Biological Warfare Defense Vaccine Research & Development Programs [.pdf]
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/ReportonBiologicalWarfareDefenseVaccineRDPrgras-July2001.pdf
This 190-page .pdf document, dated July 2001 but released online September 7, 2001 by the US Department of Defense (DoD), gives the latest status of biological warfare defense vaccine development. The DoD assembled a panel of experts in the scientific, regulatory, and industrial aspects of vaccine production and in federal procurement to review the topic. They concluded that the scope and complexity of the DoD biological warfare defense vaccine requirements were too great for either the DoD or the pharmaceutical industry to accomplish alone. The first part of this online report is an executive summary from the DoD, followed by the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2001, and finally the independent panel's full report, Department of Defense Acquisition of Vaccine Production, of December 2000. Sections of the dense, 167-page report include financial and personnel resource requirements, policies, findings, and recommendations. [HCS]
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IRIS (Industrial Research and Development Information System) -- NSF [MS Word, Excel]
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/iris/start.htm
The National Science Foundation's Industrial Research and Development Information System (IRIS) houses a database of all of the statistics produced and published from the 1953-1998 cycles of the annual Survey of Industrial Research and Development (R&D). The statistics would be useful to workers in economics or anyone interested in learning about how funds are allocated among research areas. NSF states that the results of the survey are used by government agencies, corporations, and research organizations to determine productivity factors, formulate tax policy, and to investigate company performance. The statistics available in IRIS describe national estimates of the total expenditures on R&D performed within the United States by industrial firms, given in dollar amounts. Tabulations from the survey contain R&D statistics by industry, size of company, source of funds, character of R&D, R&D as a percentage of net sales, and R&D contracted to outside organizations and performed outside of the United States. They also contain estimates of the sales and total employment of R&D-performing companies, employment of R&D scientists and engineers, and statistics by state. Users have a variety of options for searching and browsing the Excel tables and Word documentation in IRIS -- by year, topic, or by measure -- and the resulting tables can display all years combined or just selected years. [HCS]
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Online Directory of ESL Resources
http://www.cal.org/ericcll/ncbe/esldirectory
A boon to teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL), this database of ESL-related educational resources comes from the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics, with funding from the US Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs (OBEMLA) and Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). The database can be searched by entering a keyword or using the hypertext index provided. Index categories are Most Popular, Curriculum and Instruction, and Resource Types. The About page contains helpful information about what is in the database and how best to search. If you are a teacher of ESL and you are looking for lesson plan ideas, English language clubs, conference listings funding opportunities, and more, you must check out this Website. [HCS]
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Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project [.pdf]
http://www.stimson.org/cbw/?SN=CB2001112951
A project of the Henry L. Stimson Center, the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project was launched by Senior Associate, Amy E. Smithson in 1993. The project aims to serve as an "information clearinghouse, watchdog, and problem-solver regarding chemical and biological weapons issues." As such, the site offers a number of resources including information on how much the government is spending on anti-terrorism, how to protect oneself against chemical and biological terrorism, and nonproliferation efforts internationally. The site offers text of legislation, articles, maps of selected countries (especially the United States, Russia, and Iraq), and much more. This should be a very valuable site for both researchers and general readers looking for background material on chemical and biological weapons, their production, and efforts to reduce their threats. [TK]
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Attributes of a Trusted Digital Repository: Meeting the Needs of Research Resources [.pdf]
http://www.rlg.org/longterm/attributes01.pdf
In March 2000, Research Libraries Group and OCLC formed a collaboration to establish attributes of digital repositories for research institutions. These organizations sought to build on the work of the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model and the 1996 report Preserving Digital Information: Report of the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information (discussed in the June 14, 1996 Scout Report). The current 52-page report attempts to codify understanding of the issues amongst the concerned community (libraries, archives, historical societies, archivists, digital librarians, computer scientists, and the like) and further develop practical, structured approaches toward resolving problems of technology and administration as well as trust and confidence. This report (for public comment) will interest anyone concerned with the future direction of the burgeoning digital record of our culture and the new roles traditional institutions play. [DJS]
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Two New NAP offerings:
Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends...and Pseudoscience Begins
http://search.nap.edu/books/030907309X/html/
Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10139.html
These two new National Academy Press (NAP) publications should be of interest to a number of our readers. The first takes readers on "a tour of the most notorious instances of pseudoscience and sets the record straight." Ranging through discussions of UFOs, astrology, creationism, ESP, and out-of-body experiences, the book argues for the scientific method and attempts to sort out the differences between "science" and "pseudoscience." The second title, Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions, a short, new report by a committee of the National Research Council, takes a look at global warming trends in the last century. The report predicts a temperature increase of 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius) over the next 100 years but emphasizes the uncertainty of predictions and the degree to which human factors have played a role in warming trends. [TK]
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Two New FDA Websites:
Drug Shortages
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/shortages/
Human Drug Advisory Committees [.pdf]
http://www.fda.gov/cder/audiences/acspage/index.htm
