The Scout Report Signpost research project has ended and has been replaced with the Scout Report Archives. To access the Internet resources from the Scout Report publications, please go to the Scout Report Archives. The Scout Report Signpost site is no longer being updated - this site is being maintained for demonstration purposes only.

1. Why has the Scout Report Signpost project ended?
2. What is the Scout Report Signpost?
3. How is the Scout Report Signpost organized?
4. How can the Scout Report Signpost be searched?
5. What is the Quick Search?
6. What is the Advanced Search?
7. How can the Scout Report Signpost be browsed?
8. What is Browse by Library of Congress Classification?
9. Can I change the number of items displayed?
10. How can I subscribe to a Mailing List / News Group?
11. How is the Scout Report Signpost sponsored?
12. Where can I find out more about the Scout Report Signpost and related research?
13. How can I contact you?
    

Why has the Scout Report Signpost project ended?

The Scout Report Signpost was a research project developed by the Internet Scout Project from 1996 to 2000. The primary goal of the Scout Report Signpost was to demonstrate that Internet Resources could be cataloged, classified, and arranged using existing controlled vocabularies and taxonomies such as the Library of Congress Classification Scheme and the Library of Congress Subject Headings in concert with the Dublin Core metadata standard.

The lessons learned from the Scout Report Signpost research have been applied to the Scout Report Archives. A few of the original features of the Scout Report Signpost have been carried over to the new Scout Report Archives, including the ability to browse by Library of Congress Subject Headings, fielded searching in the Advanced Search section, and links to the full critical annotations from the Scout Report and the subject-specific Scout Reports in which the resources were originally reviewed.

In addition, the Scout Report Archives has several new features that distinguish it from the Scout Report Signpost. The Excite for Web Servers search engine previously used for Quick Search has been replaced with a ht:/dig search engine. In addition, the Scout Report Archives permits users to search and browse the collection of Internet resources reviewed in the Scout Reports using C.Y.R.U.S. (Classify Your Resources Using Scout) Classification, a subject hierarchy developed by the Internet Scout Project.

If you would like to go to the new Scout Report Archives, click here.

What is the Scout Report Signpost?

The Scout Report Signpost is a searchable and browseable database to over four years' worth of the Scout Report and subject-specific Scout Reports. It contains 10,105 critical summaries of carefully selected Internet sites and mailing lists. Each critical summary seeks to provide an overall analysis of each site including general content, attribution (authors, etc.), currency, availability, accessibility and presentation. The majority of items reviewed are free and freely accessible. Detailed information about the Scout Report Selection Criteria is available.

Note: Quick Search, via an Excite for Web Servers engine, searches all Scout Report summaries that contain 15 or more words (early Scout Reports sometimes simply noted a new service being available; these notations are not included). Additionally, Advanced Search, which allows individual fields to be searched, currently contains some 3,720 Scout Report summaries. This number is increased weekly as items are cataloged.

How is the Scout Report Signpost organized?

Signpost offers three primary methods of organization, allowing users to:

1. Search using Quick and Advanced interfaces
   
2. Browse content by Library of Congress Subject Headings
   
3. Browse content by Library of Congress Classification
   

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How can the Scout Report Signpost be searched?

Two different search options are in place.

Quick Search

Allows for full-text searching of over four years worth of the Scout Report and subject-specific Scout Reports summaries. The result of a Quick Search is a listing of these abbreviated summaries; these entries allow you to access the referenced site directly or request more information about the site by reading the full text of the Scout Report summary.

Advanced Search

Allows searching of specific fields for those Scout Report and subject-specific Scout Reports summaries which have been cataloged - the total number of which increases on a weekly basis. Fields available include author, site title, language, etc. The result of an Advanced Search is a listing of Signpost records, containing both fielded data and abbreviated Scout Report summaries. You can then access the referenced site directly or read the Signpost Full Description.

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What is the Quick Search?

