The Scout Report

December 5, 1997

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
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). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.

Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics, KIDS Report, Addition to the Scout Toolkit
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/
K.I.D.S Report
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/KIDS/
End User's Corner--December 1997
http://scout.wisc.edu/scout/toolkit/enduser/archive/1997/euc-9712
The sixth issues of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics, each of which annotate over twenty new and newly discovered Internet resources, are available. The In the News section of the Social Science Report annotates seven resources related to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change being held in Kyoto, Japan. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section annotates six resources related to the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting held in Vancouver, Canada. The latest KIDS report, produced by middle school students in Madison, Wisconsin, is titled US History: Westward Expansion, and contains fourteen topically-related resources. The December End User's Corner, Acrobatics: A Tutorial on Adobe Acrobat and the Portable Document Format (PDF), contains a detailed explanation of how the Adobe Acrobat Reader is used to view the proliferation of PDF documents on the web. [JS]
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700+ Great Sites--ALA
http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/amazing.html
The American Library Association's Children and Technology Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children has compiled a collection of more than 700 sites for children and their parents and teachers. The site is basically composed of two collections of annotated links. The first, Sites for Children, contains seven sections, including Literature and Language, People Past and Present, Planet Earth and Beyond, Science and Technology, and Arts and Entertainment. The other half of the site is aimed at adults who work with kids. It includes sites for parents and caregivers, home schooling families, educators, and sites about children's literature, storytelling, and puppetry. All of the selected sites have passed the ALSC CTC's selection criteria, which are also provided to help users of all ages analyze and evaluate sites they find on their own. [MD]
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ThinkQuest 1997 Awards Announced
http://www.thinkquest.org/library/97winners.shtml
ThinkQuest Home page [frames]
http://www.thinkquest.org/
Advanced Network & Services Inc's. second annual ThinkQuest awards were recently presented for educational web sites created by 12-18 year old students and their coaches. The 25 winning entries, in the categories of arts & literature, science & math, social sciences, sports & health, and interdisciplinary, were chosen from among 554 entries. Total 1997 entries more than doubled those of 1996. Best of the contest was an entry titled: Where Earth Meets Sky: The Himalayas. Interested users can view the winning sites, finalists, semifinalists, and all entries (the latter in alphabetical order). Deadline for applying for the 1998 ThinkQuest contest, where "teams, typically coached by teachers, collaborate in the 'Internet Style' and develop innovative, high-quality educational tools that take advantage of the strengths of the Internet," is February 28, 1998. Information is available from the ThinkQuest Home Page. [JS]
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Kohler's Medizinal Pflanzen (Medicinal Plants)
http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/library/kohler/welcome.html
The Missouri Botanical Garden recently released an electronic version of Hermann A. Kohler's 1887 magnus opus, Medizinal-Pflanzen, a three-volume set of "plants of medicinal interest from several European nations." Over 270 chromolithographic illustrations have been digitized from slides and included in this browseable site. The Tour of Illustrations section leads the visitor, one by one, through individual illustrations from the book. Each illustration is labeled with the family name at the top and the scientific (Latin) name at the bottom of the page. Following this is a section of thumbnail images of the illustrations, each of which is linked to a larger illustration. The final section contains an alphabetical list of scientific names, each name being linked to a full page illustration. Common names are not given, nor is there a search function at this time. [AG]
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Jean Monnet Chair Working Papers--Harvard University Law School [.rtf]
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/JeanMonnet/papers/
These working papers, a part of Harvard University Law School's Jean Monnet Project, which "aims to promote teaching in European integration, in particular in Law, Economics, Political Science and History...," are made available through the Jean Monnet Chair at the Law School. At present, over 35 papers, from 1995 to the present, are available (in either HTML, Rich Text Format or both). Topics include European democracy, the European Union after the Maastricht Treaty, the European Community legal system, and the meaning of European Union citizenship, among many others. [JS]
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World Military Expenditures and Arms Transfers (WMEAT) 1996 [.pdf, 193p.]
http://www.acda.gov/wmeat95/wmeatlst.htm
The US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency has placed online the full text of its 1996 WMEAT report, a reference on military expenditure, arms transfers, armed forces, and related economic data for 172 countries over the 1985-1995 decade. The data is comprehensive, up-to-date, and accompanied by analyses and highlights. Users may also choose to download selected portions of the larger report, including Highlights and Country Rankings. [MD]
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Ethics Updates
http://ethics.acusd.edu/
