The Scout Report - July 14, 2000

Scout Report for Social Sciences and Business & Economics
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/socsci/2000/ss-000711.html
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/bus-econ/2000/be-000713.html
The twenty-first issues of the third 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 thirteenth annual International Conference on AIDS, being held this week in Durban, South Africa. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section offers eight resources on recent cutbacks and shakedowns in e-businesses. [MD]
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Asian Film Connections [QuickTime]
http://www.asianfilms.org/netpac/
A collaborative effort hosted by the Asia Pacific Media Center (APMC) at the University of Southern California's Annenberg Center for Communication, this attractive and content-rich site is an excellent resource for students and aficionados of recent Asian filmmaking. At the site, visitors will find lists of all films made in China, India, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan since 1988, including information such as synopses, filmmakers, cast, length, format, and availability of prints. Sections for each of the countries will also include a general introduction with multiple essays and background, detailed information and video clips for eight to fifteen highlighted films and directors (most include only one of each at present), a list of all internationally awarded films since 1988, and links to course syllabi and other resources for developing educational curriculum on the respective country's film and culture. The site is available in English, Chinese, or Korean, with a Japanese version under development. [MD]
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FindArticles.com
http://www.findarticles.com/PI/index.jhtml
This new service is a partnership between LookSmart and the Gale Group, a publisher of research and reference materials for libraries, businesses, and information technologists. The site offers free access to the full-text of articles published in over 350 magazines and journals dating from 1998. Users can search the database by keyword and by one of the nine subject categories (Arts & Entertainment, Computers & Technology, Reference & Education, Sports, etc.). Search returns include article title, periodical, and short description, with a link to the full-text, which is conveniently and quickly displayed at the FindArticles site, though with numerous advertising banners. Visitors can also view a list of the publications indexed, alphabetically or by subject. Periodical listings include a one-sentence description and a link to their Website. Despite the banners and other commercial content (the bills must be paid, after all) this site is a very useful reference source, indexing many leading journals and magazines. [MD]
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"Highlights of Women's Earnings in 1999" [.pdf]
http://stats.bls.gov/pdf/cpswom99.pdf
In 1999, median, weekly earnings of male, full-time wage and salary workers were $618, while female, full-time wage and salary workers earned only $473, approximately 23 percent less. Data from this report come from the Current Population Survey, a monthly survey of the US Census Bureau, and represent nearly 50,000 US households. The main body of the report contains eighteen data tables, including "Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, 1999 annual averages," "Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by occupation and sex, 1983 and 1999 annual averages," and "Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by sex, marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18 years old, 1999 averages." The report also contains several pages of highlighted findings, in a browseable, bulleted format. [EM]
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Oncology Tools [.pdf]
http://www.fda.gov/cder/cancer/
Announced on July 7, this new site from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research offers information related to cancer and approved cancer drug therapies for consumers, patients, and health care professionals. The site has five principal sections. The first, Approved Oncology Drugs, offers a list of approved oncology drugs with approved indications, sorted by drug name, trade name, or manufacturer. From the page that lists the drugs, users can access approval summaries, product labels, and sponsor portfolios (please note that these data are not yet complete). Within the section, users can also find out what specific drugs are used for or find drugs by disease. Planned additions include a "searchable index of product package inserts (labels) by section and searchable index of clinical trials that were used to support approval." The second section of the site, Disease Summaries, links to a host of information on specific cancers and an oncology dictionary, while the Regulatory Tools section offers a wide selection of resources related to the FDA approval process. The other two main sections, Oncology Reference Tools and Patient Liaison Program, cover assessment tools for staging, performance status, toxicity, and dosing; and information about FDA patient programs and other resources, including a listing of clinical trials, respectively. [MD]
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New Search Area for the NCES WebSite
