The Scout Report - January 15, 1999

Scout Report for Social Sciences and Business & Economics
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/1999/ss-990112.html
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/1999/be-990114.html
The eighth issues of the second volumes of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics are available. The In the News section of the Social Sciences Report annotates eight resources on capital punishment in Texas. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section annotates ten resources on the looming "Banana War" between the US and the European Union. [MD]
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Climate of 1998 Annual Review -- NCDC
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/research/1998/ann/ann98.html
While reliable instrument records only go back 119 years, some argue that 1998 witnessed the warmest temperatures in 1,200 years. What is certain is that for the twentieth consecutive year, the annual global mean surface temperature exceeded the long-term average, this time by 1.2 degrees fahrenheit. The source and long-term implications of this steady rise in temperature are, of course, hotly debated. The facts are allowed to speak for themselves at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center, which has recently released its Climate of 1998 Annual Review. At the site, users will find an overview of the year's climate and illustrated reports on topics such as Global Temperatures, Global Precipitation, Annual US National Perspective, Annual US Regional Perspective, and Extreme Events. Additional resources include archived 1998 Monthly and Special Reports from the NCDC. [MD]
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International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS) database
http://odp.od.nih.gov/ods/databases/ibids.html
The International Bibliographic Information on Dietary Supplements (IBIDS) database, produced jointly by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Nutrition Information Center at the National Agriculture Library, links users to citations to scientific literature on dietary supplements, including vitamin, mineral, herbal, and botanical supplements. IBIDS uses a WebZ search interface to retrieve results from botanical, agricultural, chemical, and pharmaceutical databases that include MEDLINE, AGRIS, and AGRICOLA (described in the July 24, 1998 Scout Report), with more databases to be added in the future. Users can search by keyword in author or title, then mark select citations for email. A dropdown reference list of Latin, chemical, and common names is provided, as well as links to the Websites of over 1,500 journals cited in IBIDS. [GW]
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World Economic Outlook and International Capital Markets Interim Assessment -- IMF [.pdf]
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/weo1298/index.htm
A critical update to the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook (described in the October 9, 1998 Scout Report), the World Economic Outlook (WEO) and International Capital Markets (ICM) Interim Assessment examines recent international financial developments and provides revised economic forecasts for emerging and mature economies. The report includes a chapter on "systemic issues" and the "policy requirements" needed to curtail further market turbulence, but ends on a positive note with a modest dip in 1999 projected growth for the world economy from 1998 estimates at 2.2 percent. [MW]
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CBS Databases
http://www.cbs.knaw.nl/www/database.html
CBS Homepage [.pdf]
http://www.cbs.knaw.nl/
This major reference center for mycologists traces its existence back to 1903. Now an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, CBS (Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures) continues to maintain and distribute one of the largest collections of living fungi in the world. With over 35,000 strains, "the collection contains representatives of virtually all fungal groups that can be cultured." Users can currently search six databases containing over 72,000 strains of fungi, yeasts, and bacteria held at CBS or other institutions. Each database offers several search options, such as by Species Name, Strain Number, or Properties of species/ strains. Search returns include Species, Variety, relevant Literature, Strain Number, Origin, History, and Form of Supply. The site also offers articles in HTML and .pdf format, information on current research themes and projects, strain ordering information, and an image gallery. [MD]
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Civil Service Statistics 1998 (UK) [.pdf, 58p]
http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/civilservice/1999/central_support/statistics/annual.htm
Defence Statistics (UK) [.pdf, 24p.]
