As part of the total overhaul of the National Geographic web site, the NGS (National Geographic Society) Map Machine is online today with a new user interface (very impressive) and several new features. Make sure to spend some time here, it will be more than worth it. Look for a complete review of features in an upcoming Resource of the Week post. Back in 2004 we posted about several features that remain available today and powered by ESRI.

When we spent some time on the site today a few features really grabbed our attention.

+ Theme Maps (look for the theme maps tab), along with road, physical maps, and satellite imagery.

+ The new “overview map” box

+ Easy to find direct links to printer-friendly maps, conservation maps, and lesson plans for educators.

+ “Featured Places”
Profiles of coutries, regions, etc. with maps.

Again, we will feature more about the new MapMachine in an upcoming Resource of the Week post.

+ In the past day or so, Yahoo UK and Ireland has renamed the tab labelled “Business Finder” to “Local” on both UK.yahoo.com and Search.uk.yahoo.com. It also appears that at some time in the recent past Yahoo UK switched from Thomson Directories to BT’s “The Phone Book” to power business listings. However, this help page hasn’t been updated yet to reflect the change.

+ News About Some New “Search” Features from MSN Messenger Details here. One new feature is an option to search for images as well as text (and share) when chatting with a buddy.

+
This post looks at a number of tools (from various companies) that allow the user to search using their IM client. It also lists an address that allows you to search MS Encarta via IM.

+ FirstGov.gov Search Wins Award
We’ve been big fans (and users) since it relaunched in January.

+ Search + Social Bookmarking = Diigo (via SEW Blog)

The Power of Personal Persuasion Toolkit
(PDF; 32 pages).
Also available for sale.

What’s it all about?

From the description:

Frontline librarians and library workers need the tools to develop their personal powers of persuasion to advance the agenda of the academic library. This publication provides basic content on persuasion, techniques for persuading others, applications of persuasion techniques for libraries and recommended processes and examples for persuading others within higher education environments.

New Issue of ARL Bimonthly Report (246) Now Online

Articles include:
+ Diversity in the US ARL Library Workforce
+ ARL Salary Survey Highlights
+ The Future of Librarians in the US Workforce
+ International Dimension of Digital Science and Scholarship: Aspirations of the British Library in Serving the International Scientific and Scholarly Communities
+ International Dimensions of Digital Science and Scholarship: Enhancing the Potential for Research Collaboration among Academics

Source: ARL

Released today: Libraries and Health Information: The NCLIS Health Information Awards for Libraries and The Libraries and Health Information Forum, May 3, 2006

The report details information submitted to the Commission by applicants for the NCLIS Health Information Awards for Libraries, an initiative undertaken by the Commission to identify the best work that American libraries are doing in providing health information to citizens.

Summary ||| Full Text
Both documents are PDF.

Source: U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS)

From the announcement:

U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced 78 school districts across the country would receive the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Grant to improve students’ reading achievement. A total of $19 million will be awarded to 26 states and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands this year.

“The knowledge we get from books enriches our lives and the knowledge of how to read is the building block for success in life,” said Secretary Spellings. “In today’s world it is more important than ever to have this foundation, and these grants will help more children master this critical skill.”

The news release contains a list of the school districts receiving grants.

Source: U.S. Department of Ed.

Phase Two of Framing Canada Image Database Now Online

This searchable database offers a “photographic memory” of Canada. From the site:
Featuring photographs from various public and private collections, Framing Canada: A Photographic Memory presents a searchable database of digitized photographic images from 1843 to the mid-20th century. These images tell the fascinating and ever-changing story of how Canadians see themselves and their world.

Framing Canada also offers “Photographic Collections,” a history of LAC’s photo collections, as well as the following thematic essays: “Nation Building,” “The Canadian Mosaic,” “Portraiture,” “Aboriginal Peoples,” “Amateur Photography,” “Photojournalism,” “The Evolution of Photography,” “Commercial Photography,” “War and Conflict” and “A Sense of Space.”

Other sections of the website are a glossary of photographic terms, photographic albums, the weird and wacky photographs in the collection, and educational resources.

The Framing Canada database offers only a portion of the 25 million images available from LAC. To search more imagery, see the ArchivaNet photography database.

This search tool allows you to consult almost 400,000 descriptions of photographs, modern and old, as well as have access to some 41,000 digitized images on-line.

Source: Library and Archives Canada

Just Updated from U.S. Commercial Service: Doing Business in Germany: A Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies
67 pages; PDF.
From business and political environment to business travel and contacts.

