The Scout Report - February 25, 2000

February 25, 2000

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators. 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.


In This Issue:

Subject Specific Reports

Research and Education

General Interest

Network Tools

In The News


Subject Specific Reports

Scout Report for Social Sciences and Business & Economics
Scout Report for Social Sciences
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/socsci/2000/ss-000222.html
Scout Report for Business & Economics
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/bus-econ/2000/be-000224.html
The eleventh issues of the third volumes of the Scout Reports for Social Sciences and Business & Economics are available. The In the News section of the Social Sciences Report annotates eight resources on the current unrest in Mitrovica, Kosovo. The Business & Economics Report's In the News section offers seven resources on rising oil prices. [MD]
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Research and Education

Abraham Lincoln Papers -- LOC
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html
On February 12, the anniversary of Lincoln's birth, the Library of Congress (LOC) American Memory Project and the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College made public the first release from The Complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, which totals approximately 20,000 documents. The complete collection is organized into three "General Correspondence" series. This release, which includes 2,200 annotated documents (about 6,500 images), comprises series one and contains correspondence dated from March 1829 through June 1864 that was originally gathered by Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son. Users can browse the collection chronologically or search by keyword. The site also includes two special presentations featuring original documents and images on the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln's assassination. [MD]
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PubMed Central [.pdf]
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/
After almost a year of sometimes contentious debate, the National Institutes of Health has officially opened PubMed Central, a free online archive of full-text, peer-reviewed research papers in the life sciences. While the majority of the major scientific publishers have declined to participate, a number of respected journals will be featured at the site. The first of these are Molecular Biology of the Cell and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. At the time of writing, only the November 1, 1999 issue of Molecular Biology of the Cell was available. Users can view abstracts or the full text of over 30 articles in HTML or .pdf format. The full texts of issues for both journals from 1999 and 1998 are in preparation. Forthcoming journals include Biochemical Journal,Canadian Medical Association Journal,Frontiers in Bioscience, and five journals from BioMed Central. Background and participation information are available at the site. While current offerings at the site are modest, PubMed Central promises to become a major resource for scholars and professionals in the life sciences. [MD]
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Asia Recovery Information Center (ARIC)
http://aric.adb.org/
The Asia Recovery Information Center was first conceived at the Meeting on Development Cooperation: Responding to the Asia Crisis, in Sydney, Australia in March 1999. The ARIC Website has three objectives: to monitor the social and economic impacts, as well as the recovery process, of the Asian Crisis; to collect and disseminate information on the response of the international community to the Crisis; and to add to the dialogs about "policy reform in response to the crisis." Although it will be expanded to cover more countries, at present, ARIC covers the five main countries affected by the Crisis -- Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. ARIC's information is divided into seven sections. Recovery News is updated daily and contains news briefs and articles from around the world (both the source and the country of origin are noted). Hard data can be found in ARIC Indicators, which holds more than 40 social, economic, and financial indictors presented in both table and chart form. The Country Focus section allows users to search ARIC's information by topic and by country. The site also lists meetings and conferences, as well as offering an extensive collection of notable links. This resource is truly invaluable to users following the Asian Crisis. [EM]
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Catalonian Manuscripts
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/catalan/
This recently added page from the Berkeley Digital Library Sunsite highlights some manuscripts from the collection of The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. At the site, users can access over 260 digitized pages of eleventh- through fifteenth-century manuscripts from Catalonia. These are presented in four sections: a fifteenth-century Catalan translation of Boethius's De consolatione philosophiae, Saint Peter Pascual's Llibre del bisbe de Jaen (Biblia parva), and two collections of various legal records and documents, the first dating from 1031 to 1499 and the second from 1140 to 1555. All of the documents are easy to navigate, and page images are available in standard and high resolution, and as thumbnails. An abstract is provided for the first collection of legal documents, and links are offered to bibliographic information on all of the items featured at this page. [MD]
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Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal (APLPJ)
http://www.hawaii.edu/aplpj/
Hosted by the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii, this recently founded free online journal claims to be "the first fully functional web-based legal journal to provide a worldwide forum for the presentation and discussion of legal, policy-based, and socio-economic issues that arise in or impact the geographic regions of East Asia and Polynesia, as well as the individual nations of those regions, and Australia." The APLPJ is a collaborative effort, involving legal scholars, economists, social scientists, professionals, law students, and translators. The inaugural issue (February 2000) features a symposium on legal education in Japan; articles on the future of UN Governance, judicial independence in Burma, and Japanese disability law; a practitioner's note on Chinese markets; as well as commentary, case notes, and the translated text of a Japanese act regarding Ainu culture. Submissions for the second edition (June 2000) are welcome, and contributor information is provided. [MD]
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Comparative Mammalian Brain Collections [QuickTime]
http://www.neurophys.wisc.edu/brain/
Located at the Department of Physiology at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, this site offers images and information from "one of the world's largest collection of well-preserved, sectioned and stained brains." The site features photos of brains of over 100 different species of mammals, representing 17 mammalian orders. Users can browse the collection by common or scientific name; view serial sections of selected specimens (including human and chimpanzee), some of which are also available as QuickTime movies; read about the importance and history of the collections; and learn about brain evolution (this last section still under construction). Additional resources include a collection of related links and an internal search engine. [MD]
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Student Advantage: Academic Research Engine
http://research.studentadvantage.com/
Last week, Student Advantage announced its new academic research engine, developed in partnership with Northern Light (see the September 19, 1997 Scout Report). Students can keyword search 25 different subjects either individually or simultaneously. Some features adopted from Northern Light's search engine make Student Advantage likely to reduce, at least, the ratio of student frustration to success when attempting to do Internet research. First, results of an initial search include a sidebar that organizes returns in subject folders allowing users to focus only on those that seem most promising. Second, the "drill and search" feature allows students to then refine their searches within these subject folders. This two-step process mitigates the centrifugal Internet experience most student-researchers encounter. The site also features a listing of online reference sources and a free download of Q-Notes, software for electronic note-taking (for PCs only). (Caveat: Many of the book-length texts listed in results are merely links to Amazon.com, and some of the articles listed are held in Northern Light's fee-based Special Collection.) [DC]
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A Consolidated Conservation/ Heritage Bibliography
http://rudi.herts.ac.uk/biblio/larkham/bibliog99/index.html
Compiled by Peter J. Larkham of the Birmingham School of Planning, University of Central England, this easily-navigated bibliography is designed for "a range of students in built environment disciplines, geography, urban studies, heritage studies, etc.," as well as some built environment professionals. As Larkham notes, the bibliography concentrates on conservation history; planning, law, and policy; and socio-economic approaches; with a principal focus on English experience. Hosted by RUDI, Resource for Urban Design Information (reviewed in the April 20, 1999 Scout Report for Social Sciences), the bibliography is divided into eighteen sections, which are navigated via a panel on the left-hand side of the page. Section titles include North America, Europe, Heritage, Parks and Gardens, Re-Use, Archaeology and Conservation, Sustainability, and Philosophy and Approaches, among others. Suggestions are welcome, and contact information is provided. [MD]
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International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)
http://www.hi.is/~anne/iasl.html
The IASL is an international organization that offers guidance and advice for the development of school libraries and the school library profession. While librarians and related professionals will get the most out of this site, some of its offerings will also interest other users. Chief among these is the large collection of annotated Internet resources, which are organized by topic (Childrens Literature Resources, Internet Resources for Reading Promotion, Internet Resources for Kids, etc.). Of course, the site was created for librarians, and they will find a host of professional development resources. These include a newsletter, book reviews, conference information and past proceedings, an electronic newsletter for IASL members, content pages and abtracts from the IASL research journal, and a selection of full-text documents related to school librarianship. An internal search engine rounds out the site. [MD]
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General Interest

