The Scout Report

February 20, 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 Report for Science & Engineering
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/sci-engr/
K.I.D.S Report
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/KIDS/
The eleventh issue of the Scout Report for Science & Engineering is available. It annotates over twenty new and newly discovered Internet resources in the physical & life sciences and engineering. The In the News Section annotates nine resources on the worldwide problem of overfishing. The latest KIDS report, produced by high school students in Boulder, Colorado, is titled From Missouri to China -- Selections From US and World Literature, and contains twelve topically-related resources. [JS]
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Two New Resources from American Memory--LOC
George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html
The Spanish-American War in Motion Pictures [MPEG, QuickTime]
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/sawhtml/sawhome.html
The US Library of Congress has recently made two substantial additions to its American Memory site. The first contains the premiere release (about 8,000 pages) of the complete George Washington Papers (176,000 pages), which will consist of eight parts published successively through 1999. Documents include correspondence, letterbooks, diaries, journals, books, military records, and reports and notes Washington accumulated between 1741 and 1799. The materials reflect Washington's wide range of interests and activities, including his service as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, his command of the Revolutionary Army, and his service as the first President. Additional resources include a timeline, essays about the papers, and a select bibliography. The second site, released to coincide with the centennial of the sinking of the USS Maine, offers 53 motion pictures from the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection, some by Thomas Edison. Subjects include troops, ships, notable figures, parades, and reenactments of battles. Films are offered in chronological order with brief essays establishing an historical context. [MD]
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The State of Food and Agriculture 1997--FAO
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESA/sofa.htm
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has made available the full text of the latest version of this annual publication that keeps track of developments in world agriculture. It is divided into three sections, a general world review, regional overviews, and a special section on the agroprocessing sector. The regional overviews highlight six countries this year: Mozambique, Angola, Bangladesh, Peru, Egypt, and the Russian Federation. The site also contains tables of contents for SOFA back to 1993, along with full text of special chapters from each issue. Previous country briefs for eight countries are available. Information about how to purchase the valuable country time-series diskette that accompanies the print volume can be obtained at the site. [JS]
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Nuclear Structure and Decay Data: NuBase With the Q-value Calculator [JavaScript, frames]
http://nucleardata.nuclear.lu.se/database/masses/
Created by Peter Ekstrom, a senior lecturer in the Department of Physics at Lund University, Sweden, NuBase is a database of nuclear structure and decay data available for all known nuclides. It is a "compilation of ground and isomeric state properties." Information can be retrieved through eight formats. A highlight is the chart interface, which allows the user to click on an area of the chart and retrieve a hyperlinked table of elements in that part of the chart. Source information is provided at the site. Note that this site requires a working knowledge of nuclear nomenclature. [KH]
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US Colored Troops--NPS
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/usct.html
Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/
The National Park Service and its partners are developing a database containing basic facts about servicemen who served on both sides during the Civil War; a list of regiments in both the Union and Confederate Armies; and identifications and descriptions of 384 significant battles of the war. To commemorate the African American Civil War Memorial (to be unveiled in March, 1998) the first portion of the database to come online includes the names of the 235,000 soldiers who served in the United States Colored Troops. In addition to the 235,000 names, the current data includes 180 histories of USCT units/regiments and links to information on their most significant battles. Additional resources at the site include a brief history of the USCT and information and links to NPS African-American Civil War sites. [MD]
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Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases--CDC NIP
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/manual.htm
The National Immunization Program of the US Centers for Disease Control has recently provided this professionally-oriented manual, originally used in conjunction with a satellite video conference on the topic. At present, four of the five sections of the manual are available online. The heart of the manual consists of its fourteen disease-related chapters, covering diphtheria, hepatitis, influenza, measles, mumps, and Rubella, among others. There is also a section on surveillance indicators and analysis, as well as one that discusses other relevant aspects of surveillance. Each of the 21 chapters is available in text or WordPerfect format; ordering information for the print version is available in the first section. [JS]
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National Engineers Week
http://www.eweek.org/
Less graphical entrance:
http://www.eweek.org/1998/
National Engineers Week is February 22-28, 1998. This site, provided by the National Society of Professional Engineers, contains information on how to participate and make the most out of this week for engineers and engineering students, teachers, and K-12 students. Visitors can also read about the winner of the 1997 Charles Stark Draper Prize, Vladimir Haensel. Other features of the site include lessons on snowboarding, engineering sports, profiles of selected engineers, and a chance to explore the International Space Station. [KH]
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Top Cyberspace Law Cases of 1997
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/97cases.html
Acting Professor Jerry Kang of the University of California, Los Angeles Law School provides this handy compendium for the well-known UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy. Twelve cases make up the site, including Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association v. Pataki, and NBA (National Basketball Association) v. Motorola. Each case is accompanied by a brief explanation, as well as links to the actual court ruling (when available, and from a variety of sources), and/or other information about the case. While not all users may agree with Professor Kang's choices, Top Cyberspace Law Cases of 1997 is a very useful and illustrative resource about this emerging legal topic. [JS]
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Graduate School Rankings--US News Online
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/bcrank.htm
US News Online provides its 1998 rankings for American Graduate Schools at its .edu (discussed in the January 17, 1997 Scout Report) site. The rankings are taken from US News and World Report's Best Graduate Schools publication. 1998 rankings are available in nineteen subject areas, including Business, Law, Engineering, Education, and Medicine, among others. For some areas, individual rankings, according to various criteria, are available. In these areas the rankings can be sorted according to criteria (for browsers with JavaScript capability). Ranking methodologies are explained at the site. [JS]
