The Scout Report - December 1, 2000

Scout Report for Social Sciences and Business & Economics
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/socsci/2000/ss-001128.html
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/bus-econ/2000/be-001130.html
The seventh issues of the fourth volumes of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics are available. The In the News section of the Social Sciences Report annotates seven resources on the Seattle newspaper strike. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section offers seven resources on the recent rash of dot-com layoffs. [MD]
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Draft Report: Independent Technical Review of the Carnivore System [.pdf]
http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/publications/carniv_entry.htm
Released last week by the Department of Justice, this draft report gives mixed marks to the FBI's Internet surveillance system known as Carnivore. While they found that the system does not "over-collect," the seven-member review board expressed concerns that it offers no safeguards against misuse and could potentially result in significant privacy violations, confirming fears of some privacy groups. The full text of the 121-page report is available at the DOJ site. [MD]
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XIII International AIDS Conference Abstracts
http://www.iac2000.org
XIII International AIDS Conference Homepage
http://www.aids2000.com/
The US National Library of Medicine (NLM) has recently placed online over 5,000 abstracts from the XIII International AIDS Conference held in Durban, South Africa, July 9-14, 2000. Users can search by abstract ID, author, title, or text. Unfortunately, the collection is not browseable. Search returns include checkboxes that allow visitors to select multiple abstracts and view them all at once. Users may also click on the titles to view individual abstracts. Each abstract includes author information, background, methods, results, conclusions, and detailed contact information for the presenter. Further information on the conference is still available at the official site. [MD]
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Mastering the Challenge -- Social Security Administration [.pdf]
http://www.ssa.gov/2000asp7.pdf
The Social Security Administration presents Mastering the Challenge, a 72-page strategic plan for the Social Security program from 2000 to 2010. According to the section "The Message of This Strategic Plan," the SSA's priorities over the next five years include a commitment to customer service; program integrity; and investing, data, and policy analysis. This customer-based plan highlights five basic goals: responsive programs, world-class service, valued employees, program integrity, and public understanding, all in careful detail. Geared towards the American people, this report very clearly explicates the SSA's goals and visions for the near future. [EM]
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Geostat: Geospatial and Statistical Data Center -- University of Virginia Library
http://fisher.lib.Virginia.EDU/
"Geostat supports a wide range of academic and scholarly activities through access to extensive collections of numeric and geospatial data files; computing facilities and software for data manipulation, research, and instruction; and a suite of Internet-accessible data extraction tools." The Website provides annotated listings of links to a wide variety of data sources, both graphic and statistical, as well as high-quality online instructional materials drawn from UVA classes and available to the general public in such disciplines as architecture, political science, sociology, and landscaping. Another excellent feature of the site is its links to UVA online projects that used Geostat resources, including Websites researching Virginia's domestic slave trade in the nineteenth century, the culture of Victorian London, the Virginia Project on the Economics of Higher Education, a visual re-creation of Salem, Massachusetts during the witchcraft trials of 1692, and others. Finally, we should also point out the site's current featured postings on Election 2000, offering an extensive array of links and data concerning the recent election. Such postings include electoral college maps, updated results from the Florida board of elections, links to electoral college history resources, and more. [DC]
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UNESCO Videobank
http://www2.unesco.org/videobank/indexe.htm
Recently unveiled by UNESCO, this database indexes "2,000 films and videos produced or co-produced by the Organisation and it also features various films deposited at UNESCO by its member states or by independent producers." The collection covers a wide range of subjects related to UNESCO's activities and indexes films produced between 1945 and 1999. Please note that the text of search returns is primarily in French, though a full English version is promised for the near future. Users may browse by theme, subject, country, or year, or enter keyword searches in English or French. Search returns include title, type of film or video, support, themes, subjects, country, a one-sentence description, year, and copyright holder. Information on how to request the use of films is provided at the site. [MD]
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Rediscovering New York History & Culture