USGS Launches Web Site and Facts Sheets on Earthquakes, Floods, Hurricanes, Landslides, Tsunamis, Volcanoes, and Wildfires

From the announcement:

To help educate the public about the threat of natural hazards, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has launched a new Web site and seven easy-to-understand fact sheets on earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, landslides, tsunamis, volcanoes and wildfires. The hazards Web site highlights resources and information available from the USGS and provides links to the individual hazards Web pages for more detailed information. The Web site and fact sheets can be accessed at http://www.usgs.gov/hazards.

You’ll also find links to several USGS RSS feeds.

Direct to Fact Sheets:
+ Earthquakes
+ Floods
+ Hurricanes
+ Landslides
+ Tsunamis
+ Volcanoes
++ USGS Volcano Hazards Program fact sheets
+ Wildfires

See Also: Review All USGS Fact Sheets

Source: U.S. Geological Survey

Venture Capital Investing in Q2 2006 Reaches Highest Level Since 2002 at $6.3 billion
5 pages; PDF.

See Also: Download 1995 – Q2 2006 Historical Trend Data

Detailed Company & VC listings for Q2 2006 will be posted on August 7th.

Yesterday, we posted this list. Today, even more domains, most registered in the past 24 to 48 hours. Several mention web hosting. Several suggest that web hosting might be something that Google is building towards. Again, pure speculation.

+ HOSTEDBYGOOGLE.COM (also .net, .org)
(Registered July 25, 2006)

+ GOOGLE-HOSTED-SERVICES.COM (also .info, .org)
(Registered July 25, 2006)

+ GOOGLE-HOSTEDSERVICES.COM (also .org, .info, .net)
(Registered July 25, 2006)

+ GOOGLE-SERVICE-HOSTING.COM (also .info, .org)
(Registered July 25, 2006)

+ GOOGLE-SERVICEHOSTING.COM (also .org, .net)
(Registered July 26, 2006)

+ GMAIL-FOR-YOUR-DOMAIN.ORG (also .net, .info)
(Registered July 25, 2006)
Note: The .com version of this domain is registered to a person in Sweden.

+ GMAILFORYOURDOMAIN.NET
(Registered July 25, 2006)
Note: The .com version of this domain is registered to a person in Salinas, CA.

+ GOOGLEHOSTED.INFO
(Registered July 26, 2006)
Note: The .com version of this domain was registered to Google in 2003. .org and .net were also registered by Google in that year.

+ GOOGLEHOSTEDSERVICES.INFO (also .net, .org)
(Registered July 26, 2006)
Note: The .com version of this domain is registered to a person in California.

+ GOOGLESERVICEHOSTING.COM (also .net, .org)
(Registered July 25, 2006)

+ GMAIL-CALENDAR.COM (also .org, .net, .info)
(Registered July 25, 2006)

+ GMAILCALENDAR.INFO (also .net, .org)
(Registered July 26, 2006)
Note: The .com version of this domain is registered to a person in Minnesota.

The WeatherBug Labs keeps churning out new cool stuff. A few months ago we mentioned the release of a Firefox plug-in (no more need to download the WeatherBug app) and earlier this week they launched My.WeatherBug.com, where users (free) can create a personalized weather home page.

Now, a new service from WeatherBug Labs that lets users take advantage of maps from Windows Live Local and Google Maps to see WeatherBug station locations, cameras, and non-WeatherBug weather station locations, “superimposed over Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth.” Each location is represented by a “pin.” Click the pin and receive the current conditions (temp, wind speed/direction) for that specific location. Click the “more” link and go to the actual page for that specific weather station. In some cases, you’ll also see a live image of the location. Btw, it’s also possible to create permalinks to any map. Combined with the aerial imagery and bird’s eye imagery from MS VE, it’s a cool experience.

When we tested, we had problems getting it to work with Firefox but no issues with IE. We will check again later.

