The Scout Report

July 17, 1998

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

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
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 twenty-first issues of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics are available. Each report annotates over twenty new and newly-discovered Internet resources. The In the News section of the Social Sciences Report annotates nine resources on the political situation in Nigeria. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section annotates nine resources on the IMF loan to Russia. [MD]
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Research and Education

ConnecText Catalog: A Registry for Online Textbooks
http://www.connectext.com/
Provided by Digital Text Plus, this new project targets both "university professors who are seeking books for course adoption and ... authors of online textbooks who would like to make the availability of their works more widely known." A free service, the catalog will feature texts created specifically for publication on the Internet which make full use of the possibilities not available to hard copy, such as audio and video features, interactivity, and external links. The initial listing contains six works in four fields (Accounting, Information Studies, Management, and Sociology). Listings include key features (intended audience, designed as primary or supplemental textbook, additional enhancements) and price. Please note that all of the online books in the initial listing are for sale works, although free works will also be listed in the future if their authors register with ConnecText. [MD]
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VRoma: A Virtual Community for Teaching and Learning Classics [MOO]
http://vroma.rhodes.edu/
The product of a recent NEH Teaching with Technology Grant, this two-tiered site promises to be an engaging and extensive resource for Classics courses. The first tier is an online "place," modeled upon the ancient city of Rome, where students and teachers can interact live via a traditional MOO session (information on registration requests and the MOO interface is provided). Within this interactive virtual Rome, participants will be able to hold courses and lectures, share study resources, and view and edit images attached to MOO rooms and other objects. VRoma will also serve as a gateway to internet resources, which will be customizable and accessible in a variety of ways to suit individual or class needs. A preview of these resources includes image and sculpture collections, several digitized classical works, some syllabi, and a collection of lexica and search engines useful to classicists. VRoma is still very much in the development phase, and volunteers with an interest in Ancient Rome, especially those with knowledge of Roman topography or MOO programming, are welcome. [MD]
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50th Anniversary of the Desegregation of the Armed Forces
Executive Order 9981-Truman Library
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/truman/9981.htm
Desegregation of the Armed Forces Study Collection--Project Whistlestop
http://www.whistlestop.org/study_collections/desegregation/large/desegregation.htm
Project Whistlestop
http://www.whistlestop.org/
On July 26, 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending segregation in the US armed forces. The Truman Library Website, hosted by the University of Texas, has placed online digitized and text versions of the order as well as a chronology of events leading to the order. Of more interest to researchers is the newly expanded collection of digitized original documents relating to desegregation at Project Whistlestop, the digital archive of the Truman Presidential Library. Whistlestop's collection contains over 750 pages of digitized documents. Selected by subject specialists, the documents range from press releases to letters to Truman's diary entries. As with the actual paper documents, the digitized items are divided into folders in no particular order. However, the site does provide a brief description of each document. Project Whistlestop, funded in part by a United States Technology Innovation Challenge Grant from the US Department of Education, is an outstanding online collection of primary documents and archival materials provided for student research projects. [MD]
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Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS)
http://www.cordis.lu/
Acting as part of the European Commission's INNOVATION Programme, the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) provides information on European Union research, development, and innovation activities to help strengthen the competitiveness of European organizations, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CORDIS's ten searchable databases covering various news and research publications, EU-funded research programs, and organizational contact and partnership directories are designed to help SMEs find data and funding. An Acronym dictionary of EU research and development terms aids search navigation, and key pages are available in English, French, German, and Italian. [MW]
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Class Size Reduction and Teacher Quality Initiative
http://www.ed.gov/inits/ClassSize/