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/services/programs/rediscovering/rediscoveringv2.htm
New York State Archives [.pdf]
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/
This new site from the New York State Archives is designed as a portal for users in search of historical records and New York state-specific resources. First off, the site offers access to the shared catalog of New York State Archives and the New York State Library, which indexes over 1,500 historical societies, libraries, museums, and archives. It also contains a list of historical records repositories in the state (via a clickable state map or simple list) as well as some nice collections of resources on specific topics (African Americans, Mental Health, Environment, etc.). Additional offerings include a collection of general finding aids, resources for teachers, and events listings, among others. The main page of the New York Archives also offers some full-text publications, teacher and student resources, records management information, a FAQ, and news. [MD]
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"Young People in Changing Societies" -- UNICEF [.pdf]
http://www.unicef-icdc.org/monee7/index.html
"Young Voices in Changing Societies"
http://www.unicef-icdc.org/monee7/youth/index.html
Released earlier this month, this report from UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre offers an initial comprehensive look at the first generation of youth to come to maturity since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Topics covered include health, education, employment, crime, and young adult participation in government. The report suggests numerous ways to improve the situation of young people across the region. Also on-site is "Young Voices in Changing Societies," a report based on "the views of young people gathered during focus group discussion and individual interviews in six transition countries: the Czech Republic, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan." The full text of both reports may be downloaded by chapter in .pdf format. The text of the main report is also available in Russian, and a summary may be downloaded in English, Russian, or Italian. [MD]
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Taiwan Studies Institute (TSI)
http://www.taiwanstudies.org/
Funded by the Makoto Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization based in Taipei, this site offers a nicely organized collection of resources on Taiwan, cross-Strait relations, and US policy in the region. These include recent news and op-ed pieces, white papers, legislative and other official documents from the US and UN, communiques, information related to President Chen Shui-bian, and Taiwanese documents. In addition, users will find the text of current and past issues of TSI's Taiwan Outlook, some background papers, and some basic facts and figures on Taiwan and US-Taiwan trade. An internal search engine is also provided. [MD]
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Education Statistics Quarterly -- NCES
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/quarterly/fall/
The National Center for Education Statistics's (NCES) quarterly publication offers a useful overview of all NCES products released each quarter (see our original review in the April 23, 1999 Scout Report). Organized by selected topic, short publications (under fifteen pages) are offered in their entirety, while summaries are provided for longer publications. Short descriptions of other NCES products and notices of training and funding opportunities are also included. Featured topics from the most recent issue include projections of education statistics, methodology, and elementary and secondary education. [MD]
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Picture Australia
http://www.pictureaustralia.org/index.html
Picture Australia is a cross-collection search tool for finding images from the National Library of Australia and half a dozen other institutions: the National Archives; Australian War Memorial; State Libraries of Victoria, New South Wales, and Tasmania; and the University of Queensland. Librarians and database designers will be interested to know that the cross-collection searching is achieved by using harvested Dublin Core metadata stored in a central index at the National Library, while the digital images remain at their home institutions. Other users will simply be happy to find so many images of Australia, covering a diversity of topics, so easily. There are three ways to approach Picture Australia: picture search, a simple keyword search, or advanced search, which allows users to select and combine Dublin Core elements. In addition, users can follow "trails" to view images culled from all contributing collections, organized around themes, such as Australians and the Olympics (449 images of Olympic history since 1956), Australian Artists (230 portraits of Australian artists), Realia (all kinds of objects from Australian museums, from scrimshaw to costume), or Australian Wildflowers (botanical drawings, photographs, and a few botanists). Images1, the online pictorial collections of the National Library of Australia (reviewed in the October 15, 1999 Scout Report_), is one of the collections that is searched via Picture Australia. [DS]
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Unwrapped: The Mysterious World of Mummies [Flash, RealPlayer, IE 5.0+, Netscape 4.5+]