ArtMuseum.net Presents Bill Viola Online [RealPlayer G2]
http://www.artmuseum.net/viola2/fr_splash.html
Contents
http://www.artmuseum.net/viola2/dhtml/content/fr_toc.html
In collaboration with SFMOMA, ArtMuseum.net (presented by Intel) offers its second big Internet-based museum experience, this mid-career survey of 25 years of work by video artist Bill Viola. Like American Century, ArtMuseum.net's first installation (see the April 30, 1999 Scout Report), Bill Viola Online pushes Internet technology perhaps a bit too far for the average user in attempting to recreate the experience of a blockbuster museum show. Viewing video clips requires downloading a plug-in, and standard navigation is often replaced by icons that are not immediately understandable or viewable. Those who manage the plug-in can view selections from sixteen of Viola's videos in the Installations section. Those who cannot view the video can look at the still images. All users can enjoy glimpses into Viola's working method, via drawings from his personal notebooks, excerpts from interviews, and photo albums documenting the creation of his video installations. For example, the nine photos that document the Crossing, taped in an airplane hangar, in which a human figure is apparently burned and flooded, show Viola working with an actor and dummies to create the video. [DS]
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"In The Crossfire: The Impact of Gun Violence on Public Housing Communities" -- HUD [.pdf]
http://www.huduser.org/publications/pubasst/cross.html
Released on February 18, this 50-page report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the first-ever comprehensive analysis of gun-related violence in public housing communities. Based on new data from HUD and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the report reveals that, while crime in public housing developments is falling, residents of public housing are more than twice as likely to become victims of gun violence as the rest of the population, regardless of city size. The full text of the report is offered in .pdf format with five appendixes. [MD]
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WorldSkip
http://www.worldskip.com/
This new and comprehensive clearinghouse draws together an array of reference links for what appears to be almost every nation in the world. These are easily accessed through six regional pull-down menus. After selecting a nation, users will find four columns of categorized links under the following headings: News, Information and Radio; Business, Economy and Government; Travel, Entertainment, People and Culture; and WorldSkip Connexion (consumer products). Each of the four columns is further divided by subcategory. Additional links to country profiles, maps, currency conversion, weather in selected cities, and translations (primarily European languages) are also provided. Conveniently, information gathered from other sources is presented on-site, although users will also notice a number of advertising banners. As a whole, the site is an excellent and easy-to-use resource for current awareness and basic reference information, especially for the smaller nations outside of Europe and the Americas. [MD]
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Fanny Farmer Cookbook
http://Bartleby.com/87/
On February 22, Bartleby.com (last mentioned in the January 28, 2000 Scout Report) announced its latest release: the 1918 edition of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book, later known as the Fanny Farmer Cookbook. Written by the director of the Boston Cooking School, Fannie Farmer (1857-1915), this landmark, no-nonsense cookbook aimed at the ordinary person has sold over 4 million copies internationally. Bartleby selected the 1918 edition because it was the last edition authored completely by Farmer. The online version includes over 1,800 recipes and is browseable by chapter or subject index, or searchable by keyword. This classic work is not only interesting as a piece of culinary history, but it offers techniques and recipes that stand the test of time. [MD]
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Worlds Apart -- Britannica
http://www.britannica.com/worldsapart/
This new feature from Britannica.com explores the destructive role that ethnic rivalries have played in twelve diverse conflicts around the world. From the main page, users can access concise briefings of these conflicts, four analysts' viewpoints on the issues involved, and expanded coverage on (currently) two conflicts: Indonesia and the Kurds. These expanded features include short biographies of the key players, a timeline, a photo gallery, and related links. As with any feature on such volatile situations, some of the information is outdated, but on the whole, the site (once complete) will offer a concise and attractively presented introduction to these conflicts for students and general users. [MD]
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naturalSCIENCE
http://naturalscience.com/
Recently redesigned for its second anniversary, naturalSCIENCE offers original articles, news reports and briefs, book reviews, commentary, and interviews aimed at both scientists in other fields and scientifically informed members of the public at large. In addition, the site links to off-site stories and reports, as well as featuring a large number of categorized links for scientists and science-minded readers. While navigation at the site can be a little quirky in places, these users may find it an interesting source of news and dialogue. [MD]
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Extreme 2000 - Voyage to the Deep! [QuickTime]
http://www.ocean.udel.edu/deepsea/
A collaborative project of the University of Delaware College of Marine Studies and Sea Grant College Program and WHYY-TV, this site tracked the recent Extreme 2000 mission, in which scientists from the University of Delaware explored hydrothermal vents in the Sea of Cortes off the west coast of Mexico in the deep-sea sub Alvin. Although the mission ended on January 22, the site offers a number of interesting items, including information on the mission and crew, a dive log, daily journal, and photos and movie clips. In addition, users will find several features on seafloor geology, deepsea creatures, toxic chemistry, and high-tech tools. A list of related links and an internal search engine are also provided. Attractively presented and quick-loading, the site contains enough information to keep adults interested while still appealing to younger users. [MD]
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Minor League Baseball.com
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/
While fans have a number of choices for sites on the pros, online information on Minor League ball has been a bit harder to find. Fans need look no futher than this site, the official home of Minor League Baseball on the Web. Here fans will find an avalanche of stats, standings, scores, news, schedules, and more for all the AAA, AA, and A Leagues. In addition, users can search for individual players, look up each of the teams, track attendance figures, learn about the Umpire Corp., and read notices of special events, meetings, and seminars. [MD]
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Network Tools