Professor Lawrence M. Hinman of the University of San Diego provides ethics students with a unique kind of meta-page where the user can choose from a wide array of information formats within each of the 23 topics under the main sub-headings of ethical theory and applied ethics. Topics covered include ethical relativism, utilitarianism, race and ethnicity, and euthanasia, among others. Information formats include links to web sites, bibliographies, court decisions, legislation, relevant documents, and articles in popular and professional literature. Much of the site content is adapted from Hinman's books. [JS]
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CSCW & Groupware
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/groupware/
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is a field of study concerned with how people work together using computer technology. CSCW generally includes technologies such as electronic mail, groupware, videoconferencing, data conferencing, online meeting management, and collaborative writing and editing. This site, provided by Tom Brinck, a student at the Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work at the University of Michigan, is a meta-site containing briefly annotated, relevant links within twelve topical areas including Indexes, Conferences and Workshops, Papers and Abstracts, Books, Journals, Newsgroups and Mailing Lists. [MR]
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Supply Side University
http://www.polyconomics.com/univ.htm
Polyconomics, Inc.
http://www.polyconomics.com/
Those who are interested in the intricacies of supply-side economics will find Jude Wanniski's Supply Side University a useful site for understanding the concepts of this theory. Wanniski, a well-known supply-side advocate, maintains SSU as a free "weekend school in supply-side economics," where the subject is taught in a political context. Included at present are four essays and 23 lessons ranging from It's Time to Cut Taxes, to The World Trade Deficit, to Say's Law of Markets, to Two Kinds of Deflation (or Inflation). Much of the content is derived from Wanniski's articles in The Wall Street Journal and from his well-known book The Way the World Works. Lessons are driven by user questions, and Wanniski encourages "economists trained in Keynesian or monetarist theory [to] sneak in without embarrassment." Polyconomics, Inc. contains information about the company and is highlighted by Wanniski's Memos on the Margin. [JS]
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Official Web Site of the Third Conference of the Parties (COP-3) [RealPlayer]
http://www.cop3.de/home.html
US Mirror
http://www.cop3.de/
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (discussed in the October 24, 1997 Scout Report) Third Conference of the Parties (COP-3) takes place in Kyoto, Japan from December 1-10, 1997. The Official Site features the full text of the Convention (with chronological and alphabetical listing of ratifiers in the last five years), official documents in five languages from all three Conferences of the Parties, and a beginners guide to the Convention. The guide explains the issues of climate change and global warming in the form of understandable answers to a set of five questions. In addition, official sessions are available live and will also be archived (in RealPlayer format). [JS]
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A Global Ban on Landmines--Ottawa Treaty Signing Conference
http://www.mines.gc.ca/
Sponsored by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, this is the official site of the Ottawa Conference, December 2-4, 1997. At the site, users will find background information on the Treaty and the "Ottawa Process," the conference agenda, transcripts, news releases, plenary speeches, roundtable discussion summaries, and a list of participants. Additional resources include a photo gallery, a discussion of Canada's role in bringing the treaty forward, information on youth and landmine issues, and a collection of related links. [MD]
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Statistical Abstract of the United States 1997 [.pdf, 1023p.]
http://www.census.gov/prod/3/98pubs/98statab/cc98stab.htm
Adobe Acrobat Reader
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html
The first piece of good news is that the US Census Bureau has made the newest addition of this exhaustive compendium of national, regional, state, local, and selected international statistics drawn from "reports and records of government and private agencies" available (Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format only). The second piece of good news is that the site where the volume resides has been reorganized in a fashion that makes the 1,481 tables in it more easily accessible to researchers, journalists, librarians, and the general public. Table ranges in each of the 31 sections are clearly delineated and the 1995-1997 editions are now arranged side by side, so that users can begin to easily use multiple editions of the Statistical Abstract. The best way to find specific tables (with or without a print copy of the book) is still the index. [JS]
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Flowers Underfoot: Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era--Metroplitan Museum of Art
http://www.metmuseum.org/explore/flowers/flowers/index.htm
Metropolitan Museum of Art Education page
http://www.metmuseum.org/education/index.asp
In honor of the 50th anniversary of India's independence, an international exhibit of carpets woven in India between the end of the sixteenth century through the eighteenth century is now on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (through March 1, 1998). An "on-line exploration" has been produced in conjunction with the exhibit, providing historical background, carpet construction information, design elements, and more. In the Resources section visitors can consult a glossary; the Activities section contains activity suggestions for home and school. Selected images of exhibit item details are available. Flowers Underfoot is just one of many educational experiences that are available at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. From the main Education page visitors can currently learn more about Mary Cassatt, Edgar Degas, and John La Farge, as well as link to past online exhibits, or explore items from the collection via a timeline or by country. [AG]
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Examples of How Local Governments Use the Internet--SFBALG