http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp98/rp98-120.pdf
These two new UK government reports are from the Cabinet Office and House of Commons Library respectively. The first contains facts and figures on Civil Service staffing and spending for 1997-98. It notes important trends, staff numbers, hires and resignations, and progress achieved in establishing Executive Agencies. The second contains statistics on defense spending and manpower and addresses "the problems involved in using such statistics, particularly when making international comparisons." Both reports contain numerous graphs and tables. [MD]
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World Wide Words: Exploring the English Language [.zip]
http://www.worldwidewords.org/
Created by Michael Quinion, a freelance wordsmith and researcher into new words for Oxford Dictionaries, this site focuses on the history of the English language and the development of new words. Each week, users will find definitions and histories of words and phrases both old and new. This week's offerings include "upskilling," "abracadabra," "wormwood," and "wassail." In addition, the site contains numerous short articles on various aspects of the language, book reviews, usage notes (Data is or Data are?),and a phonetic key. Users can also subscribe to a newsletter containing each week's updates. Back issues are available in .zip format. [MD]
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sai-irish-studies
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/sai-irish-studies/
This new mailing list is intended to serve as a networking and discussion forum for sociology and social policy researchers focusing on the Republic of Ireland and/or Northern Ireland or anyone engaged in "the systematic study of Irish society." Subscription information and message archives are available at the site. [MD]
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Trial Memorandum of President William Jefferson Clinton
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/New/html/senatebrief.html
.pdf Version
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/New/html/senatebrief.pdf
Released on January 13, this 130-page brief from the White House offers the most detailed and comprehensive preview to date of how the President's lawyers will defend him against charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Senate impeachment trial. The trial brief does not present any new evidence, but instead makes the argument that there are no legal, constitutional, or factual grounds for removal of the president. Users can read the full text online or download a .pdf version. [MD]
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Inventing Entertainment: The Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies -- LOC [MPEG, Quicktime, RealPlayer]
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edhome.html
This latest addition to the Library of Congress American memory site (last described in the January 8, 1998 Scout Report) highlights Thomas Edison's entertainment inventions. Included in the 1,093 patents Edison received in his lifetime were the phonograph, the Kinetograph (a motion picture camera), and the Kinetoscope (a motion picture viewer). A large number of movies and recordings made by Edison and his companies survive today in the Library of Congress, and this site offers a large sampling, including 341 Edison motion pictures, 81 disc sound recordings, and several photographs, advertisements, and magazine articles. These audio and video selections offer a glimpse into not only the inventor and his achievements, but also turn-of-the-century American history and culture. The motion pictures are available in either MPEG or Quicktime format and may be browsed chronologically, alphabetically, or by genre. RealAudio recordings may be browsed by genre or alphabetically. Selections in both categories represent the wide diversity of subject matter covered by the Edison Company. Users wishing to see or hear the inventor himself will want to examine the motion picture, A Day with Thomas A. Edison (1922) or the recording "Let Us Not Forget" (1919). Additional resources at the site include a biography, timeline, bibliography, and internal keyword search engine. [MD]
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FindLaw Small Business Center
http://smallbiz.findlaw.com/
FindLaw Consumer Law Center
http://consumer.findlaw.com/
FindLaw
http://www.findlaw.com/
One of the most comprehensive legal resources on the Internet, Findlaw (described in the February 23, 1996 Scout Report) has recently expanded its offerings with two new resource centers for small businesses and consumers. The first is composed of four sections, the most useful of which is the Small Office -- Home Office (SOHO) Guidebook, which contains thousands of pages of information "on starting, financing, managing and marketing" small businesses. Other contents include a collection of downloadable checklists, model business plans, forms, and other business documents; breaking legal and business news from Reuters; and free email advice from the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). In the Consumer Law Center, users will find thousands of consumer-focused articles and resources in a number of different categories, such as Banking, Credit, Discrimination, Estate Planning, Family Law, Government Benefits, Health and Medicine, Intellectual Property, Investments, Labor & Employment, Personal Injury, Landlord/ Tenant & Real Estate, and many others. The Consumer Center also offers contact information for national consumer organizations, better business bureaus, corporations, trade associations and related organizations, as well as tips and guidance on filing effective consumer complaints. In addition, the site provides information on the process of hiring a lawyer and using lawyers to settle disputes or claims. [MD]
