell Law Library
http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawlibrary/guides/forin/forin.html
Other Cornell Law Library Legal Research Guides
http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/lawlibrary/default.html#guides
This metasite, recently created by Jean Wenger of the Cornell University Law Library, contains annotated pointers in four major topical areas at this time: foreign law, international law, US government sources, and topical resources. Each area is further subdivided. Selection criteria is clearly stated; authority information for many of the resources is available. This growing site joins five other Cornell Law Library legal research guides to create a powerful law reference tool of Internet, other electronic, and print resources. [JS]
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Period and Styles [frames]
http://www.tulane.edu/lester/text/lester.html
Designed by Tulane University Professor Hugh Lester to complement his courses for advanced theater design students, this collection of teaching modules and images will appeal to anyone with an interest in architecture or historical design. The modules offer varying levels of detail about historical time periods from Ancient Egypt to Modern. The image collection offers photos and information on a variety of architectural, decorative and furniture styles. Typical entries include a thumbnail image, location, name of architect or designer, and date of construction. Some provide commentary on the design and its place in the period. Access to images varies in terms of how it is organized in the module and image sections. [MD]
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Plants National Database--USDA
http://plants.usda.gov/plants/
The United States Department of Agriculture provides this site, which is meant to be a "single source of general information about the plant kingdom to researchers and other people interested in plants." The database is organized by three major topics: wetlands, threatened & endangered, and phylogenetic. In addition, there are external links to other USDA databases for economically important and noxious plants. PND can be searched by family or genus as well as by state. Retrieved items may contain taxonomic information, synonyms, a coarse distribution map, and references. In addition, there is a browsable and searchable image gallery of over 1,000 plants. This is an excellent source of checklist information. [JS]
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Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement 1848-1998
http://www.Legacy98.org/
National Women's History Project
http://www.nwhp.org/
Provided by the National Women's History Project, this site offers numerous resources to help educators and activists commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first women's rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19 and 20, 1848. The Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions signed in Seneca Falls set the agenda for the women's rights movement. At the site users will find a history of the movement and a detailed timeline, information on the Legacy98 newsgroup, and information on a large number of national women's rights organizations, museums, and Internet resources. Additional features include a listing of planned national and regional anniversary celebrations and program and curriculum ideas for teaching and commemorating the women's rights movement in schools, libraries, and local communities. [MD]
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A Science Odyssey--PBS [Shockwave]
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/
PBS has created this site as a companion to its recent five-part TV series of the same name, which covered scientific advances in the last hundred years in the fields of medicine & health, physics & astronomy, human behavior, technology, and earth & life sciences. Highlights of the site are the People & Discoveries database (a searchable and browsable annotated listing of over 50 people and over 60 scientific discoveries), and You Try It, a Shockwave-based interactive activities center, demonstrating concepts like human evolution, the history of home technology, and medical advances over time. An interactive "game show" and selected comic book stories help to explain the abundant content in an entertaining, easy-to-digest format. [JS]
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Searching NICHCY's Database of Organizations
http://askeric.org/plweb-cgi/fastweb?searchform+nichcy1
The National Information Center for Children and Youth With Disabilities
http://www.nichcy.org/
The National Information Center for Children and Youth With Disabilities now provides this database. It is a portal to 200 of NICHCY's 1,000 organization national database. Users can search by any of five variables. Retrieval information includes organization contact information, descriptors, information about the organization, and hypertext links (when available). NICHCY hopes to eventually put the entire database online. The search page offers a link to NICHCY's state resource sheets, concise guides to disability related organizations, as well as pertinent government officials. The NICHCY site is highlighted by information about the organization and many of its useful publications. [JS]
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FindLaw Legal News
http://LegalNews.FindLaw.com/
FindLaw (discussed in the February 23, 1996 Scout Report) recently added this legal news section to its arsenal of law resources. Daily news feeds from Reuters are available in fourteen categories at this time, ranging from telecommunications to US Justice Department to various types of litigation news. There is a searchable archive, and email updates are available. This is an effective, one-stop shopping site featuring descriptive stories about the legal news of the day. [JS]
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AgriBiz
http://www.agribiz.com/
AgriBiz Options Calculator and Database [Java]
http://www.agribiz.com/cfor/
Agribiz, provided by Frank Beurskens Consulting, Inc., strives to organize "information and resources available on the Internet, specific to the global agricultural trading community." At the site users will find an "Article and Trade News" section containing links to various sources of agricultural news. In the "Markets and Analysis" section visitors will find links to price quotes and research reports on various agricultural commodities. The site provides an Interactive Options Pricing Calculator, developed by AgriBiz and the Office for Futures and Options Research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, that estimates the price of agricultural options. Visitors can also learn about weekly crop conditions and weather reports from around the United States and the world. [THN]
