Scott's Botanical Links--February 2000

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Past links:

February 29, 2000 - The Scout Report

The Scout Report is a weekly electronic publication offering a selection of interesting Internet resources to researchers and educators. Subscriptions are available by email mailing lists in plain text or HTML. This is a highly credible source of new sites. Scout Report is available in a general edition and in three specialty versions: "Business & Economics, Science & Engineering, and Social Sciences. By Internet Scout Project, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison. (****)-SR

February 28, 2000 - PubMed Central

In early 1999, Harold Varmus launched the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the task of publishing scientific journals on a public server. Poised with the potential to change the way that science is published, Molecular Biology of the Cell and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences will be the first make their content free. Plans include coverage of all of the science (plants included) and development of new scientific publishing models, such as "electronic-only" journals, which will begin in the next few months. This is a site that demands to be watched. -SR

February 25, 2000 - WorldSkip.Com

Science is becoming increasingly international, as is the rest of the world. This site provides hard-to-find (at least in one place) data on just about any country in the world. The site provides a lot of information on countries, international travel, local customs, flags, newspapers, sports, other topics and plentiful links related to that country. This is a well organized, information-rich site by WorldSkip; the only cost is a currently modest amount of advertising. (****)-SR

February 24, 2000 - YouGrowGirl

To say that YouGrowGirl is not like the regular sites that I review is an understatement!! Sites include how's it growing, mini garden art, the lab, vermicomposting (yes, requires worms!), "news", and an interview with two 78- and 93-year old gardeners who grow all of their own vegetables. Featured in the lab is the resurrection of a shamrock using the healing power of '80s music from the New Edition. Someone's creative tongue is planted firmly in cheek at this site, so follow their botanical advice, not their music choice to heal your plants! (***1/2) -SR

February 23, 2000 - Centre for International Ethnomedicinal Education and Research (CIEER)

Among the many goals of the CIEER is to "increase public awareness and scientific knowledge of ... plants used in healing and as medicine." This site is an attractive gateway to ethnobotany with a listserv, discussion forum, resource directory, links and eventually online courses. Although the site is posted as non-profit, commercial links abound. Needless to say, contact a physician before medicating yourself. Suggested by Michael Thomas, this will gain a bookmark with some enthusiasts. (***) -SR

February 22, 2000 - CalFlora

CalFlora is a web-accessible comprehensive database of plant distribution information for California that provides a synthesis of data for conservation, mapping, collecting, management and other purposes. Databases for species, occurrence, synonyms and photos are available. This is a collaborative project of the USDA Forest Service, UC Berkeley Digital Library Project, United States Geological Survey, UC Davis Information Center for the Environment, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, and others. (****)-SR

February 21, 2000 - naturalSCIENCE Magazine

naturalSCIENCE Magazine provides an excellent front page to science news on the Internet. Although there is not that much at the site itself, the home page is a well-organized and easy to use portal to the major science sites. On the site are also news summaries, book reviews and various forums. This site is designed, edited, produced and promoted by Journal Publishing Services at Heron Publishing. (****) -SR

February 18, 2000 - Virtual Palm Encyclopedia

The Virtual Palm Encyclopedia by the Palm & Cycad Societies of Florida covers a wealth of data on the large and complex family Palmaceae. Current chapters include: Scientific description & taxonomy, Palm keys, Evolution and the fossil record, Economic importance & ethnobotany, Conservation, Horticulture, Palm diseases, Miscellaneous palm articles, Once were lost..., Palm Story, Virtual palm tours, Hardiness zones, Photo gallery, Links, References, Epilogue and the Lyrics of Lone Palm by Jimmy Buffet There is more to come. (****)-SR

February 17, 2000 - Virtual Cycad Encyclopedia

The Virtual Cycad Encyclopedia is an online textbook by the Palm & Cycad Societies of Florida. The Table of Contents of this "book" is quite complete, with chapters on cycad systematics (including interactive keys!), biology, evolution, horticulture, conservation, cycads in the landscape, personal accounts, a photo gallery, links, references and a painting. The authors of this edited virtual volume includes world experts on this group--an excellent and updated text. (****)-SR

February 16, 2000 - Seeds of Change Garden

The Seeds of Change Garden site emphasizes the cosmopolitan nature of food, what the major crops are, and where they came from. Designed for the K-8 levels, the site encourages you to "Begin your garden in Activities for all Seasons," "Use your garden to Learn about Each Other," "Explore the History of the New World through food crops," and "Make some Delicious Recipes from the plants in your garden!" among other activities. This site is produced by Smithsonian Institution. (****) -SR

February 15, 2000 - Tomorrow's-Professor Listserv

Tomorrow's-Professor is an email distribution (listserv) of essays on topics of interest to professors at all levels by The Stanford University Learning Laboratory. Interest is well focused by the presentation of only one topic per email (two per week) and the number of words is listed above the essay. Topics are archived at the web site for reference, so the site is a good preview to the listserv (one of few I currently subscribe to). Directed by Richard M. Reis, SLL. (****) -SR