The FDA has just announced two new Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Websites: Human Drug Advisory Committees and Drug Shortages (the CDER was last mentioned in the July 14, 2000 Scout Report). Both sites should be useful to health care professionals. The first features a list of drugs that are in short supply as well as reasons why they are scarce and advice on how to obtain them. The second site overviews FDA advisory committees' discussions about drugs submitted for approval (including selected transcripts), and supplies briefing documents, notice of upcoming committee meetings, and information on nominating members to advisory committees. [TK]
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New Additions to ERIC Digests Database
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/2001-9-17.html
ERIC Digests Index Page
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/index/
The latest update to the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Digests database (last described in the June 29, 2001 Scout Report) features 28 full-text, short reports aimed at education professionals and the broader education community. Each report includes an overview of an education topic of current interest and offers references for further information. Sample titles include "Newer Technologies for School Security," "Violence in Audio-Visual Media: How Educators Can Respond," and "Civic Knowledge and Engagement at Age 14 in 28 Countries: Results from the IEA Civic Education Study." Users can search the entire ERIC Digests database from the index page. ERIC, part of the National Library of Education (NLE), is a nationwide education information system sponsored by the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI). [TK]
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Two from the Bureau of Labor Statistics [.pdf]
Report on the American Workforce, 2001
http://www.bls.gov/opub/rtaw/rtawhome.htm
National Compensation Survey
http://www.bls.gov/comhome.htm
Full Report
http://www.bls.gov/special.requests/ocwc/oclt/ncsocs/ncs/ncbl0343.pdf
Summary
http://www.bls.gov/special.requests/ocwc/oclt/ncsocs/ncs/ncbl0354.pdf
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently posted two new publications online, with sections downloadable as .pdf files. The first publication from BLS, called Report on the American Workforce, chronicles key events for American workers during the 20th century. This report is information-rich and interesting. Chapter one covers important changes in the demographics of the workforce due to internal migration and immigration. Chapter two follows the evolution of compensation practices, while Chapter three discusses the structural evolution of the economy and development of occupational and industrial classification systems. The report concludes from statistics that the American workforce was much better off at the end of the 20th century than at the beginning. The previous Report on the American Workforce, from 1999, was reviewed in the November 16, 1999 Scout Report for Social Science and Humanities. The second release, the National Compensation Survey, is a redesign of BLS' compensation statistics to reflect the workplace of the 21st century. From the main page, users can access the full .pdf-format text of the survey results as well as a summary, and a wealth of other related sites and documents. [HCS]
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CIA World Factbook 2001 [.pdf, .zip]
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
The US Central Intelligence Agency last week released the 2001 version of its annual reference book the CIA World Factbook (last year's factbook is discussed in the September 1, 2000 Scout Report). The data, which are current as of January 1, 2001 in most cases, cover 266 countries as well as the "world," a category that summarizes the data overall. For each country, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, the Factbook gives information on geography, populations, economies, communications infrastructures, and armed forces. New information subcategories include currency code, HIV/AIDS, Internet users, and Internet Country Code. In addition to accessing information via country, users can browse by field and category, which is an easy way to compare statistics across countries. Note that individual country maps are being revised and that the Background category has not been completed for all countries. [TK]
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Evolution -- PBS [Shockwave, QuickTime, RealPlayer]
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/
As a companion to the seven-part, eight-hour television series, PBS's Website offers an in-depth look at the history and complexities of evolution. From Darwin's Origin of Species to the role of religion, this site explores the topic in vivid detail. All interested will discover excellent information, but K-12 teachers will find the Teachers & Students section especially valuable. Here, resources on methods of teaching and understanding evolution are provided in online courses and guides. The site features a number of multimedia elements, film clips and interactive displays, and surfers with older computers and slow modems will want to choose the low bandwidth options when they are available. [JAB]
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Second Early Release of Selected Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey [.pdf]
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nhis/earlyrelease2000.htm
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has released eleven estimates of selected health measures for the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), prior to the final data editing and weighting, to speed access to the latest information. This release includes four new measures (lack of health insurance coverage, pneumococcal vaccination, obesity, and participation in leisure time physical activities) and seven updated measures (among them, current smoking, HIV testing, and alcohol consumption). Data for each of the eleven measures can be downloaded separately as .pdf files or together in one 61-page file. Graphs show NHIS results from 1997 to the first quarter of 2001, as well as 2000 estimates by gender, age group, and race/ ethnicity. [TK]
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Two from National Geographic
Earthpulse [RealPlayer]
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/
Eye in the Sky [RealPlayer, Windows Media Player]
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/eye/
