The Scout Report -- Volume 15, Number 25

June 26, 2009

A Publication of Internet Scout
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sponsored by University of Wisconsin - Madison Libraries.




Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

In The News




Research and Education

New England Public Policy Center

http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/neppc/

Established in January 2005, the New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston provides high-quality analysis of important policy and economic issues that affect the entire New England region. The materials on their site are contained within five primary sections, which include "Publications", "Conferences & Events", and "Data & Resources". On their homepage, the "What's New" section provides information about recent publications and calls for visiting scholar applications. In the "Publications" area, visitors can browse around by topic, author, and series. Additionally, the "Data & Resources" area provides access to the monthly publication "New England Economic Indicators" and interactive data sets contained in the form of tables and charts. This same section also contains links to resources within the Boston Federal Reserve, such as community development indicators. [KMG]



Financial Action Task Force

http://www.fatf-gafi.org

Created in 1989, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body whose purpose is "the development and promotion of national and international policies to combat money laundering and terrorist financing." Users who are new to the site can get started quickly by looking over the "Quick Links" section on the right-hand side of the homepage. Here they will find a handbook that details how the FATF creates its profiles, information on the methodology, and primary recommendations for creating a coherent set of counter-measures against money laundering. Also, the site includes a "Publications" area, which contains short summaries of reports, along with annual reports dating from 1990 and newsletters from 2007. Finally, the site also contains a listing of recent news items and upcoming events and conferences sponsored by the FATF. [KMG]



Duke Collection of American Indian Oral History

http://digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/duke/

As one might expect, the University of Oklahoma has a tremendous amount of material related to the history of the American West. One particularly noteworthy collection in their holdings is the Duke Collection of American Indian Oral History. The digital version of this collection provides historians and others with access to hundreds of interview transcripts from the period 1967 to 1972. These interviews were conducted with Indians across Oklahoma regarding the cultures and histories of their different nations and tribes. Visitors can read these documents for insights into customs, social conditions, philosophies, and ceremonies. Begin by browsing through an alphabetical list of all the interviews, or visitors may also wish to perform a full-text search across all the transcripts. [KMG]



Manuscripts and Letters of Oscar Wilde

http://www.themorgan.org/collections/works/wilde/page.asp?id=1500

The Morgan Library in New York City presents a digital version of a slim (50 handwritten pages) bound volume of manuscripts and letters by Oscar Wilde. The volume has an interesting provenance, since it came to the Library through the family of Lord Alfred Douglas, Wilde's lover. Wilde sued Douglas' father, John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry, for libel, but the trial served to make public salacious details of Wilde's private life, which eventually led to his conviction and imprisonment on charges of indecency. Ironically, the volume's cover is stamped with the Marquess of Queensberry crest, since the letters and manuscripts within were collected by the eleventh Marquess of Queensberry, grandson of John Sholto Douglas. A letter documenting the start of Wilde and Alfred Douglas relationship, written around November 1892, is in the book, as well as manuscript versions of "The Doer of Good," "The Disciple," "The Master," "The House of Judgment," and "The Artist." The "read this page" feature of the web site translates the handwritten pages into easier-to-read typescript. [DS]



Southwest Journal of Cultures

http://southwestjournalofcultures.blogspot.com/

Sponsored by Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, the Southwest Journal of Cultures is an online scholarly book review venue that is intended to bring academics and others book reviews from the field of culture studies. The Journal was first published in September 2008, and its editors have managed to cover a broad range of topics in a short time. Visitors can scroll through the most recent reviews, some of which include critical appraisals of works like "Chinese Street Opera in Singapore" and "Spare Time in Texas: Recreation and History in the Lone Star State". Visitors are welcome to leave their own comments on each review, and they can also look through the online archive. Those interested in starting their own like-minded project would do well to spend sometime navigating this well-thought out site. [KMG]



