The Scout Report - October 9, 1998

The Scout Report

October 9, 1998

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators. 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.

New From Internet Scout

• SOSIG Mirror
• The UK mirror of the Scout Report

Research and Education

• Agriculture 21--UN FAO
• The FASEB Journal Online
• Technology Counts '98--Education Week on the Web
• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
• World Economic Outlook--IMF [.pdf]
• BONAP Checklist: A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands
• Living Planet Report 1998--WWF
• InteliHealth [Shockwave]

General Interest

• Guide to European Legal Databases
• ACM Multimedia '98: Proceedings
• The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia
• World Bank Group Relaunch
• Cool Science for Curious Kids [Java]
• Giotto: The Scrovegni Chapel
• B-EYE

Network Tools

• Amnesi: The Internet Name Search Engine [JavaScript]
• CNN Media Search
• Video Search Engine--AltaVista & Virage [RealPlayer]

Where Are They Now

SOSIG Mirror
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/mirrors/sosig
SOSIG
http://www.sosig.ac.uk/
The Internet Scout Project is proud to announce the addition of the SOSIG Mirror to the Internet Scout Project homepage, the Scout Report, and the Scout Report for Social Sciences pages. SOSIG (pronounced "sausage") is the Social Science Information Gateway, based in the Institute for Learning and Research Technology (ILRT) at the University of Bristol, UK. Established in 1994, SOSIG was the first subject-based information gateway in the UK, and offers a catalog of over 5,000 high quality resources that have been selected and described by subject specialists. The "mirror" is a complete copy of the original site, hosted on a server closer to home, so that users can cut down on the number of transatlantic connections they make. Further collaboration between the Internet Scout Project and SOSIG are planned in the future. [LXP]
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The UK mirror of the Scout Report
http://www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/mirrors/scout/
For our UK readers, we are now mirrored at the SOSIG site.

