The Scout Report - April 9, 1999

Scout Report for Social Sciences and Business & Economics
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/1999/ss-990406.html
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/1999/be-990408.html
The fourteenth issues of the second volumes of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics are available. The In the News section of the Social Sciences Report annotates eight resources on the long-awaited detainment and extradition of two Libyans accused of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section offers seven resources on the recent currency crisis in Kazakhstan. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Leave None to Tell the Story. Genocide in Rwanda -- HRW
http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/
Five years ago this week, the Hutu-dominated government of Rwanda launched a three-month genocidal campaign against the Tutsi minority. At least 500,000 people were killed, three quarters of the Tutsi of Rwanda. In what is sure to become one of the standard reference works on this "killing campaign," Human Rights Watch has recently released an 807-page study based on Rwandan government records, diplomatic papers, and court documents. The study "dissects the deceptive discourse of genocide and shows how ordinary administrative structures and practices were turned into mechanisms of murder." In addition, it examines the actions of the major international actors, who withdrew the UN troops when the genocide began. The study "details the transformation of international indifference into tardy criticism. By showing how even feeble censure caused changes in the genocidal program, the study suggest[s] what might have been the result had the world promptly and firmly cried 'Never Again.'" The full text of this extensive report is available online, by chapter, in HTML format. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Record of Historic Richard Nixon - Zhou Enlai Talks in February 1972
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/DOC_readers/kissinger/nixzhou/
To the delight of historians, the National Security Archive (NSA) (last reviewed in the April 2, 1999 Scout Report) has again secured the declassification and release of top secret US government documents. In this case, the documents relate to one of the most important milestones in American diplomatic history, President Nixon's visit to China in February 1972. Although both Nixon and his national security assistant Henry Kissinger discussed this historic visit in their memoirs, these memorandums of daily candid conversations between the two and Premier Zhou Enlai provide a more detailed and revealing account of the topics discussed, particularly India - Pakistan and Taiwan. Readers can access digitized images of the memorandums, with brief annotations on content and excisions, at the site. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

International Archive of Education Data (IAED)
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/IAED/
Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and hosted by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), at the University of Michigan, this new archive will collect and disseminate data "pertaining to all levels of education in countries for which data can be made available." Designed with academics, researchers, and policymakers in mind, the archive opens its virtual doors with 72 collections comprising more than 1,250 files from the NCES. Current IAED holdings include Elementary/ Secondary Surveys, Postsecondary Surveys, Longitudinal Surveys, and Library and Education Assessment surveys. Abstracts, datasets, and a link to the NCES site for each survey are provided. Please note that, before downloading the NCES datasets, users must provide their email address to signify that they will make use of the appropriate documentation when performing analyses on the data. Additional features at the site include an online data analysis system (DAS) "that allows users to conduct analyses on selected datasets within the Archive," Quick Tips, and a browse/search page. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Global Trade Expansion and Liberalisation: Gender Issues and Impacts [.pdf]
http://www.ids.ac.uk/bridge/re42.pdf
Global Trade Expansion and Liberalisation: Gender Issues and Impacts is a new study prepared by Marzia Fontana, Susan Joekes, and Rachel Masika for the UK-based Department for International Development (DFID) and published by Briefings on Development and Gender, BRIDGE (reviewed in the March 23, 1999 Scout Report for Social Sciences). The authors advocate the use of gender as a variable in formulating trade policies and consider the implications of trade liberalization on the livelihood of women in poor nations. This 86-page study also reviews existing research on gender and trade and provides case studies for Ghana, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Jamaica. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