Chatham House Research: Middle East and North Africa

http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/research/middle_east/

Founded in 1920, the mission of Chatham House is "to be a world-leading source of independent analysis, informed debate and influential ideas on how to build a prosperous and secure world for all." They have a number of research divisions, including those dedicated to international law, economics, and global health. The Middle East and North Africa division looks into affairs in that region of the world, and policy analysts and others will be delighted with the offerings here. Visitors can look through their "Current Projects" area to get a better sense of the research agenda, and then move on to the "Reports and Papers" area. Here they can look through reports and briefing papers that include commentaries like "Against the Gathering Storm: Securing Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement" and "Iran: Breaking the Nuclear Deadlock". A listing of staff members and current and forthcoming books round out the site. [KMG]



Encyclopedia of Life

http://www.eol.org/

A webpage for every organism on earth is the goal of this site, which was initially funded in 2007 by the MacArthur Foundation and the Sloan Foundation. To "learn how to navigate EOL, search for content, customize your experience, and explore pages..." visitors can start with the tab "Using the Site" at the top of the page. Here, there is a video tour on general "Navigation" of the site and instructions on how specifically to use the "Species Pages". Users can check out the FAQs section under the same tab for more help. Visitors can select the "Language" tab at the top of the page to view the site in English, Spanish, Russian, Ukranian, German, or French. In the "About EOL" tab on the far upper right hand side of the page, visitors can check out the "Content Partners" link about halfway down the menu. There are over two dozen partners and links to their websites listed, including the Nearctic Spider Database, Mushroom Observer, FishBase, and AntWeb. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.



Waring Historical Library

http://waring.library.musc.edu/page.php?id=692

Located on the campus of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), the Waring Historical Library is named after its first directory, Joseph I. Waring, Jr. Persons with an interest in the history of medicine will find much to look over here, and as these materials do not circulate, the online materials are a nice boon to researchers. In the "News and Exhibits" area, visitors can look over online exhibits like "Overcoming the Rejection Factor: MUSC's first organ transplant". Moving on, the "Student Activities and Programs" area contains information about the various student events sponsored by the Library. Those persons who might wish to visit Charleston to do research at the Library will appreciate the "Library Services" area. Here they can learn about the reference services, thematic collections, and more. [KMG]



General Interest

Design for a Living World [Flash Player]

http://www.nature.org/design/

The Nature Conservancy commissioned high-profile designers such as Isaac Mizrahi, Kate Spade, and others to produce textiles, furniture, jewelry, handbags, and decorative objects that were sustainable and used materials and methods from local craftspeople around the world. Some of the innovative designs, found at the top of the page in the "Project" tab, include FSC-Certified Plywood Furniture", "Chicle Latex Vases", and "Bamboo Furniture". The materials used for the projects can be found under the "Place" tab, and include such varied locations as Gondwana Link, Australia; Lava Lake Ranch, Idaho; and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. The website is well designed, and the user can view the projects by designer, project, or the place the materials originated. Once the user has chosen a mode of viewing, a slideshow and accompanying description of either the place, designer, or project will appear on the screen. At the top of the screen are available links to the complementary methods of viewing these materials, either buying the book or visiting the exhibition in person. [KMG]



Waste Online

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/

Sure enough, there is a good deal of "waste" online, so it's nice to learn about the Waste Online website which serves as a great repository for information about an entirely different set of waste-related matters. This British-based website has been funded by the New Opportunities Fund Digitise project. The project is overseen by Waste Watch, which is "the leading environmental charity dedicated to the reduction, reuse and recycling of household waste." First-time visitors can get started by clicking on "Wacky waste facts", which contains some basic facts about the nature of waste in the United Kingdom. In the same vicinity, visitors can dig deeper by looking into sections titled "The problem with waste", "Waste in the workplace", and "Waste at home". Moving on, the "Search our library" area allows guests to the site to look for specific items of interest related to dozens of topics, such as household recycling, office recycling, and metal recycling. Moving along, the "Information Sheets" area features almost two dozen fact sheets that can be used as guides to composting, battery recycling, and the history of waste. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.



