Changing of the Guard
The Internet Scout Project would like to introduce Max Grinnell, the new Scout Report Editor. Thanks to Marcia Green for all the great work that she contributed during her tenure at the project. While we will greatly miss Marcia's talents, we are happy to welcome Max to our team. [TS]
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NSDL Scout Reports for the Life Sciences and Physical Sciences
The seventeenth issues of the first volumes of the Life Sciences Report and Physical Sciences Report are available. The Topic in Depth section of Life Sciences Report annotates sites on the West Nile Virus. The Physical Sciences Report's Topic in Depth section offers Web sites and comments about the Grand Canyon.
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One Year Later: The Fiscal Impact of 9/11 on New York City [.pdf]
http://comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/bud/reports/impact-9-11-year-later.pdf
Prepared by the Comptroller of New York City, William C. Thompson, Jr., and his colleagues, this 65-page report offers an intensive look into the short and long term economic impact of 9/11 on the city. Along with looking at the loss of human capital and potential as a result of these events, the report details the impact on the city's budget, cash balances, and the impact of the federal aid administered by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA). The report contains many helpful tables, including ones detailing the estimated loss in gross city product, the decline in property taxes, and the resulting impact on the city's pension expenses. One of the final sections also contains material on the economic stimulus package that is currently in place to aid in rebuilding the economic vitality of Lower Manhattan. [KMG]
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Invention at Play: Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
http://www.si.edu/lemelson/centerpieces/iap/index.html
Sponsored by the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution and the Science Museum of Minnesota, this virtual exhibit celebrates the playful and inventive nature that has led to the discovery of numerous helpful and revolutionary inventions. This exhibit "departs from traditional representations of inventors as extraordinary geniuses who are 'not like us' to celebrate the creative skills and processes that are familiar and accessible to all people." The site will be particularly enjoyable to persons interested in the creative process and learning about different first-hand perspectives on the spirit of inventiveness. The site includes an interactive sketchbook, where visitors can work out their own ideas, and a section on the nature and importance of play through history. Finally, amidst all of the other highly interactive features, there is a Word Play area, where visitors to the site can collaborate on creating an unique story. [KMG]
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Status of Michigan Cities: An Index of Urban Well-Being [.pdf]
http://www.publicsectorconsultants.com/urbanstatus/2002/report.pdf
This report, prepared by Public Sector Consultants, Inc., was researched and written to provide policymakers in Michigan with a thorough portrait of the general well-being of the numerous urban areas within the state. Researched on behalf of the Michigan Bipartisan Urban Caucus, the 55-page report seeks, as one of its primary goals, to serve as a "catalyst for engaging interested parties in discussing ways to improve the standards of living and quality of life in Michigan cities." As the second in a biennial series of reports, the reports will be updated with new data sets every two years. After a brief section on their methodology, there is a useful summary of their main findings based on the data from 1990 and 2000 that they analyzed. The final section of the main report also offers an explanation of the 12 variables they used to measure urban well-being throughout the state. [KMG]
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American Indian and Alaska Native Roundtable Report on Long Term Care: Final Report 2002 [.pdf]
http://www.ihs.gov/PublicInfo/PublicAffairs/PressReleases/Press_Release_2002/Final_LTC_Report_ALL.pdf
This 120-page report is the culmination of a roundtable forum held in April 2002 to discuss the multitude of issues involved with providing long term care to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. At the core of the report are five papers prepared by policy makers and practitioners in the field, along with subsequent substantive discussion of their recommendations and implications for practice. Paper topics include the incorporating Indian elder's teachings and tribal values into a long term care scenario and the provisioning of long term care for Indian elders in an urban setting. The overarching considerations of the roundtable forum included commitment; coordination; and, in particular, interagency collaboration. The report concludes with several appendices, including a nursing home survey and an economic analysis of long term care. [KMG]
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Genomes and Machines
http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Francisco.Azuaje/genomes&machines.html
The Department of Computer Science at the University of Dublin-Trinity College provides this Web site as "an overview of the rapidly evolving field of bioinformatics," or the "discipline that generates computational tools, databases and methods to support genomic, molecular and medical research." Simply presented as a list of links organized by subject, this frequently updated Web site offers users a one-stop source for locating genomic and molecular biology databases, soft/hardware and service providers, courses and tutorials, journals, and more. This site is also reviewed in the September 6, 2002 NSDL Life Sciences Report. [RS]
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Geode
http://geode.usgs.gov/