This section of the U.S. Department of Educations's Website offers clarification for those who have been hearing about government efforts to reduce elementary school class sizes. In his 1998 State of the Union address, President Clinton proposed an initiative which would provide federal funding for states to train, certify, and hire teachers. The initiative is designed to help local public schools reduce class sizes and better prepare teachers in first through third grades. More specifically, the goals are to achieve a nationwide average of eighteen students per class, to provide personal attention for each child, to improve training and evaluation of teachers, and to ensure that all students can read independently by the end of third grade. The site provides the text of the initiative and research reports synthesizing recent studies on the benefits of smaller class sizes. Visitors can also obtain information about specific state programs to implement the federal initiative. [DS]
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Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States of America--HRW
http://www.hrw.org/reports98/police/index.htm
This major new report from Human Rights Watch paints a disturbing portrait of the excessive use of force by police officers and the overwhelming barriers to establishing accountability for officers who violate human and civil rights. The report examines common obstacles to police abuse accountability by featuring fourteen large cities which are representative of most regions of the nation. Brutality cases used for the report are laid out in detailed chapters, by city. Research for the report was conducted between late 1995 and early 1998. [MD]
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INTEC: Professional Development for Middle School and Secondary Math/Science Teachers
http://www.concord.org/intec/t3/edshse.html
INTEC, the International Netcourse Teacher Enhancement Coalition Project, offers a unique opportunity for middle and secondary math and science teachers to participate in a web course that emphasizes inquiry-based learning in a collaborative environment. INTEC provides teachers with inquiry-based curricular materials, including in some cases, software and equipment, to craft their own lessons. Web discussions, local study group meetings, and a net-seminar are part of the course. Dr. Raymond Rose directs this National Science Foundation funded project, which is a part of the Massachusetts based Concord Consortium. Recruitment for Fall 1998 focuses on groups of teachers and school districts rather than on individuals. The course is free of charge, although the option to take the course for four graduate credits for a fee is available. [JR]
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Normandy 1944-Encyclopedia Britannica [RealPlayer, Shockwave]
http://normandy.eb.com
Fifty-four years ago this month, the outcome of the Allied invasion of "Fortress Europe" was still very much in doubt. Although a secure beachhead had been established, the Allied armies found it very difficult to breakout into France, and a stalemate seemed quite possible. Britannica Online has created an outstanding site which documents the amazing story of the Normandy invasion, from the build-up to D-Day, to the eventual breakout into Northern France. The site is organized in five sections, each of which is anchored with an essay by leading military historian John Keegan. Each section offers supplementary articles, documentary and newsreel footage, personal histories, radio broadcasts, newspaper articles from famous war journalists such as Ernie Pyle, photos, and interactive maps. Additional features at this handsome and well organized site include sections on key personalities, weapons and tactics, documents, maps, related links, and recommended reading. [MD]
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New Galileo Images of Ganymede
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo/atjup/newim.html
NASA recently unveiled new high-resolution images Ganymede which is Jupiter's largest moon and the largest moon in the solar system. These images were taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft during several flybys in 1996 and 1997. The photos reveal a number of unusual and interesting features, such as pedestals in impact craters, dark ejecta haloes, evidence of tectonic activity and possible signs of icy volcanic flows. Galileo also photographed a crater chain which is the likely result of a comet impact. Each image is offered as a large thumbnail with a one paragraph caption. Larger images are available in four formats: GIF, JPEG, TIFF, and PICT. [MD]
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International Organization Web Sites--UIA
http://www.uia.org/website.htm
The Union of International Associations has compiled this metasite of pointers to over 5,000 International Organizations in the form of Inter-governmental organizations (IGO's) and International non-governmental organizations (INGO's). Within these larger categories are a series of fifteen alphabetically coded organization types. Each listing (organized alphabetically, topically, or regionally) is accompanied by the type and category of organization. [JS]
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China's Free Markets
http://www.saturdaymarket.com/chinaveg/
Web author Ditty Deamer invites viewers to "see how China's free markets operate today" in this photographic essay on Chinese Farmers' markets spanning May 1996 to May 1998. An extraordinary history, Ms. Deamer leads us through markets in Bejing, Shanghai, and Pudong, among others, with detailed explanations of Chinese marketplace history, prices, taxes, and products gleaned from interviews with farmers, vendors, and market managers. Expect interesting updates from Ms. Deamer in the future, as she tracks Chinese free markets while continuing to travel in China as an investment advisor. [MW]
