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
Diversity--Resources for K-12 teachers
http://execpc.com/~dboals/diversit.html
Teachers looking for ways to incorporate more diversity into their
curricula can browse through this extensive list of resources to find
information on everything from the Amish to the Pygmies of Zaire. The
"General Sources" listing is the most extensive, currently offering 142
links to Internet sites concerned with diversity issues. Although most are
annotated, the list items are not arranged in any particular order. The
other links on the page are grouped into categories: disabilities,
migration and immigration sources, Jewish resources, Asian American,
African American, Women's Studies, Native American, and Hispanic. An
interesting additional feature is "The Cultural Landscape," which gathers
links relating to the functions of communities, whether rural, urban, or
suburban. This page is part of History/Social Studies Web Site for K-12
Teachers, which offers a range of other resources as well.
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Full-text State Statutes (US)
http://www.prairienet.org/~scruffy/f.htm
This meta-index gathers links to Web, gopher, telnet, and ftp sites that
contain the full text of state statutes, state constitutions, and other
legislative resources. Of course, results of your searches depend on what
each state has made available, and each state offers a different searching
mechanism. Some entries have been annotated, particularly where
instructions are necessary (as in the case of telnet sessions, or when a
certain plug-in is required for viewing). There is also a supplementary
page with links to resources related to state legislation, such as
executive orders and administrative rules.
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National Research Council--Science in the
Headlines
http://www2.nas.edu/new/newshead.htm
For background and context on breaking scientific news, turn to "Science in
the Headlines." Provided by the National Research Council (the operating
arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of
Engineering) and the Institute of Medicine, these reports examine a range
of current scientific issues. Written by volunteer committees of experts,
each report gives information about the science behind the issues, written
in non-technical language; relevant press releases from other agencies are
often included. Current items featured on the site are the juvenile crime
rate, life on Mars, the Food Safety Act, protecting buildings from bomb
damage, airport security, whooping cough vaccine, safety information about
1997 model cars, and a back-to-school look at science education.
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Online Seminar on Universal Service
http://info-ren.pitt.edu/universal-service/network-democracy.html
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides universal service subsidies for
schools and libraries. This seminar, to be held online, will inform
participants about those provisions, and how they can help their school or
library secure needed funding under the Act. Participants' contributions to
the seminar will be made available to the Federal Communications Commission
as it plans for implementation of the universal service provisions of the
Act. Information Renaissance, the non-profit organization responsible for
the seminar, has also made available a repository of all comments and
replies submitted to the FCC during the rule-making process. The seminar
will take place during the five week period from August 26 - September 27,
1996. Registration will be open starting August 12, 1996.
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CORELINK Discussion List
Previously a list dedicated to the national standards movement in education
and core curriculum, CORELINK has been re-focused to cover the following
subject areas: leading issues in national educational policy, applications
of telecommunications and the Internet to education, partnerships between
business and education involving technology, philosophical and theoretical
matters pertaining to learning and online culture.
Send email to:
listproc@mercury.cair.du.edu
In the body of the message type:
subscribe CORELINK firstname lastname
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IBM's Other Voices
http://www.ibm.com/OtherVoices/
This entry into the web-zine genre, sponsored by IBM, draws content from
several sources and organizes it into two major sections, "Computers and
Society" and "Business and the Network." Each section contains six items,
ranging from current headlines to articles on computer ethics. Unlike many
such publications, Other Voices has almost no editorial "voice" of its own,
instead selecting interesting content that speaks for itself. Even the page
background colors are muted, a pleasant surprise compared to many 'zines'
fluorescent palettes. Feature content appears to be updated weekly, while
current news headlines are abstracted daily.
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Center for Democracy and Technology
http://www.cdt.org/
The Center For Democracy and Technology, a non-profit public interest
organization, offers this Web site with information about the state of free
speech and civil liberties on the Internet. Visitors to the site will find
current headlines, updated every few days, as well as coverage of issues
related to privacy, terrorism, cryptography, infrastructure, and digital
telephony, among others. Back issues of CDT policy publications are also
available, organized chronologically and annotated with a subject line.
