The Scout Report -- Volume 9, Number 48

We would like to thank all of those subscribers of the HTML version of the reports who have sent us questions and concerns regarding recent "bugs." Please continue to send those reports to scout@scout.wisc.edu. In those notes, please state the specifics of the problem and include the internet client you use. Thanks for your patience and help as we work to iron out the problem. [JPM]

The twenty-fourth issue of the second volume of the MET Report is available. Its Topic in Depth section offers Web sites and comments about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

http://www.publichistory.org/

Public history is an important way of conveying the importance of the historical past to a broad public audience, and the Public History Resource Center is a fine online resource for persons interested in these goals, and for those looking to learn more about the practice of public history. On the website, the general public can learn more about what exactly constitutes public history, read reviews of history-focused websites, peruse syllabi on such topics as archival studies and historic preservations, and learn about degree-granting programs in public history. Additionally, the site includes a rather detailed list of related websites, thematically organized into areas such as associations, job resources, listservs, and newsletters. Along with the website reviews, the publications section includes several helpful feature articles, such as how to utilize the historical documents and still images held by the U.S. Mint. [KMG]

http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/global/

Established in 1992 at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Centre for the Study of Global Governance with a substantial grant from the Maurice Laing and Rufford Foundations. As the website notes, the centre's mission is "to inquire into the origins and nature of urgent problems facing the globe, to inform by way of public lectures, seminars, and discussion, and to influence agencies and organizations engaged in seeking and implementing solutions to these urgent problems." From the homepage, visitors can learn about the various leaders and fellows at the Centre, learn about ongoing research projects on global civil society and other topics, and view selected discussion papers and transcripts of public lectures. Some of the rather compelling papers available for consideration here address topics as diverse as the role of international criminal prosecutions in reconstructing divided communities and the impact of globalization in southeastern European countries. [KMG]

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=7277&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1048272936

As heralded by academic and popular works of the past several decades, much of the world is entering what some have called the Information Age, and some have noted that the access and availability to knowledge in a variety of forms will determine the success of national and regional development in this century. This particular site, organized and maintained by UNESCO, brings together hundreds of resources on the development of the Information Society from around the world, including various reports on the digital divide, online governance, e-commerce, intellectual property rights, infostructure, and virtual libraries. Visitors to the site can browse the available materials by region, country, or by thematic topic of interest. The homepage also provides a frequently updated news section that contains links to related events, recently released studies, and other materials generated by UNESCO and partner agencies. [KMG]

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/

Founded in 1999, the Archaeology Channel brings a host of short films about the practice of archaeology to the computers of visitors from around the globe in an attempt to inform the general public about this field and its continuing relevance. The site's homepage features some of the latest audio and video segments, along with links to additional commentaries, teacher resources, and news from the field. Some of the subjects covered in the videos include the mound builders of Ohio, the ancient city of Machu Picchu, and a broad overview of archaeology in Jordan. The audio interviews are quite good as well, and include interviews with an expert on the legendary city of Atlantis and some perspective on the excavation of Caral, a city in Peru that is thought to be the oldest effervescence of urbanity in the New World. [KMG]

http://www.ethnomed.org/

Developed to disseminate medical and cultural information on immigrant and refugee groups for health care professionals, the EthnoMed website was developed as a joint project initiated by the University of Washington Health Sciences Library and the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The ethnic groups covered on the site include Cambodians, Chinese, Eritrean, Hispanic, Oromo, Somali, and Vietnamese. The documents featured on the site include materials in each ethnic group's native language that deal with a broad range of healthcare issues, such as hypertension, pregnancy, and breast cancer. Users may elect to search the website in its entirety, or they may browse the available materials by cultural group. The site also provides a number of short pieces on the practice of cross cultural medicine, such as articles titled "Breast Cancer in Asian Women," "Traditional Vietnamese Medicine," and "Mental Health Issues of Resettled Refugees." [KMG]

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/53420main_RTF_vol1_rev1_1_ALL_112103.pdf

Since the tragic accident involving the space shuttle Columbia, the remainder of NASA's space shuttle fleet has been grounded indefinitely. This paper is "a periodically updated document demonstrating our progress toward safe return to flight and implementation of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board recommendations." Nearly 250 pages in length, the paper looks at specific systems of the space shuttle and identifies those that need to be upgraded, replaced, or redesigned to ensure a greater level of safety for future missions. It also addresses scenarios for dealing with shuttle damage during a mission and repairing it. This document is Revision 1.1 of Volume 1, and many more revisions can be expected over the long process of returning to flight. This site is also reviewed in the December 5, 2003 NSDL MET Report. [CL]