See Also: Complete List of WeatherBug Labs Apps and Tools

+ AcronymFinder.com Grows, Over 500,000 Acronyms and Abbreviations Now in Database

+ CQ Acquires Political Money Line

+ New Version of Windows Live Toolbar Now Online from Microsoft (version 3.0)

+ LexisNexis and EDGAROnline Expand Relationship

+ Wiley InterScience Gets Redesigned

Those of you who track newly registered domains from Google might be interested to learn that in the past few weeks the folks in Mt. View have registered a number of domains with even more having been transferred and are now in control of Google Inc. Lots of interesting names including several legal/law firm sounding names. Interesting. Let the speculation begin. (-:

New Registrations
+ El-vostre-url.com
(Registered July 24, 2006)
+ El-sharikah.com
(Registered July 24, 2006)
+ Siteul-companiei-dvs.com
(Registered July 24, 2006)
+ Lawofficepaloalto.com
(Registered July 20, 2006)
+ Mtnviewlegal.com
(Registered July 20, 2006)
+ Deweycheetham.com
(Registered July 20, 2006)
+ Mockbeebingllc.com
(Registered July 20, 2006)
+ Peninsulalawyers.com
(Registered July 20, 2006)
+ Southbaylegalsvc.com
(Registered July 20, 2006)
+ Seu-negocio.com
(Registered July 12, 2006)
+ Googelmini.com
(Registered July 6, 2006)
+ Sinun-osoitteesi.com
(Registered June 30, 2006)
+ Your-company-site.com
(Registered June 28, 2006)
+ Your-company-website.com
(Registered June 28, 2006)
+ Your-online-site.com
(Registered June 28, 2006)

More domains follow.
(more…)

Strictly Unclassified: Some Thoughts on Secrecy and Openness
A new commentary by Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States.

At NARA, we are in the business of assuring access. There can never be a classified aspect to our mission. Classified agreements are the antithesis of our reason for being, and NARA will never again be a party to such agreements.

Our focus is on preserving records and ensuring their availability to the American public while fulfilling the public’s expectation that we will properly safeguard the classified records in our custody. Agencies have the prerogative to classify their requests to NARA if disclosure of the reasons would cause genuine identifiable damage to national security. However, what NARA does in response to such requests and how we do it will always be as transparent as possible.

If any records are removed in the future for defensible reasons of national security, the American people will always, at the very least, know when that occurs and how many records are affected.

Source: NARA’s Prologue (Summer 2006)

British Library Publishes Annual Report 2005/6

From the summary/news release:

Of the readers using the British Library Reading Rooms, 96% rated the services and facilities as ‘excellent’ or ‘good ‘as reported in the British Library Annual Report 2005/6. In addition to this success, visits to the Reading Rooms are up 17% and the number of items supplied and consulted was up by over 11% on the previous year. A MORI poll also recorded that 75% of Britons are aware of their national library and its role, an increase from 50% five years ago. The British Library’s exhibition and events programme has also increased awareness with visitor numbers growing by 3.6% during a period when most visitor attractions in London saw visitor numbers fall.

Source: BL

Beyond Just Data Privacy
by Bob Mungamuru, and HectorGarcia-Molina

From the abstract:

We argue that designing a system that “guarantees” the privacy of its information may not be enough. One must also consider the price for providing that protection: For example, is the information preserved adequately? Does the system perform well? We illustrate this point by presenting the concept of a “configuration” that can capture both security and longevity aspects of information. Configurations can be useful for describing the policies used to safeguard information, as well as in selecting the right mix of security and privacy that is desired.

Direct to Full Text (PDF; 14 pages)

Online in the past few days are new beta versions of AOL’s CityGuide for several cities. What’s being tested?

+ Dynamic lists of events and venues, ranked in popularity by users.
+ Improved event and venue finders for all categories, with links to ratings and reviews.
+ Expanded photo galleries
+ Many more improvements to come

Learn more here and find direct links to the Guide’s being currently being tested here.

Just Released: CSTB releases a Letter Report on Electronic Voting
12 pages; PDF.

CSTB releases a Letter Report on Electronic Voting, which examines the current state of readiness for the use of electronic voting in the November 2006 elections, and gauges what progress has been made since the committee’s 2005 report, Asking the Right Questions About Electronic Voting.

Direct to Full Text

Source: Computer Science and Telecommunications Board/National Academies

From the announcement

It’s the world’s largest gathering of grizzlies. From late June to early August each year, as many as 50 brown bears a day may converge on Alaska’s McNeil River Falls to feed on the abundance of salmon running through the tumbling currents. Only a small number of people get the chance to visit this remote spot to see them. But now, through National Geographic magazine’s “Bearcam” at ngm.com/wildcamgrizzlies anyone can log on and watch these bears as they fish, play and run through their natural habitat. In addition to watching the salmon-snagging bears, Web visitors can blog with bear experts, browse the online photo album, get stats on the bears and other wildlife, and learn why McNeil River Falls is such a great fishing spot.

Direct to Bearcam at: http://ngm.com/wildcamgrizzlies

Source: NGS