AEGIS [Frames]
http://www.aegis.com/
AEGIS, "the largest HIV/AIDS web site in the world," was developed by Sister Mary Elizabeth of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and is currently funded by private donors and grants from The National Library of Medicine and Roxanne Laboratories. This feature-rich site is awash in valuable HIV resources. Today's HIV News, also available via email subscription, provides the latest news on treatment, statistics, policy, and research. The Key Topics section contains information about treatment, prevention, exposure, nutrition, and discrimination, and includes data and information resources for groups including women, children, minorities, the deaf, visually-impaired, and developmentally disabled. The Publications link takes users to Patient Newsletters, Medical Journals, news sources, and government information. The Reference section features a Clinical Trials Finder and a historical timeline of HIV/AIDS. Visitors can also find links to discussion groups and information services in Connecting to Others, and the full text of Supreme Court and Appellate Court decisions, briefs, and opinions in the Law Library. The site is updated hourly, and portions are available Spanish and other languages. Access to the AIDS Active Desktop area requires Microsoft Internet Explorer, v.4.01 or later. [GW]
[Back to Contents]

International Energy Outlook 1999 [.pdf, 224p]
http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo99/home.html
This new report from the Energy Information Administration offers an outlook for energy markets in almost every major country in the world through 2020. Designed for use by a range of analysts, planners, business associations, and government agencies, the outlook begins with a review of global trends in energy demand from 1970 to 1996. The report goes on to project energy consumption by source and region and includes a review of the status of the five major fuels (oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear power, and renewable energy) on a worldwide basis. The third section of the report examines "energy consumption in the end-use sectors" and offers chapters on "energy use in the transportation sector and on environmental issues related to energy consumption." Users may download the full text of the report in .pdf format or read the online Preface, which also offers links to five of the report's seven appendixes. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Joseph Squier's the place [JavaScript]
http://www.art.uiuc.edu/ludgate/index.html
Joseph Squier, an artist and associate professor of electronic media at University of Illinois, presents the place, an "evolving repository of art work created specifically for distribution on the Web." Squier's art work employs texts, images, and JavaScript to convey his message. Currently, some highlights are urban diary, a scrapbook documenting the experiences of "an anonymous urban citizen," including images of items found on New York sidewalks, and a piece entitled life with father, that is certainly the most moving expressive work I have ever seen on the Web. Users can engage in conversation with the interactive piece entitled io or read Squier's scholarly writings on the impact of digital art in the soapbox section. Please note Squier warns that features of the site may change without notice. [DS]
[Back to Contents]

Graphics Gallery [.pdf]
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AB/GG/
This recently expanded section of Access Excellence, a Biology teaching and learning site sponsored by Genentech, Inc. (reviewed in the March 7, 1997 Scout Report), offers a collection of over 100 labeled diagrams illustrating key processes of biotechnology. Probably best suited for a university level Biology course, the diagrams also include a brief legend explaining the process illustrated. The new additions, which comprise the bulk of the site, are also available in .pdf format for download and printing. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

By the Sweat & Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor -- DOL
http://www.dol.gov/dol/ilab/public/media/reports/iclp/sweat5/
The fifth volume in a Congressionally-mandated series of annual reports on child labor, this recently-released report from the US Department of Labor (DOL) examines child labor in sixteen developing nations around the world. The report provides an overview of the types of work performed by the estimated 250 million child workers in these countries and their labor conditions. Also included is a review of child labor laws and enforcement efforts, descriptions of education initiatives aimed at increasing primary school enrollment, and examples of efforts to address the exploitation of working children. The report is currently available only in HTML format, but a .pdf version is promised for the near future. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House
http://www.ifex.org/
European mirror:
http://holland.ifex.org/
The International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) is a cooperative organization consisting of more than 40 freedom of expression groups worldwide. The IFEX Clearing House Website, managed jointly by the Norwegian Forum for Freedom of Expression (NFFE) and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), provides "accurate and up-to-date information on freedom of expression issues and abuses." The site offers three notable information resources: the IFEX Action Alert Service, The IFEX Communique, and a hyperlinked directory of IFEX members. The IFEX Action Alert Service is a searchable database of nearly 4,500 news items posted by member organizations reporting freedom of expression violations all over the world. The IFEX Communique is a weekly Web-based publication that summarizes recent news and announces upcoming events. The entire site is also available in French or Spanish. [AO]
[Back to Contents]