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Build A Bridge--NOVA
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bridge/build.html
This wonderful site, provided by NOVA Online, brings to life the engineering challenges inherent to bridge-building. Designed for those who want the challenge, the site offers four bridging scenarios (with photos): "a 5,000-foot span across an ocean bay where huge ships come and go, ... a 700-foot span across a deep canyon gorge," and two others. A step-by-step tutorial teaches about four different bridge types (arch, beam, suspension, and cable-stayed), after which the user may select a bridge type for each scenario. The site is enhanced by links to other bridge resources, such as the famous bridge-building disaster of the century (Tacoma Narrows Bridge) and the Golden Gate Bridge site, which in turn, links users to other famous bridges including Japan's brand new Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, the longest bridge in the world. [LXP]
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The Art of the Motorcycle -- Guggenheim
http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/motorcycle/motorcycle.html
It was in France in 1868 that the motorcycle was born when Pierre Michaux and Louis-Guillaume Perreaux attached a small commercial steam engine to a bicycle. The Art of the Motorcycle is a new exhibit at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York which follows the technological, design, and cultural evolution of the motorcycle over the past 130 years. The online portion of the exhibit is arranged into eight sections, chronologically by era. Each section includes details about the social and political climate, specific design innovations, and photographs of period motorcycles. The exhibit is on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York through September 20, 1998. [AG]
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Inside Dynamic HTML--DHTML Resource
http://www.insideDHTML.com/
Inside Dynamic HTML is provided by Scott Isaacs, a Program Manager at Microsoft Corporation and author of Inside Dynamic HTML. It is intended to be a resource for web developers which emphasizes the use of HTML, CSS, XML, and other "cutting edge" technologies to build and design low-bandwidth Web pages. Portions of the site are still under construction and/or require the use of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. Examples of content include product reviews, a tutorial of HTML 4.0, DHTML techniques, and discussion forums. [TB]
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Tom's Hardware Guide
http://www.tomshardware.com/
Tom's Hardware Guide, by Thomas Pabst, is an excellent compendium of news, reviews, and technical guides pertaining to PC hardware. The hardware news includes product releases, roadmaps, and computer conference news. The reviews focus on motherboards, CPUs, and graphics cards, all of which are thoroughly tested by Tom and his staff. Testing results are graphed, evaluated, and compared. For the PC-users who want to tweak every bit of performance out of their system, there are guides for the system bios and CPU overclocking. This site is a must-visit for almost anyone looking to build or upgrade a computer. [TH]
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How to Subscribe to Discussion Lists
http://www.niu.edu/newsplace/netlists3.html
Provided by the NewsPlace for News and Sources site at Northern Illinois University, this handy page lists all the important commands for managing LISTSERV, LISTPROC, and MAJORDOMO mailing lists. [MD]
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Volume 2, Number 11, July 14, 1995
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/.html
e-MATH-American Mathematical Society (AMS) [frames]
http://e-math.ams.org/
National Security Agency (NSA)
http://www.nsa.gov:8080/
e-MATH was originally annotated as a gopher in the July 14, 1995 Scout Report. The gopher site is no longer current, but the AMS e-MATH website continues to serve as a comprehensive source for information of interest to mathematicians and AMS members. Users will find information on recent publications and conferences, research tools, government affairs, and employment opportunities. The NSA site has expanded since its first review by the Scout Report, adding a document archive on the Cuban Missile Crisis and sections on several projects created to make formerly classified information available to researchers and the general public. The VENONA Project offers monographs and images from the US Signals Intelligence effort to collect and decrypt the text of Soviet KGB and GRU messages from the 1940s. The OPENDOOR project involves reviewing all permanently classified documents 25 years or old for potential declassification. The OPENDOOR section of the NSA site offers an index of released documents. In addition, the site offers an overview of the NSA/ Central Security Service's National Cryptologic Strategy for the 21st Century. [MD]
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Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 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 Internet Scout Project provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. 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 or the National Science Foundation.

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

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