The Scout Report

October 30, 1998

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators. 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.

An Acrobat .pdf version of this report is available for printing and distributing locally. For information on Adobe Acrobat Reader, visit the Adobe site.

Where They Are Now

Sherlock & the Internet Scout Project [MAC OS 8.5, StuffIt Expander]
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/sherlock/InternetScout.sit
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/sherlock/InternetScout.sit.hqx
http://www.apple.com/sherlock/plugins.html
As described in the Scout Report for October 16, 1998, the Internet Scout Project has built a plug-in to support the new search technology called Sherlock, introduced with MAC OS 8.5. The plug-in has been fine-tuned and now enables users to search the Signpost database of previous Scout Reports and send the annotations directly to their desktops without opening a browser. [PMS][MD]
[Back to Contents]

Scout Report for Science & Engineering
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/sci-engr/
Volume 2, Number 4 of the Scout Report for Science & Engineering is available. The In the News section annotates nine resources on the disruption of coastal food webs. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Ecoregions of the United States--USFS
http://www.fs.fed.us/land/ecosysmgmt/ecoreg1_home.html
Ecological Subregions of the United States--USFS
http://www.fs.fed.us/land/pubs/ecoregions/
The electronic (interactive) version of a 1994 publication by the US Forest Service (USFS), these companion sites are based on the National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units, designed to provide "a standardized method for classifying, mapping, and describing ecological units" in the US. The first site, "Ecoregions of the United States," contains three simple color maps of the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico) showing generalized ecological boundaries. At the coarsest spatial scale, the Ecosystem Domains map delineates Dry, Humid Temperate, and Humid Tropical Domains. At the intermediate scale, an Ecosystem Divisions map delineates more than a dozen ecosystem types, ranging from tundra to rainforest. At the finest scale, over 50 Ecosystem Provinces are delineated. By clicking on a color type for any map (i.e., an ecosystem type), users may access further information on the abiotic and biotic characteristics within that ecosystem. A companion site, Ecological Subregions of the United States, contains the biophysical descriptions for the color-coded maps. This is a solid resource for anyone seeking broad ecosystem classifications for the United States. [LXP]
[Back to Contents]

Emory Women Writers Resource Project [Frames]
http://chaucer.library.emory.edu/wwrp/index.html
A collection of women's writing from the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, the Emory Women Writers Resource Project offers students the opportunity to edit their own primary texts. The site contains unedited texts, accompanying bibliographic resources and teacher aids, and examples of texts that students have already edited. A collaborative effort of the Lewis H. Beck Center, the Virtual Library Project, Professor Sheila Cavanagh, and graduate students at Emory, this site will be of interest not only to potential editors but also to readers. Though the collection is selective rather than comprehensive, it represents a good cross section of early modern women's writing, with concerns ranging from table manners (Hannah Wolley advises in The Gentlewoman's Companion, "Fill not your mouth so full, that your checks shall swell like a pair of Scotch-bag-pipes. . .") to human rights (as in Eliza Lee Follen's abolitionist argument in "Women's Work," "Women have a right to be heard, for they are all sufferers."). [TK]
[Back to Contents]

Database of Award-winning Children's Literature
http://www2.wcoil.com/~ellerbee/childlit.html
Lisa M. Bartle, reference/user education librarian at the Lima Regional Campus of Ohio State University, compiled and indexed this database of award-winning children's literature. Parents, teachers, and older children can access high quality book titles via keyword or phrase searching, or by using a form to indicate reading level, genre, language, historical period, gender of the protagonist, and ethnicity of the protagonist, among other elements. Books listed have been recognized with awards ranging from the Caldecott Award to ALA Notable Books for Children to the Coretta Scott King Award, to name a few. Honorable mentions are also included. [JR]
[Back to Contents]

