The Scout Report - September 1, 1995

September 1, 1995

A Service to the Internet Community
Provided by the Info Scout and the InterNIC


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) or visit the Web version of the Scout Report on the InterNIC server:http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/

Additional information and detailed access and subscription instructions are included at the end of each Scout Report.

Highlights In This Week's Report:

World Wide Web:

  • CNN Interactive is the department of CNN dedicated to producing news for access through computers and other advanced technology. Launched in January 1995, CNN Interactive is currently producing news on CD-ROMs, for business through the CNN At Work project and now for the Internet and World Wide Web. A staff of producers, writers and Internet editors work around the clock to customize CNN News content for computer users. The Web site allows users to browse hundreds of stories or to search for specific topics of interest. CNN Interactive on the Web contains today's news and a news archive stretching back as far as several years to help give perspective to stories. The CNN Interactive Web site has images, sounds and video, yet is optimized for users at slower access speeds. The site is free to users at this time.
    http://www.cnn.com
  • The Federal Networking Council (FNC) is chartered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish an effective interagency forum and long-term strategy to oversee the operation and evolution of the Federal Interagency Internet Program in support of research and education. The program is an element of the High Performance Computing and Communications Program (HPCC). The FNC Web page discusses the goals of the council as a forum for coordination, lists the members of the FNC and the FNC Advisory Committee, describes the FNC Working Groups and Committees, and provides links to related Web servers including member organizations,
    http://www.fnc.gov/
  • Visit the Franklin Institute Science Museum and explore the heart. Discover the complexities of its development and structure. Take your choice of paths titled: "do", "see", "learn", "go", and "hear". Follow the blood through the blood vessels. Wander through the weblike body systems. Learn how to have a healthy heart and how to monitor your heart's health. Look back at the history of heart science. Visit this site very early in the day or off-hours since it is bandwidth-intensive. But do visit.
    http://sln.fi.edu/tfi/preview/heartpreview.html
  • The McKinley Internet Directory is an on-line directory of described, rated and reviewed Internet resources. The Directory presents both star ratings and detailed previews of descriptions right at the first level of searching. A powerful full-text search engine allows users to further refine their searches. The subject categories are hotlinked to provide additional resource selections. Information is included on as many subjects as possible, and for people of all ages, abilities and cultures. Continuing to ensure a true international focus, the directory will soon be available in French, German and Japanese. The McKinley operates within clearly defined editorial guidelines and does not include sites relating to pornography, pedophilia, and hate focused resources. All resources sent for consideration for inclusion into the directory must pass through the McKinley editorial process. The McKinley Group is currently showcasing the directory free of charge on the World Wide Web.
    http://magellan.excite.com/
    [NOTE: Name has changed from McKinley Internet Directory to Magellan Internet Guide.]
  • The Mount St. Helens Web page was built by a student in Vancouver, Washington and offers images, stories, and curriculum related to the eruption of the volcano in 1980. Over 1,500 images are available allowing tours of the volcano before, during, and after the eruption. Learn about the people, animals, and plants affected by the blast, and find out how the earth heals itself from an event of this magnitude. The Living Laboratory Curriculum section takes advantage of a unique opportunity to relate a presently-observable volcanic phenomenon to study plant succession, animal behavior, evolutionary and geologic processes, ecology, weather patterns and environmental issues. Links to other volcano-related sites include NASA's Volcano World.
    http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/msh/msh.html
  • The Sloan Center for Asynchronous Learning Environments (SCALE) was established in March 1995 with a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. SCALE faculty are participating in a three-year project of restructuring undergraduate courses to integrate various techniques associated with asynchronous learning networks (ALN). The goals of this project are to create efficiencies in the educational process (cost, time, faculty productivity), to increase student retention, and to decrease time-to-degree.
    http://w3.scale.uiuc.edu/scale/
  • The State of Minnesota's North Star Demonstration Project's information service is now open on the Internet. North Star is a collaborative project involving dozens of Minnesota government agencies and is coordinated by the Government Information Access Council. It is a well-planned and nicely executed resource for information about everything in the North Star state.
    http://www.state.mn.us/
  • The WebEd k12 Curriculum Links page has been under construction since 1993. It is the work of a librarian in search of networked information which would support the curriculum of a local school district. Each link leads to a site which has been evaluated using structured criteria, as librarians are trained to do. The goal of the project is to serve those who are trying to apply the wonders of the world wide web (Web) to enrich their school's curriculum. The site owner welcomes comments and contributions and aims to make the page the "most valuable list of evaluated k-12 sites in the Universe."
    http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dlcl/pld/webed.html