http://www.discovery.com/highspeed/tlc/mummies/content.html
Designed exclusively for a broadband audience, this new site from Discovery.com and Second Story combines animation, text, audio commentary, video, and music to tell the stories of some famous mummies. In all, eleven different mummies are explored in four collections of animated and interactive narratives: Finding, Unraveling, Making, and Listening. Special features include interactive tours of unwrapping and making a mummy (the latter features a video of a modern mummy-making experiment) and a 3-D tour of a pharoah's tomb (this last option did not work so well on our visits). Simply put, this is just a really neat site that actually makes good on its promise of maximizing the storytelling potential of interactive media. [MD]
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The Gutenberg Bible: Digitised Images
http://prodigi.bl.uk/gutenbg/default.asp
The British Library has announced the online release of digital facsimiles of the two copies of the Gutenberg Bible in the library's possession, the paper King's Library copy and the vellum Grenville copy. Visitors can browse either or both copies side-by-side by selecting a Book of the Bible from the search page. Users are presented with a collection of thumbnails which link to an enlarged image and then finally a very large readable image. While this site is not quite as feature-rich as the Goettingen Gutenberg Bible (reviewed in the June 30, 2000 Scout Report), these are lovely copies, and the British Library is to be thanked for making them available to the world. [MD]
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Yad Vashem [.pdf]
http://www.yadvashem.org.il/
Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial and archive, has recently relaunched its official Website. At the site, users will find information on Yad Vashem and its mission and activities as well as its library and archives (including a listing of record groups), and other services. In addition, the site hosts a revolving collection of special features, online exhibitions, full-text publications and teaching materials, and a list of publications available for purchase. Also at the site are a partial list of the Righteous Among Nations, information on remembrance, and the Yad Vashem online magazine. [MD]
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Finding Precedent: Hayes vs. Tilden; The Electoral College Controversy of 1876-1877
http://elections.harpweek.com/controversy.htm
This new site from Harpweek explores the Electoral College controversy of 1876-1877. Long forgotten except by scholars, this episode in American history has, of course, taken on new resonance over the past few weeks. At the site, visitors can read a fairly-detailed overview, browse 23 annotated cartoons and illustrations (most from Harper's Weekly), read biographies of the major figures, and read a day-by-day account of the events. Compact but detailed, this site is an outstanding online learning resource that will appeal to a wide cross-section of users. [MD]
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Mexico: From Empire to Revolution [Flash]
http://www.getty.edu/gri/digital/mexico/
This new site is the first of a two-part project based on two consecutive exhibitions at the Getty Research Institute. This first installment features a collection of nineteenth-century photos that juxtaposes images of ruined ancient empires with images that chronicle France's failed attempt to construct an empire in Mexico in the 1860s. The 75 images are organized in three chronological categories and browsed by thumbnail. Each includes a caption and link to a full-sized image in a separate browser window. The images are also browseable by themes (people, events, sites, objects). An illustrated chronology, information on the photographers, and some brief background information round out the site. At present, only the Flash-enhanced version of the site is available, but a plain HTML version is in the works. [MD]
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Fifty Years of Coca-Cola Television Advertisements: Highlights from the Motion Picture Archives at the Library of Congress [RealPlayer, QuickTime, MPEG]
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ccmphtml/colahome.html
The latest addition to the American Memory Project is a preview of a recent donation by the Coca-Cola Company, the largest gift of corporate archives in the history of the Library of Congress (LOC). Coke has donated its entire collection of historic television commercials, over 20,000 ads spanning 50 years, to the LOC. This preview of the new collection includes some of the most famous Coke commercials (Mean Joe Greene, "I'd Like to Buy the world a Coke," the first Polar Bear commercial), as well as outtakes and experimental footage. Visitors can search for video selections by keyword or browse by title. Direct links to the highlights are offered on the main page. Videos are available in RealPlayer, QuickTime, and MPEG formats. Special presentations on the site include a timeline of Coke advertising themes, a brief history of television advertising, the story of the "Hilltop" commercial, and a biography of Coke's inventor. [MD]
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Google Toolbar (Beta) [Windows, IE 5.0+]
http://services.google.com/navclient/welcome.html
