Scott's Botanical Links--March 1997

March 28, 1997 - MLA-Style Citations of Electronic Sources

Whether citations of Internet resources are valuable or not, this site explains how to cite them. It covers all of the different common formats: WWW, Telnet, FTP sites, email, MOOs, MUDs and IRCs. The changeability, mobility and temporal nature of resources notwithstanding, this is so far a definitive site. Will appear in the Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor (currently in press).

March 27, 1997 - The Virtual Forest

This is largely a promotional site for a very reasonably priced CD-ROM ($15.00) about forest ecology and tree identification. A couple of very impressive demonstrations of VRML, the virtual reality markup language on this site. The viewer has an interactive 360 degree view of the forest and can examine a branch for identification by turning it around and tilting it. These sites require the QuickTime VR plug-in and will represent slow downloads for a modem (VRML files tend to be >500 MB). Site and program by Raymond Russo, EcoLogik computer laboratory, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN. (****)

March 26, 1997 - Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Virtual Laboratory

If you are interested in a model site for a virtual laboratory, this would be an excellent site to visit! On the pages of the HHMI educational site, there are exercises on antibody research techniques that are truly multimedia in approach. This is a wide-band Shockwave-requiring site that is remarkably full and well organized. (****)

March 25, 1997 - Pacific Northwest Native Wildlife Gardening

This site features lots of advice about using native plants in gardens that reflect the local environment, although it is centered on the Pacific Northwest. There are links to the various wildflower organizations and nurseries (emphasizing snailmail) and explains the benefits of native gardening -- among them, attracting the native fauna! This is also home to the PNW Native Plant Exchange and a listserv on the topic. This site is by Allyn Weaks, Department of Chemistry, University of Washington. (***)

March 24, 1997 - Directory of Plant-Related Links from around the World

"Directorio de Links de Todo el Mundo Relacionados con las Plantas" is yet another major link site for botany -- a new and rapidly growing one that complements the other major sites -- also the only bilingual Spanish-English site. Currently, the site features pages on Cacti & Succulents, Palms & Cycads, Bromeliads, Other Plants, Bulbs, Aquatic Plants, Trees, Silviculture, Botanic Gardens & Arboretums, Orchids, Pests & Diseases, Design & Landscape, Xeriscaping, Seeds, Society & Organizations, Fruit trees, Vegetables, Turfgrass, Gardening, Floriculture, Floras, Botany, Bonsai, Herbs & Ethnobotany, Software and Books. These are clearly organized link pages, growing at 100 sites per week. Organized by José Manuel Sánchez de Lorenzo Cáceres, Asociación Española de Parques y Jardines Públicos, Spain. (****)

March 21, 1997 - OSU Info - Yard & Garden

If you are looking for information on growing plants, this is a site to bookmark. Many different crops and crop pests are given here, and there is a convenient search engine at the site. Don't under-estimate this--it does not just list what grows in Ohio! There are also links from this page to resources on food, home, youth, family, community, farm, environment and business -- a very large site. Site by College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. (****)

March 20, 1997 - Genomics: A Global Resource

This site is a detailed one that covers molecular biology and its impact on society. Links include a local periodical (*Genomics Today*), participants in the site, government rules and regulations, issues, resources, applications, internal links and a search engine to the site. There is a special section on cloning, which is of course generated by interest in recent news stories! The site is sponosored by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and American Institute of Biological Sciences. (****)

March 19, 1997 - HTML Crash Course for Educators

If you have ever seriously considered making your own Web pages for instruction, research or personal statement, then this brief tutorial is an excellent place to start. In seven short lessons featuring lines of code and results, it covers all of the most frequently used instructions. If you feel the urge to create on the Web, provide useful additional resources to students or to the world at-large, this is a useful site. (Even comes with quizzes, though I could never connect to the machine that hosts these). By Andy Carvin, author and designer of EdWeb and New Media Project Officer at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Washington, DC. (****)

[P.S. If you can't find a server, check out these providers that offer free websites.]

March 18, 1997 - Virtual FlyLab

Virtual FlyLab is a totally functional WWW classroom where genetic crosses of a wide variety of Drosophila traits can be conducted quickly and easily. Although the site gets busy, the results of crosses are spiced with a bit of randomness, and waits are short in the early morning. There are no lectures here; students are instead faced with raw data and an opportunity to test hypotheses once they have come to a conclusion. I would love to see a site like this on plants! Part of the Electronic Desktop Project, California State University, Los Angeles. (****)

March 17, 1997 [1] [2] [3] - Three Curriculum Sites

I covered these as a triplet, so that I can feature more sites this week than just curriculum sites.
Coalition for Education in the Life Sciences (CELS) is a national coalition of professional societies in the biological sciences contributing to this central site. CELS sponsors national meetings and development of curricula in the home organizations. Not much here yet. (**1/2)
Bioscene - Journal of College Biology Teaching is an official, refereed publication of the Association of Midwest College Biology Teachers provided here online. It includes an archive of 22 years of publications of BioScene and 26 years for their AMCBT Newsletter. A search engine might be useful here! (***)
BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium supports an extended network of educators interested in the reform of undergraduate biology through exchanging curricula, software and ideas about science teaching. I would be more impressed if all of their links worked, especially their library! (***)

March 14, 1997 - MAD Scientist Network

Over 400 scientists take turns answering questions at this site covering 25 areas of science, including: astronomy, biology, chemistry, earth sciences and physics. Fielding such a broad array of questions makes this quite a large undertaking. Botany questions are answered as well as others. The responses are hyperlinked to the questions and the answers frequently include links to specific educational WWW sites. They also have a link to the archives for botany This site is run by Lynn Bry (6th year MD/PhD student, currently on leave to develop software for this site) and Joe Simpson (4th year MD/PhD student), both at Washington University, St Louis. (****)

As a challenge to my viewing public here: why couldn't we organize a MAD Botanist Network for a site like the Botanical Society of America??

