Scout Report for Science & Engineering
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sci-eng/2000/se-000830.html
Volume 4, Number 1 of the Scout Report for Science & Engineering is available. The In the News section annotates nine resources on the thinning polar ice cap. [MD]
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Two New Online Tools from Department of Energy (DOE)
GrayLIT Network [.pdf]
http://www.osti.gov/graylit/
Federal R&D Project Summaries
http://www.osti.gov/fedrnd/
Developed by the DOE's Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), these two new sites will almost certainly prove useful to a wide variety of users, such as librarians or scientists, who work with federal gray literature or research summaries. The first is "the world's most comprehensive portal to Federal gray literature," with information on over 100,000 full-text technical reports located at the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Users can search by keyword for reports in any or all of the five collections indexed. Returns are grouped by collection, with links to bibliographic records and the full text. Please note that documents from the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) collection are not available in full text; abstracts and ordering information are provided instead. The second site includes more than 240,000 research summaries and awards by three of the major sponsors of research in the Federal government: the DOE, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). As with the GrayLIT Network, users may search by keyword in any or all of the three collections. Returns are grouped by collection and link to a project description or award abstract. At both sites, users can mark selected returns and then have them displayed on a single page for printing or reading. [MD]
[Back to Contents]Voices of the Holocaust [RealPlayer]
http://voices.iit.edu/
This remarkable resource is provided by the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), where, in 1998, library staff uncovered a sixteen-volume set of typescripts of 70 interviews of Holocaust survivors conducted in 1946. In that year, Dr. David Pablo Boder (a professor at IIT) travelled to Europe and recorded 109 interviews (200 hours) on a wire recorder, 70 of which he later transcribed in English. While numerous excellent projects to record the experiences of survivors have been undertaken, this one is unique in that the interviews took place only one year after liberation, while the victims were still in displaced persons camps throughout Europe. The full text of the 70 interviews, along with a profile, summary, and in a few cases, the audio recording (in German, Yiddish, or Polish), have been placed on the site. The interviews may be browsed alphabetically or searched via a keyword search engine. A few problems were encountered using the latter, but the site as a whole is simply a wonderful resource for researchers, teachers, students, or anyone who wants to learn more about heartbreaking and incredible stories of loss and survival during the Holocaust. [MD]
[Back to Contents]CIA World Factbook 2000 [.pdf]
http://www.cia.gov/publications/factbook/
The US Central Intelligence Agency has recently released the 2000 version of its well-known annual country information reference book (last described in the September 24, 2000 Scout Report). Data are available for more than 260 countries. For each country, map and flag, geographic, population, government, economic, communication, transportation, military, and transnational issue information is provided for the latest date available (January 1, 2000 in most cases). Users can also browse the Factbook by field and topic. For instance, selecting Literacy under the People heading displays definitions and literacy rates for all countries, listed alphabetically. This is an extremely helpful feature for users seeking comparative statistics. There are also nineteen reference maps in .pdf or .jpg format and eight appendices. Linked to from thousands of sites, the World Factbook is widely recognized as one of the finest online resources for country reference information. [MD]
[Back to Contents]"Global Warming and Terrestrial Biodiversity Decline" -- WWF [.pdf. MS Word]
http://panda.org/resources/publications/climate/speedkills/
Press Release
http://www.panda.org/news/press/news.cfm?id=2043
Released on August 30, this 34-page report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns that "global warming could fundamentally alter one third of plant and animal habitats by the end of this century, and cause the eventual extinction of certain plant and animal species." According to the report, the danger is greatest in the northern latitudes of Canada, Russia, and Scandinavia, where warming is predicted to be the most rapid, destroying up to 70 percent of habitat. In many other areas it predicts local species loss of up to 20 percent. These predictions are based on "a moderate estimate that concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere will double from pre-industrial levels during this century." However, as the press release notes, some have projected a three-fold increase in concentrations by 2010 unless corrective action is taken. The full text of the report is available in .pdf or Word format at the site, along with an executive summary, conclusions, and discussion of the methods used to create the report. [MD]
[Back to Contents]Corruption - A selected and annotated bibliography
http://www.norad.no/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=646
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)
http://www.norad.no/english/index.html
Commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), this extensive resource has been compiled from select print and electronic sources. The annotated bibliography is composed of three parts: a comprehensive list of general corruption-related literature from a variety of fields (divided into books and articles/papers); a smaller geographic listing of similar literature from Norway's priority partner countries and other partner countries; and a modest collection of annotated links to various anti-corruption organizations. The bibliography is navigated via links to chapters and sections at the top of each page. Whenever possible, links are provided to electronic editions of the annotated books or reports. [MD]