Quick Search allows for full-text searching of the Scout Report and subject-specific Scout Reports summaries. Specific fields (such as author, publisher, subject headings, etc.) are not searched. The result of a Quick Search is a listing of up to 30 abbreviated Scout Report summaries. Each record allows you to access the referenced site directly or read the full text of the Scout Report summary.

General Guidelines

• Capitalization is irrelevant. For example, "ntis" is equivalent to "NTIS".
• A search using two or more keywords automatically searches for any occurrences of the words used.
• You can use the boolean operators AND, OR, NOT. These operators must be capitalized.
• Stop words (words which have little meaning) such as "a", "and", and "the" are ignored.

Search Examples

Excite for Web Servers (EWS) first automatically searches for your term(s), then automatically searches for close approximations including plurals and word stems. For example, a search on the term "labor" will result in "labor", "labors", and "laboring" as well as "laboratory." Additionally, a search on "3.8" will also yield "38" and "38x". If at a loss, type in all the terms and synonyms for your search that you can think of. This can be quite helpful although it may also produce unrelated material. For example, the search "history textbook united states" which will yield results containing all four terms as well as items wherein each of the terms appear individually.

EWS ranks output based on the number of times a search term appears as compared to the total number of words. For example, if a search term appears four times in a seventy-five word summary, it will receive a higher rank than another summary which also contains four instances of the term but is a one hundred word summary. Summaries are grouped by Confidence or by Subject. Confidence ranking is established by a composite of factors including the number of times a term appears. Subject groupings concern the clustering of related items. The maximum default number of items returned when grouped by Confidence is twenty. The maximum default number of items returned when grouped by Subject is thirty-eight.

Exact Matches

To retrieve an exact match (without variations), surround the term with parentheses "()". For example, "(physics)" will yield only those sites with the term "physics" and not "physical" or "physicians."

Required Term(s)

A search using the plus sign (+) preceding any term(s), without any spaces, will ensure that the term(s) appears in the search result. For example, a search on "+ebola +virus" will contain both terms. Note: this search will also yield variants on "virus" such as "viral". Additionally, this is equivalent to using the word "AND" (must be capitalized) between terms.

Exact Match and Required Terms

For a search which requires an exact match as well as required terms, use parentheses "()" and the plus sign "+" preceding the search term. For example, a search using the terms "emily" and "dickinson" where both terms must appear should be phrased as "(+emily +dickinson)".

Excluded Term(s)

A search using the word "NOT" (must be capitalized) before any term(s) will ensure that the particular term(s) is excluded in the search result. For example, a search using the terms "ireland NOT england" will exclude the term "england" but would include the term "english" and etc.

Boolean Operators: AND, OR, NOT

AND
Use "AND" to narrow your search results. A search using the word "AND" (must be capitalized) between terms retrieves only items that contain all the terms in the search results. For example, "supreme AND court" will retrieve only items that contain both the word "supreme" and the word "court" in the summary as well as any related terms. Note: this search will also yield variants on "supreme" such as "suprematism". Use of "AND" is equivalent to using a plus sign (+) preceding each term. For example, "supreme AND court" is the equivalent of "+supreme +court".

OR
Use "OR" to broaden your search results. A search using the word "OR" (must be capitalized) between terms will ensure that at least one of the terms will appear in the search results. For example, a search using the terms "calculus OR geometry" retrieves all items that have either the word "calculus" or "geometry" somewhere in the summary as well as any related terms.

NOT
A search using the word "NOT" (must be capitalized) preceding any term(s) will ensure that the particular term(s) is excluded from the search result. For example, a search using the terms "ireland NOT england" will exclude the term "england" but would include the term "english" and etc.

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What is the Advanced Search?

Advanced Search allows for searching one or more of the following fields of records which have been cataloged: Title, Author/Contributor, Library of Congress Subject Headings, Resource Type, Language, Resource Location, Publisher, and Primary URL. The result of an Advanced Search is a listing of Signpost records in a brief format which includes the Title, Primary URL, an abbreviated Scout Report Summary, and a link to the Signpost Full Description. From the Full Description, records are cross-referenced via hypertext links to other Signpost records by Resource Type, Language, Resource Location, Subject Headings, and Library of Congress Classification.

