Librarians cite Scout project as noteworthy resource

The Internet Scout Project of UW–Madison’s computer sciences department has been selected to receive the Wisconsin Library Association’s (WLA) 1998 Special Service award.

The award was given for “noteworthy achievement as evidenced by substantial activities and exceptional service to the library profession…beyond the local community.”

The Internet Scout Project, funded by the National Science Foundation, seeks to further the advancement of research and education by finding and providing easier access to high quality information available on the Internet. Both professional librarians and computer scientists staff the multifaceted research project. Libraries of all types, both in the United States and abroad, are among the primary users of the project’s services.

Chief among a number of services are The Scout Report, a weekly current awareness newsletter published continuously since 1994, and three subject-specific reports which began bi-weekly publication in 1997: The Scout Report for Science and Engineering, Scout Report for Social Sciences, and the Scout Report for Business and Economics. Each issue of the Scout Reports features annotated analysis of 18-20 of the newest, high-quality resources available on the Internet.

An important addition to the project in 1997, according to project director Susan Calcari, was the Scout Report Signpost, a searchable and browsable database of Internet resources featured in the Scout Report since 1994, and the subject-specific Scout Reports. Signpost currently contains entries for more than five thousand quality Internet resources.

Most recently, the Project has formed a research team to design and develop information dissemination technologies that will bring content to users’ desktops. This technology, code-named ISAAC, will enable content providers, such as Signpost, to create a singular search index and allow users to search multiple collections of selective Internet resources with a single request.

Other services of the Internet Scout Project include K.I.D.S. Report, a newsletter of Internet resources prepared by K-12 students for students, and Net-happenings, a daily service which distributes 40-60 announcements about Internet resources to network users and providers.