Best Health Plans 2006
“This year’s rankings of commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid HMOs and POS plans show useful information about most of America’s larger plans as well as the majority of the nation’s smaller ones.”
+ Commercial Plans
+ Medicare Plans
+ Medicaid Plans
Source: USNews.com
Fast Facts: Modern Ground Combat Force Structure
by, Michael Moran, Executive Editor
Classic military unit groupings—from ancient phalanx or hoplite formations to modern armored cavalry regiments—differ greatly in their specialization and size, and from country to country. With the United States military in the midst of a major reorganization—transformation, in the Pentagon’s lingo—here is a basic look at how modern ground, naval, and air units break down in terms of size and tasks.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations
Lists & Rankings: St. Louis, MO Most Dangerous City in America 2006
Summary/News Release
+ List Top/Bottom 25
+ Methodology/Missing Cities
+ Previous Years Rankings
Full Text of Report is fee-based.
Source: Morgan Quinto Press
Lists & Rankings: Most rapid growth and decline in employment by county, March 2005-March 2006
Collin County, Texas, a Dallas suburb, had the biggest over-the-year percentage increase in employment among the largest counties in the U.S in March 2006. Employment rose by 7.8 percent in Collin County from March 2005 to March 2006. Lee, Florida, which includes Fort Myers, and Brazoria, Texas, which is near the Gulf Coast, had the next highest increases. The nation as a whole experienced a job growth rate of 2.2 percent. The largest percentage decline in employment was in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, followed by Harrison, Mississippi, and Jefferson, Louisiana. These employment losses reflected the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina
Some web-based quizzes from noted reference publisher Dorling-Kindersly
Several of you have hinted that we need to have a bit more fun on ResourceShelf. Good point. So, how about some fun, facts, and trivia at the same time courtesy of these online quizzes from Dorling Kindersley.
+ American Film Institute Desk Reference quiz!
+ Rolling with the Stones quiz.
+ Eyewitness Travel Guide quiz
Source: DK
New Web Resource: OpenLearn goes live: The Open University has gone live with a free open content website in a bid to attract hard-to-reach groups
The OpenLearn website, launched on 25 October 2006, is designed to make some educational material available on the internet in an attempt to tackle educational disadvantages in the developed and developing world. An OpenLearn spokesperson told GC News on 25 October 2006: “The service is 100% free. It will hold units of our courses online or to download so that people can use the content how they wish. The website currently holds 900 study hours but this will be increased over the next six months. “The website will never hold all of our courses, otherwise we would not make any money.” Subject areas available on the website include arts, history, science and nature at all study levels from access to postgraduate.
Source: Kable’s Government Computing
Digitization Projects: Hockey: Canada’s Royal Winter Game – Read Arthur Farrell’s Rare 1899 Hockey handbook online!
Hockey: Canada’s Royal Winter Game is a rare Canadian publication written in 1899 by hockey player Arthur Farrell, a Stanley Cup champion in 1899 and 1900. It is thought to have been the first book ever written about the sport. Only four copies of the book are known to exist, and no library in Canada holds it in its collection…Thanks to a generous loan by Mr. Harper, the book has now undergone conservation treatment at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Although several pages have been damaged or lost, the remaining pages have been digitized in the exact manner that they appear, and are presented using virtual page-turning technology.
Explore Arthur Farrell’s Hockey: Canada’s Royal Winter Game, Page-turning version (coming soon)
Source: Library and Archives Canada
The Best of DocuTicker (10/29/2006)
Three more interesting reports published yesterday on our sister site:
+ Copyright Duration and the Supply of Creative Work (UCLA Department of Economics Working Papers)
+ A Brief History of Mobile Telecommunication in Europe (UNU-MERIT Working Paper Series, United Nations University, Maastricht)
+ Pediatric Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness: A Resource for Pediatricians (American Academy of Pediatrics)
The hybrid library: from the users’ perspective
A Danish report exploring user perspectives on the hybrid library is now available in English. A breakout session on this topic will be presented at the December CNI meeting in Washington, DC, and it will include a discussion of this report.
69 pages; PDF.
From the introduction:
The purpose of this project is to gather information on how the needs of the core users are fulfilled by research libraries through use of physical materials, electronic materials, and the library employees in the physical library. The investigation was meant to reveal how the users utilize these resources nowadays, and, on the basis of the qualitative data, suggest how the hybrid research library of the future can improve its services.
The investigation focused on three key aspects of the hybrid library:
1. How the library’s web interface can be improved.
2. What role the library’s employees will have in the future.
3. What role the physical library should play.
The project’s primary method is a field study, wherein the guiding idea has been to collect knowledge about the users’ information-searching in their customary environment.
Source: The National Library [Denmark] and Copenhagen University Library
A New Map of NARA’s [National Archives and Records Administration] future by the Archivist of the United States
A new column by Allen Weinstein.