February 14, 2000 - Carrefour BIODIDAC

Carrefour BIODIDAC provides, according to the web site, "a bank of digital resources for teaching biology." Numerous images and many black-and-white drawings from a wide variety of plants and protists are available. Higher resolution images require an email address in exchange, although some look better in medium resolution. Images include habit shots and histological sections, which may be used for educational non-profit purposes if fully attributed (details on site). Site by BIODIDAC, University of Ottawa, Canada, in French and English. (****) -SR

February 11, 2000 - Horticopia

Horticopia is mostly a commercial site, but one of the links, "Plant Lists," provides access to some data on the CDs they are selling. From there, an alphabetical list and search engine are provided to a wealth of species. If you are looking for depth, I am afraid you will need to buy the CD. Hardiness range, mature height, environment, bloom color and a prominently watermarked picture, however, are provided for free. Site by Horticopia, Inc. (***)-SR

February 10, 2000 - Ugly Bug Contest Home Page

The Oklahoma Microscopy Society, as part of their outreach program, holds an annual Ugly Bug Contest in which students up to fifth grade submit bugs through their schools to a network of Oklahoma electron microscopy labs. Students have to find the bugs, identify them and mail them. The EM Labs then prepare and view the bugs using a scanning electron microscope. The resulting images are shown here! Some schools make this part of a microscopy curriculum, materials for which are sponsored by OMS. Site by Greg Strout, University of Oklahoma Electron Microscopy Lab. (****)-SR

February 9, 2000 - Desert Botanical Garden

The mission of the Desert Botanical Garden of Phoenix is "to exhibit, conserve, study and disseminate knowledge of arid-land plants of the world, with a particular emphasis on succulents and the native flora of the Southwestern United States." This site features virtual tours of the Desert Discovery Trail, Plants and People Trail and Agave collection (under "Collections & Gardens"), Desert Gardening Information, a Research and Conservation site, and an online store. The DBG is a Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) site (one of 28 in the US). A well-illustrated site, this is a good starting point for finding images of desert plants. (****) -SR

February 8, 2000 - Multisite Living Collections Searches

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has provided a portal to databases of living plants at the Royal Horticultural Society (UK), World Conservation Monitoring Centre (Threatened Plants), The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum (UK), Holden Arboretum (USA), Arnold Arboretum (USA), Cornell Plantations (USA), Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Gardens (USA), The New York Botanical Garden (USA) and The Desert Botanical Garden (USA). Searches use either scientific or common names and return responses for each of these collections. (****) -SR

February 7, 2000 - Index Herbariorum

Index Herbariorum is a joint project of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) and The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), providing a directory of 3000+ public herbaria and the 8800+ staff members associated with them. Information returned includes mailing addresses, contacts, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, herbarium code and research areas--all updated frequently (with online forms to do so). A great resource for finding herbaria and contact persons, coordinated by Patricia K. Holmgren and Noel H. Holmgren, NYBG. (****) -SR

February 4, 2000 - Index to American Botanical Literature

The New York Botanical Garden has started to collect a comprehensive index of the literature in a wide variety of topics, including: Algae, Lichenized Fungi, Fungi, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes, Paleobotany, General Botany, and in the Spermatophytes, Systematics and Floristics, Molecular Systematics, Morphology and Anatomy, Ecology, Economic Botany and Ethnobotany. No wildcards are needed, so empty fields returns the whole dataset in a selected category. A site of emerging importance by NYBG. (****) -SR

February 3, 2000 - Insecta Inspecta World

This is a fun site on insects, featuring pages on 10 different insects, with special pages on "Insects on Money," "Arachnophobia," "Insects in Art," and (best) "Questions That Bug Us." The quality of the site is excellent both in content and construction. The pages were researched under the review of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. I wish everyone's child(ren) could share in a similar experience! Site by the Honors Academy, Thornton Jr. High School, Fremont, California. (****)-SR

February 2, 2000 - Glossary of Pollen and Spore Terminology

This glossary is in its second edition on the web, an online version of the print guide by W. Punt, S. Blackmore, S. Nilsson, and A. Le Thomas. Terms are defined fully and often accompanied by color illustrations. The alphabetical pages have surprising depth, augmented by periodic updates to the definition list and definitions themselves. Site designed and maintained by Peter Hoen, Laboratorium voor Palaeobotanie en Palynologie, Utrecht, The Netherlands. (****)-SR

February 1, 2000 - Web of On-line Dictionaries

The Web of On-line Dictionaries provides links for over 200 different language dictionaries, from Afrikaans to Zulu, including a variety of Native American languages and quite a few I didn't recognize. Additionally look for links to Multilingual Dictionaries, Specialty English Dictionaries, Thesauri and Other Vocabulary Aids, Language Identifiers and Guessers, An Index of Dictionary Indices, A Web of On-line Grammars and A Web of Linguistic Fun. A single-mindedly useful page for international communication by Robert Beard at Bucknell University. (****)-SR

Past, past links (by date):

2006: January

2005: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2003: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2002: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2001: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

2000: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

1999: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

1998: January*, February*, March*, April*, May*, June*, July, August, September, October, November, December   (*Leigh's links)

1997: January, February, March, April, May, June, September*, October*, November*, December*    (*Leigh's links)

1996: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December

Or search by: Subject Index

http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/bot-linx/feb00.shtml