Infowatch september 1996

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                                 InfoWatch
      Tracking Networked Scientific Information Sources and Services
           (An electronic update service brought to you by NCSI)

                              September, 1996
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In this issue :

  1. Electronic journal of Theoretical Chemistry Structure &
     Interactions(EJTC)
  2. CARNIVORE-L Discussion List
  3. FAIRMODEL - Economic forecasting software
  4. Fodor's--Travel resources
  5. FORTRAN Market
  6. The Future of Networking Technologies for Learning
  7. Galileo images of Jupiter moons Io and Ganymede
  8. The Merck Manual - Medical reference
  9. Multimedia Communications Lab at Boston University
 10. NSF Science and Engineering Indicators 1996
 11. Opera Internet Browser
 12. Pilot Projects for a Human Genome Diversity Project
 13. PINet Plus - Physics
 14. Web Style Guide
 15. Webtaxi--Metasearch engine
 16. The Works - Network tools

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1. Electronic journal of Theoretical Chemistry Structure & Interactions(EJTC)

EJTC is a new online journal launched by John Wiley to meet the diverse needs of the theoretical chemistry community. EJTC publishes in electronic form only, available online via the WWW. Its online subscribers receive fully peer reviewed articles, up-to-the-minute reviews and other news invaluable to the theoretical chemist, soon after they are accepted for publication. A full contents listing and other highlights will be available to non-subscribers on the 'public access' area of the journals home page. Viewing of the entire journal will be available to paid subscribers only using the software Adobe Acrobat 2.1 viewer. An annual CD-ROM archive of all the papers published during the year forms an invaluable part of the subscription package.

URL: http://ejtc.wiley.co.uk

2. CARNIVORE-L Discussion List

This list is intended for the professional discussion of all aspects of the evolution, systematics, behavior, ecology and conservation of mammalian carnivores, living and fossil. Meeting announcements and the like are acceptable when relevant to the study of carnivores. CARNIVORE-L is intended as a forum for professional discussion of the topics above. Hopefully, it may serve as a useful means of interaction between systematists, paleontologists, ecologists and conservationists who are united by a common interest in carnivores. It is not intended as a forum for discussion of domestic animals unless they are viewed in a broader context of carnivore biology.

To subscribe send email to: listserv@nrm.se

In the body of the message type:
SUBSCRIBE CARNIVORE-L Yourfirstname Yourlastname

3. FAIRMODEL

Prof. Ray C. Fair of Yale University has made his FAIRMODEL economic forecasting software available on the web. "FAIRMODEL involves 131 interrelated equations that, taken together, approximate how the economy works. The model consists of 30 stochastic equations, 101 identities, and about 100 exogenous variables. It has been estimated using two stage least squares." Users can estimate changes in the economy based on interactive input of different assumptions for policy variables (for example, how an increase or decrease in government spending might affect unemployment.) Note: this is not a site for the casual user. Your browser must support frames and Javascript in order for FAIRMODEL to work. Users are strongly advised to read both the "Getting Started" section and the "FAIRMODEL Workbook," (which by itself is an excellent introduction to macroeconometric modeling and contains the 30 stochastic equations) before delving into the program itself.

URL: http://fairmodel.econ.yale.edu/

4. Fodor's--Travel resources

If you're planning some time away from the computer in the near future, Fodor's new site can help you make your getaway. The Trip Planner allows the user to search for recommended hotels and restaurants by location, price range, and facilities/cuisine, and to get "inside info" and "top picks" for planning activities. The restaurant and hotel index provides listings for over 40 cities and regions; each establishment is reviewed and rated. The "Smart Travel Tips" page provides general advice on such topics as packing, trip insurance, and saving money on airfare. Through a pull-down menu, this page can be tailored to a specific destination, offering local telephone numbers and resources. "Know Before You Go" provides links to other web sites covering such topics as weather, currency exchange, and government travel and health advisories. There is also a catalog of current Fodor's publications.

URL: http://www.fodors.com/

5. FORTRAN Market

The FORTRAN Market is the place to find outstanding Products, services and general information related to the FORTRAN Programming language. In addition to usual things to buy, you will find many useful items are free.

