Environment Index

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Environment Index is the new, shortened title for Environmental Issues & Policy Index.
This database has different emphases from Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management and LexisNexis Environmental. They concentrate on science and technology, and legal and news resources, respectively.

It has had quite a history of title changes: the following is taken from Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, or Ulrichsweb, which we have listed among our “Articles and Databases” resources:

“Title History: Former titles (until 2006): Environmental Issues & Policy Index (United States); (until Dec. 2002): Environmental Policy Index (United States); (until 2002): Environmental Knowledge Base (Online Edition) (United States); (until 2000): Environmental Periodicals Bibliography (Print Edition) (United States) (0145-3815); (until 1973): Environmental Periodicals (United States) (0046-2306)”

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INIS (International Nuclear Information System) — new database

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INIS Online Database from 1970 to date. This new resource was added to our Princeton University Library’s “Articles and Databases” page this summer, and contains ~2.8 million records on peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology. >850,000 papers are full-text. Sponsored by the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, there is world-wide coverage.

Approximately 1/2 of the records come from journals, the rest are technical reports, conference proceedings, patents, theses, and preprints, known as “grey” or “non-conventional” literature.

Almost 2200 journals are scanned for inclusion, but 580 are key.

The portions especially applicable to environmental sciences are:
8% economic, environmental, legal and safeguards
7% fuel cycle waste and radiochemistry
13% nuclear power and safety

Intute Environment Gateway

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From their “About” page:

“Intute is a free online service providing access to the very best web resources for education and research. All material is evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists to create the Intute database.

The Intute database makes it possible to discover the best and most relevant resources in one easily accessible place. You can explore and discover trusted information, assured that it has been evaluated by specialists for its quality and relevance.”

They have organized the pages by very broad subject areas: Health & Life Sciences, Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences and Science Engineering & Technology Environment has recently gained separate category status: Intute Environment Gateway

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TeachEngineering from the National Science Digital Library

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Teach Engineering is designed for teaching sciences and applications to younger than college-age students, but there are some wonderful experiments and activities described here for anyone and everyone, which even include bibliographies. There is a very nice Environmental History Timeline, and there are lots of environmentally-appropriate projects/studies included, especially in the Chemistry, and Earth and Space, Life Sciences, and Physical Science. Or most seem to be under Science & Technology details, too. Click on Browse Curriculum, then subjects to get the details of the lessons and activities.

Environmental Chemistry Information System (ECIS)

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Trial subscriptions to Environmental Chemistry Information System are free during the month of September. Check http://www.nisc.com for details. These databases are nearly all separate flles on government websites. There are over 8 million records for nearly 700,000 chemicals.

Should we suscribe?

The ECIS News (Newsletter Archive)

A wealth of information about chemicals in the environment.

  1. Chemical/Physical properties
    OBSERVATIONS, SANSS
  2. Biodegradation/Bioremediation
    BIODEG, BIOLOG
  3. Site Assessment
    BRS, CERCLIS, FINDS, ICIS (DOCKET),RCRIS, TRI (1987-2005)
  4. Toxicity & Carcinogenicity
    AQUIRE, CCRIS, CRISP, EMIC, GIABS, GENE-TOX, IRIS, MEDLINE Subset, NIOSHTIC
    Subset, RTECS, TERRETOX, TSCATS
  5. Regulations
    TSCAINV, TSCAPP
  6. HAZMAT
    CHRIS, HSDB, MALLIN, New Jersey Hazardous Substance Factsheets, OHMTADS

Some of the databases are included in the TOXSEEK cluster provided by the U.S. government and listed in our “Articles and Databases” listing.

Can Google Spiders find EPA-archived Documents?

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Marydee Ojala. Information Today. Medford: Jul/Aug 2007. Vol. 24, Iss. 7; pg. 13, 1 pgs

To read all of her article, click here.

Mike Flynn, deputy director of the Office of Information Analysis & Access at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was a guest at SLAs Public Policy Update session at the SLAAnnual Conference in June in Denver.

The following excerpt expresses a concern about the “accessibility”/”findability” of the EPA documents archived online:

“It’s a key strategy of the EPA, said Flynn, to put more documents relevant to the topic online. Will Google be able to find EPA-archived documents, or will they be protected by a robots. txt file? Flynn gamely admitted his ignorance about robots.txt files and thought Google could find EPA documents, but knowledgeable librarians in the audience were skeptical. Is EPA a closed system? Are there opportunities to work with U.N. initiatives to open up EPA information to the world? Flynn’s answers weren’t the epitome of clarity, although he opted for openness.”
– Marydee Ojala

Source: www.infotodayblog.com

Think Globally, Act Locally

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International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives

Founded in 1990 in New York, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is a broad international association of local governments and related units of governance committed to sustainable development. The ICLEI provides support to their members through technical consulting and training programs, and their website also serves as a clearinghouse for this material, along with offering additional items, including research reports, newsletters, and policy briefs. On their homepage, visitors can read about their latest news, check job postings, and also learn about recent developments from their members. Most visitors will want to continue their exploration of the site by clicking over to the “Programs” area. Here they can learn about their “Cities for Climate Protection” campaign, read up on their biodiversity initiative, and take a look at their tools for creating sustainable cities. [KMG]

From the Scout Report, Vol. 14(30), August 10, 2007

United Nations Environment Programme

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The Mission of the UNEP:
“To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.”

Focus areas of the UNEP:

Biodiversity, Business & Industry, Chemicals, Civil Society and NGOs, Energy, Environmental Assessment, Freshwater, Governance & Law, Land, Marine & Coastal Areas, Ozone, Sustainable Consumption, Urban Issues

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