National Geographic magazine, long known for its educational maps and writing that is easily understood by a variety of readers, has added two new features to its Website. The first, Earthpulse, sponsored by Ford Motors, covers environmental conservation issues with features that change monthly. This month, readers can learn more about "humans and habitats," with an article on the state of the Penan culture of the rainforest in Borneo, a map of the most endangered regions of the globe, and an audio cast from the Arctic about the Gwich'in peoples and caribou migrations (RealAudio). Other resources available from Earthpulse include lesson plans and links to previous months' features. The second new online resource from National Geographic, sponsored by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), is called Eye in the Sky, and it showcases what we can learn about our planet using satellites. Here, users can read about the history of satellites and remote-sensing technology and choose from a menu of brief lessons on natural disasters, human impacts on Earth, human conflicts, and exploration of Mars. Each lesson page gives photographs, facts, and short movies (RealPlayer or Windows Media Player). The title "Eye in the Sky" is slightly misleading because most of the images featured are taken at ground-level, and it isn't always clear how some of the lessons fit with the idea of remote sensing. Nevertheless, the site is worth a look, and a few satellite images (of floodplains and the ozone hole, for example) pepper the material here. [HCS]
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America's Crisis: Asian Perspectives -- AsiaSource
http://www.asiasource.org/americacrisis/
AsiaSource (originally reviewed in the September 3, 1999 Scout Report) provides an Asian perspective on the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. The site contains information on the attacks and how they have and will affect Asia's peoples and governments. It also provides links on the suspected terrorists' groups, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the religion of Islam, reference maps of the area, and much more. [JAB]
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Meeting God
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/meeting_god/index.html
The American Museum of Natural History's new online exhibit Meeting God, Elements of Hindu Devotion is on display from September 8, 2001 until February 24, 2002, and this Website offers a companion to the installation. The exhibit explores the religious elements of devotion including prayer methods and rituals in Hindu homes, communities, and temples. The site contains straightforward information and appealing photographs of artifacts that help make it an excellent resource for those interested in the fundamentals of Hindu traditions. [JAB]
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User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [.gzip, PostScript, .tar, .pdf]
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/CR-UAAG10-20010912/
The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) User Agent Accessibility Guidelines, part of their Web Accessibility Initiative, address how to design user agents such as Web browsers that make the Web more accessible for people with disabilities. The guidelines focus on the accessibility of interfaces and internal facilities as well as communication with other technologies. These September 12, 2001 guidelines have "candidate recommendation" status, which means that W3C considers them stable and is encouraging the development community to adopt them. Nonetheless, users should note that other documents may supercede this one in the process the guidelines go through to become Proposed Recommendations. [TK]
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ITpapers [.pdf]
http://itpapers.com/
Brought to the Web by The Applied Technologies Group, Inc. (ATG), ITpapers offers users access to more than 23,000 white papers and other documents related to information technology. Holdings here are divided into ten categories, including Corporate Computing, Internet, Software, Hardware, Security, and more. The several layers of subcategories and the summaries of documents make this a very useful site for users searching for information on any aspect of information technology. In addition to browsing, ITpapers can be searched by keyword. Users must register to view content, but the site assures that information is kept confidential. Interested users can sign up to receive a newsletter informing them of new additions in their areas of interest. [TK]
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Liberty versus Safety
"Bush Law-Enforcement Plan Troubles Both Right and Left" -- New York Times [free registration required]
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/28/national/28RIGH.html
Attorney General Ashcroft Outlines Mobilization against Terrorism Act -- US DOJ
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2001/September/492ag.htm
Attorney General Ashcroft's Draft Anti-Terrorism Package (Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001) Section-by-Section Analysis
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200109/092001.html
Summary of Chairman Leahy's Uniting and Strengthening of America (USA) Act
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200109/091901.html
After the attack: Privacy vs. security -- ZDNet
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/specialreport/0,12737,6021498,00.html
"Arab Americans caught in profile snare: Detained, denied boarding or kicked off planes for looking Middle Eastern" -- San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/09/28/MN199103.DTL
"In Patriotic Time, Dissent Is Muted" -- New York Times [free registration required]
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/28/business/media/28TUBE.html
"Requests for Student Information Stir Concern" -- Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37857-2001Sep27.html
"Why Liberty Suffers in War Time" -- WiredNews
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,47051,00.html
Wartimeliberty.com
http://www.wartimeliberty.com/
Many of the nation's lawmakers are concerned this week with how to square national security measures with civil liberties. Attorney General John Ashcroft has asked Congress to quickly pass legislation granting broad powers to the administration, including the ability to indefinitely detain those considered a threat to security, greater discretion in surveillance, and more power to seize people's assets, among other provisions. Senators and Representatives on both the left and the right are debating the proposal, many expressing no small amount of concern over the potential abridgment of citizens' rights that the legislation represents. This week's In the News is addressed to this crucial question: what price security or what price liberty?
The New York Times [free registration required] today gives an overview of current thoughts on the hill regarding Ashcroft's proposed legislation. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) offers a summary of the Mobilization Against Terrorism Act, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) has posted both an analysis of the Act and a summary of his own proposed alternative, the Uniting and Strengthening of America (USA) Act. ZDNet's special feature, After the attack: Privacy vs. security, covers the proposed legislation along with other issues such as FBI use of data from ISPs and calls for legislation addressing encryption. The San Francisco Chronicle,New York Times, and Washington Post report on other civil liberties issues, and WiredNews gives a quick overview of the breaching of citizens' rights in times of war in America. Wartimeliberty.com is a good source of breaking developments; they explain that they "document this struggle between liberty and security by posting transcripts, documents and analyses -- and letting you make up your own mind."
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