Desktop News 2.0 (Windows 3.1/95/98/2000/NT)
http://www.desktopnews.com/
This free customizable news ticker allows users to keep an eye on the latest stories from a wide variety of news sources and click on the headlines to read the full story in their browser (ads are interspersed with the headlines). Conveniently, Desktop News is both low-bandwidth (56KB over an hour period) and has a small footprint (1MB). In addition, it can deliver any information, such as "news, weather, stocks, database records, ads, audio files, video clips, etc. that can be served up on a Web page accessible by intended subscribers." What really sets it apart, however, is an open publishing model that allows any source to establish channels using industry standard file formats and Desktop News's specifications. While the major online news providers are, of course, represented on Desktop News, this model seems to offer the potential for a news democratization of sorts, with the possibility of a range and depth of content not found in most current awareness tools. After downloading, users have a number of options for customizing their channels and ticker display settings. They can then visit the site to automatically add other channels. Free registration is requested, but it does not appear to be required. [MD]
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WinZip - The Archive Utility for Windows 8.0 Beta
http://www.winzip.com
WinZip is an MS Windows utility that allows users to easily extract files from a compressed archive file. In addition to the ubiquitous .zip archive format, WinZip supports a variety of formats often found on the Internet, including .tar, .gz, .tgz, BinHex, and the MIME format often used in email messages. For storing files offline or sending files to a friend or colleague, WinZip allows users to create .zip archives with a convenient drag'n'drop interface. WinZip also supports integration with McAfee VirusScan or Norton Antivirus to check for viruses even before a file is decompressed. While some of the functionality included in WinZip is duplicated in the MS Windows Plus Pack, WinZip's added support for many commonly found formats and its tight integration with an array of other utilities make it worth a look. WinZip runs on Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT 4.0, and 2000. A single license is $29, with significant discounts for multiple copies, and an evaluation version can be downloaded from the WinZip Website. German, French, and Japanese-enabled versions of WinZip are also available. [EA]
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Bare Bones 101: A Very Basic Web Search Tutorial
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/bones.html
Created by Ellen Chamberlain, Head Librarian at the University of South Carolina-Beaufort campus, this collection of concise lessons is designed to help users get their Web searches on the right track quickly and easy. The tutorial is divided into 20 independent lessons, addressing topics such as meta-searchers, subject directories, evaluating sites, Boolean logic, and field searching. It also offers overviews of eight of the most popular search engines. The last lesson consists of a list of what Chamberlain feels are the best resources for more in-depth guides to searching the Internet. [MD]
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In The News