TreeBASE [Frames]
http://www.herbaria.harvard.edu/treebase/
TreeBASE, a collaborative effort by the National Science Foundation, Harvard University Herbaria, and the University of California at Davis, is "a relational database of phylogenetic information." With the goal of managing and exploring information on phylogenetic relationships (published phylogenetic trees and data matrices), TreeBASE was designed "to allow retrieval and recombination of trees and data from different studies, and [may] be explored interactively using trees included in the database." TreeBASE accepts all types of phylogenetic data (e.g., trees (hierarchies) of populations, trees of species, trees of genes) representing all biotic taxa. To get oriented, head to the Intro section and be sure to read all parts of the instructions. The searchable database currently includes "430 authors, 289 studies, 787 trees, and 7627 taxa." [LXP]
[Back to Contents]

the/untimely/past
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jeffreyhearn/home~1.htm
This online bibliography project is the work of Jeffrey Hearn, a Ph.D. student at University of Maryland who has a strong interest in the "intersection of historiography with postmodernism, poststructuralism, and related varieties of theory/practice." As Hearn explains, the bibliography is, by necessity, a work in progress, but it already contains an impressive number of entries, organized in a general list as well as by selected topics. These include Michel Foucault, subaltern studies, rhetoric and historiography as text, poststructuralism, and postmodernism. Especially helpful is the new and forthcoming section, which is also organized by topic. Although a different font selection would perhaps be easier on readers' eyes, on the whole, the site will be of considerable use to graduate students and faculty with an interest in the "linguistic turn" and the integration of postmodern philosophy in their work. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Watson and the Shark
http://www.nga.gov/feature/watson/
Watson and the Shark is part of a series of in-depth studies of works of art presented as Web features by the National Gallery of Art. This narrative John Singleton Copley painting provides the National Gallery an opportunity to do some fairly traditional art historical teaching. Watson and the Shark depicts an incident that took place in 1749: Brook Watson, a young sailor out for a swim, was attacked by a shark and saved by his shipmates. The shark bit off part of Watson's leg, but he recovered and went on to live a well-documented, one-legged life as a merchant and politician in London, and eventually served a term as mayor from 1796-97. It is likely that Watson commissioned the painting from Copley. The Web feature includes items such as images of Watson from other museums and additional examples of Copley's paintings, so that users can explore the stories associated with the painting: the shark attack, Watson's life, and Copley's life and art. [DS]
[Back to Contents]

Cancer Statistics for 1998
http://www.cancer.org/media/fact.html
Provided by the American Cancer Society, this site offers general information on cancer and specific facts and figures for selected cancers. The former includes the basics of cancer: cause and prevention, new cases, treatment and survival, and expenditures. The latter includes incidence, signs and symptoms, risk factors, early detection, treatment, and survival rates. The site also contains additional sections on Cancer in Minorities, Prostate Cancer, Tobacco Use, Nutrition and Diet, and Environmental Cancer Risks. Graphical data is available on selected topics. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Renaissance and Baroque Architecture: Architectural History 102
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/dic/colls/arh102/index.html
This site hosts a collection of over 500 images that were prepared by the Digital Image Center at the University of Virginia Library for use in Professor C. W. Westfall's course on Renaissance and Baroque Architecture. The images are grouped topically, as they were covered in the class. Section titles include Florence in the 15th Century, The Sixteenth Century--Bramante and Roman Architecture, French Explorations of the New Classicism, The Holy Roman Emperor Rediscovers the Empire, and England Accepts Classicism, among others. Each section contains a number of thumbnails each of which leads to a full-sized JPEG image. It should be noted that the images are not individually labelled, but instead each section offers a description list at the bottom of the page. In some sections, but not in all, these are also hyperlinked. Teachers, scholars, students, and the general public are free to use these images for educational purposes. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report
http://www.truth.org.za/final/index.htm
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Official Homepage
http://www.truth.org.za/
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), presented the long-awaited 3,500 page report to President Mandela, on October 29. The TRC was established in 1995 to investigate human rights violations committed by all sides during the apartheid era. After two-and-a-half years and the testimony of over 21,000 victims, the TRC has produced a report which accuses leading figures from all political parties of human rights violations. The controversial nature of the report led to two legal challenges prior to its publication. The first, by former President F W de Klerk, was successful, and sections relating to him have been removed. The other challenge, by the ruling African National Congress (ANC), failed, and the report contains multiple accusations of ANC wrongdoing in its long fight against apartheid. The harshest criticism, however, is reserved for the senior figures of the apartheid system. The TRC site provides the full text of the final report in five volumes, totalling over ten megabytes. The TRC homepage offers information on the Commission, its legal background, the work of its various committees, an Amnesty Database, recommended reading, and suggested links. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

