Information Retrieval
Source: PC World
Talk To The Database: Ask A Question, Get An Answer
Sharp demos a new piece of software. Cool! From the article, “How is the weather in Tokyo?” A demonstrator is questioning “Maico,” a cute, three-dimensional, 26-year-old female on a display screen. “Yes? The weather in Tokyo? Let me check,” nods and answers Maico, looking straight at the demonstrator. The computer then sarches weather information for the Tokyo area via the Internet. The demonstration was part of Sharp’s unveiling, at the Real World Computing project’s final exhibition and symposium last week in Tokyo, of a new type of interface that communicates with users. The technology underlying what Sharp calls its “multimodal agent interface” can be adopted as part of an easy-to-use, communicative Internet search engine, and expanded as an interface for home networking appliances, company officials says. The company will able to provide commercially available systems that use this type of interface in four to five years, officials says.
See Also: Learn About ActiveBuddy. Use Instant Messaging To Deliver Real-Time Answers.
See Also: Sign-Up to be an ActiveBuddy Beta Tester
See Also: Additional Info via the ActiveBuddy Home Page

Scholarly Publishing
Source: Library Journal (registration required)
“Forum Finds Hope Beyond the Journals Crisis”
From the article, “From 1986 to 1999, the number of journals grew from 103,700 to 161,000 (55 percent). While the Consumer Price Index increased 49 percent in that period and the price of healthcare went up 111 percent, the cost of scholarly journals increased 175 percent.”

Web Portals–FirstGov.Gov
Source: Government Computer News
“FirstGov Handles Millions of Web Hits After Attacks”
From the article, “Like a seismograph needle during an earthquake, the activity on FirstGov, the General Services Administration�s portal to government Web sites, posted a sharp spike during last month�s terrorist attacks.” It’s worked well as a portal, here’s hoping to an inprovement with search functionality and relevancy.

New, Updated, & Newly Discovered Resources (5 Entries)
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Employment–Women–United States–Lists & Rankings
Source: Working Mother
New List: “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers”, 2001
This site contains the complete list but some of the surrounding text is not available online.
See Also: A Bit More Info via this WM Press Release.
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Automotive Safety–Rollovers–Ratings
Source: NHTSA
Updated: NHTSA Places A New Set of Rollover Ratings, Crash Results Online
This media advisory contains a link to the page and complete details.
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Public Libraries–United States–Directories
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
Updated Database: Public Library Locator and the Public Library Outlet Locator
From the site, “The Public Library Locator and the Public Library Outlet Locator will help you find information about a public library or a library service outlet, when you know some information about it. The information in this locator comes from the NCES Public Libraries Survey.
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Government Employees–United States–Statistics
Source: U.S. Census
Retirement Assets of State and Local Government Employees
Summary ||| Direct to Database
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Health
Biological Terrorism–Anthrax
Source: Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Anthrax: Chapter from Textbook of Military Medicine
12 pages .pdf

Web Search–Google
Source: Forbes
Forbes Features Article About Google’s Director of Research, Monika Henzinger
The profile is part of the Forbes “Emerging Women in Tech” series.
See Also: Learn About Web Search From A Series of Slides Henzinger Used for Conference Presentation. Very Informative!

Info Industry–FAST Search & Transfer
Source: Information Today News Briefs
FAST Lands Another Major Account, Reuters
From Paula Hane’s article, ” Fast Search & Transfer, the Norwegian search engine company, may be best known among searchers for the success of its freely available AllTheWeb.com search site. Recently it has been wisely putting its energies into increasing its base of (paying) enterprise customers for its search solutions. FAST has just announced that it has been selected to provide the application platform for Reuters News Distribution Service (NDS) as part of a multiyear software licensing agreement. Reuters, the global information, news, and technology group, will deploy NDS as part of its Market Data Systems and Internet Finance platform.
Direct to AllTheWeb.Com, the Fast search engine available to the public.

Nobel Prizes
Source: Nobel Foundation
Beginning Today: Announcement of Nobel Prize Winners, 2001
The week begins with announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
See Also: Nobel Laureate Search
Find biographical info and other info on past winners. Several criteria to assist in pinpointing the info you need.

