The Scout Report - February 12, 1999

Scout Report for Social Sciences and Business & Economics
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/socsci/1999/ss-990209.html
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/report/bus-econ/1999/be-990211.html
The tenth 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 nine resources on the recent Hague International Forum on population and development. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section offers an update on the economic situation in Brazil with ten resources [MD]
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stateline.org
http://www.stateline.org/
The Pew Center on the States operates stateline.org, a Website providing "a set of tools" that apprise state policy makers, the public, and the media of important developments occurring in the capitols of all 50 states. The site posts current news and archives past news items on state government, provides statistical data and background information for every state, maintains a library of updated data tables, and tracks developments for major political issues -- namely, Healthcare, Welfare Reform, Taxes/ Budget, Education, and Utility Deregulation. Users may also register for customized News Alerts, email notifications of developments for selected issues and states. [AO]
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Two Resources from BBC Education [JavaScript]
BBC Schools Online
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/schools/
BBC Education Web Guide
http://www.bbc.co.uk/plsql/education/webguide/pkg_main.p_home
The BBC Education Website (see the May 5, 1995 Scout Report) offers these two specialized guides as a service to teachers, students, and parents. The first, BBC Schools Online, is a highly selective guide to curriculum-based online resources related to BBC productions. Resources are briefly described and arranged into six categories according to audience. The second BBC service is the Education Web Guide, which contains a collection of high-quality, educational Websites organized into 24 major topic areas. Sites in the Web Guide are annotated by anonymous subject specialists who suggest how site content may be integrated into classroom learning activities. [AO]
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"The Cost of Digital Image Distribution: The Social and Economic Implications of the Production, Distribution, and Usage of Image Data" [.pdf]
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Imaging/Databases/1998mellon
Press Release:
http://sunsite.Berkeley.EDU/Imaging/Databases/1998mellon/99press-release.html
This newly released report is the product of a 22-month UC Berkeley study of the Museum Educational Site Licensing Project (MESL), a two-year experimental collaboration between seven cultural repositories and seven universities that distributed approximately 10,000 images for classroom use and individual research. The report found that, while the higher education community is enthusiastic about providing access to digital images, numerous impediments mean that digital and analog libraries will necessarily coexist for some time yet. One of the most substantial of these impediments is, and will continue to be, the conflicting concerns of universities and museum image distribution consortia over access and payment. Those involved in image digitization or distribution or those contemplating involvement, particularly members of a scholarly community, will find numerous items of interest in this report. [MD]
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CDC National Prevention Information Network (NPIN) [.pdf]
http://www.cdcnpin.org/
Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this new site serves as "a national reference, referral and distribution service for information on HIV/AIDS, STDs, and TB." Professionals and researchers working in HIV, STD, and TB prevention, treatment, and support services will find a wide selection of frequently updated authoritative material. The site is divided into seven sections. The HIV/AIDS, STD, and TB sections offer new featured publications, related links, bulletin boards, news, and related reference materials. Another major resource at the site is the NPIN databases section, which contains news abstracts, organization contact information, funding and educational materials, and conference announcements. In the NPIN Publications section, users will find a large listing of reports and briefs, organized by topic, most of which are available for free download in .pdf format. Please note that this section currently contains a number of broken links. Other resources at the site include Prevention News updates, CDC press releases, prevention research highlights, related links, and a Resources by Topic section. Anyone wishing to stay current on HIV/AIDS, STDs, and TB prevention and treatment will undoubtedly want to monitor this site. [MD]
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The Official Land Patent Records Site -- BLM [.tif]
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/
Maintained by the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) General Land Office, this site currently provides public access to over two million Federal land title records, issued between 1820 and 1908, for twelve Eastern Public Land States. The databases for each state enable researchers to conduct sophisticated cross-field queries to trace the initial transfer of land titles from the Federal government to individuals. Historians may conduct genealogical searches to associate an individual with a particular location during a specific time. The site allows users to order certified copies of land patents at a nominal cost. Note: electronic images for land patent records are viewable as TIF files only. [AO]