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National Museum of American Jewish History Exhibitions
http://nmajh.org/exhibitions/
A trip to the National Museum of American Jewish History Exhibitions page will reward you with digital versions of a variety of current and permanent exhibitions. One highlight is Creating American Jews, a permanent exhibition opened in September 1998, which explores Jewish identity in the United States. Each section of this exhibition consists of a text that is illustrated with thumbnail images of artifacts, which can be enlarged for better resolution and more information about each item. Also available is a preview of a current exhibition, With Eyes Toward Zion: The Political Cartoons of Noah Bee, with images of about two dozen of Bee's newspaper cartoons from the 1950s to the 1980s. Those with an interest in museums and exhibition history will be very pleased with the Previous Exhibitions listing, which provides descriptions and selected images from National Museum of American Jewish History shows dating back to its founding in 1976. [DS]
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Trial & Error -- Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ws/0,1246,21398,00.html
This major investigative series from the Tribune documents hundreds of homicide cases where innocent people were sent to jail, some to Death Row, because of the "egregious misconduct" of prosecutors, usually in the form of suppressing evidence or using evidence that they knew to be false. The study begins in 1963, when the Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland forbad prosecutors from "suppressing evidence favorable to a defendant for purposes of determining guilt or imposing a sentence." In their search for cases that violated this ruling, the Tribune examined approximately 11,000 court rulings and 8,700 news stories on wrongful convictions or prosecutor misconduct. At the site, users can navigate a clickable map to view state lists of defendants whose murder convictions were overturned, overviews of selected states, and summaries of representative cases. In addition, the site archives the series's feature articles, which have appeared in the Tribune over the past week. [MD]
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Park Search
http://www.llbean.com/parksearch/
It's never too early to begin planning your summer vacation, especially in the depths of winter; those with cabin fever can get a jump on their outdoor recreation plans at this site, provided by L.L. Bean. Users can search this database of over 1,400 state and national parks, forests, and wildlife refuges by state, region, and/or activities in which they are interested (including winter sports for all-season recreators). Search returns include contact information, an overview of the park/ forest and its highlights, photos, and a list of approved or available activities. [MD]
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VolunteerMatch
http://www.volunteermatch.com/
Provided by ImpactOnline, a nonprofit organization investing in the development of public interest Internet applications, this site allows users to search an online database of volunteer opportunities by zip code, distance, date, and category. Users who find an opportunity that fits their schedule and interest can sign up immediately via an online form. The opportunities are posted to the site directly by local organizations, so amount and variety can vary significantly by locale. Additional resources at the site include a searchable nonprofit directory and a list of virtual volunteering opportunities. [MD]
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Michael Jordan Retires
Michael Jordan Retirement Special - NBA [RealPlayer, Quicktime, AVI]
http://www.nba.com/mjretirement/
Chicago Tribune Jordan Archive
http://chicagotribune.com/sports/bulls/ws/0,1246,394,00.html
After thirteen seasons, six NBA championships, ten scoring titles, and five MVP awards, Michael Jordan, probably the greatest player in basketball history and the world's best-known athlete, retired for the second and almost certainly final time on January 13. Jordan has been a talented and able ambassador for his sport, increasing the NBA's popularity to unforseen heights and, in the process, decisively shattering the color barrier for product endorsements by African-American athletes. As would be expected, Jordan's announcement has been met with a flurry of retrospectives and tributes. The NBA Retirement Special is perhaps the most comprehensive of these, with fifteen photo galleries containing more than 200 images, Quicktime or AVI video clips of 25 game-winning shots, video clips from ten of Jordan's most memorable performances, season highlights, and a large selection of feature articles, interviews, and quotes. Users may also be interested in the Jordan archive at the Chicago Tribune site. Jordan and the Bull's hometown newspaper offers a career profile, archived articles spanning his rookie year to retirement, and photos. [MD]
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Two Online Bookmark Managers
MURL
http://murl.com/
Bookmarks2Go
http://b2g.com/