http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/K-12/home.cfm

Sponsored by the University of Nebraska at Omaha Center for Economic Education (and part of the Economic Education Web), this website offers a panoply of resources for educators who may be looking for materials that will assist them in the teaching of basic and intermediate economic principles. Teachers can peruse sections that offer dozens of classroom activities and lesson plans, complete with information about both their relationship to state and national educational standards and grade appropriateness. The economic concepts section offers some guidance as to which ideas are most appropriate for various grade levels, including scarcity, profit, supply, factors of production, and many others. Another helpful section identifies important projects that teach principles of economics through utilization of the Internet, something that will be of great use to those classroom that actively employ computers as an instructional tool [KMG]

http://athome.harvard.edu/

While not everyone can afford to attend Harvard University, the Harvard@home site allows people around the world to listen and watch to a number of special lectures, talks, and public addresses that take place at this august institution. Established in March 2001, the programs range in time from 45 minutes to 3 hours, and address a broad range of topics, including the humanities, current affairs, college life, and the natural sciences. Some of the more notable programs include an hour long lecture by Professor Edward O. Wilson on the relation of science and the humanities, a three-hour program on the state of the global environment,a 50-minute talk by Professor Diana Eck on Shiva, and finally, a talk on the legacy and genius of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. [KMG]

http://advertising.harpweek.com/

During the 19th century, one of the most consistently popular American periodicals was Harper's Weekly, an illustrated paper whose circulation was well in excess of over 100,000 on a regular basis. This fine site highlights some of the many creative and inventive advertisements that were prominently displayed in the periodical during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The project was the brainchild of John Adler, a longtime history buff, who came across a complete set of the periodical for the period from 1857 to 1916. On the site visitors can browse through advertisements for appliances, insurance, foreign travel, farm land, and various medicinal potions. The selection of ads includes one for "pain paint," which begins with a brief doggerel that includes a mention of the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson in 1868. [KMG]

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2002/brucke/index.html

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) presents Artists of Brcke, its first Web-only exhibition, showcasing over 120 German Expressionist prints created by Erich Heckel and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (founders of the Brcke movement), Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. The site discusses the Brcke movement and its artists' beliefs, explores eight themes in Expressionist Art (such as City, Cabaret, Retreat, Nudes), and includes artists' biographies. The Prints section of the site makes terrific use of the Web and Flash animation. An array of thumbnails of all the works in the show can be sorted to highlight particular artists, themes, or mediums. Mousing over any print brings up a slightly larger view and the artist, title and date, while clicking retrieves the full view, with complete caption. Also available are a chronology of the Expressionist movement, a map of the area where Brcke artists lived and worked, suggested readings, and a textual list of all the works in the exhibition. [DS]

http://www.tclf.org/

Cultural landscapes are truly omnipresent in the environment around us, as they can range in form and character from an ethnic urban enclave to a well-designed city park that incorporates a wide range of uses, such as New York's Central Park. The Cultural Landscape Foundation website provides visitors with some initial observations about the importance of preserving (and creating) compelling landscapes across the United States, along with offering some valuable resources for those with an interest in the field. The site provides some basic information about the Foundations' activities, and also make available the Cultural Landscapes as Classroom outreach program for perusal. Within each Cultural Landscapes as Classroom module, visitors can explore a different cultural landscape (the ones currently available feature Columbus Park in Chicago and the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge), and learn about each landscape's creation and historical development. [KMG]

http://www.craftster.org

Crafts are back in fashion, and it would seem that a younger generation is ready to put its own imprimatur on this time-honored tradition. As the website indicates, Crafster.org is for "People who have crafty urges, but who are not excited by cross-stitched bunnies and crocheted paper cozies, can show off their current craft projects, ask advice on future projects and get inspiration for new endeavors." The site is truly interactive, as users can view completed projects that they may want to try out, ask questions of other craftsters, and offer suggestions to inquiring minds. Visitors may want to get started by looking at some of the featured projects on the left-hand side of the page. Some of the more fun projects profiled here include glass marble magnets, record bowls, and cell phone cozies. [KMG]

http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/

While most people get on the road each morning around the U.S. to drive to work, they may not think of how the massive interstate system first emerged in the years following World War II. That rather interesting question, along with a number of other transportation themes, is covered in this fine online collection from the Smithsonian Institution. Designed to complement this new exhibit at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., visitors can start at the exhibition section, which is divided into 17 different thematic sections, coupled with a host of visual images, and photographs of the actual exhibit. Even more fun is the collections area, where users of the site can search or browse through the online transportation collection which includes more than a thousand different artifacts and photographs. The site is rounded out by a nice selection of related teaching resource materials and some quirky interactive games where individuals can create their own movie using vehicles from the collection or play a match game involving vehicles from different periods of America's history. [KMG]

http://www.archive.org/movies/movies.php

Since 1996, the Internet Archive has been crawling the web and caching various incarnations of thousands of websites for a variety of reasons, not the least among them the fact that this great archive offers a valuable perspective on the history of the Internet. While most people are content to look at old versions of various websites, the creative people at the Internet Archive have also created this wonderful Moving Images Archive which contains thousands of various educational films, television commercials, and a number of other visual materials. The best part is that viewers can add their comments about the films after watching them. Of course, visitors can perform keyword searches within the Archive or view lists of the most popular films located here. One rather amusing film is the social hygiene educational adventure titled Are You Popular? (from 1947), which shows examples of proper and improper dating etiquette and how to be courteous to one's parents. [KMG]