Religious Violence in Nigeria
"Kaduna eases curfew, probes crisis" -- The Guardian
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news2/nn777522.html
The Guardian Main Page
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/addr.htm
Post Express
http://www.postexpresswired.com/postexpress.nsf/News?openview&Start=1&Count=15
"Riot: Death toll now 200 in Kaduna" -- Vanguard
http://www.vanguardngr.com/f124200.htm
"Rights group drags Zamfara to court" -- Vanguard
http://www.vanguardngr.com/f224200.htm
Abuja Mirror
http://www.ndirect.co.uk/~n.today/mirror.htm
"Nigeria leader condemns Sharia law" -- BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_656000/656553.stm
Nigeria: Falling Apart, Again -- Time Europe
http://www.pathfinder.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/228/nigeria.html
Nigeria.com News Room
http://www.nigeria.com/News_Room/news_room.html
NigeriaWEB
http://nigeriaweb.odili.net/
Nigeria Media Monitor
http://www.kilima.com/mediamonitor/
Nigeria Riots -- NPR [RealPlayer]
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/atcupdates/20000223.atcupdates.03.ram
Security was tight in northern Nigeria today, as armed police guarded mosques after days of religious rioting that have left hundreds dead and widespread destruction. While sparked by Christian opposition to the introduction of Sharia, or Muslim law, in the Nigerian state of Kaduna, most observers blame both sides for the rioting. Africa's most populous nation (115 million), Nigeria contains over 200 ethnic groups and is split almost evenly between a Muslim north and Christian south. Ironically, the violence can in part be traced to the return of democracy to Nigeria last year. Under the new and more open government led by President Olusegun Obasanjo, some of the Muslim-dominated states have taken steps to introduce Sharia. While the transition to Sharia passed peacefully in the overwhelmingly Muslim Zamfara state, Kaduna contains a sizable Christian majority who have reacted strongly at the mere prospect of the introduction of Islamic law. Previously circumspect on the issue, Obasanjo recently spoke out against Sharia, expressing doubts over whether it was compatible with the Nigerian constitution. In addition, Nigeria's Human Rights Law Service has also begun court proceedings to try to have Sharia declared unconstitutional in Zamfara. While order is slowly being restored in Kaduna, this issue will certainly remain in the forefront of Nigerian politics, as the governors of two more states have signed bills under which Sharia will come into effect in May, and two other states are actively considering taking similiar steps.

Users can begin with the Lagos Guardian's lead piece on the rioting, and check back at their main page over the next few days for breaking news. A number of related stories will also be found at the Post Express, the Vanguard, and after Monday, at the Abuja Mirror's weekly news digest page. BBC News is also following the story, and the most recent issue of Time Europe includes an article on the current state of Nigeria as a whole. More coverage can be found at the Nigeria.com News Room, NigeriaWEB, and after Monday, at the Nigeria Media Monitor, a weekly news digest. Finally, users can listen to a recording of a report on the riots featured on Wednesday's edition of National Public Radio's (NPR) All Things Considered.[MD]
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From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2000. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/

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Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2000. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.

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The Scout Report (ISSN 1092-3861) is published weekly by Internet Scout
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