Maintained by the US Geological Survey (USGS), Geode is the "data delivery system of the geologic discipline and continues to provide unbiased scientific and energy related data to the public via a fully functional, web accessed GIS map server." Subjects covered include Coastal and Marine Geology, Earth Surface Dynamics, Earthquake Hazards, Integrated Natural Resource Sciences, Mineral Resources, National Cooperative Geologic Mapping, and Volcano Hazards. This powerful resource gives researchers and scientists an excellent tool for simplifying the often difficult task of data acquisition. This site is also reviewed in the September 6, 2002 NSDL Physical Science Report. [JAB]
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Early Washington Maps: A Digital Collection
http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/holland/masc/xmaps.html
Documenting "the struggle between Britain and America for the ownership of the region, and the further development of one of the last frontiers on the continent" is one of the primary goals of this digital collection of maps relating the history and development of the area that eventually would become Washington state. Created by a partnership between the University of Washington and Washington State University, the digital collection includes a timeline of early Washington maps that orients its users to the breadth and depth of the digital collection. There is also a drop-down menu that allows visitors to look at thumbnails of each map, organized by different themes such as forests, Puget Sound, and railroads. A general searchable index to the collection is also available for visitors looking for any number of thematic maps. The site will be of special interest to those curious about Washington state history, historical geography, and the practice of cartography over the past few centuries. [KMG]
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How Do Cohabiting Couples With Children Spend Their Money? [.pdf]
http://www.harrisschool.uchicago.edu/wp/02-04.html
This working paper by Thomas DeLeire and Ariel Kalil of the University of Chicago examines the question of how cohabiting couples with children spend their income. Over the course of the 60-page work, they use the Consumer Expenditure Survey to see if cohabiting couples with children spend their money on different goods than either married parents or single parents. Some of their initial findings conclude that cohabiting couples spend a substantially larger share of their total expenditure on alcohol and tobacco than either married-parent families or single parents. Additionally, DeLeire and Kalil conclude that cohabiting couples with children also spend less on health care and education than married parents. The report will be of special interest to persons in the field of public policy and child development. [KMG]
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Historical Manuscripts Commission 2002 Survey of Archive Cataloguing Problems [.pdf]
http://www.hmc.gov.uk/pubs/cataloguingsurvey.pdf
Authored by Christopher Kitching, the director of the Historical Manuscripts Commission in the United Kingdom, this 16-page report details the existing problems (along with offering potential remedies) involved with archive cataloguing throughout the country. Some of Mr. Ktichings' findings include the fact that many archive repositories have significant cataloguing backlogs and that material of great national and local heritage significance (stretching back to the Middle Ages) also remains uncatalogued and unusable by researchers. Mr. Kitching also concludes that the decline in the number of catalogues reaching the National Register of Archives is in fact due to the declining pace of cataloguing in repositories, rather than being a function of the HMC's ability to acquire already extant catalogues. [KMG]
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The Everglades Landscape Model
http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/wrp/elm/index.html
Developed by researchers at the Institute for Ecological Economics and the South Florida Water Management District, the Everglades Landscape Model is one of the tools in a research management program used to focus research and evaluate changes in water management of southern Florida. The site has a brief introduction to the problems involved with the management of the region and the general objectives of the project. In addition, there is a detailed section outlining the particulars of the model's structure and the specific premises assumed within the model. There is also a full list of related publications dealing with different projects involved with the model and various progress reports. Finally, a variety of data generated by the model and data used to run the model is available for visitors to the site. [KMG]
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Global Connections: The Middle East
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/
Global Connections: The Middle East "integrates and contextualizes the rich body of public broadcasting resources to provide a global and historical perspective that will help teachers, students, and the general public explore and understand seminal events of national and international significance." To that end, there is an exhaustive amount of material related to economics, stereotypes, and the role of women in the Middle East, along with a detailed Middle East timeline. Educators will also find that the site will be a good source of information to use in the classroom. The "Connecting Questions" offers perspectives and lesson plans on six large scale questions affecting the Middle East. The site is rounded out by an interactive sociopolitical map of the region. [KMG]
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Canadian Railway Telegraph History
http://railwayop.tripod.ca/crthindex.html
For those seeking information about the Canadian Railway system and an in-depth look into the importance of the telegraph to the railway's success, this site will be quite helpful. Designed by R.G. Burnet, the site has numerous sections devoted to the importance and use of telegraph throughout Canadian history and westward expansion, including a detailed explanation of Morse code. Additionally, there is a detailed explanation of semaphore signals and interesting railway "oddities." Equally engaging is a extended listing of occasions where Morse code has appeared in feature films, either briefly or as a plot device. Finally, "The Bay Window" section features images of items and various ephemera associated with different Canadian railways. [KMG]