Health Resources
More Compilations on Various Topics From MEDLINEplus
Here are the sites added this week:
MEDLINEplus: Alcohol Consumption
MEDLINEplus: Biological and Chemical Weapons
MEDLINEplus: Botulism
MEDLINEplus: Child Day Care
MEDLINEplus: Choking
MEDLINEplus: Cough
MEDLINEplus: Diabetic Kidney Problems
MEDLINEplus: Infant and Newborn Care
MEDLINEplus: Infant and Toddler Development
MEDLINEplus: Infant and Toddler Health
See Also: Learn More About MEDLINEplus

Digitized Collections
Folk Music–United States
New From the Library of Congress/American Memory Project: The Woody Guthrie Manuscript Collection
From the announcement, “The online presentation contains fifty-three items (eighty-four pages) of manuscript material by, about, and to Woody Guthrie, 1940-50, and includes a biographical essay by Guthrie scholar Mark Jackson; a timeline of Guthrie’s life; and an encoded finding aid of archival materials featuring Woody Guthrie at the Library of Congress.”

Terrorism
Source: CIA
CIA Makes “The War on Terrorism” Compilation Available
See Also: September 11, 2001 Resource Compilation

Hispanics–United States–Lists & Rankings
Source: Hispanic Business
100 Most Influential Hispanics
The 2001, 2000 and 1999 lists are available.

Executive Business Programs–Lists & Rankings
Source: Business Week
EMBA and Other Excutive Education Rankings (2001) Are Now Online

Professional Reading–Virtual Reference
The September Issue of Information Technology and Libraries is Now Online
The entire issue focuses on virtual reference. Most of the articles are available via the web site.

Scholarly Publishing–Digital
University of California Researchers To Get Electronic Publishing Tools
From the news release, “Through the partnership [with Berkeley Electronic Press], the California Digital Library (CDL) will make a suite of electronic publishing tools from the Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress) available to University of California researchers. The tools enable rapid and low-cost creation, management and online publication of electronic journals, discussion papers series and other electronic forms of scholarship.”
See Also: Take a Look at E-Scholarship initiative at the California Digital Library

Web Search–Northern Light
Another Wondeful “Special Edition” From NL: Windows XP
The latest in the continuing series of compilations featuring live queries, free full-text content, and links to pre-selected high quality sites.
See Also: Access a Complete List of “Special Editions”

Web Statistics
Source: OCLC
OCLC Releases New Web Size Numbers
From the news release, “The Web Characterization Project, conducted by the OCLC Office of Research, has collected a random sample of web sites annually since 1997. The OCLC Office of Research is one of the world’s leading centers devoted exclusively to the challenges facing libraries in a rapidly changing information technology environment. OCLC is a nonprofit organization that provides computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing and preservation services to 40,000 libraries in 76 countries and territories. According to statistics compiled for the year ending June 30, the public web includes more than 3.1 million sites, a 6 percent increase over the previous year’s total. A public web site is defined as a distinct location on the Internet offering unrestricted public access to content via web protocols. The rate of growth of the public web has been slowing over the last few years, a trend which was especially pronounced over the last 12 months. From 1997 to 2000, the public web increased by about 700,000 sites each year, but increased by only 200,000 sites between 2000 and 2001.” More on this topic later. I need to determine how these numbers account for Invisible Web material. Direct to the Web Characterization Project Home Page (Access All The Numbers)

Professional Reading
The October Issue of First Monday is Now Online
Highlights:
“The Effects of September 11 on the Leading Search Engine”
“Reaching Across the Divide: The Challenges of Using the Internet to Bridge Disparities in Access to Information”
“Will E-books Change the World?”
“Changes in Metatag Descriptions Over Time”

Professional Reading–Taxonomies
Source: Free Pint
“Taxonomies are What?”
In the new issue of Free Pint, Liz Edols provides an excellent introductory article (with several links to high quality reports and papers) about taxonomies. Having some knowledge about this subject can go along way these days. Although taxonomies, cataloging, controlled vocabularies, etc. are “hot topics”, they are also essential topics. From the article, “As we all know, this is an age of information overload. In order to control the glut of information we need to filter, categorise and label it. Librarians have always understood this but others in the digital environment have only recently arrived at the same conclusion.” So, if you’re in need of a quick refresher or a gentle introduction this article will help.

Professional Reading–Electronic Libraries
The September Issue of Ariadne, a UK Based E-Journal, is Now Available

Web Search–Sympatico-Lycos–Canada
Info Industry–Thomson
Sympatico-Lycos, A Canadian Search Tool, Adds Multimedia Engine From SingingFish.Com
From the news release, “Singingfish uses a combination of a sophisticated, second-generation search architecture and an automated, rule-based classification system to retrieve and index the entire streaming media universe. Singingfish has by far the largest stream base of any multi-media search engine, containing data on more than 19 million streams. Version 1.5 of the Singingfish service includes new support for Apple’s QuickTime(R),…and among other enhancements, it has the unique ability to group streams by bit rate, length of song, genre and category.” On 9/25 SingingFish announced it will provide the search tool on Real Networks new RealOne player. SingingFish, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Thomson.
Direct to Sympatico/Lycos (Once on the site, run your search and select the multimedia tab).

