The Scout Report - July 5, 1996

July 5, 1996

A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Science Department, University of Wisconsin

A Project of 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. Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.
http://rs.internic.net/scout/report

Send comments and contributions to: scout@cs.wisc.edu
In This Issue:

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

Research & Education
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History web site gives information about all of the museum's current pursuits, including exhibitions, education, and research. The exhibitions currently available are "Amber: Window to the Past," and "Expedition: Fossils." Users may take virtual tours of the Fossil Halls and the museum's 125th anniversary exhibition. There is great depth to the exhibitions, and the framed outline (appearing only with frame-capable browsers, of course) provides a clear road map as the user explores. The museum shops are also available.
http://www.amnh.org/
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Two new children's health sites
Two sites devoted to children's health are now on the web (see last week's Scout Report for Pedinfo, a resource for pediatricians), with special emphasis on health education for kids and parents. KidsHealth, created by the Nemours Foundation, offers separate browsing areas for kids, parents, and professionals. The kids' section contains features on the food pyramid and emotions, as well as games. Parents will find a collection of resources on pediatric and parenting issues. kidsDoctor takes a different approach, presenting parents with a search box into which a condition or illness can be entered. The search term is highlighted in the results of the search, so that anxious parents can quickly locate the vital information.
http://KidsHealth.org/
http://www.kidsdoctor.com/
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National Library of Canada
The National Library Catalogue is available free of charge, and there is information on accessing the full AMICUS (the library's fee-based bilingual holdings database) system. The full text of all formally published Canadian online books and journals is available, indexed alphabetically and by subject, and searchable by title or full-text keyword. The site offers a virtual tour of the building. Also provided (and partially under development) are resources about Canada: Canadian information by subject, the National Library Gopher, _Forthcoming Books_, Canadian government information, Canadiana quick reference, and information on the Canadian Confederation.
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/
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Labyrinth: Medieval Studies
The Labyrinth is a global information network providing free, organized access to electronic resources in medieval studies through a server at Georgetown University. The Labyrinth Library contains links to medieval texts as well as current research. The subject menus provide well-organized links to Internet resources in the respective subject areas. Because this is a web site that serves professionals as well as the interested public, there are pedagogical resources and professional information. The entire site is searchable, but is so well organized that most users will likely not find it necessary to do so.
http://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/labyrinth-home.html
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UnCover--Periodicals database
Web users may now search the UnCover database of nearly 17,000 periodicals. In addition to tables of contents and keyword index searching, users may place orders for article delivery from the web site (the fee schedules for this service are clearly explained). The search page allows the user to enter terms for a keyword or name search, or to browse the list of periodical titles. Entering information in a user profile before searching facilitates the ordering of articles, but is not required for use of the database.
http://uncweb.carl.org/
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Cornell Theory Center Explorations
Explorations "is intended to be an interactive journey into the world of computational research for a wide range of viewers." The sections include "Above and Beyond," which focuses on the formation of the universe, "Down to Earth," with topics related to biodiversity, "Living Things," which explores life on both the species level and the molecular scale, and "Practicle Particles," with sections on hydrogen fusion, methane fuels, and superstring theory. Throughout the site, the use of graphics and frames is consistent and intuitive, leaving the user to grapple solely with the (fascinating but challenging) concepts contained within the pages of this online book.
http://www.tc.cornell.edu/er96/science96/Explorations/
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International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy
A joint initiative of the University of British Columbia, Simon Frasier University, and the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy web site provides links to Internet resources relating to criminal law. There are plans to make the Centre's papers and reports available in HTML format; most are currently available as either plain-text or Microsoft Word files. Subjects of the papers range from aboriginal justice to sentencing and corrections. There are links to the other organizations that participate in the United Nations Online Crime and Justice Clearinghouse.
http://www.icclr.law.ubc.ca/
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C-EDRES--Mailing list for educators