John Glenn Returns to Space
NASA Shuttle Web: sts-95 [Net Show, MPEG, RealPlayer]
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-87/index.html
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, became the world's oldest astronaut when he returned to the stars yesterday, 36 years after his first flight on the nation's 123rd manned mission. At the NASA Shuttle Website for the mission, users can read about the crew, payloads, mission objectives, some of the experiments on aging and space involving Senator Glenn, and updates on the mission's current status. Realtime data offered at the site include telemetry, tracking displays, sightings, and orbital elements. The site also hosts several multimedia offerings such as preflight and launch videos (MPEG), animations (MPEG), Net Show broadcasts of NASA TV, photos, and RealPlayer audio broadcasts. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Report of the Independent Commission on the Voting System [.pdf]
http://www.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm40/4090/contents.htm
Another long-awaited report was released yesterday, this one by the Independent Commission on Electoral Reform, chaired by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Jenkins. The commission was formed in December 1997 to consider and recommend "any appropriate system or combination of systems" as "an alternative to the present system for Parliamentary elections" in the UK. The Jenkins Commission has recommended that a new and more proportional voting system replace the current first-past-the-post system. The new mixed system suggested by the Commission has been dubbed "Alternative Vote-Top Up" (AV Top-Up). Under this system, 80-85% of MPs (Members of Parliament) would represent specific constituencies, while the other 15-20% (Top-Up) would be nominated by parties and would bring each party's total representation closer in line with their actual share of the national vote. Reaction to the report has been predictably mixed, and it appears quite unlikely that a national referendum on the Jenkins Commission proposals will occur before the next Parliament. Users can download both volumes of the Report in .pdf format from the UK Stationery Office. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Motherhood, Social Service, and Political Reform: Political Culture and Imagery of American Woman Suffrage [frames]
http://www.ointeractive.com/nmwh/exhibits/exhibit_frames.html
National Museum of Women's History (NMWH)
http://www.nmwh.org/
This new site is one of several projects related to the foundation of a National Museum of Women's History in Washington, DC. Although the physical museum itself is yet to be built, NMWH the organization has been sponsoring and collaborating in Women's history initiatives nationwide. The first exhibit in the NMWH cybermuseum marks the 150th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention and "examines the development of a distinct female political culture and imagery that evolved to promote voting rights for women." Users can browse the gallery of 50 images or take a more in-depth tour of the woman's suffrage movement. The former offers fast-loading and nicely-digitized images of a variety of artifacts with brief descriptions. The latter traces the history of the woman suffrage movement and its political imagery with topical paragraphs and selected images. Additional resources include a timeline, quiz, and collection of related resources. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Three Sites for the 1998 Election News
ABC News: Political Nation
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/politicalnation/politicalnation.html
CBS Campaign '98
http://cbsnews.cbs.com/now/section/0%2C1636%2C250-412%2C00.shtml
MSNBC Decision '98
http://www.msnbc.com/news/politics_front.asp
Off-year elections in America are traditionally lack-luster affairs, receiving less coverage from the press and notably less interest from the electorate. This year, the political climate has been altered--just how much is yet to be seen--by the publication of the Starr Report and plans for impeachment hearings when the new Congress is seated. These three sites from major US news organizations will help users stay informed about national issues and key races in these last few days of the election season and view the results when it's all over. The first site, from ABC, offers a large number of news reports on selected races, analyses of key races, polls, and Congress Watch (a briefing on each state and its senators and representatives). The CBS Campaign '98 site has similar features, including a collection of election news stories, polls, and a state-by-state briefing. In addition, the site offers a national election overview, essays by political pundits, and biographies of potential candidates for the Presidential election in 2000. Finally, MSNBC allows users to research their incumbent's Washington record and campaign funding sources, explore key issues, and after the polls close, check on the results. [MD]
[Note: Resource(s)/URL(s) mentioned above is no longer available.]
[Back to Contents]

Hubble Heritage Project
http://heritage.stsci.edu/
Subject Index
http://heritage.stsci.edu/public/commonpages/subjectindex.html
The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) has recently unveiled this "celestial photo album" to offer users some of the best photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Currently, visual and textual descriptions are available for four objects: Galaxy NGC 7742; NGC 7635, The Bubble Nebula; Sagittarius Star Cloud (SGR-I); and Saturn. Users may choose to explore the site from the more easily navigated Subject Index, which also offers technical information about the images and the Hubble Project and a few links. The site will be updated the first Thursday of each month with a composition created from recent image data. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