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Skyscrapers.com
http://www.skyscrapers.com/english/index.html
Billed as "the world leader in building information," this Web site lives up to its name, providing information on over 43,000 skyscrapers around the world. The site features a search engine that allows visitors to look for skyscrapers in almost every country across the globe, and also has a recently updated list of the 100 tallest skyscrapers. Additionally, the site has an extensive section on how it defines the buildings in its database -- by style, usage, and structural type. One of the most novel features of the site allows users to browse different neighborhoods of Manhattan in search of different skyscrapers and building types. Besides containing information on many different skyscrapers of worldwide renown, there is also a section devoted the "world's strangest skyscraper," the Genex Tower in Belgrade. [KMG]
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Defunct Amusement Parks
http://www.defunctparks.com
While there are many sites on existing amusement parks, this particular Web site contains detailed information on "pleasure palaces" that have gone out of business or that have since been demolished. Created and maintained by Joel Styer, the site features an interactive map of the United States that allows visitors to click on any one of the states to find out information about now-defunct amusement parks. Many of the former parks have additional material available for viewing, such as photographs, postcards, and brief essays and personal remembrances. Also, there is an extensive links page, which directs visitors to other sites dealing with different aspects of amusement park memorabilia such as popular rides from the past and newsgroups. The site also has different contact information for persons seeking to donate materials and recollections related to amusement parks. [KMG]
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Rutgers Oral History Archive of World War II
http://fas-history.rutgers.edu/oralhistory/
Begun in 1994 by the history department of Rutgers University, the Oral History Archive of World War II site (last mentioned in the April 7, 1998 Scout Report for Social Sciences) features transcriptions of interviews with 238 veterans (both men and women) of the war. While the project began with members of the Rutgers class of 1942, it was later expanded to involve many more alumni. The interviews are listed in alphabetical order on the site and feature the personal and intimate recollections of a diverse set of veterans on a variety of topics. There is also a small picture gallery and a complete listing of the military units in which each interviewee served. Finally, there is a listing of related links and a section featuring the most recent interviews that have been conducted. [KMG]
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Fresh Download
http://www.freshdevices.com/freshdown.html
This small, but helpful program, allows users to enhance their ability to download files from the Internet, including movie clips, picture collections, and various freeware programs. With seamless integration into various browsers, the application allows users to pause downloads, resume broken downloads, and download from password protected sites. Also useful is a feature that allows users to schedule larger downloads for low traffic periods. Fresh Download will be a valuable tool for persons seeking to increase the management and speed of their downloads. [KMG]
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Google Toolbar
http://toolbar.google.com
This product from Google enhances the ability to find information on the Web. Features of the Toolbar include the highlighting of search terms as they appear on the page and a search feature that allows users to look for selected words on the page. Available in a wide variety of languages, the Toolbar works with Internet Explorer, so returning to the Google home page is no longer necessary. [KMG]
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Joint Session of Congress Meets in New York City
Congress Meets in New York to Commemorate Sept. 11 Attacks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44748-2002Sep6.html
Congress' Visit a Show of Solidarity
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/local/story/15633p-14731c.html
Federal Hall
http://www.nps.gov/feha/
Senate Meeting Places and Quarters
http://www.senate.gov/learning/brief_6.html
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/bdsdhome.html
House Resolutions Asking for Joint Session of Congress
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c107:./temp/~c107b1lbTe
Senate Resolutions Asking for Joint Session of Congress
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c107:./temp/~c107AgoNKN
In a historic and reflective gesture, a special session of Congress met today in New York City in memory of the September 11th attacks. This occasion marks only the third time in the modern era that Congress has met outside of Washington DC. During the War of 1812, Congress convened in a long-demolished building several blocks away from the Capitol and, in 1987, when Congress returned to Philadelphia to celebrate the Constitutional Convention of 1787. For this particular meeting, approximately 200 members are expected to be in attendance, most of them arriving via train.
The first two links are news stories covering the event from the Washington Post and the New York Daily News, respectively. The third site contains information about the meeting place for today's session, historic Federal Hall, from the National Park Service. The fourth site features information about the history of the different meeting places of the United States Senate over the past two centuries. The fifth site is an online exhibit on the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention created by the Library of Congress, featuring numerous documents of interest. Finally, the last two sites contain the resolutions entered into both the House and the Senate asking for a joint session of Congress to meet in New York City. [KMG]
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From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
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