[Back to Contents]New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences [.pdf, .mpeg]
http://www.gns.cri.nz/Default.htm
New Zealand Origins and Evolution, Fossils, Dating Rocks, Ancient Environments, Minerals, Plate Motion, and Deformation are just a few of the pages featured at this geologic Website. In the How We Can Help section, under databases, users will find the New Zealand Fossil Record File, a registration scheme for recording fossil localities in NZ and nearby regions, including the SE Pacific Islands and seafloor, and the Ross Sea region of Antarctica; the Record File gives an index map of registered fossil localities and email addresses of regional geological surveys. The Earth History section features several useful resources: a series of eight schematic palinspastic reconstructions of New Zealand paleogeography from the Latest Cretaceous period to the present (from the New Zealand Origins and Evolution page), summaries of ongoing basin evolution research, and more. Other links include a What's New section, a page on isotopes, and the New Zealand Hazard Watch site. [HCS]
[Back to Contents]Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) Updated FBI Site
http://trac.syr.edu/tracfbi/index.html
TRAC, a nonpartisan "data gathering, data research and data distribution organization" located at Syracuse University (last reviewed in the April 21, 2000 Scout Report), has updated its widely respected FBI Website. The new edition highlights intelligence, internal security, and terrorism issues. Key findings include: FBI intelligence officers almost quintupled in number during the Clinton presidency, warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act rose from 484 to 886 in the same period, but "only 45 of the FBI's 12,730 1998 convictions involved what the Justice Department classified as internal security or terrorism matters." In addition, data obtained by TRAC reveals a major increase in FBI drug enforcement activities since 1992, with a 69 percent increase in convictions. Users can delve deeper at the site, which offers numerous graphs, maps, and tables that illustrate these key findings, analyze national trends over time, provide figures and rankings for specific districts, and offer occupation and employment figures for "white collars" by state and county. The site also contains several short essays on significant aspects of FBI enforcement policies and practices. [MD]
[Back to Contents]Frontiers In History - National History Day 2001
http://www.nara.gov/education/historyday/frontier/2001.html
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) presents this handy list of 44 collections of primary source materials located in NARA's regional centers and Presidential Libraries, geared to the 2000 - 2001 National History Day theme, Frontiers In History. National History Day is a school-year program that encourages middle and high school students to begin history projects in September, then compete for awards and scholarships in state contests in the spring and a national contest in June. The NARA list is organized into subject areas related to various "frontiers" including Air and Space, Atomic Energy, Civil Rights, and Society and Social Reform. Under these broad headings are more specific subjects, such as New Frontiers for Girls: The Girl Scout Success Story, which lets students know that important documentation on the Girl Scouts can be found in the Lou Henry Hoover Papers and Oral Histories of Girl Scout Leaders, two collections at Herbert Hoover Library in Iowa. Only a small portion of the materials listed have been digitized, so pinpointing collections that cover History Day topics can be of great assistance to students who are willing to travel or who wish to identify a topic they can research locally. In addition, the list provides specific terms, such as names and places, to guide students in their research. [DS]
[Back to Contents]New Additions to ERIC Digests Database
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/2000-8-28.html
ERIC Digests Index Page
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/
The latest update to the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Digest database (last described in the May 26, 2000 Scout Report) features 58 full-text short reports aimed at education professionals and the broader education community. Each report provides an overview of an education topic of current interest and offers references for further information. Sample titles include "Improving Adult English Language Learners' Speaking Skills," "Accessible Web Design," "Learning History through Children's Literature," and "Evaluation of World Wide Web Sites: An Annotated Bibliography." Users can search the entire ERIC Digests database from the index page. ERIC, part of the National Library of Education (NLE), is a nationwide education information system sponsored by the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). [MD]
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On Our Own Terms: Moyers on Dying [RealPlayer, .pdf]
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/onourownterms/index.html