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Pacific Center for Violence Prevention
http://www.pcvp.org/
Located at San Francisco General Hospital, the Pacific Center for Violence Prevention supports community-based violence prevention in California and works to reduce youth access to drugs, alcohol, and firearms. Despite the Center's focus on California, interested users from any state will find a large number of violence-prevention resources at the site. Sections for Drugs, Alcohol, and Firearms each contain facts sheets, policy briefs, statistics, and links to related publications and other resources. Additional offerings at the site include memos on and links to federal and state firearm legislation, news updates, and a listing of events and conferences. Portions of the site are also available in Spanish. [MD]
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MEROPS -- the Peptidase Database
http://www.bi.bbsrc.ac.uk/Merops/Merops.htm
Funded by the Medical Research Council (UK) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Neil Rawlings and Alan Barrett of the Babraham Institute have created MEROPS, a Peptidase Database (Version 3.1). Indexes included in the database are Peptidases (Organisms & Peptidases and MEROPS Identifiers), Families, and Clans. Other resources at the site -- in the Documents section -- such as BioMedical Aspects, Unsequenced Peptidases, Statistics, and Distribution of Families, provide a wealth of additional information. [SN]
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Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture (GIEWS) [.pdf] (Update)
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/faoinfo/economic/giews/english/giewse.htm
The Economic and Social Department of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (originally reviewed in the October 25, 1996 Scout Report), an internationally recognized source for information on the world food situation, has expanded its GIEWS site. The site continues to feature the FAO's important bimonthlies, Food Outlook and Foodcrops and Shortages, but has also added a number of resources that focus on the food situation in Africa. These include Food supply situation and crop prospects in sub-Saharan Africa, a quarterly assessment of the current food supply situation in that region; monthly reports during the growing season on the drought-prone Sahel region; and frequently updated Special Reports on food shortages around the world. The site now also hosts three databases: on Western and Central Africa (in French only), Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. Data is available for all countries in each area and includes maps, satellite images, climatic profiles, crop zones, population data, various statistics, and background information. Visitors may also subscribe to any of GIEWS three mailing lists: one forwards the text of Special Reports, another sends users the monthly report on the Sahel, and a third consists of alerts on new publications at the site. The reports are available in French and Spanish, as well. [MD]
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Economic Outlook for East Asia [.pdf]
http://www.ide.go.jp/English/index4.html
An Institute for Developing Economies (IDE) publication, the 1999 Economic Outlook for East Asia analyzes the East Asian countries in 1998 and presents forecasts for 1999 (in English and Japanese). According to IDE, Thailand and South Korea will begin to see signs of recovery in the coming year, as the impact of the new Miyazawa Initiative is felt, although Hong Kong will remain "afflicted" by recession. Malaysia and Singapore are also expected to recover as will the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan. As a whole, the growth rate for the East Asian economies is predicted to rise to 3.1 percent in 1999 from 0.1 percent, and general prices are forecast to "swing back" to a single-digit inflation rate of 6.6 percent. [MW]
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The Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers 1999 [.pdf, 449p., .wk4, .xls]
http://w3.access.gpo.gov/eop/
The US Government Printing Office has again made available the electronic version of the Economic Report of the President (Last described in the February 13, 1998 Scout Report) immediately after it was transmitted to the Congress. 1998 witnessed the first budget surplus and the lowest unemployment rate since 1969, with real gross domestic product growing by 3.9 percent and inflation rising by only 1.6 percent. In addition to the good news on the US economy, this year the Report also looks at a number of other issues, including "the aging of the American population, regulation and innovation, and recent international financial turmoil." The 112 statistical tables in the Economic Report of the President can be found in pages 326 to 449 or may be viewed separately as Lotus or Excel spreadsheet files. The site also contains the full text of ERPs back to 1995, spreadsheet tables back to 1997, and a keyword search engine for ERPs from 1996-99. [MD]
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Philadelphia Historical Digital Image Library (PHDIL)
http://jeffline.tju.edu/archives/phdil/