Gopher

  • The Roadmap Internet Training Workshop is a free Internet navigation seminar available in step-by-step lessons. It will teach you how to send email, join and unjoin mailing lists, perform remote logins, use the Web, FTP, Gopher and much more. All lessons are posted on the gopher site and can be completed at the student's pace.
    gopher to: gopher://gopher.anes.rochester.edu

Electronic Mailing Lists

  • The Digital Libraries Research discussion list (DIGLIB) is an Internet mailing list for librarians, information scientists, and other information professionals to discuss the constellation of issues and technologies pertaining to the creation of digital libraries. IFLANET, the electronic services of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, is providing DIGLIB. Participation is encouraged from individuals and organizations from around the world who are creating or providing electronic access to digital collections. DIGLIB is a lightly moderated list. DIGLIB submissions are being archived and access to list commands and archives will be available on the IFLANET WWW service through LWGate.
    http://www.ifla.org/II/lists/diglib.htm
  • SCHIZ-L, the Schizophrenia Research List, is an academically-oriented list primarily targeting people involved in research in schizophrenia and related fields. If you are interested in schizophrenia research as a consumer, family member, or layperson, you should consider SCHIZOPH@vm.utcc.utoronto.ca rather than SCHIZ-L. To request a subscription, contact Steven Daviss at sdaviss@umabnet.ab.umd.edu

NetBytes

  • The goal of the Global SchoolNet Foundation is to identify students from around the world and work with them to refine the concept of "Student Ambassadors." A Student Ambassador is one who positively supports the concept of building the "Global Schoolhouse." Duties would include: discovering and describing the ways the Internet can improve the learning environment; assisting other students, teachers, parents and your community in learning about the Internet; demonstrating positive global "netiquette" by learning about and respecting the cultures of people around the world; demonstrate the collaboration and "team building" potential of using technology; and sharing your experiences with the news media and the public. For more information about the duties and benefits of becoming a Student Ambassador visit the GSH Web page.
    http://www.gsn.org/kid/sa/index.html
  • NetWatcher's Cyberzine is a monthly e-zine covering legal developments in cyberspace and the online world, with expert commentary and editorials. News bites, articles, and editorials are included, as is a legal link of the week. The NetWatchers also points to similar collections. Available on the Web or as a text-only e-mail subscription.
    http://www.emitech.com/netwatchers/front.htm
    email: use the form on the Web page or
    send email to: mdyer@ionet.net
    in the subject line type: subscribe
    in the body of the message type: Subscribe-NetWatchers"

Weekend Scouting

  • EarthWise Journeys is an independent resource for travel adventures worldwide with special emphasis on socially responsible travel, cross-cultural exchange, and the environment. EarthWise Journeys is dedicated to travelers who seek environmental awareness, adventure, personal growth, and discovery of our global community. EarthWise Journeys assists members find fun and rewarding travel adventures, learning opportunities, volunteer trips with non-profits, and personal retreats. In addition to travel planning, members receive newsletters, the discount airfares ...and more.
    http://www.teleport.com/~earthwyz/
  • The Arthur C. Clarke Unauthorized Homepage is good reading for fans of Clarke or Sci-fi in general. His achievements in both science fiction and science fact are covered, including his invention of satellite communications with satellites in geostationary orbit in 1945. A biography, bibliography, and filmography are provided including everything related to "2001:A Space Odyssey".
    http://www.lsi.usp.br/~rbianchi/clarke/ACC.Homepage.html

About the Scout Report

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offered by the InterNIC to the Internet community as a fast, convenient way to stay informed about network activities. Its purpose is to combine in one place selected new (and newly-discovered) Internet resources.