The State Hermitage Museum

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia is not only an impressive museum to visit in person, but its online museum is very well done, and includes virtual tours of several parts of the museum. There is so much information on this website and after browsing around, visitors will feel like they have had a personally guided tour of the art collections and the architecture of the buildings. Visitors can learn the history of the Hermitage by clicking on "Hermitage History" near the top of the homepage. The "Timeline" will orient the visitor, and "A Walk Through the Imperial Hermitage" and "The Winter Palace Through the Ages" allows for a look at several different ages of parts of the six building museum. The Digital Collection can be searched or browsed in the usual way, such as by title, artist, year, medium, etc., but IBM's experimental Query By Image Content (QBIC) allows visitors to find "a Gauguin masterpiece simply by recalling the organisation of his subjects or locating a Da Vinci painting by searching for its predominant colours." There are short animated demonstrations to show the visitor how to do a search by color or layout. [KMG]



The Guardian: Iran

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iran

The Guardian newspaper is known around the world for its excellent coverage of international news. They have a special site dedicated to providing up-to-the minute coverage and special reports on Iran, and it's one that any news aficionado will want to bookmark. Of course, the investigative reports and articles are solid, and the site also contains interactive situation maps, video clips, and interviews. At the top of the page, visitors will find the most recent stories, and they can scroll down to view links to various Iranian government websites and germane commentaries from the blogosphere. Visitors can also search the entire Iran news archive and sign up to receive the RSS feed. Of course, some will also want to leave their own comments as well on various news items. [KMG]



The Nebraska Federal Writers' Project: Remembering Writers of the 1930s

http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/DEPTS/hr/wpa/ne_fwp_1.html

In the 1930s, the Nebraska Federal Writers' Project began work on creating an authoritative guide to the Cornhusker State, along with documenting various cities and towns across the state. This web exhibit from the Lincoln City Libraries provides a narrative history of their work, along with documenting the Project's activities through good and bad times. The digital project was supported in part by the United States Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, and Stephen Cloyd assembled the exhibit and wrote the text. Visitors will note that the exhibit is divided into three parts, and the first two sections within include short essays that narrate the history of this expansive and important project. The last section contains notes and study questions about the exhibit. Special attention is paid to those writers who came over to the project from the Prairie Schooner, which was (and still is) a notable literary journal published at the University of Nebraska. [KMG]



PRism Online Journal

http://praxis.massey.ac.nz/prism_on-line_journ.html

This free online journal of the study of Public Relations and Communications is a peer-refereed publication based in Australia, and first published in 2003. The journal views public relations "in its broadest sense, to encompass all communication within and between organisations or individuals and their social, environmental, and political context." Visitors can make their way through Volumes 1-6 about midway down the homepage. Each issue includes commentaries, book reviews, refereed journal articles, and conference reports. There is even a PRism Prize, a cash prize awarded to the guest editor of a special issue. Details are available from the "Click Here" link, above the list of journal issues. The Journal's current call for papers is located below the list of journal issues. General information, such as "Submission Guidelines", "Refereeing Process", "Advice to Book Reviewers", and "PRism House Style Guide" are listed near the bottom of the page. [KMG]



Balzac's Paris: A Guided Tour

http://www.balzacsparis.ucr.edu/

Honor de Balzac was a great lover of Paris, and he happened to live in the City of Lights during a time when the city was undergoing intense physical transformation. Admittedly, many of the city's most famous landmarks did not emerge until after Balzac's passing in 1850, but this rather emotional and provocative online exhibit takes users into the Paris that the writer knew most intimately. Drawing on its tremendous Vernon Duke Collection (which includes over 800 books, maps, and documents on the history of Paris), the University of California, Riverside Library has created this fine introduction and exploration of Paris during the life of Balzac. The site contains a number of virtual tours (illuminated by various primary documents), along with a biography of Balzac, and a detailed bibliography. [KMG]