A collaborative project by Thomas Jefferson University and the Pennsylvania Historical Society, the Philadelphia Historical Digital Image Library (PHDIL) consists of almost 3,000 pictures. Thomas Jefferson University, founded in 1824, is the oldest private medical school in the country, and the images in PHDIL come from its Scott Memorial Library, providing visual images related to the study of medicine -- portraits of alumni, faculty, and trustees; scenes from hospitals; views of anatomy labs; nurses at work; and medical society and class portraits. The Pennsylvania Historical Society was also founded in 1824, and the images that it has contributed to PHDIL document Philadelphia history and complement those from Thomas Jefferson University, including views of hospitals from newspapers and commercial photographers, as well as scenes of everyday life in Philadelphia at the turn of the century. An additional highlight is a large number of Benjamin Ridgeway Evans watercolor drawings of Philadelphia buildings and streetscapes dated between 1859 and 1885. Drop down menus at the search interface permit users to view pictures by selecting from a list of the subjects covered in PHDIL (choosing "hospitals" retrieves 861 hits), and also by type (carte de visite, drawing, cityscape, lithograph, etc.), creator or donor name, event, or date. [DS]
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Two from PBS
The African-American Journey
http://www.pbs.org/aajourney/
The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords [RealPlayer, Shockwave]
http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/index.html
As part of its celebration of Black history month, PBS has put together a compilation of PBS sites that focus on the African-American experience. Sites are organized into topics such as History, Politics, People and Video. For educators, a link is provided to PBS Teacher Source, which focuses on The African-American Journey in the Classroom and provides an ". . . A-Z inventory of online activities, teachers guides, and lesson plans designed to highlight African-American history, arts, and famous figures." Central to the site are three featured links, among them one to a new site called The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords. Based on the Stanley Nelson film by the same name, this engaging site gives users an historical overview of the men and women of the Black press. The film, which premiered on Feb 8, 1999, was shown on PBS as part of its celebration of Black history month and was also accepted to be shown at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The Website offers a variety of supplemental text and online resources: links to information about four key newspapers and nine noted personalities in the world of the Black press; film clips of interviews with modern journalists; and an interactive timeline that traces important dates and events related to the subject. Users can also take a quiz to test their own knowledge retention and are encouraged to share any stories or memories of the Black press they may have via a pop-up chat window. [REB]
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Relief of Pain and Suffering
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/biomed/his/PainExhibit/index.html
The symposium and exhibit titled Pain and Suffering in History - Narrative Science, Medicine and Culture marks the dedication of the John C. Liebeskind History of Pain Collection at the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library, UCLA. The Relief of Pain and Suffering site, prepared in conjunction with the aforementioned symposium and exhibit, gives us plenty for which to be thankful in terms of advancements in the area of pain management. Tracing the modern roots of this field back to the nineteenth century and earlier, users can view historical pictures of botanicals, tools, and early writings all related to the alleviation of pain and suffering. Descriptions of syndromes like phantom limbs and causalgia abound as users travel towards the 21st century. Modern methods discussed include interdisciplinary team approaches to pain management and the Hospice movement's philosophies on pain treatment. Users can navigate the site in a variety of ways: through a series of topical links off of the main page, by moving through the site using arrow buttons, or through an index of illustrations and keywords. A final page of links to professional organizations related to the field nicely rounds out the site. [REB]
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The Nobel Channel [Frames, JavaScript, RealPlayer, QuickTime, QuickTimeVR, VRML, Shockwave]
http://www.nobelchannel.com/
The Nobel Channel Website proffers an enriching multimedia experience, urging users to investigate the revolutionary ideas, outstanding achievements, compelling histories, and brilliant personalities behind the distinguished winners of the Nobel Prize. The site consists of eight major modules: Nobel Achievements, Nobel Theatre, Alfred Nobel Section, The Prizes Section, Events, Interactive Learning Studio, Nobel Navigator, and Nobel's Web World. Each module features several interactive learning opportunities that engage and astound, such as The Story of Two Neutrinos, a lively presentation about a breakthrough in particle physics, or the insightful lesson taught by Elie Wiesel entitled Bearing Witness. This site, designed by Swedish Television and IMG/TWI, takes advantage of the latest and greatest developments in Web design and therefore requires a newer browser stocked with media plug-ins. [AO]
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STARDUST Project -- NASA
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/
On February 7, 1999, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully launched the STARDUST spacecraft. STARDUST is the first ever US mission devoted to the return of extraterrestrial matter collected from outside the orbit of the Moon and aims to bring cometary material and interstellar dust back to Earth after its rendezvous with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Visitors to the site can monitor the progress of STARDUST, read about the plans and objectives of the mission, and learn more about the science behind comet-chasing. [AO]