Ready Reference–Fact Sheets
Labor–United States–Statistics
Source: (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Fact Sheet: “Events of September 11, 2001 and BLS Data”

Info Industry–Gale Group
September 11, 2001–Resources
Complimentary Access to Three Gale Databases Through October 31
Gale is providing free access to the Student Resource Center and the History Resource Center. According to the Gale web site these databases have a large amount of material available to help understand the current crisis. The site has complete details along with some topics and search strategies.
See Also: CQ (Complimentary Resources)

Employment–Canada
Source: Canadian Government
New Resource: Links to Information and Tools to Assist Unemployed Individuals

Full-Text Document Shelf (5 Items)
September 11, 2001
Terrorism
Source: House of Commons Library, UK
11 September 2001: The Response
A 120 page .pdf report. VERY comprehensive.
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Parole–United States–Statistics
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics
Trends in State Parole, 1990-2000
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Energy–United States
Source: EIA
Energy in the United States: 1635-2000
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Alcohol Use–United States
Source: National Center for Health Statistics
Alcohol Use Among Adults: United States, 1997-98
Summary ||| Direct to Full-Text ||| Companion Tables
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Electronic Publishing–Canada
Electronic Publishing–Best Practices
Source: National Library of Canada
Guide to Best Practices for Canadian Publishers

Library Statistics
Source: ARL (Association of Research Libraries)
ARL Statistics 1999-2000
129 pages (.pdf) of statistics from the 122 members of the ARL.

Certified Financial Planners–United States
Searchable Database
CFP� Certificant Database
From the site, “This database lists the individuals currently authorized by the CFP Board to use the CFP�, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER� and certification marks, and also those who have been publicly disciplined by the CFP Board.”
Thanks to G.T. for the tip.

Public Libraries–San Francisco
Internet Filtering
San Francisco Bans Filters in Public Libraries
From the article, “San Francisco officials have voted to ban Internet filters on computers in local public libraries, risking the loss of some $20,000 in federal funds.”
See Also: “Library: We Don’t Want No Filters” (Wired.Com)
See Also: “Filtering Company N2H2 Changes Business Model” (Library Journal)

United States Senate–Ready Reference
United States Senate–History
New Web Page: Fast and Direct Access To Many U.S. Senate History Fact Sheets and Lists
Make sure to also take a look at the Senate History FAQ.
See Also: C-SPAN’s Capital Questions
Questions about U.S. Congress procedure, history, and more answered. A great learning tool.

Environment–United States–Video
New Web Site: “American Field Guide”, Searchable Video From PBS
From the site, “Tap into the sights and sounds from a wide variety of environments throughout America. We’ve collected over 1200 video clips that enable you to experience America’s wilderness firsthand.”

Web Resources–Reviews
P�ter Jacs� Reviews the Cultural Profiles Project and Profusion
Peter has positive things to say about the Cultural Profiles Project. Btw, the CPP contains info about Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Direct to the Cultural Profiles Project
Direct to ProFusion

Full-Text Document Shelf (5 Items)
Demographics–United States
Senior Citizens–United States
Source: U.S. Census
Two New Reports From Census: Age 2000 and The 65 Years and Over Population: 2000
From the summary, “The “baby boom” propelled the largest percentage increases of any age group in the 1990-2000 decade, an analysis of Census 2000 data by the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau showed today. (The baby boom refers to people born in the post-World War II period from 1946 through 1964.)”
Direct to:
Summary ||| Age 2000 ||| The 65 Years and Over Population: 2000
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Health Insurance–United States
Source: U.S. Census
Health Insurance Coverage: 2000
Summary ||| Direct to Report ||| Archive of Older Reports
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California Energy Crisis
Source: Congressional Budget Office
Causes and Lessons of the California Electricity Crisis
50 pages .pdf
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Employment–United States
Youth–United States–Statistics
Source: Monthly Labor Review
Monthly Labor Review, August 2001 Now Online
The 8/2001 issue contains a series of articles about youth employment in the U.S. Most of the articles are based on The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. From the MLR, “The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 follows the lives of 12- to 16-year-olds as they make pivotal decisions regarding education and employment.”

