A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Science Department, University of Wisconsin
A Project of the InterNIC
The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and
newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and
educators, the InterNIC's primary audience. However, everyone is welcome to
subscribe to one of the mailing lists (plain text or HTML). Subscription
instructions are included at the end of each report.
The Scout Report Web page
First Monday
http://www.firstmonday.dk/
First Monday is a peer-reviewed monthly electronic journal about the
Internet. It covers the Internet from the point of view of political and
regulatory events, economic, political and social factors, software
research and development, usage in specific communities, standards, and
content. The current issue (August 1996) contains articles on the
disappearance of the White House Speech Archive, differential pricing and
efficiency, and trust in electronic markets, among others. The site also
contains an author and title index. The web version of First Monday
is presently free after registration.
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Copyright and Fair Use
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/
Stanford University Libraries, FindLaw, and the Council on Library
Resources have made available a pointers page on copyright and fair use.
The site is divided into four main categories: Primary Materials; Current
Legislation, Cases and Issues; Resources on the Internet; and Overview of
Copyright Law. Each section is divided into subsections that contain the
pointers, many of which are annotated. Of particular interest are several
articles on the impact of copyright and fair use on multimedia, online
resources, and computer programs (found under "Fair Use and Multimedia"),
and a compilation of library copyright guidelines.
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Ted Radcliffe's Gopher State IPM Site
http://www.ent.agri.umn.edu/academics/classes/ipm/ipmsite.htm
This site, co-sponsored by the Consortium for International Crop Protection
(CICP), and the National IPM Network (NIPMN), and housed at the University
of Minnesota, is devoted to the ongoing production of an online IPM
(Integrated Pest Management) textbook. At present, over 30 chapters are
available in nine subject areas, ranging from "Biological Control: Theory
and Application," to "Pesticides: Chemistries/Pesticide Resistance," to
"IPM: Policy and Implementation." Over 60 chapters are in preparation, so
this site will be one to keep an eye on as it grows. As its owners say,
Gopher State should be a "a venue for easily maintaining and updating
'state of the art' information from the world's leading experts on all
aspects of IPM."
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NIPA Data Visualization System--University of
Virginia
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/socsci/nipa/
University of Virginia Social Sciences Data Center
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/socsci/interactives.html
BLS Selective Access Data
http://www.bls.gov/sahome.html
Two of the more impressive sources of interactive US social and economic
data are the University of Virginia Social Sciences Data Center and the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Selective Access Data site. Showing the
tremendous potential of the web as a source of data retrieval, both these
sites allow the user, through forms-based interfaces, to extract data in
specific formats. A recent enhancement to the University of Virginia site
is the availability of selected National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA)
from 1959 to 1995. These accounts "show the value and composition of the
nation's output and the distribution of incomes generated in its
production." Users can select data sets and time periods, and the site
returns a graph and table of the data. The table can then be downloaded to
the local machine. BLS Selective Access allows users to specify exactly
what data they would like from a large selection of its databases,
including local area unemployment statistics, consumer price indexes, and
producer price indexes, among others. By interacting with the system four
or five times, a user can retrieve a customized table of historical data.
For example, it is a relatively simple procedure to retrieve a monthly or
semi-annual, seasonally or non-seasonally adjusted compilation of the all
urban consumer CPI, at 1982-84=100 or 1967=100 base, for the entire length
of the series using this system. This data can then be formatted in various
ways for output to statistical analysis programs or spreadsheets.
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"An Evaluation of Chaco Anasazi Roadways"
http://www.sscf.ucsb.edu/anth/projects/lobo/SAA96/
Chetro Ketl Great Kiva
http://www.sscf.ucsb.edu/anth/projects/great.kiva/index.html
The New York Times recently carried an article on the causes of the
great migration of the Anasazi civilization in the late 13th Century.
Interested Internauts can find out more information about this ancient
North American civilization from two web sites provided by graduate
students in the anthropology department at the University of California
Santa Barbara. "An Evaluation of Chaco Anasazi Roadways" is an HTML version
of a paper presented at the recent Society for American Archaeology
Meetings in New Orleans. It attempts to "make use of Geographic Information
System (GIS) technology to demonstrate that Chaco Anasazi roads do not
follow routes consistent with economic theories of their function, but
rather seem to conform with models focusing on religious and integrative
road functions." Chetro Ketl Great Kiva is a richly graphical tour through
one of the great religious structures excavated at Chaco Canyon, which was
one of the major centers of Anasazi civilization. The site is highlighted
(for those with an Apple Quicktime VR helper application), by a 3D tour
through the Kiva.
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CMARGIN Notes--Mailing list for K-12
teachers
http://www.cmargin.com/notes.html
Every weekday, CMARGIN Notes provides K-12 teachers with a wrap-up of the
previous day's most educationally significant news stories. Each issue of
this free email newsletter contains summaries of about a dozen articles in
ten content-specific categories. Using a Web browser with an integrated
mail feature (like Netscape Navigator 2.0 or 3.0 or Microsoft Internet
Explorer 3.0), subscribers can jump directly to the full-text versions of
articles that interest them. An online archive allows subscribers and
nonsubscribers alike to view back issues. (Note: CMARGIN Notes is part of a
comprehensive site for K-12 teachers called CMARGIN.) To subscribe, fill
out the web form at:
http://www.cmargin.com/subscribe.html
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CORELINK Mailing List Advisory
>From the moderator of the CORELINK list, described in the August 9 edition
of the Scout Report, comes this technical note: "For technical reasons all
former subscribers to the listserve CORELINK need to resubscribe. CORELINK
is a moderated listserve that deliver documents and opinions concerning
national educational policy and strategies with particular reference to the
technological transformation of the American classroom and adult learning
as part of what is coming to be called 'virtual schools' or 'virtual
universities.'"