Users who access the Internet from public library terminals or find themselves frequently emailing URLS between computers at multiple locations can now store and manage their bookmarks online for free at one or both of these sites. MURL's interface is fairly straightforward, allowing users to organize and edit URLS within topical folders. Like the major browsers, MURL comes preloaded with a few bookmarks which new users may find helpful but annoy most experienced internauts. At Bookmarks2Go, users can begin a new bookmark list from scratch or import existing Netscape or Internet Explorer bookmarks. Unlike MURL, in addition to the sites added by individual users, Boomarks2Go offers a large selection of sites, organized by topic, for users to pick and choose to add to their account. Again, only users newer to the Internet will probably be interested. Regardless of the additional features at these sites, at their heart they both offer a simple and potentially very useful service. [MD]
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FOCUS ON: Macworld Expo [RealPlayer]
http://macworld.zdnet.com/1999/01/03/focus.13.html
1998 was a year of change for Apple computer. The Newton was put out to pasture, Steve Jobs finished out his first year as interim CEO, a new operating system direction (OS X) was announced, and the iMac became the best selling computer in the consumer market. What's in store for 1999? To find out where Apple and the rest of the Mac community are heading, tune into Macworld's coverage of the first major Apple event of 1999, Macworld EXPO. The conference may be over, but the folks at Macworld have assembled over 30 articles and sites covering the EXPO. Among the offerings are RealPlayer rebroadcasts of major announcements, demos, and sessions, including Steve Jobs' keynote address; Macworld's Best of the Show awards; Macworld's Eddy Awards for the best Macintosh products of the year; reviews of new products and technologies; and opinion pieces by various Macworld columnists. [PMS]
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Two Web Searching Tutorials
Tutorial: Guide to Effective Searching of the Internet [.pdf, MS Word 6.0]
http://thewebtools.com/searchgoodies/tutorial.htm
Web Searching, Sleuthing and Sifting
http://www.angelfire.com/in/virtuallibrarian/ismain.html
These two sites offer tips and guidance to help users make effective and fast Internet searches. The first site is provided by the Web Tools Company, partly in the hope that users will be motivated to purchase their search tool, Mata Hari. Regardless of whether or not users choose to examine the tool (a free evaluation copy is available for download), the site offers a comprehensive overview of how to conduct effective and successful online queries, covering 48 topics organized in twelve sections. The tutorial can be viewed online or downloaded in MS Word 6.0 or .pdf format. The second site, part of a course taught by Professor and Librarian Angela Elkordy of the Sage Colleges, Albany and Troy, NY, is designed as an introduction to Web searching methods and techniques, aimed specifically at newer users. The site offers an overview of the Internet, an introduction to searchable Web resources, and discussions on resource evaluation and power searching techniques. [MD]
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Microsoft Begins Defense
ZDNet AnchorDesk: Microsoft vs. Government
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/bcenter/bcenter_284.html
Microsoft Trial Virtual Court -- San Jose Mercury News [.pdf]
http://www.mercurycenter.com/business/microsoft/trial/
Microsoft Special Report -- BBC News [RealPlayer]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/special_report/1998/04/98/microsoft/
Editorial Cartoons on Microsoft and the antitrust case
http://www.cagle.com/microsoft/
The second half of the US vs. Microsoft antitrust trial began this week with clear indications that it will be as long and contentious as the first half. Microsoft's first witness, MIT's Richard Schmalensee, encountered some difficult cross-examination from Department of Justice (DOJ) lead attorney David Boies, particularly over his testimony based on a Microsoft-designed survey that almost no one believes was unbiased and fair. While this marked a setback for the software giant's defense, the battle is, of course, far from over, and analysts still disagree over the probable final outcome of the trial. At the ZDNet site, users will find a number of trial updates, analysis and opinion, and a Monopoly Scorecard. The San Jose Mercury News' Mercury Center site offers an overview of the trial and the players via a clickable Virtual Courtroom. Users will find biographies, analysis, a glossary and overview of antitrust law, and primary documents, as well as links to the latest developments in the trial. The BBC special report on the trial includes archived weekly updates, analysis, a timeline, and RealPlayer video and audio selections. Daryl Cagle, whose Professional Cartoonist Index (described in the October 21, 1997 Scout Report for Social Sciences) site collects and indexes some of the best editorial cartoon work in the nation, has posted a section featuring approximately 60 of the latest cartoons on Microsoft and the trial. Additional resources for understanding the Microsoft trial and antitrust laws in general can be found in Scout Report Signpost, the Scout Report's database. These include the DOJ's Antitrust Case Filings; Microsoft's PressPass site, which contains press releases and legal documents from the corporation; and Antitrust Policy, a resource center for students, economists, and lawyers interested in antitrust issues. [MD]
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