A wide range of topics are included in the Report with an emphasis on resources thought to be of interest to the InterNIC's primary audience, the research and education community. Each resource has been verified for substantial content and accessibility within a day of the release of the Report.

The Scout Report is provided in multiple formats -- mailing lists for both a plain text and HTML version, and World Wide Web. The World Wide Web version of the Report includes links to all listed resources. The report is released every weekend.

In addition to the plain text version, the Scout Report is distributed in HTML format allowing sites to post the Scout Report on local WorldWideWeb servers each week. The result is faster access for local users. You are welcome and encouraged to re-post and re-distribute the report. Note that copyright statements appear on all versions of the Scout Report, and we ask that these be included when re-posting or re-distributing.

If you haven't yet subscribed or told your friends and colleagues, now is the time. Spread the news by word-of-net. Join 20,000 of your colleagues already using the Scout Report as a painless tool for tracking what's new on the 'Net!

Comments and contributions to the Scout Report are encouraged and can be sent to scout@cs.wisc.edu

-- Susan Calcari
InterNIC Info Scout

Scout Report Access Methods

  • To receive the electronic mail version of the Scout Report each Friday, join the scout-report mailing list. You will receive one message a week -- the Scout Report every weekend.

    send email to: majordomo@dsmail.internic.net in the body of the message, type:

    subscribe scout-report
    to unsubscribe to the list, repeat this procedure substituting the word "unsubscribe" for subscribe.
    • To receive the Scout Report in HTML format for local posting, subscribe to the scout-report-html mailing list, used exclusively to distribute the Scout Report in HTML format once a week.

      send mail to: majordomo@dsmail.internic.net in the body of the message, type:

      subscribe scout-report-html

      Resource Addressing Conventions

      After each resource in the Scout Report one or more network addresses are listed. Every attempt is made to use the same convention in each listing for the network address of each resource. It is assumed that users recognize the type of address and know how to use it. However, for those users unfamiliar with the Internet we provide here the order in which addresses are listed (by network tool.) A brief explanation of one tool, WWW is included below.

      The four network tools referenced most often in the Scout Report are World Wide Web, gopher, email, and FTP. Occasionally WAIS and Telnet addresses are also listed.

      After each resource at least one address is listed, and sometimes more. This is because some resources are available using multiple network tools. The network tool addresses are always listed in the same order after each resource:

      • World Wide Web (WWW)
      • Gopher
      • FTP
      • Email
      • Telnet
      • WAIS
      A WWW address is called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and always begins with a string of characters followed by a colon and two forward slashes. For example:

      http://www.internic.net/
      gopher://gibbs.oit.unc.edu:70/11/research.d/grants.d
      ftp://ftp.digex.net/pub/access/hecker/internet/slip-ppp.txt

      To access the resource through the WWW you can use a WWW browser installed on your desktop computer, or a "command-line" WWW client on your local Internet host computer. Web browsers are available for all major computer platforms, including Macintosh, PC, and UNIX. Check with your local support center or your Internet Service Provider for more information about Web browsers installed on the Internet host computer or for your desktop computer.

      Copyright Susan Calcari, 1995.

      Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report provided the copyright notice, this permission notice, and the two paragraphs below are preserved on all copies.

      The InterNIC provides information about the Internet and the resources on the Internet to the US research and education community under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation: NCR-9218742. 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 National Science Foundation, AT&T, or Network Solutions, Inc.