Send email to:
listproc@mercury.cair.du.edu
In the body of the message type:
subscribe CORELINK firstname lastname
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The Oxford Book of English Verse
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/obev/
The Bartleby Library at Columbia University has added the 1919 edition of
The Oxford Book of English Verse to its online offerings. The entire
text of the 1084-page original, edited by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch,
is available and searchable. The collection may be browsed using alphabetic
indices of authors, titles, or first lines. A chronological index of
authors, from a 13th-century Anonymous to R. D. Blackmore (1825-1900) is
also available. This site won't give you the cutting edge in English verse,
but it is an interesting look at what was considered classic literature in
the early twentieth century (as one would expect, plenty of Shakespeare and
few pieces by women) as well as a valuable resource for seeking out bits of
timeless verse.
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Institute for the Study of Civic Values
http://libertynet.org/~edcivic/iscvhome.html
An outgrowth of a non-profit community revitalization and development
effort in Philadelphia, this newly updated web site provides information
about the Institute's civic values-based programs. The four projects
currently underway are: Neighborhoods Online, an effort to help citizen
groups make effective use of telecommunications; Building Community in the
American Tradition, a discussion guide and email list for neighborhood
leaders and activists; Social Contract Project, which helps neighborhood
organizations negotiate with government and businesses to define shared
goals; and Community Opportunity Program, with an emphasis on adult
literacy and community service internships. While much of the information
on this site is specific to Philadelphia, there are discussions of issues
that other communities are likely to face, and many links to other relevant
resources.
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WWWebster Dictionary
http://www-lj.eb.com/mw/
Pronunciation guide
http://www-lj.eb.com/mw/pronguid.htm
Britannica Online has made Merriam-Webster's WWWebster Dictionary available
for searching on the web. Each retrieved word is accompanied by
pronunciation, usage, grammatical function, a brief etymology, and of
course, definition. A thesaurus can be queried for similar words, hypertext
cross references are available, misspellings return suggested spellings,
and there are hypertext links to illustrations. The search system supports
internal wildcards (single and multiple letter) and right hand truncation
searching. There is also an extensive pronunciation guide. In addition to
the dictionary, the site also contains selected transcripts of the
syndicated radio show "Word for the Wise."
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Plutonium Shipments--Warning from the Nuclear Control
Institute
http://www.nci.org/nci/airtrans.htm
International Atomic Energy Agency
http://www.iaea.or.at/
The Nuclear Control Institute has created a web site in response to a
proposed standard for the shipment of radioactive materials. This site
presents two world maps showing both sea and air routes that are planned or
already in use for the shipment of plutonium. A series of papers by
NCI-affiliated scientists and observers on the subject of radioactive
materials shipments sets out the NCI position against such shipments. Also
available are press releases and an archive of correspondence between the
NCI and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the body charged with
defining standards for such shipments. As the new standards have not yet
been approved, there is little information about them on the official IAEA
site. Regardless of the individual user's position on plutonium shipments,
the information on these sites will prove thought-provoking.
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Ballparks by Munsey and Suppes
http://www.ballparks.com/
Paul Munsey and Corey Suppes have lovingly compiled facts and photos on all
major league baseball parks in this frames-based site. In addition to each
modern park, there are 23 parks from the past, including Huntington Avenue
Grounds, Shibe Park, the Polo Grounds, and Forbes Field, among others. Each
page contains photos or artist's renderings of the park, along with basic
information about the tenant, time of tenancy, capacity, dimensions, and
trivia, among others. Each team's stadium page is also hyperlinked to the
past stadiums it has played in. In addition, there are 15 future parks,
with artist's renderings when available, and information on the development
of these parks. Munsey and Suppes have recently added sections on pro
football stadiums, including NFL and CFL (Canadian Football League)
stadiums. And the Crescendo-enabled rendering of "Take Me Out to the Ball
Game" that accompanies the home page should get fans in the mood. This site
is reminiscent of Philip Lowery's great book Green Cathedrals, and
though not nearly as comprehensive, is one of the best places on the web to
find this type of information.
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APARENT--Adoptive parent list
APARENT is a meeting place for adoptive parents, prospective adoptive
parents, and their families to discus the everyday life experiences and
challenges of adoptive parents and their families.
To subscribe send email to:
listserv@sjuvm.stjohns.edu
In the body of the message type:
subscribe aparent firstname lastname
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VRML Repository--San Diego Supercomputing
Center
http://www.sdsc.edu/vrml/
VRML (Virtual Reality Modeling Language) "is a standard language for
describing interactive 3-D objects and worlds delivered across the
Internet." One of the best and most comprehensive collections of VRML
information is the VRML Repository, provided by the San Diego
Supercomputing Center. Annotated links are available in the areas of
hardware and software; documentation; and worlds, sounds, and textures.
There are also links to other sites of interest, mailing lists and
newsgroups, and companies and universities. Two of the more useful links
from this page are to user's guides and browsers. The browser guide is
organized by both version of VRML (1.0 or 2.0) and platform. To understand
how to turn your desktop into a virtual .wrl, this is an indispensable
site.
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Copyright Susan Calcari, 1996. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the Scout Report provided the copyright notice and this paragraph is preserved on all copies. The InterNIC provides information about the Internet to the US research and education community under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation: NCR-9218742. The Government has certain rights in this material.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Wisconsin - Madison, the National Science Foundation, AT&T, or Network Solutions, Inc.