FreeLists / networknewsletters / [ECP] The Scout Report -- January 12, 2007

[Educational CyberPlayGround <admin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,ø¤º
Please link to the Educational CyberPlayGround
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com

Add your K12 SCHOOL OR SCHOOL DISTRICT URL
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/schools/

Please Share and Add Your Song
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ncfr/

Educational CyberPlayGround Network Newsletters Mailing List ©1994
¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤,¸¸,ø¤º


=======
The Scout Report
January 12, 2007
Volume 13, Number 1

==   I N   T H E   S C O U T   R E P O R T   T H I S   W E E K  ========



====== Research and Education ====
1.  Poverty and Civil War: What Policymakers Need To Know
2.  Geospatial One Stop
3.  Alfred Russel Wallace Collection
4.  Veterinary Medicine Resources on the Web
5.  By Aeroplane to Pygmyland: Revisiting the 1926 Dutch and American
Expedition to New Guinea
6.  The Knowledge Bank at OSU
7.  National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (Last reviewed November 30th,
1999)
8.  Human Security Centre: Human Security Brief 2006

====== General Interest ====
9.  WGBH Forum Network
10. Wired Science
11. Yale University Library: Manuscripts & Archives Digital Images Database
12. Improvement and Development Gateway
13. The Island Institute
14. Texas Historic Sites Atlas
15. Science Café
16. University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoology Museum Collection

====== Network Tools ====
17. ImageEye 7.3
18. Aviation Weather 1.2.5

====== In The News ====
19. Novel opportunity arises as world?s tiniest ?state? goes up for sale



====== Research and Education ====

1.  Poverty and Civil War: What Policymakers Need To Know [pdf]
http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/rice/poverty_civilwar.pdf

>From Indonesia to Sierra Leone, civil war has massively disrupted existing
economic and social structures. These countries are but two of the many
across the world that are besieged with such problems, and this latest
working paper from the Global and Economy Development Group within the
Brookings Institution provides some detailed information on the relationship
between poverty and civil war specifically designed for policymakers.
Authored by Susan E. Rice, Corinne Graff, and Janet Lewis, this 30-page
paper explains some of the reasons that poor countries are at increased risk
of becoming embroiled by civil war and related conflicts. Some of these
reasons include the fact that education levels tend to be low in poor
countries and these countries also tend to be natural resource dependent, a
relationship that the authors observe would benefit from additional
research. [KMG]


2.  Geospatial One Stop
http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos

To say that there are a few federal agencies involved with the creation of
maps would be quite an understatement. While most people probably
automatically think of the United States Geological Survey, there are
numerous groups within various agencies creating thousands of maps that draw
on the strengths of the field of geographic information systems (GIS). This
one-stop location allows users to draw on all of these resources in a timely
fashion. To start, visitors can use the basic search engine that asks them
to fill in the ?What? (such as a river or lake) or the ?Where? (such as
Onalaska, Washington). After filling out one of these forms, the search
engine will return all of the available map materials associated with each
place. Visitors can then refine their search as they see fit. If all of this
seems a bit daunting, visitors can also just browse through any number of
special interest maps, such as those related to homeland security,
recreation areas, fire mapping, and historical specialties such as those
that detail the route of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Overall, this is a
very helpful site, and one that will delight cartographers and anyone else
who spends a few moments here. [KMG]


3.  Alfred Russel Wallace Collection
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/collections-at-the-museum/wallace-
collection/index.jsp

One name looms large for the general public when the word ?evolution? is
mentioned: Charles Darwin. Of course, others are quite aware that Alfred
Russel Wallace co-discovered the theory of evolution with Darwin, a fact
that the prescient individuals at the Natural History Museum in Britain are
well aware of. In 2002, the Museum was able to purchase a rather large
collection of Wallace?s personal and related family papers, correspondence,
photographs, and other items from the Wallace family. With the generous
support of the Mellon Foundation, the Museum has digitized approximately 200
items from this collection and placed them online at this site. Visitors may
wish to start by looking over a brief biography of Wallace, and then taking
a look at the detailed chronology of the main events in his life. The
?Online Collection? section is where the heart of the material lies, as
visitors can view Wallace?s original notes on evolution, read about his
encounters with spiritualism, and a number of touching letters that include
a note on Wallace?s troubles with his cats, Crumpet and Flunkie. [KMG]


4.  Veterinary Medicine Resources on the Web
http://www.lib.iastate.edu/collections/eresourc/vetmed.html

Iowa State University?s libraries have been compiling electronic subject
guides for a number of years, and this is one such guide that users in the
field of veterinary medicine will want to bookmark. Organized thematically,
the resources are contained within one single list, and they are divided
into categories such as websites, electronic journals, online abstracts, and
basic pet care and health resources. Some of the gateway sites are quite
helpful, particularly the link to the animal diseases database offered by
the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Both potential veterinarian technicians
and laypersons will appreciate the pet care links, which include links to
the Healthy Pet site created by the American Animal Hospital Association and
an overview to animal care created by the American Veterinary Medical
Association.  [KMG]