http://nces.ed.gov/search/search.html
Unveiled on July 6, this new area simplifies searches at the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Website. The page features a site-wide keyword search engine and four targeted search tools. The first of these, the Electronic Catalog, helps users find NCES publications and data products, with several search methods, and related information, including a listing of the most popular NCES reports. The Global Education Locator features four keyword search engines: On-Line, National Public School/ District Locator, Public Library Locator, and Private School Locator. The third tool, NCES Fast Facts, offers a collection of in-depth answers to selected education questions, browseable by a subject list, as well a daily "Did You Know" fact and searchable archives of the "Inside the Stats" feature, both of which link to the source documentation. Finally, the NCES Staff Directory allows users to "locate all NCES staff members alphabetically or select one of several options to search staff via their survey/ program area, topic of expertise, or service area." [MD]
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The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
http://ech.cwru.edu/Default.html
Sponsored jointly by Case Western Reserve University and the Western Reserve Historical Society, this excellent online text offers hundreds of articles on the history of Cleveland. There are two categories of articles in the Encyclopedia, general entries -- short articles of 200 to 500 words -- and interpretive essays -- "longer articles of 500 to 4000 words that explore major topics in local history." Both feature numerous hypertext links to related entries as well as photographic images that can be expanded to full screen. (These images may also be examined in a separate gallery on-site.) The encyclopedia features an alphabetical as well as a subject index and can be searched by title, text, and subject. A Reader's Guide and a bicentennial timeline of Cleveland history are also offered as supplementary text. New articles are added on a regular basis. [DC]
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Polish Archival Collections
http://home.att.net/~piasa/archive.html
The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA) Homepage
http://home.att.net/~piasa/welcome.html
A joint project of The Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America (PIASA), the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, and the Head Office of State Archives in Warsaw, this metasite is very useful for researchers and others interested in locating special collections, libraries, and archives related to Poland, and Polonia institutions in the USA. The Polish Archival collections in the USA and Canada section offers contact information, descriptions of Polish archival holdings, and a link to over 45 institutions. The Polish Archives via the Internet section includes the same information and links to 35 archives in Poland. Rounding out the site are links to other online catalogs and archive listings and information on preserving archival materials. [MD]
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Nuclear Files Archive
http://www.nuclearfiles.org/
A project of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, this site offers a wealth of materials concerning nuclear weapons and nuclear war, including links to the full text of numerous important documents and treaties. Site contents include a wide variety of articles on various nuclear issues, links to data and graphs, a photo gallery, links to images of nuclear sites, teacher resources, a glossary, and related links. Of special interest is a side-by-side comparison of the first and final drafts of the exhibit script for the National Air and Space Museum exhibit that was planned but cancelled: The Last Act: The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II. Numerous links are provided throughout the site to related online and print publications and other resources. While not the most attractive site and downright cluttered in some areas, the Nuclear Files Archive offers a good deal of information for users who don't mind digging around a bit. [MD]
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lexisONE [.pdf, Word, WordPerfect, Flash 4, HotDoc]
http://www.lexisone.com/
This impressive new free online legal resource, aimed at individual attorneys and small firms, was launched on July 6 by Lexis Publishing. The site is composed of three principal sections: Free Case Law, Free Forms, and Legal Internet Guide. The first contains searchable databases of full-text state and federal decisions (state supreme court and federal circuit cases from January 1, 1996, all Supreme Court cases from 1790). The second section offers over 1,400 free, up-to-date legal forms, organized alphabetically by topic. The forms may be available in several formats, including .pdf, Word, WordPerfect, and HotDocs; Flash tutorials on filling in the forms are also posted in some instances. The third area of the site features an amazing 16,000 (mostly) annotated legal links, organized in 24 categories. A site index and FAQ are also provided. Please note that users must first register to access the case law and legal forms. Easy to navigate and well-pedigreed, this site will be warmly welcomed by attorneys and legal librarians. [MD]