National Freedom Scorecard--ACLU
http://scorecard.aclu.org/
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently launched this site to help citizens, especially activists, keep track of how their representatives in the 105th Congress voted on legislation which involved civil liberties. Users can view members' voting records in several ways. They can compare individual member's records with ACLU positions or the records of other representatives from the same state. Alternatively, votes on selected key bills can be broken down by party, gender, region, state, or committee. The site also offers a guide to using the scorecards as well as additional scorecards for selected votes in the 104th Congress. This site naturally reflects the ACLU's own political priorities, but anyone with a concern or curiosity for the issues and legislation highlighted will find much of interest. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

Smallbizsearch.com
http://www.smallbizsearch.com/
Entrepreneur Media, the publishers of Entrepreneur Magazine, present this new search engine for small business resources. Advanced Smallbizsearch.com searching supports boolean and proximity operators as well as date, relevancy ranking, and display specifications. A variety of subject guides are also available, in addition to feature articles from EntrepreneurMag.com. [MW]
[Back to Contents]

JavaScript Tutorial for Programmers
http://wdvl.internet.com/Authoring/JavaScript/Tutorial/
Part of the Web Developer's Virtual Library, the JavaScript Tutorial for Programmers is an introduction to the terminology, syntax, and methodology of JavaScript. Written by Aaron Weiss, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to JavaScript, this short tutorial is aimed at those who have had some modicum of exposure to modern programming languages. Tersely written, the tutorial serves as an excellent introduction to the fundamentals of JavaScript. For those with version 4+ of Netscape or Internet Explorer, the site is enhanced with cascading style sheet (CSS) layouts. [PMS]
[Back to Contents]

HTTrack
http://www.ensicaen.ismra.fr/~roche/httrack.html
HTTrack, developed by Xavier Roche and Vann Philippot of ISMRA-ENSI of Caen, is an easy-to-use Website-mirroring utility. This program consists of a nice user interface combined with a Web robot that, employing parameters specified by the user, retrieves some or all Webpages, graphics, and files from a remote site and downloads them to the user's local hard drive. The downloaded information can then be viewed offline with a normal Web browser. HTTrack provides many features including scheduling the download for a particular time, excluding or including specific URLs based on wildcards, multithreading of download connections for speed, and much more. All versions support both a command-line interface as well as a graphical interface; however, the Unix graphical interface is very primitive. HTTrack v1.2 beta3 is available for Win95/98, and HTTrack v1.16b is available for Solaris 5.6, IBM/AIX, and Linux. The software is free, but the donation of a PC mouse or monetary equivalent is requested. [CL]
[Back to Contents]

Quality Graphics Newsletter--Earth Index
http://www.earthindex.com/
Quality Graphics is a new weekly newsletter produced by Earth Index, a free graphics resource site. Quality Graphics will include tips on Website design and graphics, guest articles discussing topics such as graphic program tutorials, reviews of graphic programs, and Web-based graphic help. Related news stories will also be included. To subscribe, fill in the online from at the Earth Index site. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

The Scout Report was not published on October 27, 1995. This feature will resume with the November 6, 1998 issue. [MD]
[Back to Contents]

The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing any portion of this report, in any format.

From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

The paragraph below is the copyright notice to be used when reproducing the entire report, in any format.

Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-1998. 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, is preserved on all copies.

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, or the National Science Foundation.

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

Susan Calcari
Michael de Nie
Travis Koplow
Aimee D. Glassel
Todd Hanson
Sheilah Harrington
Kathryn Harris
Christopher Lukas
Dave Mayer
Andrew Osmond
Laura X. Payne
Jeannine Ramsey
Mike Roszkowski
Paul M Schwartz
Debra Shapiro
Geraldine Wanserski
Megan Waters
Amy Tracy Wells
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
--
Managing Editor
Editor
Production Editor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor
Contributor

Scout Report and Scout Report HTML Subscription Instructions

To receive the electronic mail version of the Scout Report each week, join the scout-report mailing list. This is the only mail you will receive from this list. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/
To receive the Scout Report in HTML format for local viewing and posting, subscribe to the scout-report-html mailing list, used exclusively to distribute the Scout Report in HTML format once a week. Unsubscribing from the scout-report list can also be done at this site.
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/lists/