March 13, 1997 - Botanical Watercolors by Carol Wickenhiser-Schaudt

This site is more for fun than education. There are some very nice watercolors here. The beauty of these plants is what draws many of us into botany. Enjoy!

March 12, 1997 - Web Molecular Biology Exercises

This site is an online, interactive quiz of introductory molecular biology that is graded at the site. Unlike a programmed learner, it requires students to look up factual information elsewhere. The grading program tells the student which answers are correct and incorrect; however, it does not provide those answers for the student, and they cannot leave the page until it accepts their correct answer. An interesting approach, this serves up a nice review of molecular biology. Many of the questions are appropriate for introductory general courses in which basic DNA dogma is taught. This site is hosted by the Department of Medical Biochemistry at the Göteborg University, Sweden, where it is part of their introductory course in biochemistry. (***1/2)

March 11, 1997 - Gaia Forest Conservation Archives

This is a conservation action site that keeps a close watch on worldwide environmental concerns, particularly emphasizing the tropical rainforest. The site also includes carefully selected links concerning the rainforest, sustainable forestry, forest conservation sites (worldwide), environmental news services and biodiversity. This site helps in organizing the myriad environmental resources available on the Web. Site brought to you by Ecological Enterprises' Forest Networking Project. (****)

March 10, 1997 - Encylopedia of Plants

This includes an illustrated encyclopedia of plants featuring many of the commonly grown plants. A search engine and an alphabetical listing by letter is available, but individual plants are not listed so it is difficult to browse if you have a long list of favorites. The plants that I looked at had excellent illustrations, making this a site to bookmark. Future growth is planned at this site that bills itself as "... your connection to the world of plants..." (****)

March 7, 1997 - Handbook on Teaching Undergraduate Science Courses - Table of Contents

Starting a higher education teaching career presents enough challenges that this book seems long overdue. Supported by an NSF grant that paid for its publication, the manual (subtitled "A Survival Training Manual") covers much of the struggle of starting professors, as told in case histories. The rest of the manual is devoted to teaching philosophies, approaches, and how to deal with students. This site gives a detailed Table of Contents of the 152 page manual and ordering instructions; manuals are available for $5.00 shipping and handling. The manual was written by a colleague of mine, Gordon Uno, whose sterling teaching evaluations belie the fact that his is one of the toughest courses on campus.

March 6, 1997 - International Canopy Network (ICAN)

"Canopies, especially those of tropical rainforests, are difficult to access and are among the most poorly understood eco-systems on our planet." This site is devoted to the exchange of information about forest canopies and is the host for a listserv-based canopy discussion group, which is archived by gopher at this site. The site includes information, a good collection of links to other sites, including some with impressive photos. Talk about at view from the top ... look at these views from the canopy! The site even includes applications to conduct research on the forest canopy using the Wind River Canopy Crane Research Facility operated by the University of Washington or in collaboration with another group that studies the tropical canopy in Costa Rica. Operated by the ICAN, Olympia, Washington. (***1/2)

March 5, 1997 - Environmental Resources Information Network (ERIN)

This Australian government site provides extensive resources on conservation, the current state of the environment, global warming, sustainability and a myriad of other topics. A major goal of the site is to survey Australia, construct useful databases and make this data available to be able to better monitor changes that occur. A search site with twenty suggested categories makes the tremendous amount of data housed at this site even more accessible. ERIN is located in the Federal Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories, although information is submitted from throughout Australia. (****)

March 4, 1997 - University of Kansas Image Archive

University of Kansas maintains a collection of about 370 JPEGs of no larger than 640 X 480 pixels of plants and animals. Although the images are good, accessing them is a bit contorted. The search engine points to a text entry that contains the file number; the numbered file is then accessed in the image directory. There are also photos with thumbnail images for each 30 entries. This is a collection from a number of scientists and is available for non-commercial, educational use. (***)

March 3, 1997 - Corn Structure Atlas [hasn't functioned for a long time!]

Light and scanning electron microscope images of corn by P.C. Cheng, D.R. Pareddy and V.R. Bommineni. The atlas, on separate uncommented plates covers the roots, leaves, stems (including x-ray), silica cells and silica deposition, male spikelet, tassel, anther dehiscence, tapetal cells, pollen, pollen germination, ear development, synaptonemal complexes. The images are large (150 KB or larger, 256 gray scale GIFs; modem users are warned!) but of excellent quality. These are © 1994 Springer-Verlag by the authors. (****)

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

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