Intelligent Virtual Environments

http://ive.scm.tees.ac.uk/

The research goals of the British-based lab, Intelligent Virtual Environments, of the University of Teesside are to develop "new models of interactivity based on Artificial Intelligence techniques." The website contains access to current projects, past and completed projects, technologies, as well as all publications and a tool to search those publications. Visitors can view the more than two dozen articles, going all the way back to 2000 on the subject of artificial intelligence techniques. On the menu to the left-hand side of the page are the links to the lab's current projects "IRIS", "CALLAS" and "COMPANIONS", and to "ALTERNE", "BARDS" and "CHARBIS", which are the lab's past and completed projects. Visitors especially shouldn't miss learning about the "COMPANIONS" project, which will be a virtual conversation companion in the near future. Watch the "Companions Movie" and check out the "Health and Fitness Companion" and "Senior Companion" demonstrators on the COMPANIONS homepage. There is also a Companions blog, for those interested in reading and responding to various topics related to this personalized type of artificial intelligence. [KMG]

To find this resource and more high-quality online resources in math and science visit Scout's sister site - AMSER, the Applied Math and Science Educational Repository at http://amser.org.



Network Tools

Wise Disk Cleaner 4.52

http://www.wisecleaner.com/

With its intuitive interface, this version of Wise Disk Cleaner will be of great assistance to those who seek to make peace with their pesky registry problems. Its scanning engine is quite efficient, and it will find incorrect or obsolete information in any Windows registry. When the program is done with its tasks, users can view each problem individually as well. This version is compatible with computers running Windows 95 and newer. [KMG]



Cerebral Imprint 2.5.0

http://www.alexrose.net/code/cerebral-imprint/

If you're preparing for the bar exam or a gross anatomy quiz, you may want to give Cerebral Imprint the once over. Created by developer Alex Rose, this open source application allows users to create a wide range of flash cards. Visitors can import card decks from existing text files and also export card decks to text files, if necessary. It's an easy-to-use application, and compatible with computers running Mac OS X 10.5 and newer. [KMG]



In The News

Kodak announces that they will end production of fabled film

Kodak set to retire Kodachrome film at the end of 2009 after 74 years
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/06/23/2009-06-23_kodak_set_to_retire_kodachrome_film_at_the_end_of_2009.html

News Release:Kodak Retires KODACHROME Film
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2709&gpcid=0900688a80b4e692&ignoreLocale=true&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=16171

Kodachrome: First Great Color Film Remembered in Photos
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/photogalleries/kodachrome-color-film-discontinued/

A Brief History of Kodak Kodachrome Film
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1906503,00.html

The Kodachrome Project
http://www.kodachromeproject.com/

Kodachrome Slide Dating Guide
http://historicphotoarchive.com/f2/kodachrome.html

George Eastman House
http://www.eastmanhouse.org/

Over its 74-year product life, photographers have used Kodachrome to shoot images of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, family picnics, and a number of other subjects. This week, the Kodak company announced that it will effectively discontinue production of this type of film at the end of 2009. Like many other styles of film, Kodachrome has experienced major competition from digital cameras. Kodachrome reached the height of its fame in the 1950s and 1960s when it was the gold standard for many photographers around the globe. Currently, only one commercial lab in the world processes the film, and the Kodak company noted in a press release that revenues from Kodachrome represent less than one percent of all total sales. The company is preparing a fitting tribute by having noted photojournalist Steve McCurry shoot one of the last rolls of Kodachrome film. After the film is developed, the images will appear in the George Eastman House museum in Rochester, New York. [KMG]

The first link will take users to a news article from this Tuesday's New York Daily News, which reports on the announcement from Kodak. Moving on, the second link leads to the official press release regarding the discontinuation of Kodachrome by Kodak. The third link will take visitors to a lovely remembrance of the power of Kodachrome from National Geographic. The fourth link whisks users away to a rather thorough and fun history of Kodachrome from Time magazine. The fifth link leads to the Kodachrome Project, a celebration of Kodachrome in photographs and online forums. True shutterbugs will appreciate the sixth link, which leads to a website which will help them date Kodachrome slides. If you're looking for a summer trip idea, you might want to check out the last link. Here, visitors will find information about visiting the George Eastman House, complete with tour times and online exhibits. [KMG]






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