Two on Dietary Supplements
Dietary Supplement Series and Survey -- NPR [RealPlayer]
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/dietsupplements.html
An FDA Guide to Dietary Supplements [.pdf]
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1998/598_guid.html
The sale and variety of dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals, herbal mixtures, and hormones have expanded tremendously in recent years, accounting for $6.5 billion in sales in 1996 alone. These two resources will help users to understand this trend and the health claims made by supplement companies and to make educated decisions regarding their use. Last week, National Public Radio's (NPR) Morning Edition ran a special series on dietary supplements, informed in part by a national survey conducted by NPR, The Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. At this site, users can read the results of the survey and listen to the six RealPlayer parts of the series, which examine topics such as side effects, legal loopholes, children's supplements, and the role of large pharmaceutical companies in the herbal marketplace. The second site offers a revised version of an article which originally ran in the September-October 1998 FDA Consumer. The article addresses topics such as the definition of a dietary supplement, safety monitoring, understanding claims, and fraudulent products. An illustration of new requirements for dietary supplement labels and sources for more information are also provided. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

ALiNUS
http://libaxp.hartford.edu/llr/alinusin.htm
Hosted by the University of Hartford Library, ALiNUS is a gateway to over 300 online newsletters from academic libraries. Designed to foster communication among academic librarians, the ALiNUS database features newsletters with a variety of content, design, and intended audiences. For instance, some highlight new acquisitions and special collections; others feature services or resources for students and faculty; some contain scholarly library science articles; and some others are no-frills internal notices to library staff. Any and all, however, can be used by librarians for comparison with their own newsletter or simply as a back door into the individual library. Users may browse the full list of newsletters or search by title or institution. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Two Criminal Justice Reports
Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 1998 [.pdf, .zip]
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim98.htm
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report 1998 [.xls]
http://www.state.gov/www/global/narcotics_law/mainhp.html
The first report, from the US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, reveals that "at midyear 1998, 1 in every 150 U.S. residents was incarcerated, with an estimated 1,802,496 men and women held in the country's prisons and jails." This incarceration rate marks an increase of only four percent since last year, but it is more than double that of 1988. Available in .pdf and ASCII formats, the report identifies the number of inmates in State and Federal prisons and local jails at midyear 1998 as well as persons in programs such as electronic monitoring, house detention, community service, or work release; compares figures for the previous ten years; and analyzes these trends. A press release and spreadsheets (.zip format) are also provided. The second report comes from the US State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement. Available in HTML format only, the lengthy report charts program and policy developments and offers reports on a large number of individual countries, grouped by region. In addition to the main report, users will find individual reports on 28 major drug producing and drug transit countries, the text of a letter from the President officially certifying selected countries as "major illicit drug-producing or drug-transit countries," and statements of explanation for those certification decisions. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

America's Top Technology Companies -- Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/asap/99/0405/065.htm
The second annual Forbes ASAP (discussed in the May 10, 1996 Scout Report) "Dynamic 100" lists last year's top dynamic technology companies. Users can browse the listings by product type (software, hardware, semiconductor, networking, Internet, etc.) or search by company name. Modest profiles for each company and brief interviews with a key figure from each of the winners are provided. Methodology for the listings is explained at the site, which is rounded out by an essay on the highlights of the "Dynamic 100." [MD]
[Back to Contents]

reallybig.com
http://reallybig.com/
Styling itself "the largest directory of Web building resources on the internet," this gateway offers links to over 3,000 resources for Web page developers of all skill levels. Some of the resource categories featured at the site include HTML Editors, HTML Tutorials, Log Analyzers, Hit Counters, Graphics Tools, CGI Scripts, Truetype Fonts, Icons, Site Promotion, and many others. Subsections and individual resources all include annotations of varying length. Users can also subscribe to a monthly newsletter at the site. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