Coverage of the issues reflects the mission of CDT, which develops and
advocates public policies that advance constitutional civil liberties and
democratic values in new computer and communications technologies.
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The Why Files
http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/
Updated twice a month, the Why Files explores the "science behind the
news." Current features are "Radiation Reassessed," an exploration of the
effects of low-dose radiation, and "Olympic Ambition," about the impact of
science on the Games. Each set of articles contains links to related
information, as well as a glossary and bibliography. The style of
presentation is informal, even irreverent, and that adds to the interest of
the site. Past issues are archived on the site, and are searchable. A user
forum is provided, as well as an announcement and discussion mailing list.
The Why Files are provided by the National Institute for Science Education
(NISE), which is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and funded by
the National Science Foundation.
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New York Times: Business Connections
http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/reference/busconn.html
The New York Times On the Web has recently added a new section, Business
Connections, to its highly selective collection of Web links. The new
section provides one-stop shopping for the most authoritative
business-related network resources available. For example, the Markets
listings include links to all U.S. exchanges, foreign exchanges, and
selected market information sites. The Investing section offers a dozen
links to general information and a half-dozen more to the top investment
companies and trading services such as Merrill Lynch, Paine Webber, and
Charles Schwab. Company Information provides traditional sources such as
Dun & Bradstreet along with the Web 100--the top US and international
companies on the Web. A good selection of business directories is included,
in addition to separate listings for business and financial news, banking &
finance, and government & public organizations. Note that free registration
to The New York Times On the Web is required before entry into any of their
pages.
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Organization of American States
http://www.oas.org/
Spanish version
http://www.oas.org/shomepag.htm
The OAS, the world's oldest regional organization, offers current
information on their programs and issues via this web site. The "Programs
and Issues" page gathers information on current OAS activities in the areas
of trade, democracy, environment, human rights, drug abuse control,
telecommunications and information infrastructure, and others. Press
releases, the OAS charter, and a weekly calendar of events are all
available on the site. Every country in the Americas is a member of the OAS
(with the exception of Cuba), and information on the OAS Mission in each is
provided, along with pointers to Web and gopher information sources within
that country. The entire site is also available in Spanish.
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Hotwired Webmonkey
http://www.webmonkey.com/
If you've come to appreciate the wacky style, bright colors, and
cutting-edge content from the folks at Hotwired, then you won't be
disappointed with Webmonkey, their latest contribution to Internet hipness.
The site is organized into sections: browsers, plug-ins, HTML, "Geek Talk,"
demo, and "Tuneup." You can find out about the latest in enhanced browsing
and Java applets, and even test your browser's capabilities in the tuneup
section. The site would be most useful to people learning how to navigate
the Web, but even those more comfortable with HTML and other Web-centric
concepts can find items of interest here. As one might expect, the site
depends on the latest enhancements; if you don't have Java enabled, for
example, you won't be able to use the monkey-wrench navigator on the home
page, which is the user's first hint that the Webmonkey aims to work like
no other site you've been to. If you have a Hotwired log-in, you can use
the same id here.
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Department of Education WWW Server Standards &
Guidelines
http://inet.ed.gov/~kstubbs/wwwstds.html
Institutions and organizations needing to standardize their Web efforts
might draw upon the document that the US Department of Education (ED) has
created. As a model for a style guide for online content, it provides an
idea of the scope that is required. The guide covers such issues as
navigation/organization and style/markup, and includes links to the guides
of other agencies as well as to hypertext style guides from many sources.
As one might expect from documentation that is the result of a governmental
committee, the coverage is thorough and detailed, including background and
definitions, as well as separate guidelines for ED-controlled,
ED-sponsored, and external content. The ED plans to update the guide at
least every six months. The document is available in HTML, RTF, PDF, WP6.1,
and WP5.1 formats.
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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.