Resource Type indicates the format or organization of the intellectual content available at a site. Some sites may contain more than one Resource Type.

Resource Type	Explanatory note and/or relevant helper applications
Animation/Video	Moving image file(s) that may require helper applications or plug-ins (RealPlayer, QuickTimeVR, Sparkle, .mpeg, Shockwave, etc.) See also Audio
Audio	Sound file(s) that may require helper applications or plug-ins (RealAudio, .wav, etc.) See also Animation/Video
Bibliography	Citation list of print and/or electronic sources
Chart/Table/Map	Graphical or tabular data (primarily processed statistics) and/or maps. See also Data Set
Conference/Solicitation	Conference announcements, published proceedings, requests for proposals, grant applications, etc.
Data Set	Partially processed or raw numerical data. See also Chart/Table/Map
Database	Searchable collection of information at a Web, gopher, or telnet site, etc.
Dictionary/Encyclopedia	Words, terms or graphical representations followed by definitions or explanatory articles
Directory	List of contact information for individuals, organizations, etc.
Document	Text-based reports, articles, reviews, etc.
Educational Materials	Curriculum development, course materials, syllabi, etc.
FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions
Graphics	Drawings, photos, images, etc.
Journal/Newspaper	Periodicals (electronic-only and electronic versions of print), collections of articles from periodicals, tables of contents, indexes to articles
Library Catalog	Interactive electronic catalog of library materials
Mailing List/Newsgroup	Email-based discussion groups, electronic bulletin boards, etc.
Meta-site	Primary purpose is as a guide to Internet-based resources, which may or may not be annotated
Software	Downloadable or online interactive applications, scripts, etc.

Language content found in the resources currently cataloged in Signpost include:

Arabic Catalan Chinese Czech Danish Dutch

English Finnish French German Greek Hebrew

Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Korean

Latin Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Slovak

Slovenian Spanish Swedish Tibetan Turkish Welsh

Note: This list is updated as additional resources are cataloged.

Resource Location indicates the domain or affiliation of the site and currently includes:

Commercial

Education

Government

Military

Network

Organization

Note: Resource Location is based on the six current top level domains (.com, .edu, .gov, .mil, .net, and .org). Resources which are not from one of these six domains (.ac, .co, .k12, etc.) have been assigned a corresponding Resource Location based on local designations.

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How can the Scout Report Signpost be browsed?

Two different browse options are in place.

Browse by Library of Congress Subject Headings

Allows users to browse lists of alphabetically arranged subject headings for internet resources which have been cataloged. Display will show the subject heading along with the resource title and the URL for each. The title for each resource provides a direct link to the site. There is also a link to the Signpost Full Description, which describes the site in more detail and includes the original Scout Report summary.

Browse by Library of Congress Classification

Allows users to browse cataloged resources by discipline according to the Library of Congress class codes which have been assigned to each resource; for example, "L-LT" for Education, "R-RZ" for Medicine etc. When a class code is chosen, the display will show a list of resource titles in that subject area, along with the URL for each and a portion of the original Scout Report summary. With each resource listed there is a link to its Signpost Full Description, which describes the site in more detail and includes the full text of the original Scout Report summary.

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What is Browse by Library of Congress Classification?

Each of the cataloged items in the Scout Report Signpost have been grouped into broad disciplinary areas according to the Library of Congress (LC) Classification system. Disciplines are assigned one- to three-letter class codes which represent different subject areas within the LC Classification system. By assigning class codes, similar items can be grouped together under broad disciplines, to form a hierarchical tree or classification system. For example, the resources in the area of Statistics have been grouped together under the class code "HA," and the resources in the area of Public Finance have been grouped together under the class code "HJ." These are just two of 16 subject area subdivisions found under the broad discipline of Social Sciences, which brings together all of the class codes beginning with the letter "H." There are twenty-one broad disciplines or classes in the Library of Congress Classification system, from A to Z. This method of organization is used extensively throughout U.S. higher education libraries.