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"Progress of Nations 2000" -- UNICEF [.pdf, RealPlayer]
http://www.unicef.org/pon00/
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) has once again posted its annual report, "The Progress of Nations," online. This year's report places special focus on HIV/AIDS, immunization, early childhood care, and "lost children." The report is posted in HTML and .pdf formats with a number of statistical profiles. Three RealPlayer videos are also available. [MD]
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Newfoundland and the Great War [RealPlayer]
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/great_war/
From the Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage Web Project, this site is a good example of how to use the Web to showcase primary source materials that document the participation of a region or group in a major historical event, in this case, Newfoundland's participation in World War I. The site has four major sections based on material type, so that users can read articles, look at pictures or videos, or listen to audio clips. Some highlights are a virtual scrapbook of images, marches and ballads played by the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Band, and video clips from the film "For the Folks Back Home" featuring archival footage from the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador. [DS]
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OnlineNewspapers.com
http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/
Created and maintained by Web Wombat, this metasite claims to index 10,000 online newspapers from around the world. These are offered by country (or province/state) in pull-down menus. For each country or state/province, newspaper titles are listed with links to the respective homepages. Throughout the site, users are invited to submit newspapers not listed. Though the pages for some listings are very slow to load, the site as a whole is a solid reference resource for a variety of users. [MD]
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How Race is Lived in America: "Guarding the Borders of the Hip-Hop Nation" -- New York Times Special Series
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/race/070600kleinfield-hiphop.html
Last Thursday, The New York Times published in print and online its twelfth installment in an ongoing report on race relations in America. This latest installment examines the culture of hip-hop through the story of one particularly sincere and knowledgeable white aficionado who has gained an unusual measure of credibility with many black performers and critics. The story explores the tensions inherent in a music created by African-Americans primarily for African-Americans, but which is financed by white-owned corporations and, some argue, co-opted by white, middle-class young men. Like the other eleven installments -- which deal with race in such areas as religion, the army, politics, education, childhood friendship, family, and more -- the article is unusual for its nuanced and affecting presentation of racial tensions in America. [DC]
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Jargon Scout
http://tbtf.com/jargon-scout.html
Tasty Bits from the Technology Front (TBTF)
http://tbtf.com/
Edited and published by Keith Dawson, Jargon Scout is an irregular feature of TBTF "that aims to give you advance warning -- preferably before Wired Magazine picks it up -- of jargon that is just about ready to hatch into the Net's language." At the Jargon site, visitors will find definitions and etymology for a number Internet or technology-related words. For instance, "emailingering," "innocent by-sender," and "dog-food (verb)"; the last originates from internal Microsoft jargon and is "established to mean that software developers should actually use the products they develop" (e.g., eat our own dog-food). Visitors are also invited to participate in inventing new jargon, especially in the "jargonated job titles" section. TBTF, the host of the site, is a free email newsletter which focuses on new developments in computer and communications technology, although the most recent issue seems to be from April of this year. More timely is the TBTF Log, a fairly typical technology-focused Weblog that appears to be regularly (about once per week) updated. [MD]
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Stain Removal Guide
http://www.chemistry.co.nz/stain_frame.htm
Recently retired from "the most successful contract manufacturing Detergent and Sanitiser company in New Zealand," Allan Campbell, PhC MPS, has decided to share his knowledge of detergent chemistry with the world. And what better source for fabric stain tips than a chemist? Visitors can browse the guide, which covers everything from acids to wood saps (including cod liver oil, soy sauce, and chutney), via a frame on the left-hand side of their browsers, Removal tips are listed on the right. A handy site, especially for users facing an ever-spiralling variety of stains in their youngsters's frocks. [MD]
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Internet Explorer 5.5 [Windows 95/98/2000/NT]
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/
Download Page
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/download/ie55.htm