5.  By Aeroplane to Pygmyland: Revisiting the 1926 Dutch and American
Expedition to New Guinea  [Quicktime, Windows Media Player]
http://www.sil.si.edu/expeditions/1926/

Arriving in the Sudirman mountain range in New Guinea in 1926, Matthew
Stirling and his anthropologist colleagues from the Netherlands and the
United States embarked on an expeditionary mission to document the lives of
the so-called ?pygmy? tribes of this region of the world. Eighty years
later, Paul Michael Taylor of the Asian Cultural History Program at the
National Museum of Natural History embarked on an ambitious project to place
materials from the expedition online for the general public, and for those
with an interest in the history of anthropology. The site includes some
remarkable interpretive essays by Taylor which provide lucid and important
material on the expedition, and some fascinating source materials from the
expedition as well. These source materials include the journals of both
Stirling and his collaborator, Stanley Hedberg, and a geographic navigator
which allows users to browse through the journal entries by location.
Equally compelling are the expedition photographs, which are also available
here, and the film footage, which has a total running time of approximately
two hours. For anyone interested in the history of anthropology, this site
will warrant several visits. [KMG]


6.  The Knowledge Bank at OSU [pdf]
https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/index.jsp

Within most major universities and colleges, a number of groups tend to work
on various digitization projects. Some may be located with the library
system, and others within specialized research institutes. The Ohio State
University Knowledge Bank is working with a number of partners to create a
knowledge management system that will support "the creation, organization,
storage, dissemination and preservation of the institution?s digital
information assets.? Even a casual glance at this website indicates that
they are well underway in this endeavor, and there is, in many ways,
something for everyone here. Visitors can begin exploring these materials by
browsing through some of the collections by contributing organization, or by
looking around by title, date, or author. Some of these materials include
lectures and reports from the American Indian Studies department and an
online archive of the Ohio Journal of Science. [KMG]


7.  National Service-Learning Clearinghouse [pdf] (Last reviewed November
30th, 1999)
http://www.servicelearning.org/

Over the past few years, the notion of service-learning at all levels of
formal education has become engrained in many places and institutions. The
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) is perhaps the best known
organization working in this area, and on their website visitors will find a
cornucopia of information and educational resources designed for persons
interested in this growing field. First-time visitors may wish to take the
site tour offered here, and then move along to the ?Highlights? section.
Here, users will find links to the NSLC?s own Journal for Civic Commitment
and toolkits designed to help institutions of higher education create
meaningful service-learning relationships with community groups. Visitors
will also be glad to learn that the site has a very user-friendly search
engine, and that they can also browse materials at their leisure. The site
is rounded out by an ?Events & Jobs? area that brings together complete
calendars of service-learning related conferences and activities, along with
an updated list of job opportunities in the service-learning field. [KMG]


8.  Human Security Centre: Human Security Brief 2006 [pdf]
http://www.humansecuritybrief.info/

While the concept of human security is a relatively new one, there is a
growing consensus that the subject is one that will continue to be of the
utmost importance in the coming years. Generally, the term is used to
describe "the complex of interrelated threats associated with civil war,
genocide and the displacement of populations.? Recently, the Human Security
Centre (located at the University of British Columbia) published its annual
Human Security Brief, and placed it online at this site. The report analyzes
the findings of several datasets that track trends in such areas as
organized violence against civilians and the conclusion of armed conflicts
worldwide. While this ambitious work does have some positive findings to
announce, there are a number of other troubling trends, such as the fact
that four of the world?s six regions have experienced increased numbers of
conflicts since 2002. [KMG]



====== General Interest ====

9.  WGBH Forum Network [iTunes, Real Player]
http://forum.wgbh.org/wgbh/

It would be pretty great if one could go and listen to Chuck Close talk
about his work, follow that up with a discussion about global warming, and
then listen to a number of experts talk about the songs of penguins. Of
course, such an endeavor could cost a small fortune, but fortunately there
is the website of the WGBH Forum Network. With significant help from the
Lowell Institute, WGBH has created this online archive of free public
lectures culled from events held at a number of cultural and educational
organizations throughout the Boston area. These organizations include
Emerson College, the New England Aquarium, the Boston Public Library, and
Harvard?s Graduate School of Education. Visitors to the site can browse
archived content by category (such as health or poetry) or look through a
list organized by contributing institution. Visitors can elect to watch or
listen to these lectures from their computer, or they can also download them
for use on the go. [KMG]