This site is a companion to Bill Moyers's latest PBS special, which premieres on September 10. Produced over two years, the four-part, six-hour series explores the "great divide separating the kind of care Americans say they want at the end of life and what our culture currently provides." Addressing topics such as the choices made at the end of life, palliative care, physician-assisted suicide, hospice care, and new directions in end-of-life care, the series will make an important contribution to the national dialogue on death and dying. The Website contains four principal sections. The first, end-of-life tools, offers suggestions (short articles) and resources to help patients and their families prepare. Care options explores topics such as general care, home care, hospice, and palliative care. The dying experience covers general topics such as "Dying As a Spiritual Event" and "How to Be with a Dying Person" as well as physician-assisted-suicide, cultural traditions, and planning a funeral. The final section, therapy & support, discusses grief and grief counseling and the healing arts. Each section includes several RealPlayer audio excerpts from the program and links to a glossary and discussion boards. A discussion guide and other print resources are also available in .pdf format. [MD]
[Back to Contents]Formosa: Nineteenth Century Images
http://web.reed.edu/academic/departments/history/formosa/
Hosted by the Department of History at Reed College, this attractive digital library contains images of woodcuts, maps, and textual representations of Formosa (Taiwan) published in Europe and North America during the nineteenth century. The 90+ maps are selected via a menu or an interactive map of the island. The full texts of 27 travelogues, reports, and ethnographies are listed alphabetically by author, while the woodcuts (over 100) are grouped by category or artist's portfolio. Additional features include seven comparative word-list tables, an internal search engine, and a timeline (under construction). An excellent resource for students and scholars of both Formosa/Taiwan and Western depictions of the East. [MD]
[Back to Contents]Transgenic Crops: An Introduction and Resource Guide [Flash]
http://www.colostate.edu/programs/lifesciences/TransgenicCrops/
Developed by four professors in the Soil and Crops Sciences and Life Sciences Departments at Colorado State University, this site aims to "provide balanced information and links to other resources on the technology and issues surrounding transgenic crops (also known as genetically modified or GM crops)." None of the authors is affiliated with companies involved in transgenic crop development or with groups campaigning against such crops. The site covers topics such as plant breeding, how transgenic crops are made -- including a Flash demo (not working at time of review), regulation of transgenic crops, current and future transgenic products, risks and concerns, and news updates. The authors deliberately steer clear of the moral or ethical implications of transgenic technology, staying focused on the scientific issues. Throughout the site, links are provided to related sites and other resources. Other sections include a bibliography, quiz, and FAQ. [MD]
[Back to Contents]Children's Picture Book Database
http://www.lib.muohio.edu/pictbks/
Located at Miami University, the Children's Picture Book Database indexes abstracts of over 4,000 picture books for children. Designed as tool for teachers creating literature-based thematic units for all disciplines, the database is searchable by a set of topical keywords (over 900) organized by discipline or alphabetically, or by a boolean combination search. Entries include title and author, an abstract, and a list of related keywords. Many of the topic listings also provide related links. A well-organized and useful site for preschool to third grade teachers, parents, and librarians. [MD]
[Back to Contents]britfilms.com
http://www.britfilms.com/
This site, produced by the Film and Television Department of the British Council, features online versions of two useful publications aimed at both film enthusiasts and film makers. Both publications are offered in an easy-to-use database format; the data can be browsed, searched, or sorted with relative ease. The first database is an online version of The British Films Catalogue, an annual publication that provides information about new and recent films produced in Great Britain. It offers brief synopses of dozens of feature films, shorts, and documentaries that are either in production or are being released in 2000. In addition to a synopsis, each film's entry supplies information about the cast, crew, production company, and sales agent, and most entries include a still taken from the film. Previous editions of the guide (dating back to 1998) are also contained in the database. The second offering at britfilms.com is an online version of The Directory of International Film and Video Festivals, which "lists over 500 international film, television and video festivals, giving details on how and when to enter these events." The list of festivals may be browsed in its entirety, searched on several fields, or sorted by country. Paper copies of both publications can also be ordered at the site. [SW]
[Back to Contents]DW3: Classical Music Resources
http://www.lib.duke.edu/music/resources/classical_index.html
Billing itself "the most comprehensive collection of classical music resources on the Web," DW3 (Duke World Wide Web) Classical Music Resources boasts nearly 2,000 links to non-commercial pages and sites in over a dozen languages. The metasite is divided into seven principle sections, which break down into 118 subject-specific pages. Most of the sections are prefaced with a short introduction, and all are very well-organized. Many, but not all, of the links are annotated, and very few (if any) of the resources listed are commercial sites. An internal keyword search engine is also provided. [MD]
[Back to Contents]digistreets UK
http://www.digistreets.com/cgi-bin/wsel.pl
digistreets US
http://www.digistreets.com/cgi-bin/nusel.pl