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Agriculture 21--UN FAO
http://www.fao.org/ag/
To "promote food security and sustainable development into the next millennium," the Agriculture Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has recently created this new resource. An impressive and clearly arranged interface leads researchers to more than one gigabyte of data from various UN Agriculture Department sites. A detailed list of available software, databases, publication lists, and email conferences is provided via the Guides section of the site. Other services include Magazine, a monthly publication on international agricultural issues, and Gateway, a link pointing to UN Department of Agriculture divisional homepages. [MW]
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The FASEB Journal Online
http://www.fasebj.org/
HighWire Press
http://highwire.stanford.edu/
Founded in 1912 by three societies, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), facilitates scientific interchange by providing logistic support (via scientific publications and conferences) to its member associations. To this end, FASEB has recently placed the full text of The FASEB Journal online, containing all figures and tables in a searchable (by keyword) format. In addition, cited references include "hyperlinks to Medline and to the online full text of many other frequently-cited journals." Online FASEB content begins with the January 1998 issue and will expand with each month's new issue. Abstracts begin with the July 1987 issue. Subscriptions are free through the end of March, 1999. The journal is provided in conjunction with Stanford University's HighWire Press. [LXP]
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Technology Counts '98--Education Week on the Web
http://www.edweek.org/sreports/tc98/
Sticking to its goal of being "the place on the World Wide Web for people interested in education reform, schools, and the policies that guide them," Education Week on the Web (reviewed in the September 13, 1996 Scout Report) has just released a special report on the effectiveness of technology in schools. In particular, the report addresses concerns that the presence of computers in schools hasn't raised test scores. Technology Counts '98 considers the effectiveness of technology from several angles, namely: "technology's impact on test scores and school climate" (based on how students performed on the 1996 National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics exam); ten case studies of "schools that are using technology to foster goals of the education reform movement;" and third, a review of state activities and suggested policies. This timely report offers "the most recent national and state-by-state data on technology access, capacity, and use." [LXP]
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Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
http://www.jaffebros.com/lee/gulliver/about.html
The main feature of this site, a part-time project from librarian and dedicated Swift fan Lee Jaffe, is the text of the 1726 Motte edition of Gulliver's Travels with corrections from the 1735 Faulkner edition. The site features not only an authoritative, hyperlinked edition of Gulliver's Travels, but also links to additional resources, source texts, study guides, scholarly societies and just about anything that could be of use to a Swift scholar or fan. Jaffe is still in the process of hyperlinking the text to a dictionary he has compiled for the purpose, and he has also assembled a collection of quotes, a list of Swift's neologisms, illustrations from other editions, and a timeline of relevant dates. Though Jaffe demurs, "I don't pretend that this is a scholarly edition," he may be too modest. [TK]
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World Economic Outlook--IMF [.pdf]
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/weo1098/index.htm
Recently published by the International Monetary Fund, the World Economic Outlook (WEO) is a semi-annual examination of recent world economic developments and future prospects. Responding to recent financial turbulence around the world, the report highlights monetary policy issues in Asia as well as development strategies in emerging market countries and Russia. A 28-page statistical appendix is also included with financial growth indicators by region. [MW]
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BONAP Checklist: A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/b98/check98.htm
Provided by the Biota of North America Program (BONAP) in collaboration with the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group (TAMU-BWG), The BONAP Synonymized Checklist is more than a typical checklist. It is a database, offering multiple layers of vascular flora information at several different taxonomic levels. Understanding the organization of the site is central to its utility; to enter the database, users may select options to browse by family name, query by genera or common name, query text (for text strings), or follow links to the Flowering Plant Family Finder (Cronquist classification system; also accessible through The Flowering Plant Gateway, reviewed in the September 25, 1998 Scout Report). Once inside the database, users can drill down to distribution maps of the selected family, genus, or species. In many cases, species images accompany distribution maps through links to the Vascular Plant Image Gallery (reviewed in the September 12, 1997 Scout Report. This new resource unifies and deepens the already impressive wealth of TAMU-BWG/BONAP information on vascular flora on the Web. [LXP]
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Living Planet Report 1998--WWF
Index:
http://panda.org/livingplanet/lpr/index.htm
Lite Site: [frames]
http://panda.org/livingplanet/lpr/lp_index.html
Enhanced Site: [RealPlayer, Flash]
http://panda.org/livingplanet/lpr/flash.htm
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has recently published the inaugural Living Planet Report. This report analyzes environmental data in conjunction with global consumption patterns to calculate the cumulative effect that humankind has on the earth's ecosystems. The report consists of two major parts: the Consumption Pressure section and the Living Planet Index. The Consumption Pressure section measures the per capita resource consumption and pollution statistics from 152 countries to determine humanity's impact on earth. The Living Planet Index presents new data on the health of the forest, freshwater and marine ecosystems around the world from 1970-1995. Two versions of the report are available from the WWF: the Enhanced Site, which requires Macromedia Flash and RealPlayer; and the Lite Site, which provides the same information minus the plug-ins. [AO]
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InteliHealth [Shockwave]
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH
InteliHealth, from Aetna US Healthcare and Johns Hopkins University and Health System, provides the latest health and medical information for consumers and professionals. The Consumer Network features a News section of recent press releases from news agencies and Johns Hopkins; a Drugs section has patient information on generic and brand name drugs from the US Pharmacopoeia database; and a Health Library includes patient information, databases, directories, interactive educational resources [some require Shockwave], and "Ask-the-Doc," where visitors can pose a question or browse through already-answered questions. The Professional Network, for doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, features the latest health and medical news, career and education resources, Medline database, clinical and research resources, pharmaceutical information, and a bookstore where users can order professional literature. [GW]
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Guide to European Legal Databases
http://www.llrx.com/features/europe.htm
The New York University (NYU) Law School Reference Librarian For International and Foreign Law, Mirela Roznovschi, has prepared this excellent Guide to European Legal Databases. The Guide offers recommendations for search engines and search tips/strategies for researching foreign law topics. Visitors will find the annotated list of European Websites useful for finding constitutional, copyright, and environmental laws (many laws listed by country). Also referenced in the Guide are sites covering the laws of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. A section entitled Indices, Guides, Journals, Dictionaries, Library Catalogs covers consolidated resource guides and notable collections, to facilitate further research efforts. [LXP]
