These two reports focus on the role the Internet is playing in the mission of US institutions. The first, from Darrell M. West, Brown University, updates his report for 2000 (discussed in the September 22, 2000 Scout Report) on the electronic delivery of government information and services. The 23-page report looks at the functionality and accessibility of state and government Websites, progress...

What is the best way to experience the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts? You could read a history of Harvard University, take a walking tour, or perhaps browse a topical website. But why not look at the Cambridge CityViewer for edification? This unique tool "allows the public to view, query, mark up, and print custom maps using only a web browser." Notedly, the viewer works best with Internet...

Many organizations and individuals are working to transform some of America's most violent inner city neighborhoods by forming a series of coalitions with local residents, religious organizations, and schools. This engaging documentary from PBS's Frontline takes a look into "the violent landscape of our cities through the eyes of those fighting to sow peace and security." First-time visitors...

Throughout history, cities have risen and fallen from prominence, and in recent times more attention has been paid to why this ebb and flow persists across the centuries. Documenting this process has increasingly been the province of historians, archaeologists, city planners, sociologists, and of course, photographers. Many photographers have been very interested in the world of post-industrial...

The oft-studied phenomenon of population dispersal from central city areas has often solely focused on examining the massive migration to suburban areas, but fewer scholars have examined decentralization trends within major central city areas. Written by Alan Berube and Benjamin Forman (under the auspices of the Brookings Institution), this 20-page report details the primary findings of their...

Postcards are fragments of the past, like the postcard sent from a lonely son to a mother in Perth Amboy, New Jersey or a postcard from Niagara Falls written by a friend on a weeklong jaunt to Canada. These postcards and more can be found in the University of Maryland's has digitized collection of historic postcards. The University Libraries initiated the project, and while only a selection of the...

Based at the Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham, the 3Cities Project is "an inter- and multi-disciplinary study of the iconography, spatial forms and literary and visual cultures of New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles in the period 1870s to 1930s." At present, the site hosts a collection of essays on the three cities, information on the project as a whole, and links and information for...

The US Conference of Mayors (USCM) (see the January 1, 1999 Scout Report) provides the Mayoral Elections Database. The database allows citizens from all 50 states and the District of Columbia to locate information on mayoral elections held in 1999. Users may search the database by city, state, political party, or name of candidate. Searches yield city name, state, party and name of election...