URL :http://www.fortran.com/fortran

6. The Future of Networking Technologies for Learning

In 1995 the US Department of Education commissioned a series of white papers on various issues related to networking technologies for education. Those fourteen papers are now on the web, along with the proceedings of the conference of authors in November 1995. The papers address such topics as the funding of information infrastructure, the role of personal digital assistants (PDAs) in the classroom, and virtual educational communities, as well the concomitant curriculum reform that these advances will require. The papers make use of hypertext links to provide immediate access to data, other reports, relevant legislation, and related web resources. Abstracts of the papers are available, as well as information about the authors. Visitors to the site can leave feedback through a web form, and can read the feedback left by others.

URL: http://www.ed.gov/Technology/Futures/

7. Galileo images of Jupiter moons Io and Ganymede

Recent photos of Jupiter moons Io and Ganymede from the Galileo spacecraft are available from NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) web site. The Ganymede black and white images were taken on June 27, 1996 from a distance of 4,628 miles. One of the most interesting is a side-by-side comparison of a photo taken by Voyager 2 in 1979 and the Galileo image. At present there is one color image of Io, taken June 26 from a distance of 1.4 million miles.

URL: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/
URL: http://galileo.ivv.nasa.gov/
URL: http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/

8. The Merck Manual--Medical reference

Long one of the standard medical reference texts, _The Merck Manual_ is now available on the web. Access to the manual is free of charge, but registration is required for first-time users. A toolbar, at the top and bottom of each screen, provides easy access to the table of contents, lists of tables and figures, and ordering information for the print and CD-ROM versions. There is no search engine, but the multilevel index provides precise content information. The text is presented exactly as it appears in the printed version, complete with tables and figures, with the addition of a few hypertext cross-references to related material in the manual.

URL: http://www.merck.com/

9. Multimedia Communications Lab at Boston University

Multimedia mavens will want to scope out this site run by the Multimedia Communications Lab at Boston University. Topics covered include multimedia server design, parsing and indexing digital video, multimedia synchronisation, and MPEG. Highlights include a downloadable clip of the park where the lab members eat lunch.

URL:http://hulk.bu.edu/

10. NSF Science and Engineering Indicators 1996

The National Science Board of the National Science Foundation has recently made _Science and Engineering Indicators 1996_ available via the web. This is the twelfth in a series of biennial reports that NSF has produced. "In an era of increased emphasis on assessment of government and university performance and industrial benchmarking, _Science and Engineering Indicators_ provides decisionmakers and analysts in both the public and private sectors with a broad base of quantitative information and analysis regarding science, engineering, research, and education in the United States. Additionally, the Indicators report offers valuable comparative information on science and technology in other countries." The report contains chapters on elementary and secondary science and mathematics education, higher education in science and engineering, the science and engineering workforce, research and development, technology development and diffusion, and public attitudes and understanding. The final chapter, "The Economic and Social Significance of Scientific and Engineering Research," is a new development in the report. The report is available only in Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) format. A pointer to the free Acrobat Reader is provided.

URL: http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind96/start.htm

11. Opera Internet Browser

Opera Software, a Norwegian company, has made its Internet browser, Opera, available for evaluation. It is Windows 3.X based software (though it also runs on Windows 95 and OS/2 with Windows support), and will run with as little as a 386SX PC (8 megabytes of RAM recommended). One of its significant features is the ability to fetch multiple documents and images at the same time, allowing the user to tile or cascade the documents. It also contains a full keyboard interface, and supports the complete HTML 2.0 specification and many HTML 3.2 extensions. The download size of the (English) file is less than 900 Kilobytes, and the browser is available in Norwegian and Swedish as well. Pricing information is available at the site.

URL: http://opera.nta.no/opera/

12. Pilot Projects for a Human Genome Diversity Project

The directorates for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and for Biological Sciences of the NSF (National Science Foundation) have recently announced a special competition for Pilot Projects for a Human Genome Diversity Project. These pilot projects are to be focused on two areas: "improving DNA techniques, and clarifying cross-cultural ethical and legal issues." Examples of pilot projects in the first area include: "improving the ability to transform cells collected under sub-optimal field conditions; improving long distance PCR-based amplification; converting markers such as blood groups and RFLPs to PCR-based typing systems; and PCR typing of existing cell lines to evaluate specific markers for use in a full-scale HGDP, with criteria such as sufficient allelic variability and suitability for use in less-sophisticated laboratories." Examples in the second area include: "examining the use of ethical and legal protections in field settings; testing approaches to gaining informed consent from individuals and groups and ensuring confidentiality; investigating the ethical and practical issues that arise in using archived samples; and assessing and managing controversies and social risk arising in cross-cultural research projects." Up to eight awards are anticipated. Deadline for proposal submission is September 30, 1996.