This unusual, free online photo guide allows users to take virtual walking tours of selected streets in London neighborhoods. Users begin by selecting a postal code and then a street. They can then take a stroll down the street via a collection of photos taken in close proximity. The number of images and perspectives vary by street. The start page for each postal code also offers a link to an area map and a property price lookup tool. Many include additional local information such as transport, markets, libraries, art galleries, and other public facilities. The experimental US site lets visitors stroll some streets in Chicago and Brookline, Mass. The US version also allows users to specify an address, a very useful feature that should be added to the UK version. Beyond entertainment for the merely curious, this site may be useful to those planning a move to London or the US cities, helping them scope out some prospective neighborhoods. [MD]
[Back to Contents]US Open 2000
http://www.usopen.org/
Tennis fans can follow all the action at this year's US Open at the official site, crafted by IBM. In addition to the latest results and live match scores, the site offers completed match results, a schedule of play, photos and interviews by day, a video gallery (under construction), and biographies and other information for all the players. Other resources include a virtual tour, Web cams (including an interactive live "Slam Cam"), a daily update email list, wall paper, and fan cards that users can send to their friends. [MD]
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Linuxnewbie.org
http://www.linuxnewbie.org/
Linux users, both newbies and the more experienced, should find scads of useful information at this site. The heart of the site is the NHF, "Newbieized Help File," a collection of documents from former Linux Newbies who want to share their experiences, tips, and tricks, and assist other users. The site as a whole is meant to be as newbie-friendly as possible, with intimidation or ridicule of newbie mistakes severely frowned upon. This is evident in the very active discussion board, where any and all users are invited to post questions and offer advice. Other content at the site includes breaking news, a collection of articles (product reviews, press releases, submitted articles), book recommendations, and related links. [MD]
[Back to Contents]Netscape Communicator 4.75
http://home.netscape.com/download/index.html?cp=djudep2
Netscape has recently released yet another tweaked update of its version 4 browser. New features include improved security, WinAmp 2.6 and RealPlayer 7 (Windows), support for Linux 2.2 kernel, and Stuffit Expander v5.5 (Mac). Mac users can also now use Internet Config to determine which application handles a link when they click it. To download, click on the Latest Netscape Browser Software link at the top of the page or the Netscape Communicator link at mid-page and follow the instructions. Users with older versions of Netscape (especially earlier than 4.06) and those who must have the latest release are encouraged to download version 4.75. Those with more recent incarnations may want to hold out for the final release of Netscape 6. [MD]
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President Clinton Defers Missile Shield Decision
"Clinton Will Leave Decision on Missile Shield to Successor" -- New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/late/01cnd-missile.html
"Clinton Leaving Missile Defense to Successor" -- Washington Post
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61292-2000Sep1.html
"Sources: Clinton to leave missile plan alone" -- Chicago Tribune
http://cnews.tribune.com/news/tribune/story/0,1235,tribune-nation-50513,00.html
"Clinton Leaves Missiles Defense for Next President" -- Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/updates/ap_missile000901.htm
"Clinton 'delays' missile decision" -- BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_906000/906431.stm
Nobel Laureates Warn Against Missile Defense Deployment -- FAS
http://www.fas.org/press/000706-letter.htm
National Missile Defense (NMD)
http://www.acq.osd.mil/bmdo/bmdolink/html/nmd.html
Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Homepage -- Lockheed Martin
http://lmms.external.lmco.com/thaad/
President Clinton will announce in a speech at Georgetown University today that he will not begin the initial steps to deploy a national missile defense shield, leaving the final decision to his successor. The decision to not begin construction of a radar site in Alaska, designed to track incoming missiles, was apparently the product of several factors. These include the failure of recent tests, strong opposition from Russia and some US allies, and fears that any decision would inevitably become politicized with the election nearing. Vice-President Al Gore has expressed conditional support for a missile shield, while George W. Bush has called for an even more extensive system. The President made his decision after receiving competing advice on the missile shield. William S. Cohen, the defense secretary, had recommended Mr. Clinton begin, while Samuel R. Berger, the President's national security advisor, and others recommended against construction at this point. Work on the project will continue nonetheless, including additional tests of the "kill vehicle" and a new booster rocket. The next President will decide not only whether to build the radar station and other elements of a missile shield infrastructure, but also whether to field the system and break the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty.
The New York Times (free registration required) aptly summarizes the issues involved and also offers links to a number of related previous articles. Additional reports are available from the Washington Post,Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. The BBC's coverage includes several related stories on the defense system and its details, foreign reaction, and the world's nuclear arsenal. The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) has placed online the full-text of a July 6 letter to President Clinton signed by 50 Nobel Laureates urging him not to hastily deploy the planned missile defense system because it holds very uncertain benefits and "large and real" dangers. Overviews and background on the National Missile Defense System (NMD) can be found at the Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin. [MD]
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