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Haring KIDS [Shockwave Flash, Java]
http://www.haringkids.com/
This site is both a tribute to the art work of Keith Haring and a playful exhibit designed for children, though it appeals to adults as well. All sections are accessed through an animated menu on the left of the page listing the four main areas: Activities, Art, Books, and Keith. Options within these main sections only appear when the mouse rolls over the area. Under Activities, visitors can select Morphs to see simple Haring figures and symbols morph into one another with each click of their mouse. Other activities include Games, Stories, Coloring, and Kids Art. The main Art section showcases clever animated segments in the Flipbook, and features posters created by Haring for a variety of events and causes. A short, simple biography and a collection of photographs chronicle the life and death of this New York artist in the Keith section. Lesson plans pertaining directly to each section of the site can be obtained by selecting the For Parents and Teachers link at the bottom of the page. [JR]
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Sherlock Plug-in Directories
(yet more) Sherlock Plug-ins
http://members.home.com/djwang/sherlock/directory/
The Sherlock Collection (complete list)
http://moriarty.mit.edu/Sherlock/All.html
Apple Donuts Sherlock Internet Search Archives
http://www.apple-donuts.com/sherlocksearch/index.html
Sherlock, first described in the October 16, 1998 Scout Report, is the new search tool provided by Mac OS 8.5 which allows users to perform searches of Websites without opening a browser. One of the great advantages of Sherlock is its ability to create a plug-in for any Web-based search engine. Since the release, the collection of Sherlock plug-ins has grown to number over 250. A few sites have taken up the task of collecting and organizing these plug-ins. While the Apple-Donuts site is a bit more polished than the others, all three of these sites provide fairly complete listings of the available plug-ins. [PMS]
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IBM Home Page Reader
http://www.austin.ibm.com/sns/hpr.html
A new product from IBM Special Needs Systems that represents itself as "the voice of the World Wide Web," Home Page Reader harnesses text to speech software in conjunction with a speech synthesizer and traditional browser software to make access to the Web easier for users who are blind or visually impaired. Navigation is done with the numeric keypad, and differentiation between text and links are made by using different voices to read each: a male voice reads text, and a female voice reads links. An integrated email feature is also included. The Home Page Reader is currently available in a free trial version. [REB]
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The Vote
Online NewsHour: The End is Near [RealPlayer]
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/jan-june99/impeach_2-11.html
SenateVote.com: Trial Update
http://www.senatevote.com/trial/
Los Angeles Times Special Report: Pathway to Peril [RealPlayer]
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/REPORTS/SCANDAL/PATHWAY/
CNN AllPolitics [RealPlayer]
http://cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/
After a five-week trial, Senators have acquitted President Clinton of the two articles of impeachment that charge him with perjury and obstruction of justice. The final votes of 55-45 and 50-50, respectively, have lent credence to Democratic portrayals of the House vote to impeach as a partisan attack on the President. While official censure seems highly unlikely, the President is not exactly vindicated. A letter strongly denouncing the President's conduct will be circulated for Senators to sign, and he may still find himself indicted by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr before or after his term expires. Mr. Starr himself, however, is facing the likely prospect of a Justice Department investigation into alleged misconduct, which could lead to his removal. The Scout Report has already covered a number of Impeachment trial resources, most recently in the January 8, 1998 Scout Report. However, there are several more helpful sites worth mentioning. PBS's Online NewsHour site offers informative resources, including a number of analyses, the text of trial documents and transcripts, and text and audio excerpts from the respected news program. A joint service of Policy.com and IntellectualCapital.com, the SenateVote.com Trial Update page features the latest news, testimony transcripts, and the text of key primary documents. The rather dramatically titled Los Angeles Times special report examines the "confluence of people, forces, and events" that brought the President, Congress, and the nation to this historic point. The site also includes an interactive timeline with links to archived articles, documents, and RealPlayer audio and video clips. CNN's AllPolitics site offers a selection of articles, text and video highlights of the deposition transcripts,and a roll-call of Senators' votes. Additional resources for understanding impeachment in general and Clinton's impeachment in particular can be found in the Scout Report Signpost, the Scout Report's database. These include a Bibliographic Guide to English and American Impeachment Precedence, the President's Trial Memorandum, and PollingReport.com, which offers the results of numerous recent impeachment-related public opinion polls. [MD]
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