URL: http://www.nsf.gov/nsf/nsfpubs/nsf96112/nsf96112.htm

gopher://gopher.nsf.gov/
gopher to: gopher.nsf.gov
select: search NSF publications
search: 96-112 AND (human ADJ genome) or send email to Dr. Mark Weiss, mweiss@nsf.gov or Dr. Lisa Brooks, lbrooks@nsf.gov

13. PINet Plus - Physics

Following the trend of Web sites which cater for end-users within a particular field, this is a subscription-only Web site for physicists and associated scientists, sponsored by the American Institute of Physics. It offers access to research databases, member directories, and news services. The databases include SPIN (Searchable Physics Information Notices) and Advanced SPIN, with access to "hundreds of thousands of abstracts" from over 80 journals. Around 45,000 new listings are added to the databases annually. Documents can be ordered online while searching through SPIN. Subscribers get first notice of tables of contents to three AIP journals of their choice which are sent via e-mail, four weeks in advance of publication. For those who are members of an AIP Member Society, the subscription works out at less than $4.50 a month.

URL:http://www.aip.org/pinet/

14. Web Style Guide

Web Style Guide, provided by Sun Microsystems, is a "is a cookbook for helping people create better web pages." Created by a small group of web designers at Sun, it provides common sense advice and examples (of both good and bad style) in the areas of purpose, audience, links, page length, graphics, image maps, navigation, security, quality, netiquette, content, selling, and language. A quick-reference page (which is really a site index), along with pointers to other web style sites, is provided. This site concentrates on helping you provide users with the optimal experience viewing your site, rather than teaching the nuts and bolts of site creation.

URL: http://www.sun.com/styleguide/

15. Webtaxi--Metasearch engine

If searching the Internet for useful information is beginning to look like a full-time job, try catching the Webtaxi. The "database dispatcher" gathers search engines by category, while the "supersearch" allows users to use several search engines simultaneously, chosen from the sites listed in these categories: crawlers, indices, Usenet, people, metasearches, articles, software, non-US sites, and miscellaneous unsorted sites. Webtaxi opens a new frame for each search engine's results, allowing the user to continue searching directly from that site. Users can open a remote window with search controls, keeping the main window free for surfing. Webtaxi's navigation frame, at the top of the browser window, can keep search tools at hand while the user browses sites. This site can be overwhelming at first, but the tips pages will help those familiar with other search engines get accustomed to its operation. Webtaxi depends on the latest in browser capabilities: frames, magic cookies, and Java support are necessities, and a sizable bandwidth is strongly recommended.

URL: http://www.webtaxi.com/

16. The Works

The Works provides a comprehensive collection of network tools organized under the categories of resource discovery, learning, publishing, and understanding the significance of the online world. Links to information about dozens of types of Internet tools are offered, from the basics of telnet and FTP to the latest in Web plug-ins. Navigation through the many links offered is aided by the use of levels which allow the user to choose how they would like to browse the available topics in each category. Each link is annotated with one or two sentences describing what the user will find at the referenced site. The "Understanding the Significance" section offers Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine, the oldest continuously published monthly magazine on the Web, which covers issues and views about the online world, presentations about Internet and Web technologies and their use, and perspective and understanding about communicating online.

URL: http://www.december.com/works/

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InfoWatch is a monthly electronic newsletter, brought out by the National Centre for Science Information (NCSI), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - 560 012, INDIA. Information in the newsletter is collected and verified by NCSI staff. The newsletter aims to raise awareness of new sources of information on the Internet, particularly those which are relevant for higher education and research. Some items may be of relevance only to the IISc community. Resources reported here have been taken from various discussion lists and other network tools and no special claims are made for accuracy or originality. Most of the sources cited in the newsletter were checked at the time of publication, however it is possible that some of the resources are no longer available. We welcome comments about the newsletter and suggestions for resources to be featured. Please e-mail your comments to T.B. Rajashekar, editor, InfoWatch (raja@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in)

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