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Teen Hoopla: An Internet Guide for Teens--YALSA
http://www.ala.org/teenhoopla/
The Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association provides this highly selective annotated guide to Internet sites aimed at 12-18 year olds. At present the site contains pointers to approximately 140 sites in eight subject areas, including teen life/real life, homework, arts & entertainment, and activism. Most subject areas are further subdivided. Site inclusion criteria are available. As one of the first teen-related meta-sites produced by librarians, Teen Hoopla promises to be an excellent portal into its topic as it grows. [JS]
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Reader's Digest At Home [frames]
http://www.rdathome.com/
This site is billed as a resource providing information on "how to do just about anything." It is a virtual smorgasbord of concise information on home repair, cooking, health, and gardening. The "how to library" highlights this site; it contains more than 400 different projects, tips, recipes, and other information. Content is derived from Reader's Digest books. [JS]
[Note: Resource(s)/URL(s) mentioned above is no longer available.]
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Shirley Povich: 75 Years at The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/general/povich/povich.htm
Shirley Povich is one of the deans of American sportswriting, based on the quality and scope of his work, as well as his incredible longevity. He is a living history book, chronicling the great sports events of his lifetime. This loving tribute, created by the newspaper he has written for for 75 years, offers users a glimpse into that work. This site presents 30 Povich columns (boxing, baseball, football, and "history-making" events). Included are accounts of the Tunney-Dempsey classic fight of 1927, Lou Gehrig's farewell at Yankee Stadium, a eulogy for football coach Vince Lombardi, and a retrospective on the 1972 Munich Olympic tragedy. Stories are split between contemporary accounts and retrospective columns published 30 to 50 years after the event. A biography of Povich is included. [JS]
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GVU's 8th WWW User Survey
http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/survey-1997-10/
All User Surveys
http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/
The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) Graphic, Visualization, & Usability Center's 8th WWW User Survey is available. The survey (discussed in the January 10, 1997 issue of the Scout Report) queried over 10,000 users on topics in the broad areas of demographics, electronic commerce, and cultural issues, among others. The site contains an executive summary, survey methodology, detailed results, datasets and questionnaires. The survey was run from October-November 1997. The GVU survey is endorsed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and is one of the most respected surveys of its kind. [JS]
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Net-Print--Highlight a Section of a Web Page for Printing/Saving
http://www.luminet.net/~dmoe/
Net-Print is the ideal solution for those upset about wasting paper when printing web pages. Available for Macintosh as shareware ($5-15), Net-Print was created by John Moe, a student of the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The download includes a system extension and control panel, which must be installed by hand (drag them into their appropriate folder within the system folder and restart your computer). Once installed, Net-Print appears as a menu and allows for highlighted sections to be printed or saved. It is available in several languages, and is also able to print labels for Zip disks. Although apparently intended for use with Netscape, it also works with other applications such as BBEdit and Eudora. [TB]
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List-Moderators Mailing List
http://List-Moderators.com/
List-Moderators is an open, unmoderated discussion list for the benefit of list-moderators. It is a gathering place for list-moderators to share their experiences and wisdom, and for newly appointed list-moderators to learn the trade. Appropriate topic discussions would include techniques and tools to assist moderation, how to deal with troublesome posters, encouraging a particular list culture without appearing too authoritarian, how to spot posters attempting to use and abuse the system, text-layout styles for newsletters, etc. [JS]

To subscribe send email to:
join-list-moderators@list-moderators.com
In the body of the message type:
SUBSCRIBE LIST-MODERATORS
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Volume 1, Number 37, January 13, 1995
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/1-13-95.html
Thomas--US Congress on the Internet
http://thomas.loc.gov/
The Foundation Center
http://fdncenter.org/
1995 began with a bang, as the January 13 Scout Report announced the opening of Thomas, the US Library of Congress legislative information service that has become, quite simply, the largest disseminator of national legislative information in the world. Among its offerings are bill summaries & status, full text of bills, major legislation enacted into law, the Congressional Record and CR Index, Congressional Committee information, Congressional directory information, information about the legislative process, and a selection of historical documents. The Foundation Center was one of the first grant-related organizations on the Internet. Today it supplies much information about the center's activities and services; it is highlighted by a searchable and browsable directory of private foundations that have an Internet presence. It also provides the Philanthropy News Digest, a weekly newsletter that covers the latest developments in philanthropy. [JS]
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Copyright Susan Calcari, 1994-1998. 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
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Michael de Nie
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The Scout Report - January 16, 1998

The Scout Report

January 16, 1998

New From Internet Scout

Research and Education

General Interest

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