ResPool
http://members.tripod.com/~rtiess/respool.htm
Managed by Robert Tiess, this new newsletter is designed for researchers and information specialists who want to share or request Internet reference information. The list is restricted to reference resources, "which include topical web guides, online databases, search engines, directories, indices, and other authoritative sites substantially providing quality information in any given subject areas." Subscription information, list protocol, and message archives are provided at the site. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Langenberg Search
http://www.langenberg.com/
Created and maintained by Chuck Langenberg, this site serves as a "one-stop shopping" gateway to some of the most popular search engines for a variety of subjects. Users can access search engine collections in 25 categories, from dictionaries, encyclopedias, government, and maps to cooking, travel, entertainment, and sports. Within each category, keyword boxes and direct links are provided for each search engine listed. Users are sent to the respective engine's search return page for their results. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Baseball is Back
Major League Baseball Official Site [RealPlayer]
http://www.majorleaguebaseball.com/home.htm
Fastball
http://www.fastball.com/
ESPN.com Major League Baseball
http://espn.go.com/mlb/index.html
Baseball's Opening Day -- NPR's All Things Considered [RealPlayer]
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/archives/1999/990405.atc.html
Squeeze Play: Do Baseball Stadiums Need Our Bucks to Get Built?
http://www.cato.org/dailys/04-06-99.html
Sports Pork: The Costly Relationship between Major League Sports and Government
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-339es.html
Ballparks by Munsey and Suppes
http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/index.htm
After years of declining interest and attendance, last year's home run derby between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa caught the fans' attention and filled at least some of the ballparks. While some sports writers decry this new fixation on the big hitters, others are simply happy with baseball's renaissance, whatever the source of its new-found popularity. In honor of the return of the boys of summer, we have assembled these sites. The first, Major League Baseball's official site, offers news, feature articles, a scoreboard, and links to live RealAudio broadcasts of games around the country. Fastball, provided by Cox Interactive Media, offers comprehensive coverage for each team, including statistics, scores and standings, farm team reports and statistics, their game schedule, and a photo gallery. Fastball also features breaking news and analysis, standings and statistics, baseball chat and forums, and an archive. Another source for breaking baseball news, scores, and trade and injury notes is ESPN's Major League Baseball site, which also provides analysis, TV listings, and occasional special features. For most teams, Monday was opening day, and National Public Radio's (NPR) Tom Goldman put together an excellent piece on baseball's biggest day as seen by players and fans. The twelve-minute report (RealAudio format) is available at NPR's page for the April 5 All Things Considered, fourth from the bottom. While baseball owners bask in the renewed popularity of their teams, commentators continue to ask hard questions about some of the troubling financial aspects of professional baseball. One of these commentators, Raymond J. Keating, a Newsday columnist, examines the relationship between baseball (and other professional sports), the government, and tax dollars in two recent pieces published by the Cato Institute. Finally, users interested in present, past, and future ballparks will want to pay a visit to Munsey and Suppes' Ballparks site (similar sites are available for basketball, football, and hockey). The Ballparks site features numerous photos and maps, brief histories, statistics and facts, and seating charts. More baseball resources can be found in the Scout Report Signpost, the Scout Report's database. These include The Sporting News Baseball, Total Baseball Online, and the Exploratorium's Science of Baseball. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Below are the copyright statements to be included when reproducing annotations from The Scout Report.

The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format:

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1999. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

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

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1999. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.

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.

Susan Calcari Rachael E. Bower Michael de Nie Travis Koplow Aimee D. Glassel Todd Hanson Sheilah Harrington Christopher Lukas Dave Mayer Sujani Nannapaneni Andrew Osmond Laura X. Payne Jeannine Ramsey Mike Roszkowski Debra Shapiro Geraldine Wanserski Megan Waters Amy Tracy Wells Paul M Schwartz

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Director Managing Editor Editor Production Editor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Contributor Webmaster

Scout Report and Scout Report HTML Subscription Instructions

• To receive the electronic mail version of the Scout Report each week, join the scout-report mailing list. This is the only mail you will receive from this list. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.

  http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/

• To receive the Scout Report in HTML format for local viewing and posting, subscribe to the scout-report-html mailing list, used exclusively to distribute the Scout Report in HTML format once a week. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.

  http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/

The Scout Report's Web page:

Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) versions of the Scout Report:

[Back to Contents]

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project

Comments, Suggestions, Feedback
Use our feedback form or send email to scout@cs.wisc.edu.

© 1999 Internet Scout Project
Information on reproducing any publication is available on our copyright page.