Coming soon: The NSDL Scout Reports
The Internet Scout Project is proud to announce a new series of reports funded by the National Science Foundation. Part of the National Science Digital Library Project, these reports will cover the best new and newly discovered resources in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. They will include resources for nearly everyone -- kids, researchers, life-long learners, and those teaching in K-12 and higher education. Next week, you will be sent information on how to subscribe and where to find more detailed information about these reports.
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A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/mlking.htm
This site, which was written and composed in 1998 by Professor Melvin Sylvester of Long Island University, gives modest historical data concerning the life of Dr. King. It contains a brief tribute and provides significant dates in Dr. King's life, ranging from his birth in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929 to his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. It also reveals Dr. King's writings, offering an extensive reading list for users interested in finding out more about the leader of the Civil Rights Movement. Although the site lacks navigational icons (forcing one to scroll from one field to the next), it is an excellent addition to the Dr. King sites already existing in the Scout Report Archives.[MG]
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Beginning Library Research on African American Studies
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/adams/shortcu/afam.html
This research site provides a reference guide on the historical and contemporary experiences of African Americans. It was composed by Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Services and contains numerous subject categories, including race/identity, press, literature, and history. It lists African American Studies Encyclopedias and Handbooks, biographical sources, book annotations, videos, and links to other related sites. It is an excellent place to start for those conducting research in the field of African American Studies. [MG]
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The Nuremberg Project [.pdf]
http://camlaw.rutgers.edu/publications/law-religion/nuremberg.htm
The Nuremberg Project, a Web site presented by the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion, has begun to offer online access to the Donovan Collection, the personal documents and papers of General William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan. After World War II, during the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg, Donovan served as special assistant to the U.S. Chief Prosecutor. Selecting from his papers every six months, the Nuremberg Project has recently issued its first installment -- a document from July 6, 1945, titled "The Nazi Master Plan: The Persecution of the Christian Churches." The site provides users with not only digital copies of original source documents but also insightful commentary from Holocaust and Nuremberg scholars. Researchers, academics, and World War II enthusiasts should find the site valuable. Users with low bandwidth should be wary though; the first installment is nearly 40 MB. [TS]
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Haymarket Affair
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ichihtml/hayhome.html
This site showcases a collection of more than 3,800 images of original manuscripts, broadsides, photographs, prints, and artifacts relating to the Haymarket Affair -- the violent confrontation between Chicago police and labor protesters in 1886. Materials cover the May 4, 1886 meeting and bombing, the trial, the conviction and subsequent appeals of those accused of inciting the bombing, the execution of four of the convicted, and the later pardon of the remaining defendants. The site also has a "special presentations" area, containing the Haymarket Affair chronology and autobiographies of two of the defendants. Viewers can search the site by keyword, or browse by subjects, names, or transcripts and exhibits from the trial. For more information on this topic, viewers can also visit The Dramas of Haymarket web site covered in the May 12, 2000 edition of the Scout Report. [MG]
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War Relocation Authority Camps in Arizona, 1942-1946
http://www.library.arizona.edu/images/jpamer/wraintro.html
In this era of renewed concern over the potential impact of racial profiling, the University of Arizona Library's exhibit on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II is a well-timed reminder of the inanity of such actions, to say nothing of their disruptiveness in the lives of (otherwise) ordinary American citizens. A splendid photo documentary, the exhibit captures arresting black and white images of men, women, and children forced to make their homes in Arizona's two internment camps. The photo essay is also accompanied by brief explanations of the rationale behind the relocation effort, as well as reproductions of governmental decrees that set the effort to relocate in motion. Definitely pointed and even argumentative, the site offers stark images of transportation and confinement not unlike those to be found of Germany's Jewish concentration camps. Beyond its images, the site also links to numerous points of interest and suggestions for further study. [WH]
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Wright American Fiction (1851-1875)
http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/web/w/wright2/
The Indiana University Digital Library Program recently unveiled this collection of American fiction that attempts to include every novel published in the United States from 1851 to 1875. It includes "works by well known writers such as Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville, along with a great many forgotten authors, whose works may have been very popular in their own time." This collection currently has 1752 texts (1602 unedited, 155 fully edited and encoded) by 845 authors. Viewers have the option of browsing this easily navigated site by author or word index, or by conducting simple and/or advanced searches using single words or phrases. [MG]
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Two from the UK Public Record Office:
1901: Living at the Time of the Census [Quicktime, MediaPlayer]
http://www.pro.gov.uk/pathways/census/default.htm
1901 Census for England and Wales
http://www.censushelpdesk.co.uk/