10. Wired Science [Windows Media Player]
http://www.pbs.org/kcet/wiredscience/

PBS has been exploring a number of new partnerships, and one of their latest
is this collaborative effort with <i>Wired</i>, the popular science and
technology magazine. Produced in collaboration with PBS member station KCET
in Los Angeles, the program is designed to bring an ?irreverent attitude? to
this type of programming, and this website is a nice way to get acquainted
with their endeavors. On the homepage, visitors can learn about the hosts
and also watch the pilot episode of the program. The content of the site is
primarily divided into sections titled ?Vaporware?, ?Geek Beat?, and
?Conversations.? The ?Conversations? area is a good place to start, as it
contains interviews with individuals such as Elon Musk, who was the co-
founder of PayPal, and who is now interested in developing new automotive
technologies.  Additionally, the ?Rants and Raves? section allows visitors
to chime in about the program. [KMG]


11. Yale University Library: Manuscripts & Archives Digital Images Database
http://mssa.library.yale.edu/madid/index.php

Bringing together primary and secondary materials from their extensive
archives and manuscript collections, the Yale University Digital Images
Database provides interested parties access to a wealth of various ephemera.
While the site doesn?t contain any specific finding aids, savvy users will
be able to use the search functions to locate materials quickly.
Additionally, visitors can browse through digitized manuscripts that tell
the story of the university in words and images. These archives can be quite
a bit of fun, as they include a wide range of architectural drawings and
maps that tell how the campus was developed over the centuries.  All told,
it?s a nice way to learn about Yale and some of the people who have been
associated with this august place over the years. [KMG]


12. Improvement and Development Gateway [pdf]
http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk

Through trading ideas about good governance, many cities can find ways to
transform themselves over the short and long term. One such group that is
committed to that idea is the Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA). Based
in the United Kingdom, the organization has created this website as a way
for local councils to learn about various initiatives and policy movements
that have been set in motion from Sheffield to Dover. On the site?s
homepage, visitors can use the ?Quick find? drop-down menu to read about
recent initiatives, or they can also browse here to learn about recent white
papers and case studies. For those who might be new to all of this, there is
also a glossary which defines terms ranging from ?area devolvement? to
?virement.? [KMG]


13. The Island Institute [pdf]
http://www.islandinstitute.org/

Since 1983, the Island Institute has employed a wide range of individuals,
including photographers, artists, policy experts, and others, all in the
name of maintaining the viability of the fifteen year-round island
communities in the Gulf of Maine. They have become well-known for their
outreach efforts, and their website will be of great value to anyone
interested in this region, or how various island communities remain
economically, culturally, and ecologically sustainable. Resources located on
the Institute?s homepage include information about fellowship opportunities
and links to full and annual reports on the Atlantic herring spawning
project. Visitors who are hoping to get a sense of the flavor of this unique
region should definitely peruse their monthly publication, ?The Working
Waterfront.? Recent articles include opinion pieces on fish hatcheries, the
lobster business, and news profiles of local islanders. [KMG]


14. Texas Historic Sites Atlas
http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/

Most everything is a bit bigger down around the Rio Grande, and the Texas
Historic Sites Atlas fits neatly into that bit of folk wisdom about things
in the Lone Star state. All told, the Atlas contains close to 300,000
historic and archaeological site records documenting Texas history. As all
of this information is linked up to mapping software, visitors can find a
historic site?s location and its current condition. To give users a sense of
what they can locate here, the database includes records for Texas
Historical Markers, county courthouses, cemeteries, and even the fabled East
Texas sawmills. For persons with a penchant for historic preservation,
cultural geography, or just the state of Texas, this site is a real treat.
[KMG]


15. Science Café [iTunes]
http://www.ucsf.edu/sciencecafe/index.html

More and more, research institutes and specialized centers of learning are
turning to the world of podcasts, vodcasts, and other such multimedia
devices to reach out to people from Peoria to Patagonia. The University of
California, San Francisco recently opened up their own virtual science café,
and this website represents an attempt to provide lively and interesting
conversations about the ?story of science.?  As a statement on their website
remarks, ?From stem cells and what sells to great ideas, yeasty trends and
budding controversies, we will be developing a menu for your mind.? They
have delivered on this intriguing promise quite well, as visitors to the
site will quickly discover.  With close to a dozen talks online so far,
visitors can learn about the mysteries of aging from researcher Cynthia
Kenyon and how the world of basic science research differs in the United
States as compared with Germany. One can imagine that this program could be
used as a nice complement in science education courses for both high school
and college. [KMG]


16. University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoology Museum Collection
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Zoology/