Center for Faulkner Studies
http://www6.semo.edu/cfs/
William Faulkner Reads [RealOnePlayer]
http://town.hall.org/radio/HarperAudio/080294_harp_ITH.html

Even four decades after his death, the monumental legacy of William Faulkner to American letters remains of great importance, and there are a number of websites that commemorate his life and work through various events, conferences, and publications about various aspects of Faulkneria. One such entity is the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Established in 1989 under the direction of Robert Hamblin, the core of the Center's holdings consists of the Brodsky Collection, which itself contains over 2000 pages of manuscript materials and more than 3000 letters. Visitors to the site can search the contents of the Brodsky Collection and search a rather novel area called (appropriately) Faulkneria. Here visitors will find the online archives of the Teaching Faulkner newsletter, some of his most famous quotes, and recent so-called sightings of Faulkner, as referenced in film and television. The second site leads to a site where visitors can listen to Faulkner read excerpts from "As I Lay Dying," "The Old Man," and his much lauded 1949 Nobel Prize acceptance speech. [KMG]

http://www.inmatrix.com/files/zoomplayer_download.shtml

While there are a number of good multi-purpose media players publicly available, this latest edition of Zoom Player is definitely worth a look. Some of the features include various presets for video playback, variable speeds for playback, multi-language support, and a programmable keyboard interface. The website for the player contains a number of screenshots, and detailed information about all of the available features. Zoom Player 3.2 is compatible with all systems running Windows 95 and higher. [KMG]

http://andyvn.ath.cx/Aquallegro.html

This rather novel little program functions as a basic way to teach elementary music theory. This version of Aquallegro has sections for note names in a number of clefs and key signatures. Essentially, the program uses a series of ear training exercises that allows users of the program to recognize major, minor, diminished, and augemented chords, along with a number of intervals, ranging from the augmented prime to a perfect octave. This program is compatible with all systems running Mac OS X. [KMG]

Interpol Issues Liberia's Taylor With Arrest Notice
http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/west_africa/0,2172,70117,00.html
US denies Charles Taylor bounty
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3266075.stm
LURD Drops Threat to Hold Up Disarmament
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38221&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA
Humanitarian Aid to Liberia Passes Two Milestones-UN's OCHA Says
http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9012&Cr=liberia&Cr1=
Human Rights Watch: Visitors Must Confront Abusive Host
http://www.hrw.org/editorials/2003/nigeria120403.htm
Liberia President Interview [RealOnePlayer]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3056969.stm
Interpol: Charles Ghankay Taylor
http://www.interpol.int/public/wanted/notices/data/2003/04/2003_52404.asp

This week Interpol issued a notice of arrest for the former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is currently in asylum in Nigeria. Taylor assumed power in Liberia in 1989, and served as president of the country until this past summer when anti-Taylor rebels began to sway the balance of power within the West African nation. Previously, Taylor has been indicted on charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the Geneva Convention. It is suspected that he trained rebels in Sierra Leone in exchange for diamonds, while these rebels went on to torture, mutilate, rape, and abduct what is estimated to be thousands of civilians. Currently, Liberia continues to be beleaguered by problems, many of them caused by the various civil wars which have ravaged the country over the past 14 years. Since Taylor's departure to Nigeria in August, UN peacekeeping forces have begun to move into the country to assess the situation. There have been some bright spots in recent weeks as Liberia's main rebel group (Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, or LURD), has stated that it will in fact begin to disarm. As one rebel soldier, Padmo Doumah indicates in this recent commentary on the situation: "As soon as my commander gives the order, I will bring my arm to UNMIL [UN Mission to Liberia] and take a pencil to go back to school. [KMG]

The first link leads to a news story from the South African Broadcasting Corporation about the issuance of the arrest warrant from INTERPOL for Charles Taylor. The second link will take visitors to an interesting news piece from November of this year in which the United States categorically denies that an aid package for Iraq and Afghanistan included a $2 million bounty prize for the capture of former President Taylor. The third link leads to a news piece from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs that discusses the recent decision by the LURD organization to disarm. The fourth link leads to another news piece on recent improvements in Liberia, in this case the recent restoration of electricity to Monrovia, the nation's capitol. The fifth link will take visitors to a recent editorial by the Human Rights Watch organization on the problematic nature of harboring human rights violators, with specific reference in this instance to Charles Taylor and Nigeria. The sixth link (provided by the BBC) leads to a transcript and an audio recording of an interview with then President Charles Taylor from July of this year, in which he talks about the ongoing civil war and the accusations leveled at him regarding human rights violations. The final link leads to the actual INTERPOL notice that calls for the arrest of Charles Taylor, issued just this week.