As you know, NARA is operating under a new strategic plan that will take the agency through 2016. The new plan—with its focused objectives and clear priorities—sets forth goals and explains the strategies developed for achieving them. It also gives all of us at the National Archives, as well as customers, stakeholders, the White House, and Congress, a yardstick by which to measure progress and success—or failure. Most important, the new strategic plan, Preserving the Past to Protect the Future, offers some major changes to previous plans that will make NARA an even more efficient, customer-oriented Federal agency than it is today.
You can read the plan on our web site.Source: NARA Staff Bulletin
+ More You Tube Removals (via Google Blogoscoped)
We’re sure this is a headline we will see often. Another point is that simply removing from You Tube doesn’t remove a clip from the web. We found lots of content from South Park on Veoh, Daily Show on Yahoo Video and Colbert Report on Google Video.
An Introduction to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
JISC Techwatch by Jane Dudman; 31 pages; PDF.
Voice over IP (VoIP) is a telecommunications technology that transmits and delivers voice calls using the packet-based IP protocols and network technologies associated with the Internet. The technology has been considerably developed and refined in recent years and is gaining widespread public recognition and adoption through consumer solutions such as Skype and BT’s strategy of moving to an IP-based network. This adoption is beginning to spread into the F&HE domains with a number of institutions implementing VoIP and through work being undertaken by UKERNA. The technology offers opportunities for the development of new applications and educational services particularly through the potential for converging voice with other media and data.
This JISC TechWatch report examines VoIP, its technologies, standards and issues, and, in particular, focuses on potential applications and uses in F&HE through development of new converged services to help facilitate distance and collaborative learning and assist those with disabilities.
Source: JISC TechWatch
Fast Facts: Halloween 2006
Another interesting and useful (fun too!) statistical compilation from the U.S. Census. Facts include:
+ 36.1 million
The estimated number of potential “trick-or-treaters†in 2005 — 5- to 13-year-olds — across the United States, which declined by 284,000 from 2004. Of course, many other children — older than 13, and younger than age 5 — also go trick-or-treating.
+ Where to Spend Halloween?
Some places around the country that may put you in the Halloween mood are:
* Transylvania County, N.C. (29,626 residents).
* Tombstone, Ariz. (population 1,569).
* Pumpkin Center, N.C. (population 2,228); and Pumpkin Bend township, Ark. (population 307).
* Cape Fear township in New Hanover County, N.C.; and Cape Fear township in Chatham County, N.C. (with populations of 15,711 and 1,170, respectively).
* Skull Creek township, Neb. (population 285).
+ 26 pounds
Per capita consumption of candy by Americans in 2005; it is believed a large portion is consumed around Halloween
Source: U.S. Census
Fast Facts: Top 10 Youngest U.S. Presidents
By age upon taking office.
Lists & Rankings: 2006 Technology Fast 500 List
This year marks the 12th anniversary of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500. Through the years, the companies that have appeared on our list have shown a remarkable ability to maintain spectacular growth, not just during the heady times of the technology boom but also through this now increasingly competitive landscape. The five-year growth rates of the companies on the 2006 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list, while still stellar by any measure, reflect a business environment that rewards sustained performance.
The Best of DocuTicker (10/28/2006)
Three more interesting reports posted yesterday on our sister site:
+ From the Vine to the Glass: Canada’s Grape and Wine Industry (Statistics Canada)
+ Engaging the “Social Networking†Generation: How to Talk to Today’s College-Bound Juniors and Seniors (Noel-Levitz, Inc.)
+ The Bank of America High-Net Worth Philanthropy Study (The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University/Bank of America)
Scirus and CrossRef Announce Web Services Partnership
Elsevier has announced that Scirus, its free, science-specific search engine, has signed an agreement with CrossRef, the cross-publisher linking network with over 2200 participating publishers and societies, t o become a Web Services Search Partner. The partnership allows Scirus to collect metadata from hundreds of participating publishers via CrossRef’s new Web Services protocol. This combined approach improves how researchers, academics, students, and librarians search authoritative, scientific published content. “Scirus already uniquely enables the most accurate searching of authoritative scientific content through the addition of classification codes, identification of information types and bibliographic metadata,†said Joris van Rossum, Head of Scirus . “ This partnership, which allows us to take advantage of the new Web Services protocol, fits perfectly with Scirus’ ambition to be the most comprehensive and trustworthy search engine for scientific published content on the Web.”
NCRC Files FTC Complaint Against Zillow.com
“Today, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) filed a consumer protection complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging Internet financial services and real estate provider Zillow.com is misleading consumers, real estate professionals and financial service providers in on-line home valuations.” ResourceShelf has highlighted Zillow.com and its features on several occasions.
+ Press Release (PDF; 82 KB)
+ FTC Complaint (PDF; 157 KB)
Source: National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
See Also: Nonprofit alleges Zillow estimates are inaccurate (via News.com)
See Also: Reply.com is Another Database that Offers Real Estate Price Estimates on the Open Web
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