A recent addition to the University of Wisconsin-Madison digital
collections, the Zoology Museum (UWZM) Collection includes digitized
versions of heavily illustrated biological journals, a few dated as early as
1859, and the majority from the first half of the 20th century, allowing
visitors to page through the published observations of naturalists in the
field. In addition to searching, journals can be displayed in a gallery
view, so users can jump quickly to pages of interest. The Galápagos
Collection, an important subcollection at the UWZM, includes skeletons,
slides, pictures, books, and research papers collected and produced by UW-
Madison scientists and researchers during ten expeditions to the Galápagos
since 1969. The digitized portion currently is 20 volumes of materials, such
as volume 10 of the <i>National Geographic Society research reports:
abstracts and reviews of research and exploration authorized under grants
from the National Geographic Society</i>, that includes a 1978 report on
Galápagos tortoises by William G. Reeder and Craig G. MacFarland. [DS]



====== Network Tools ====

17. ImageEye 7.3
http://www.fmjsoft.com/index.html

Some newer image viewers may come with too many bells and whistles, so
discovering this latest version of ImageEye may be a real treat for some
users. As its name implies, ImageEye is just for viewing images, though the
program can rotate, mirror, zoom, and adjust contrasts with the best of
them. This version is compatible with all computers running Windows 95 and
newer. [KMG]


18. Aviation Weather 1.2.5
http://www.flightlevel.ch/widgets/aviation_weather/

Whether one is planning an ascent via dirigible, zeppelin, or Cessna, this
widget may prove to be most indispensable. Available in German, Swedish, and
several other languages, Aviation Weather 1.2.5 utilizes weather data
intended for pilots and places it on users' computers for their personal
use. Visitors can look at the time of sunrise and sunset, examine current
cloud conditions, and of course, visibility. This version is compatible with
computers running Mac OS X 10.3 and newer. [KMG]



====== In The News ====

19. Novel opportunity arises as world?s tiniest ?state? goes up for sale
Buy Your Own Country: Sealand [Real Player]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6759018

?Smallest state? seeks new owners
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6239967.stm

Tiny North Sea tax haven for sale
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1823039.htm

Welcome to Sealand. Now Bugger Off
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.07/haven_pr.html

The Principality of Sealand
http://www.sealandgov.org/

CIA: The World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

The start of the new calendar year often brings resolutions to complete
certain tasks and a belief in fresh starts. For the royal family of Sealand,
a self-styled independent ?state? which sits off the coast of Essex, it was
time for another type of task: sell Sealand to the highest bidder. It?s
rather an odd state of affairs as Sealand has never been recognized by
either the United Kingdom or the United Nations as a sovereign nation. With
a total area of 10,000 square feet, Sealand consists entirely of an anti-
aircraft platform built by the British during World War II to defend the
important port of Essex. Abandoned for several decades, the platform was
taken over by Major Paddy Roy Bates in the 1960s, and he and members of his
family have lived there for the past forty years. Sealand has been noted as
an interesting case study in international law over the years, and it has
seen a number of hasty attempts to overthrow its government, including when
a group of recalcitrant German and Dutch businessmen tried to seize control
of the platform in the 1980s. For those who might be interested in such a
purchase, ?Michael of Sealand? (son of Paddy Bates) has given word to the
press that Sealand has ?what you would normally expect in a small village,
really.? [KMG]

The first link will take visitors to an appropriately brief audio profile of
Sealand and its upcoming sale, courtesy of National Public Radio. The second
link will take users to detailed coverage of the events surrounding
Sealand?s impending sale as reported this Monday by the BBC. Additionally,
users can also watch a video clip of ?Prince Michael? of Sealand discussing
the future of his beloved anti-aircraft platform. Moving along, the third
link offers further commentary on these events, direct from the Australian
Broadcasting Company. The fourth link offers a bit of past news coverage of
Sealand, direct from the July 2000 issue of Wired magazine. In the piece,
Simson Garfinkel comments on the attempt by a group of ?libertarian
swashbucklers? to turn Sealand into a type of global networking hub that
would be outside ?the jurisdiction of the world?s nation states.? It?s an
interesting piece, and definitely worth a look. The fifth link will take
visitors to the official homepage of the principality of Sealand, where
visitors can learn more about their history and also be presented with the
opportunity to purchase postcards of Sealand, complete with a personal
message from a local resident. The final link leads to the online CIA World
Factbook, which contains information about all of the countries of the
world, with a notable absence between the countries of Saudi Arabia and
Senegal. [KMG]


From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2007.
http://scout.wisc.edu/

<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>
Educational CyberPlayGround Network Newsletters Mailing List

Subscribe - Unsubscribe - Set Preferences
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NetworkNewsletters.html

Copyright statements to be included when reproducing
annotations from the
Educational CyberPlayGround Network Newsletter

The single phrase below is the copyright notice to be used when
reproducing any portion of this report, in any format:

> EDUCATIONAL CYBERPLAYGROUND
> http://www.edu-cyberpg.com
> Network Newsletters copyright

Email Prefrences - Subscribe - Unsubscribe - Digest
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/NetworkNewsletters.html


Advertise Network Newsletters Guidelines
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Community/Subguidelines.html
<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>