The Scout Report Signpost contains two primary modifications to this system. First, to facilitate access, many items have been assigned two different class codes. For example, the TIGER Mapping Service site encompasses both statistics and maps and, as a result, it has been assigned two class codes - Statistics (HA) and Cartography (GA). This adds to the likelihood that users will find what they are looking for while browsing the catalog. Secondly, resources cataloged in Signpost are assigned only the lettered class codes of the LC Classification without class number extensions. For example, the title "Statistical Abstract of the United States" for 1996 might, in the print world, be assigned the call number, "HA202 A3 1996," whereas in Signpost it is assigned only the class code "HA."

The Browse by Library of Congress Classification section of Signpost lists the 21 broad disciplines of the LC Classification. Each broad discipline is linked to a list of subdivisions for that subject area. Using the example from above, if you clicked on Social Sciences (LC Classification H-HX), you would find links to all of the subdivisions in Social Sciences including Statistics (HA), Economic Theory. Demography (HB), Economic History and Conditions (By region or country) (HC), etc. Each subdivision links to a list of the resources which have been assigned to these class codes. Class codes which are not hyper-linked indicate that, at the present time, no item has been assigned that class code. When a class code is assigned to a newly cataloged resource, the related class code link will be activated.

At the bottom of each page of broad disciplines, users may choose to view a complete list of titles of all the resources grouped under a broad discipline, such as All Social Sciences Titles, or resources assigned class codes that begin with the letter "H."

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Can I change the number of items displayed?

The Browse by Library of Congress Classification is set to display 15 items and cannot be changed. The Advanced Search page is set to display 10 items but can be increased to 50 records by the user. The Quick Search is limited to 30 items and cannot be changed.

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How can I subscribe to a Mailing List/ News Group mentioned in the Scout Report summaries and records?

The Scout Report summary (available through both the Quick and Advanced Search) and Signpost record (available through Advanced Search) contain the full information for subscribing to or accessing a Mailing List or News Group mentioned in a Scout Report.

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How is the Scout Report Signpost sponsored?

The Scout Report, subject-specific Scout Reports, and the Scout Report Signpost are services of the Internet Scout Project, which is sponsored by a multi-year grant from the National Science Foundation and is located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Where can I find out more about the Scout Report Signpost and related research?

Glassel, Aimee. "Was Ranganathan a Yahoo!?" InterNIC News (March 1998). Complete article available at http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/toolkit/enduser/archive/1998/euc-9803.html

Glassel, Aimee and Amy Tracy Wells. "Scout Report Signpost: Design and Development for Access to Cataloged Internet Resources." Journal of Internet Cataloging 1, no. 3 (1997):15-45. Abstract available at http://www.haworthpressinc.com/jic/jic1nr3.html

Roszkowski, Mike and Christopher Lukas. "A Distributed Architecture for Resource Discovery Using Metadata." D-Lib Magazine (June 1998). Complete article available at http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june98/scout/06roszkowski.html

Wells, Amy Tracy. "A Scout Report Signpost Look at One Aspect of Metadata - Resource Type." InterNIC News (November 1997). Complete article available at http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/scout/toolkit/enduser/archive/1997/euc-9711.html

Wells, Amy Tracy, Susan Calcari, and Travis Koplow, eds. The Amazing Internet Challenge: How Leading Projects Use Library Skills to Organize the Web, Chicago: American Library Association Editions, 1999

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How can I contact you?

You can write to us at signpost@cs.wisc.edu. We would be delighted to hear from you!

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© 2000 Internet Scout Project Copyright Permissions

Comments, Suggestions, Feedback Send email to signpost@cs.wisc.edu

Last Updated 10/2/2000