On July 12, Microsoft announced the release of version 5.5 of its Internet Explorer (IE) browser, which will ship with the next version of Microsoft's OS, Windows Me, this fall. The newest version features improved support for Cascading Style Sheets 1 (CSS), Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL), and Microsoft's dynamic HTML (DHTML). A print preview option is also included. Users can download IE 5.5 at the Microsoft site. [MD]
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lastminutesearch.com
http://www.lastminutesearch.com/
lastminutenews.com
http://www.lastminutenews.com/
This search portal, which links to over 1,000 search engines in 130 countries, is based on a "twoclickaway" system that gets users to search results in, you guessed it, two clicks. Visitors begin by selecting a country from the pull-down menu, and they can then either conduct a keyword search in a country-specific engine selected by lastminutesearch.com or select a different engine from a pull-down menu; either choice launches a new browser window. Lastminutenews.com works on a similar principle, allowing users to select a country and city via pull-down menus and then offering the newspaper's homepage in a new window. Cities with multiple newspapers indexed have a third menu. As with many other search portals, lastminutesearch.com offers a number of other value-added features, including an .mp3 search engine that indexes "legal sites" (at least one of which launched an absolutely horrifying number of unwanted pop-ups and extra windows), a dialogue search engine (Beta), and links to various news sources. While I cannot recommend the site unreservedly, users who often use country-specific search engines will want to give it a spin. [MD]
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Promising New Developments in Fight Against Alzheimer's
"Experimental Therapeutic Shows Promise for People with Moderately Severe to Severe Alzheimer's Disease"
http://www.alzheimer2000.org/news/pr000712.htm
"Scientists Announce Initial Results of Alzheimer Vaccine Treatment in Humans"
http://www.alzheimer2000.org/news/pr000711.htm
World Alzheimer Congress 2000 [RealPlayer, Windows Media Player]
http://www.alzheimer2000.org/
"Alzheimer's Vaccine Study Promising" -- Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23587-2000Jul11.html
"Alzheimer's Vaccine Appears Safe in 1st Human Tests" -- Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/asection/20000712/t000065499.html
"New Alzheimer's drug seems to slow disease progression, research shows" -- CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/aging/07/12/alzheimers.drug/index.html
Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center -- NIA
http://www.alzheimers.org/
Alzheimer's Disease: Unraveling the Mystery -- NIA
http://www.alzheimers.org/unravel.html
Alzheimer's Association
http://www.alz.org/
Alzheimer's -- ODP
http://dmoz.org/Health/Conditions_and_Diseases/Neurological_Disorders/Alzheimer's/
This week, two significant announcements were made at the World Alzheimer Congress, a gathering of more than 3,000 experts in Washington, D.C. On July 11, scientists at Elan Pharmaceuticals reported that a vaccine that reverses some of the effects of Alzheimer's has cleared its first test in humans. Since the first observation by Dr. Alois Alzheimer in 1906, researchers have long noted the presence of many beta amyloid plaques in the brain tissue of people who had died from Alzheimer's, though the exact cause of the disease remains unknown. This new vaccine works to clear these plaques out of the brain and prevent them from forming. Provided further clinical trials are successful, Elan hopes to begin mass marketing the vaccine within four to seven years. The day after this announcement, researchers from the New York University School of Medicine reported findings that suggest "memantine, a drug that acts on a key central nervous system receptor, may help slow the progression of moderately severe to severe Alzheimer's disease." This is the first drug developed to date for these patients, who account for about one-third of all Alzheimer's sufferers. Memantine, researchers believe, works on the area of the brain that has to do with thinking and memory. Though currently available in Germany for dementia patients, further testing is required before Memantine can be approved for widespread use in the US.

To learn more about these new developments and Alzheimer's disease in general, readers should begin with the relevant press releases and main site of the World Alzheimer Congress 2000. The latter includes news briefings and fact sheets, archived and live Webcasts, a program, and more. Stories on the new vaccine have been posted by the Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, while CNN offers a piece on Memantine. The National Institute on Aging's (NIA) ADEAR site contains numerous resources, including publications, research updates, a bibliographic database, and a clinical trials database, among others. The recent NIA booklet Alzheimer's Disease: Unraveling the Mystery offers a more in-depth explanation of the disease and treatments. The Alzheimer's Association site also features a number of resources, including information for patients, their families, and caregivers; information for physicians and researchers; and a news room. Finally, the Open Directory Project's Alzheimer's entry offers over 100 user-selected links related to the disease. [MD]
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