This new browser add-on from Google allows Windows users with IE 5.0 or later to add a handy Google Toolbar. The Toolbar gives users instant access to Google searches and the Google Web Directory, allowing them to search the sites they are visiting, move up levels on the site they are visiting, highlight and find words, generate a list of sites linking to the current page, and use Google's Page Rank. Users should be aware that enabling the last option will submit information on the sites they visit to Google, though the company states that it only collects URLs, not user names. Those who wish to protect their privacy can download a version of the Toolbar without the Page Rank option or disable the option on the full version. The Scout Project did run into some problems using the Toolbar, but we ran it on an older version of IE 5.0, which has some known problems. The most serious difficulties we encountered were the unavailability of many advanced options (page search, page rank, highlight, etc.) despite re-installing the software and multiple attempts to adjust and customize the Toolbar. Still, this is the Beta version, and it is an excellent idea so users are encouraged to give the Toolbar a spin and report any problems to Google so they can be addressed in the final version. [MD]
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Pandia Newsfinder
http://www.pandia.com/news/index.html
Pandia (reviewed in the February 18, 2000 Scout Report) has recently launched a new service, NewsFinder. Like the main Pandia site, NewsFinder brings together a large number of resources, but all of these are related to news. The site contains a keyword search engine that links to stories from a number of major news sources as well as a browseable directory of lead stories grouped by topic under six categories: Main Headlines, Internet, Business, Life, Sports, and Technology. From the site, users can also access weather reports, stock quotes, the homepages of selected newspapers and news providers, and select search engines. As with the main site, experienced users may have a number of these resources already bookmarked, but all will benefit from having this nice cross-section of news resources accessible from a single point. [MD]
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Northern Light Special Edition: Computer Viruses
http://special.northernlight.com/compvirus/
The latest special edition from Northern Light brings together a handy collection of resources on computer viruses, primarily news items and links to related sites. These are grouped in six sections, including current news, US government resources, online reference, anti-virus solutions, and virus writers & hackers. Each section begins with a link to related search returns from Northern Light. While this page is certainly not the end-all resource for virus information, it is a perfectly fine place to begin your search. [MD]
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The End of One-Party Rule in Mexico
"Mexico's Fox to take office" -- BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1049000/1049493.stm
Mexico In Transition -- San Diego Union Tribune
http://www.uniontrib.com/news/mexico/index.html
"Mexico ushers in new era of hope with Fox presidency" -- Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/extra/
"Hopes Soar as Mexico Turns a Page" -- New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/01/world/01MEXI.html
"Rebel Steals Mexican's Spotlight" -- Washington Post
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6909-2000Nov30.html
"Fox inauguration to mark historic firsts for Mexico" -- CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/11/30/mexico.fox/index.html
Presidency of the Republic of Mexico
http://world.presidencia.gob.mx/pages/frames/f_government.html
Vicente Fox Homepage
http://www.amigosfox.org.mx/
National Action Party (PAN)
http://www.pan.org.mx/
Mexican President-elect Vicente Fox will be sworn in today, ending the oldest surviving one-party system in modern history. Backed by his center-right National Action Party (PAN), Fox was elected president on July 2, promising change and reform after seven decades of dominance by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The present mood in Mexico is very optimistic, but Fox will be pressured to deliver on his promises rather quickly lest cynicism over Mexican politicians return. The new president's goals include reform of the education system, more jobs and public safety, social justice, political stability, and an honest government. In addition to the normal obstacles facing any new national government, Fox must also deal with the Chiapas conflict and the National Zapatista Liberation Army (EZLN). In 1998, Fox boasted that he could secure peace in the region in fifteen minutes, and now he will have to make good on his words.

The BBC's coverage includes a profile of Fox and some related articles and sites. Additional coverage is provided by the San Diego Union Tribune,Dallas Morning News,New York Times (free registration required), Washington Post, and CNN. More information is available at the official site of the Presidency of Mexico, Fox's own site, and the homepage for his PAN party. [MD]
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Susan Calcari Rachael Bower Travis Koplow Michael de Nie David Charbonneau Aimee D. Glassel Emily Missner Laura X. Payne Debra Shapiro Scott Watkins Ed Almasy Hilary C. Sanders Andy Yaco-Mink Manoj Ananthapadmanabhan Pat Coulthard

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