http://www.abag.ca.gov/abag/local_gov/examples.shtml
The San Francisco Bay Area Local Governments site created this no-nonsense pointer page to illustrate the potential of the web for local governments. A list of examples, divided into seventeen categories, ranges from information about elected officials (Mayor Daley of Chicago), to informing citizens of planning issues (Boulder, Colorado), to promoting local business and economic development (Greater Tucson, Arizona Economic Council). In addition, there is a connection to a link of effective UK local government pages in twelve subject areas provided by the Brent Council (UK). [JS]
[Note: Resource(s)/URL(s) mentioned above is no longer available.]
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The Official Paul Krugman Web Page
http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/
The home page of Paul Krugman, Professor of Economics at the Massachussetts Institute of technology, contains links to online articles written by him on various topical issues related to the economy. The largest number of articles at the site hail from Krugman's monthly column "The Dismal Science" in Slate (discussed in the July 12, 1996 Scout Report). Recent articles cover issues such as the debate over free trade and the Asian currency crisis. Paul Krugman now also writes a monthly column for Fortune magazine; in his first article he sets out to debunk the New Economy concept. Other articles at the site primarily address trade issues. [THN]
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Titanic Online, Virtual Titanic--Discovery Channel [IPIX, QuickTime]
http://www.discovery.com/area/science/titanic/titanic1.7.html
The recent historical and cinematic fascination with the Titanic proves that the allure of this most famous luxury liner remains unsinkable. The Discovery Channel Online has created a captivating site devoted to images, movies (IPIX, QuickTime), and text describing the ship and its demise. While the site contains historical photos and lithographs of the ship as well as underwater photos and movies from a 1985 submersible mission, the unique contribution of this site is its numerous virtual images of the interior and exterior of the Titanic as well as its movies of the collision and sinking. Developed by Andrew Nelson for a CD-ROM game, the movies include a flyby of the ship, a collision movie, a listing movie, and a three-part series of the sinking. Both flat and "bubble" views of such features as the first-class cabins, the wireless room, and the grand staircase are also included. A talk-back section discusses various theories surrounding the sinking and contains several related links. [DF]
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Computers.com--c|net
http://computers.com/
C|net's (discussed in the July 28, 1995 Scout Report) latest production, Computers.com, is summarized simply at the site: "What to Buy. Where to get it." It consists of product reviews and/or factsheets in eleven product categories, including desktop computers, servers, modems, memory, and handheld computers, among others. In addition, for a few selected products, the site provides listings of where the product can be purchased. One highlight of the site is the availability of side by side product feature comparisons. [JS]
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Parent's Guide to the Internet--Department of Education
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/parents/internet/
The US Department of Education has recently released this 24 page pamphlet--a simple and concise guide to the Internet for parents. Its thirteen sections include a brief discussion of what the Internet is, how to get started using the Internet even if you don't have a computer, basic computer terminology, pointers to give young children when dealing with communicating on the Internet, and a brief but excellent list of annotated family sites and meta-sites. [JS]
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PhotoVista - Virtual Reality Panorama Editor [.pdf]
http://www.livepicture.com/products/photovista/
PhotoVista is an excellent tool for creating seamless 360 degree panoramas for the web. Provided by Live Picture, Inc., Photovista is available for Macintosh and Windows 95/NT. The interface is very easy to use and understand. Although a tutorial and help files come with the software, it is advisable to download the documentation (Adobe Acrobat [.pdf] format) on the download page as well. This documentation contains a nice, printable version of the tutorial, instructions and tips for shooting pictures, detailed discussions of concepts outlined in the tutorial, and more. The only catch with the trial version is the automatic addition of the Live Picture, Inc. name and icon into finished panoramas. [TB]
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Volume 1, Number 32: The Scout Report for December 2, 1994
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/archive/12-02-94.html
Elsevier Science
http://www.elsevier.nl/
UN FAO
http://www.fao.org/
These two resources were first announced as gopher servers. Elsevier is one of the largest scholarly science publishers in the world, with over 1,100 journals. The site contains information about the publisher's books and journals, but is probably best known for its alerting services, particularly Contents Direct (discussed in the October 18, 1996 Scout Report), an email table of contents alert service. Recently, the site has added Science Channel, a push service for Internet Explorer users that provides science news via the Explorer's active channels. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization site contains much information about the organization and its products. It is highlighted by interactive access to 26 international time series databases in agriculture, fisheries, and forestry. [JS]
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Copyright Susan Calcari, 1994-1997. 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.

The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published weekly by Internet Scout

Susan Calcari
Jack Solock
Jeannine Ramsey
Teri Boomsma
Michael de Nie
David Flaspohler
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The Scout Report - December 5, 1997

The Scout Report

December 5, 1997

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