C-EDRES is a moderated educational resource mailing list for educators. It provides announcements and reviews three times a week on a variety of sites of interest to educators. All levels of sites from all subject areas are reviewed. The reviews are written by list subscribers and site owners and provide a brief but accurate description of the site, as well as an evaluation of the navigation, graphics, grammar, and usefulness of the site for educators in particular. A web site describing the list and offering searches and FTP instructions is also available.
http://cap.unb.ca/interact/email/
To subscribe, send email to: c-edres-server@unb.ca
In the body of the message type:
subscribe C-EDRES yourfirstname yourlastname
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General Interest
100 Best Companies for Working Mothers
The results of the tenth annual Women's Wire "Working Mother 100" are now available on the web. Each year the companies that provide the best working environment for mothers are chosen on the basis of four criteria: pay, opportunities to advance, child care, and other family-friendly benefits. More than just a listing, the survey provides an annotation for each company, highlighting specifics and pointing out particular strengths. A nomination form for next year's list appears at the bottom of the listings.
http://www.womenswire.com/work/work.html
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NHTSA's Vehicle and Safety Equipment Information
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration makes it easy to track down the safety reliability records of automobiles with their newly redesigned web site. The Vehicle and Equipment page offers information on safety problems and issues, testing results, regulations and standards, and research and development. Of particular interest are searchable databases on recalls, technical service bulletins, consumer complaints, and compliance investigations; each search retrieves information specific to the make, model, and year the user enters. The vehicle owners' questionnaire can be used to submit a report of car defects that the NHTSA should investigate.
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/
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The Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America offers resources to the general public and to members of the guild writing in film, radio, television, and now in interactive media. Writers hoping to break into the business will find the "Craft of Screenwriting" page full of useful information, from starting a script to surviving negotiations with network executives. The "Tools of the Trade" page contains links to research sources on the Internet, reviews of software for writers, and the telephone numbers of organizations that will provide guild members with information topics such as Antarctica, plagues, and croquet (to name a few). Selected articles from WGA's print publication, _The Journal_, are also available.
http://www.wga.org/
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The San Diego Zoo
The Zoological Society of San Diego brings to the web the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species. Each unit of the zoo has a main page, from which the user can meet the animals and find out about the humans who watch over them. The photographs of new arrivals at the zoo should be a big draw, and there is informative text underlying the visuals. The "Guest Book" is a game in which users attempt to match animals with their "signatures": the tracks they leave. Use the table of contents to find your way to the animals you're most interested in.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
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Ikebana International: Japanese flower arranging
A new page devoted to the art of Japanese flower arranging will give you the history of this ancient craft, as well as help you find out how to get involved. Each school of Ikebana is described in detail, and represented by a photograph of a sample arrangement. The glossary of Ikebana terms is not yet fully hypertext, but will help the novice understand the basic terminology. As might be expected, the graphics are integral to this site, and your patience while they load will be rewarded by the images of Ikebana arrangements.
http://www.mesh.ne.jp/ikebana
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Net Tools
Nerd's Heaven--Software directory directory
Nerd's Heaven is the directory of software directories. Dozens of Internet software repositories are organized under subject headings: general software, Internet, operating systems, mathematics, Windows- and Macintosh-specific, user groups, commercial vendors, and religious software. Each directory is annotated, so that the user knows what to expect before deciding whether to visit.
http://boole.stanford.edu/nerdsheaven.html
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inquiry.com
inquiry.com is a free service for software developers, providing search tools, discussion forums, and expert advice on products, development, and emerging technologies. The product directory allows users to search for software products and vendors by application category, vendor, and product. Other databases provided include publications, vendor literature, tech tips, and a DBMS buyer's guide. New in this version of the site is automatic linking between articles found in publications searches and relevant vendors.
http://www.inquiry.com/
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Copyright Susan Calcari, 1996. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The InterNIC provides information about 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 University of Wisconsin - Madison, the National Science Foundation, AT&T, or Network Solutions, Inc.

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