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ACM Multimedia '98: Proceedings
http://www.acm.org/sigmm/MM98/electronic_proceedings/
The Sixth Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) International Multimedia Conference was held in Bristol, England in September 1998 to discuss current research in various multimedia disciplines. Many of the papers presented at the conference are available here at this site. A wide variety of topics were covered, ranging from highly technical reports on software and hardware, to discussions on applied uses of new technologies in education, research, and entertainment. Navigation of the site is made easier with a chronological table of contents, an index by author, and an index by keyword. The ACM, an educational and scientific computing society founded in 1947 sponsored the conference. [DM]
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The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia
http://wwwusr.obspm.fr/planets/
Jean Schneider, of the Observatoire de Paris, put together this no-nonsense site featuring current information on the "detection and study of extrasolar planets, including exobiology." Schneider's commitment to the subject is clear with the inclusion of detailed scientific and technical articles, a tutorial (by Arizona State University) on the detection of extrasolar planets, and a hyperlinked bibliography of some 200 scientific journal articles, books, and reports. A catalog of extrasolar planets (with links to the scientific articles describing them) features dozens of confirmed planets (or brown dwarfs) around main sequence stars or pulsars, in addition to disks and unconfirmed objects. Whether you are a dedicated amateur or pro (and read English or French), these pages are clearly designed and well worth the orbit. [LXP]
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World Bank Group Relaunch
http://www.worldbank.org/
In lieu of current global financial turmoil, users will be interested in this site. To facilitate easier information access, the World Bank Group (reviewed in the September 25, 1997 Scout Report for Business & Economics) recently relaunched their extensive website of development information according to a new, more integrated graphical structure. New menu option highlights include the arrangement of data publications by geographical location and topic, visitor "portals" or entrance ways into the site based on specific audience needs, and a Special Interest section designed to spotlight important research and tools. [MW]
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Cool Science for Curious Kids [Java]
http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/
Kids can explore animal classifications, dust particles in the air, the stages of a butterfly's life, and which plant parts to use in a garden salad, at this simple and well-designed site. With support from the Precollege and Public Science Education Program of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, five museums have contributed questions, activities, and factual information on individual sections in Cool Science for Curious Kids. Tips for parents and links to the contributing museums complete the site. [JR]
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Giotto: The Scrovegni Chapel
http://www.pipeline.com/~roye/gallery/giotto/arena.html
This site offers an up-close tour through Giotto's frescos in the Cappella dell'Arena in Padua (also called the Scrovegni Chapel), built by Enrico Scrovegni between 1300 and 1303 on the site of a Roman amphitheater. Carefully researched and presented by Roy Evans, the site introduces the user to Giotto, an art historical legend, and presents Giotto's fresco representation of the lives of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. Users can browse through the frescos, zooming in on details. Giotto is often regarded as a founder of modern painting since he broke with the painting conventions of his day and attempted to depict three-dimensional figures in space on a flat surface. The frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel show the full scope of this artistic revolution. See the third image, "The Annunciation of Anna," to appreciate Giotto's handling of space. [DS]
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B-EYE
http://cvs.anu.edu.au/andy/beye/beyehome.html
One of the great treats awaiting Scouts (or any others who learn to search the Web efficiently) is the large number of high quality science Websites put forth by Australian research institutions. B-EYE is yet another such wonderful site. Dr. Andrew Giger, a neuroscientist studying insect vision at the Centre for Visual Science (CVS) at Australian National University, put together this site so visitors could see the world "through the eyes of a honey bee." Although simplified to grayscale images (bees view colors differently than humans), the visual distortions (from human to bee) are fascinating and highly educational. The well-designed site takes the viewer through the specific elements of each visual distortion, offering descriptions, a gallery of pre-processed images, and several options for viewing. The most sophisticated option allows users to set parameters (distance to pattern, horizontal and vertical position, background intensity, etc.) to view a series of images through a human eye, a simulated projection, and eventually, a bee's eye. [LXP]
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Amnesi: The Internet Name Search Engine [JavaScript]
http://www.amnesi.com/
This site, provided by Synchrony Systems, Inc., lets you search for a domain name when you don't remember the exact name (or if the name is misspelled or is only a partial name). The user enters a guess and the engine searches an extensive database of domain names for names that are similar to the guess. Search results return similar names; in addition, results offer options for obtaining more information about a given domain (retrieved using the whois protocol) or subdomains of a given domain name. [MR]
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CNN Media Search
http://cnn.com/SEARCH/media/
Hollywood Online
http://www.hollywood.com/grid/search_new.html
PBS ONLINE
http://www.pbs.org/search/
Try a search of the more than ten gigabytes of digital content at CNN Interactive's multimedia Website using CNN Media Search, powered by Magnifi Server. Users can retrieve text, images, sound, video, VR, and animation in a single search. The expanded search format also allows users to specify media formats specifically as JPEG images only, or documents only. Magnifi Server runs on the Windows NT and Solaris platforms. Other sites using Magnifi Server for multimedia searching include Hollywood Online and PBS ONLINE. [DS]
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Video Search Engine--AltaVista & Virage [RealPlayer]
http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?mmdo=9&stype=svideo
Virage and AltaVista have combined to launch the first video search engine available on the Web. Using new technology that watches, listens, and reads videos, the Virage Video Cataloger automatically extracts relevant information to create searchable indexes in real-time. This breakthrough technology has been adapted for the Internet, allowing users to search video files by keyword and view selected segments. The experimental Web version of this technology, available at AltaVista, currently features four hours of President Clinton's video testimony to a grand jury last month. [AO]
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The Scout Report was not published on October 6, 1995. This feature will resume with the October 16, 1998 issue. [LXP]
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The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format.

The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format.

Susan Calcari Laura X. Payne Travis Koplow Michael de Nie Aimee D. Glassel Todd Hanson Sheilah Harrington Kathryn Harris Christopher Lukas Dave Mayer Andrew Osmond Jeannine Ramsey Mike Roszkowski Debra Shapiro Geraldine Wanserski Megan Waters Amy Tracy Wells

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