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Iraq 986--UN [frames]
http://www.un.org/Depts/dha/iraq986/index.htm
In response to the growing threat of renewed war in Iraq, the United Nations has recently provided this site devoted to UN Resolution 986, originally adopted in 1995. Resolution 986 "authorize[d], as a temporary measure, under the oil-for-food accord with the U.N., the sale of US $2 billion over a period of 180 days to finance imports of humanitarian supplies, to be distributed under U.N. supervision." The site provides the text of Resolution 986, a Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and the Government of Iraq, the latest relevant documents and news, a chronology of documents related to the resolution since its inception, and the distribution plan for essential humanitarian supplies submitted by the Government of Iraq to the United Nations. [JS]
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Essays on Science and Society--Science Online
http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/150essay.shl
1998 marks the 150th anniversary of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In honor of this anniversary, Science is publishing a weekly series of essays concerning science and its influence on society. The essays, beginning with the February 6th essay by Stephen Gould, will be written mainly by scientists, but will also include teachers, journalists, philosophers, critics, and school children. Note that at this time, the first two essays are available free of charge. It is unknown how many of these essays will remain available free of charge, or for how long. [KH]
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Helios: National Museum of American Art Photography Online--SI [Javascript, RealPlayer, QuickTime, Vivo Player]
http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/collections/exhibits/helios/index.html
Helios is the overall photography site for the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American Art. Currently, it hosts two exhibitions: American Photographs: The First Century, and Between Home and Heaven, as well as a connection to another NMAA exhibit about daguerreotypes. American Photographs contains 176 photographs; Between Home and Heaven (a landscape photography exhibit) contains 35. The navigation interface for both of these exhibits is complex--users must click on icons that retrieve further information in a pop-up Javascript window. Fairly detailed information on artists, and selected RealPlayer commentaries by NMAA experts is available for American Photographs. Some American Photographs offer detailed views. Users are encouraged to read the Help/Tools section thoroughly before beginning the exhibits in order to enhance their enjoyment of the site. Note that the Indexes allow access to all photos of both sites. [JS]
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Fund Spot
http://www.fundspot.com
Fund Spot is provided by Peter Stoermer as a resource for mutual fund investors. Visitors to the site will find links to the latest mutual fund news, Roth IRA resources, general mutual fund news and information, and investing in general. The site also features a message board where visitors can post questions and answers about mutual funds. [THN]
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Seacoast, NH Black History
http://www.seacoastnh.com/blackhistory/index.html
African Americans have been part of the New Hampshire scene since 1645. This site, provided by SeacostNH.com, tells their story in that state, and specifically, in Portsmouth. Included is information about the making of an obscure though controversial film, Lost Boundaries, in 1949, an interview with University of New Hampshire Professor Jeff Bolster about African American mariners, a short history titled "First Blacks of Portsmouth," a brief oral history of five long-time Portsmouth residents, and the story of Prince Whipple, who appears in Emanuel Leutze's famous painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.[JS]
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Bandaids and Blackboards: When Chronic Illness...Or Some Other Medical Problem...Goes to School
http://funrsc.fairfield.edu/~jfleitas/contents.html
Joan Fleitas, Assistant Professor of Nursing at Fairfield University, provides this site, designed to offer the child's perspective on what growing up with medical problems is like. At the heart of the site are the first person stories of young children and teenagers with medical problems ranging from leukemia to cystic fibrosis to Crohn's disease. Also included are a hospital tour, sibling stories, and children's tips for teachers, nurses, and doctors, among many other features. The design of the site is optimized for children; adults can best gain entrance to the content through the site map. [JS]
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New York Books
http://nybooks.com/
New York Books packs a triple punch for bibliophiles: The New York Review of Books,Granta, and n.b., the monthly ezine about new books provided by the staff of the well-known Reader's Catalog.NYRB provides selected full text from the print issue, with archives of recent issues. In addition, full text of the first issue, published in early 1963, is available. Granta is a quarterly literary periodical. The site is mostly informational, but provides a single selection from some recent issues. n.b. provides listings, reviews, and excerpts from selected new books in many subjects. [JS]
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Webdeveloper.com
http://www.webdeveloper.com/
A boon to web developers, Mecklermedia provides the latest news in web developments; a library with tutorials, white papers, and book reviews on the topic; and a question and answer section. The developers forum contains threaded discussions on fourteen web-related topics. The site also features a software review section, and a general section with further information on fifteen topics from ActiveX to browsers to e-commerce. [JS]
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30 JavaScript Tips from c|net
http://builder.cnet.com/Programming/JsTips/
Users looking to spice up their site functionality with a little JavaScript can consult 30 JavaScript Tips, compiled by c|net's Charity Kahn. The tips begin with creating pop-up windows and move to topics such as creating colored tables on the fly, form follow-up pages, and font size readable across platforms. It covers built-in methods, simplifying scripts, code shortcuts, and mastering code. Also featured are two c|net Cool Tools: Window builder, a handy online tool which generates pop-up window code, and Menu maker (discussed in the January 23, 1998 issue of the Scout Report), an online tool which generates code for pull-down menus. A number of the 30 tips target advanced JavaScript users. Cool Tools will be useful for both beginners and masters. [TB]
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ml-owners--Mailing List Owner's Discussion Group
http://www.mail-list.com/cgi-bin/signup.cgi
This mailing list focuses on the exchange of useful information between owners and moderators of mailing lists. Topics covered will include such areas as reducing time spent on list administration, whether advertising is appropriate, and dealing with problem subscribers, among others. [JS]

To subscribe, send a blank message to: ml-owners-on@mail-list.com
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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
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The Scout Report - February 20, 1998

The Scout Report

February 20, 1998

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