Assembled from the vast historical treasures of the UK Public Record Office (PRO) (last mentioned in the June 15, 2001 Scout Report), this virtual exhibition "uses words, pictures and documents to open a door onto life in 1901." Intended as an easily understood introduction to family and community historical research, the exhibition also works well in explaining the life and times of the people documented in the 1901 census. The essays are well written and accessible, with many illustrative images of historical documents (i.e., maps, photos, etc.). It is divided into 4 thematic sections--Cinema (silent film footage courtesy of the British Film Institute), People and Places of 1901, Living in 1901, and Events of 1901. Great fun for anyone with even a casual interest in English history. The second site is the online release of the 1901 census for England and Wales. The census details personal information for all persons living in England at the time and is understandably a necessary stop for anyone wanting to document family and social history. Initial response literally has been overwhelming and "exceeded expectations by a factor of 20." Temporarily offline, the PRO expects to put the Web site back online shortly after enhancing infrastructure to accommodate the demand. [DJS]
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University of Maryland, Human-Computer Interaction Lab
http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/
"From the Internet to robotics, technology is changing the way people live and learn. As new technologies become ever more critical to people's lives, it is important to design them to support people in their roles as learners, explorers, and workers." The Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland is an interdisciplinary lab comprised of faculty and students from Computer Science, Education, Psychology, and Information Studies. HCIL develops advanced user interfaces and design methodology and provides collaborative research summaries, publication and the sponsorship of open houses, as well as workshops and symposiums. They also have a "research project highlights" area that currently contains information on new approaches to information visualization, interfaces for digital libraries, multimedia resources for learning communities, zoomable user interfaces (ZUIs), technology design methods with and for children, and instruments for evaluating user interface technologies. [MG]
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Physiology Educational Research Consortium
http://www.physiologyeducation.org/
The Physiology Educational Research Consortium (PERC) is a collaborative research and development effort among 13 physiologists and physiology educators representing 12 post-secondary institutions, ranging from community colleges to medical schools. PERC develops materials and techniques that can help students build "better mental models of physiological systems" and, in order to create more productive learning environments, educates teachers on how to incorporate these techniques into a classroom setting. The site offers research papers, abstracts, workshop and course information, and network support for those needing ideas on how to approach a topic or set of topics in physiology. [MG]
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The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education 2001 Report
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309082927/html/
Americans have witnessed and participated in an "extraordinary decade of economic volatility and educational reform." As a result, the National Academy of Sciences appointed a committee to organize a workshop to explore how the various participants in the post-secondary sector have been responding to economic changes. This workshop, which was held in May 2001, was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council and has recently been transcribed into this 199-page document. The document consists of an 8-page workshop summary report, and 186 pages of papers presented during the workshop. Some of the paper topics include "Demographics and American Trends in Post Secondary Education," presented by Lisa Hudson, and "Creating High-Quality Learning Environments: Guidelines from Research on How People Learn," presented by John Bransford. It is important to mention that the focus of the workshop was on the post-secondary system itself rather than an attempt to explain the manner in which the United States economy influences higher education. [MG]
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Growth Continued in 2000 in Graduate Enrollment in Science and Engineering Fields
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/databrf/nsf02306/db02306.htm
The National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics recently released this brief report on the trends in enrollment of science and engineering graduate students from 1993 to the fall of 2000. This four-page report is accessible in hypertext format or .pdf, and it contains information on enrollment by field, citizenship, race/ethnicity, and postdoctoral appointees. Data presented in this report are from the Fall 2000 Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering and were collected from approximately 11,800 departments at approximately 600 institutions of higher education in the United States. More detailed information is soon to be released in a forthcoming report entitled Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: Fall 2000.[MG]
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Geological Survey of Tanzania
http://tanzania.sgu.se/
The United Republic of Tanzania was formed in 1964 by the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar and is located on the eastern coast of Africa between the Great Lakes of the Rift Valley. Tanzania has a diverse mineral resource base that includes gold and base metals, diamond-bearing kimberlites, nickel, cobalt, copper, coal resources, and a variety of industrial minerals and rocks such as kaolin, graphite, and dimension stone. This web site was created by the Mineral Resources Department (MRD), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, and contains basic information about the country's logistical environment, mineral sector policy, geological database, and more. [MG]
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Public Opinion on Poverty, Income Inequality and Public Policy 1996-2001 Report
http://www.demos-usa.org/Pubs/POReport/