Web Tools–Clocks and Calendars
Cool Site of the Day: timeanddate.com
Many shareware clock programs allow you to easily check the time at various locations around the World. However, if for one or more reasons (don’t like shareware, unable to download on your computer, bandwith, etc.) you cannot or do not want to use these programs timeanddate.com gives you access to a robust and completely “web-based” clock and calendar resource (free).
Options Include:
*The World Clock. A single HTML page with the current time for hundreds of cities throughout the world. It can be sorted using several criteria.
*The “Personal” World Clock, also customizable (up to 16 locations). HTML and Java versions are available.
*A Meeting Planner.
*A “Fixed Time World Clock”
*Daylight Savings Time Info
*A Customizable Calendar.

Web Search–Google
Google Gets “Tabbed”
Google has introduced a new interface with “tabs” to 4 of Google’s databases (Web Search, Image Search, Google Groups, and Web Directory). They allow you to move from one database to another quickly and directly. For example, conduct a search in the Google Web database, then click the “Images” tab to run the same search strategy in Google’s image database.

Web Search–International
Two Announcements:
(Germany) FAST is Selected by T-Online
(Latin America) Google To Power UOL Search Portion of Web Portal

Web Search–Scirus
Elsevier’s Scirus Science Engine Adds U.S. Patent Office Content
Elsevier, the developer of the Scirus engine has enhanced the database with a few new tools. Let’s hope for better results than earlier versions provided. Enhancements include a link to run the search in the US Patent Office database (1976-Present), the option to have results sorted by date, and four more subject areas to search for information on � psychology, language and linguistics, law and sociology. Scirus also provides options to search for science-related conferences and abstracts. Finally, the �more like this� tool has now been set up to provide narrower and more focused results. More on the “enhanced Scirus after we have some time to give it a workout.
Direct to Scirus
See Also: Peter Jacso’s June, 2001 review of Scirus
Remember: Searching the US patent database via its native interface directly from the USPTO site offers coverage back to 1790 and hundreds of searching options.

Web Search Industry News Briefs
More Layoffs: Today Inktomi. Workforce Reduced by 20%
Moreover Names New VP of Marketing & VP of Sales, CTO Adds New Responsibilities

Intellectual Property–United States
“Congress Likely To Defer Database Protection To 2002″
Source: Newsbytes
From the article, “The high-tech industry’s denizens agree that intellectual property protection for databases is a must-have item, but Congress more than likely will file away the issue until early next year, according to House committee sources. Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, staff had been in discussions to reconcile two visions of database protection legislation, but both sides on the issue agree that the waning weeks of the congressional session are unlikely to produce an accord.”

Full-Text Document Shelf
Airline Industry–United States–Statistics
Source: FAA
Aviation Industry Traffic � “Blue Book”
&
Aviation Industry Income Statement � “Yellow Book” Now Available Online
Material is available in several formats including .pdf, html, and .xls. Numbers are for a 12 month period ending 12/31/00.

Web Search Industry–FAST (AllTheWeb)
FAST Realigns Management Team
From the news release, “”While current market conditions remain challenging, we are sharpening our focus on core product developments and enhancements with the singular goal of transforming our search capability into a competitive advantage for a growing list of Internet and enterprise customers,” said Thomas Fussell, Chairman of FAST. “The changes we are announcing today include consolidation of management into two strategic locations, the discontinuation on non-revenue generating technologies, and renewed focus on ‘must have’ search products. Each supports our overall goal of continued quarter-to-quarter revenue growth.”

Web Search Industry–Excite@Home
Source: News.Com
Excite@Home Files for Bankruptcy
From the article, “Excite@Home, the leading provider of broadband Internet access, said Friday that it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and sell its high-speed network to AT&T for $307 million in cash…AT&T has no interest in retaining the Excite portal, so it could be sold to another company, according to a source.”

Web Search
Source: Searcher
“Web Search Engines FAQS: Questions, Answers, and Issues”
Here’s a new article I put together for Barbara Quint’s magazine.

Intranet Search
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Direct From Australia: P@noptic
P@noptic is a search tool designed for intranets.
Direct to the P@noptic Web Site
See Also: SearchTools.Com is a wonderful to resource to learn more about engines for your intranet.

Web Search
RealSearch is Really Gone
The RealNames service, allowing direct interaction with several search engines, was only a demo.

Full-Text Document Shelf (2 Items)
U.S. Military
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
Quadrennial Defense Review Report
79 pages .pdf
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Hate Crimes–United States–Statistics
Hate Crimes Reported in NIBRS, 1997-99
Utilizes data from the FBI�s National Incident-Based Reporting Program (NIBRS)