Probing notions on poverty and inequality over the course of the strongest economy in history, the Demos's white paper "Public Opinion on Poverty,Income Inequality and Public Policy: 1996-2001" is both curious reading and an eye-opening study in the contradictions that inhere in virtually every discussion of poverty in America. The report indicates that, while an overwhelming majority of Americans believe that the government should take decisive steps to aid America's underclass, they are also convinced that the underclass both could and should do more to help itself. Certainly its largest contribution, the report offers a compelling analysis of the obvious schisms in the war on poverty by pointing to the struggle between those who believe that the American Dream is universally realizable and those who are convinced that it is not. With this long-standing question mark on the American political landscape in mind, the report contends there are reasons for optimism on the part of all interested in helping, in that now more than ever Americans from across the political spectrum believe that government should play a greater role in helping the underclass -- "even if helping results in higher taxes." [WH]
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A+ Country Reports
http://www.countryreports.org/
A fantastic resource for students, teachers, tourists, and anyone else interested in the globe, A+ Country Reports offers a wealth of information on all of the countries of the world. Like the CIA's World Factbook (last mentioned in the September 28, 2001 Scout Report ), A+ Country Reports presents up-to-date information on population, geography, economy, history, and politics. Aside from that, however, the site presents a lively array of extras that don't figure in the CIA's matter of fact dossiers, things such as audio clips of national anthems and links to current weather reports. As the site itself boasts, through a list of quotes from current reviews, A+ Country Reports is particularly appealing to teachers and younger students, and it's obvious why it's appealing, given its attention to the kinds of details kids demand -- bright graphics, large fonts, and Flash-automated features among them. For those interested in sharing what they have learned or already know, there is also a discussion area and links to sites for further study. [WH]
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Two on Napster
New Napster
http://www.napster.com
Pay Napster
http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/2002/paynapster.html
Currently undergoing beta testing, the new Napster aims to create a product that reconciles issues related to copyright, at least in part by charging for use. The Napster site gives an overview of what's to come, replete with FAQ and screen shots of the new software. The second site gives a critical review from one of the beta testers. If you choose to use it, the new version of Napster should be available to the general public sometime later this year. [REB]
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FindTutorials
http://www.findtutorials.com/
FindTutorials offers hundreds of tutorials and professional online IT and Softskills training courses that are available for a variety of disciplines and skill levels. In addition, it offers an online e-mail system, an IT job database with thousands of daily updated positions, and a host of additional resources on internet training skills. With simple to use navigational tools and a "sophisticated in-house developed site search", finding information to meet your requirements merely takes the click of a button. [MG]
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Ru Paster vs. Gonzaga
Student Privacy Case Goes to Court
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20020111/pl/scotus_college_privacy_1.html
State of Washington Supreme Court Decision: John Doe v. Gonzaga University
http://www.cdlaw.com/cases/2ds/05_01/69456-7.htm
Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA)
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/ferpa.html
FERPA Info
http://personalinfomediary.com/FERPA_info.htm
Snohomish School District Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
http://www.sno.wednet.edu/rsc/ferpa-complete.htm
The United States Supreme Court recently announced that it will hear a case on whether an individual can sue a college for violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law designed to protect the privacy of a student's educational records. The case puts Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, against Ru Paster, an education graduate who claims he is unable to get a teaching job because college officials told representatives of the state's teacher-certification office that he had been accused of raping another student. Lawyers for Gonzaga University maintain FERPA "was not intended to be and should not be an engine for private litigation." Ru Paster denied the rape allegations and was never convicted because the alleged rape victim never filed charges against him. Furthermore, several college employees reported that, in a videotaped deposition, the alleged victim denied the charges. Nevertheless, Roberta S. League, the certification specialist at Gonzaga's School of Education, shared the allegations against Mr. Paster with officials at the Washington State teacher-certification office. In addition, Gonzaga officials refused to submit a statement of good character required for Mr. Paster's certification.
Mr. Paster, who graduated in 1994, sued the university for negligence, defamation, and invasion of privacy under FERPA and was awarded $1.15 million in 1997. However, that decision was overturned two years later by the State Court of Appeals, which found that the university adhered to state law. Last June, the Washington State Supreme Court reinstated the $1.15-million award, ruling that Gonzaga University had violated Mr. Paster's privacy and civil rights by revealing the information in his educational records. The case will soon be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The first site contain an article detailing the case and court decisions, the second site gives the full-text of the Washington State Supreme Court decision, and the final two sites give in-depth information concerning FERPA's regulations, and the last site outlines FERPA's model notification rights for elementary, secondary, and post secondary institutions. [MG]
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From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
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Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2002. 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.
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The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published weekly by Internet Scout
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