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Date: Mon, 29 May 1995 16:55:10 EDT
Sender: Internationally-Oriented Computer-Assisted Reporting List
<INTCAR-L@american.edu>
From: SIMPSON@AMERICAN.EDU
Subject: Western Europe news sources - (big file) Virt.Journ. II
fall 1994
Virtual Journalist Guide: Western Europe
By Anna Berglund, Jeremy Birch, Courtney Nations, and Emily Stein,
Virtual Journalist, Vol.II, Fall 1994
I. Introduction
This section of the guide provides general information
covering the
European Union as well as particular countries in Western Europe.
With the newly developed World Wide Web sites, locating
information
is becoming much more efficient on the Internet. Many of the Web
sites are
still being cultivated in Western Europe, and new sites are springing up
almost daily as servers are dropping gopher sites to join the Web.
Hence,
the World Wide Web gave us the best access to data available over the
Internet.
Many of the listservs we explored were found to be rather
cumbersome and consisted mainly of discussions and personal opinions.
Clearly, sorting through such material is not a practical venue for the
journalist seeking precise information.
Gophers, however, were a valuble source, but as previously
mentioned, they are quickly becoming antiquated as the World Wide
Web takes
over. Nevertheless, gophers are still more accessible to the average
Internet explorer due to the fact that Web sites can only be obtained
through high-tech software such as Mosaic.
Most of the sources we found use English as their primary
language.
Yet in the Countries section in particular, there are several sites which
employ only the official language of the server country. This guide will
note those systems which do not use English as the principal language.
The rapid expansions and additions to the World Wide Web and the
abundance of gopher sites make virtual research in Western Europe a
rewarding task. May we stress again, however, that though this
guide is a
good starting point as to the serviceable Internet sites in the
Continent,
the unending technological advances will demand continual updates to our
findings.
II. General Resources
- EUnet
- URL=http://www.EU.net
This web site gives the user access to a large quantity of information
about any of the countries in Europe. Subjects range from sports to
politics to culture to science.
- CIA World Factbook
- URL=http://www.ic.gov
Very specific information on a country of choice. Includes such
details as
country size, population, political party in power, and background
infromation. You can also find specific information by subject.
- Lycos
- URL=http://lycos.cs.cmu.edu
Lycos indexes almost one million URLs and retrieves references
according to
the one or more search items you provide. Lycos will look for any
word you
specify as well as any related words that may be useful towards your
search. Lycos lists the first 20 hits which include your specified
word as
well as other related words. Note that Lycos only indexes and searches
WWW, gopher, and FTP sites-not telnet, news, usenets, or WAIS.
- University of Michigan Library Gopher
- URL=gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu
This gopher has incredible information on Western European history and is
very informative and thorough. Click on "what's new', then
"clearinghouse". Topics are searchable by keyword. Additionally, this
gopher contains a list of electronic sources for Western European history
and culture.
- CARNet Gopher
- URL=gopher://.smile.srce.hr
News from all over Europe in English, provided by the Croatian Academic
Research Network. This is a full text of information and daily as
well as
monthly news.
- St. Olaf Gopher
- URL=gopher://gopher.stolaf.edu
Has State Department Travel Advisories which provide a quick
country-by-country background to the political and economic
situation and a
description of the current government. Also contains a listing of other
Internet resources and is searchable by country.
- Nato Gopher
- URL=gopher://gopher.nato.int
Information about NATO, the Allied Command Europe, AFSOUTH, SHAPE. The
NATO handbook gives information on how NATO works, its future role and
structure. It also provides information on interlocking institutions,
CSCE, EC, Western European Union, Council of Europe.
- Echo
- URL=telnet://echo.lu
European Commission Host Organization (ECHO) provides access to
over twenty
databases dealing with many different European subjects. This guide will
cover two of these databases: EUROLIB-PER, and EURHISTAR.
* This source is rather difficult to use unless you know the common
command language (CCL) well. Users will receive a CCL manual in the mail
after registering. Users also receive technical sheets on all of the
databases to which ECHO has access.
- Dialog
- URL=telnet://dialog.com
Dialog is a commercial provider of databases from around the world. To
register, one must call Dialog in the US at (800) 334-2564. There is a
$275 initial sign-up fee in addition to charges for access. Each
database
has different rates. This guide will cover two of these databases:
Delphes
European Business and the Hoppenstedt Directory of German Companies.
- European Culture Newsgroup in the SOC Hierarchy
- URL=news://soc.culture.europe
This discussion group includes press releases, current events, and news
about Europe in general.
III. Lexis/Nexis
The INTLAW Library, group file ECCASE, provides access to European Union
court reports and other legal news from the European Union.
The WORLD Library provides information about every country in Europe, as
well as in the rest of the world. It contains information on business
opportunities, events, organizations and leaders.
The EUROPE Library contains articles on Europe specifically and is
updated
daily.
The NEWS Library gives audio (such as CNN) and print (such as the
Guardian
from London) media transcripts.
IV. Business/Economics
- Yahoo
- URL=http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/business/corporations
Company information provided by the companies themselves.
Information from
companies in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, the
Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland.
- QuoteCom European Financial Data
- URL=http://www.quote.com/info/europe.html
European stocks and commodities description and prices. The European
exchange is still being developed, but to access information already
available, you can subscribe on-line for $19.95. More subscription
information is available at the site.
- EUnet
- URL=http://www.eunet.ch
Promotes business and new products in Europe.
- University of Michigan Library Gopher
- URL=gopher://gopher.una.hh.lib.umich.edu
This gopher is very comprehensive.
- International Market Insight: articles about potential markets, divided
by country.
- Foreign Trade: U.S. imports/exports by country.
- Best Market Reports: here you can find information from markets in a
specific European country.
- Agricultural Situation Reports: Information from Denmark, Finland,
Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal,
Sweden,
Switzerland, the UK on this topic.
- Echo
- URL=telnet://echo.lu
The EUROLIB-PER database within ECHO is a catalogue of periodicals
available from the libraries belonging to the EUROLIB group. One of the
sources for the database is the European Investment Bank.
- Dialog
- URL=telnet://dialog.com
Dialog is a commercial database and offers information valuable to
journalists doing business reporting in Europe. Within Dialog there are
many different databases. Examples include:
- Kompass Europe. Provides business information on over 300,000 European
companies in Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Norway, Spain , Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, the United
Kingdom. Includes company name, address, number of employees, telephone
number, telex, description of business, senior executives, foreign trade
status, products and activities, and language spoken. Search fee
per hour:
$60. To type or print: $1.80. Report cost per element: $.05
- Kompass UK. Business information on British companies spanning 45,000
different classes of products, generally not including companies trading
only on a U.K. regional basis. Includes company name, address, telephone
number, product information, names of executives. Search fee per hour:
$60. To type or print: $1.80. Report cost per element: $.05.
- ICC International Business Research. Covers markets in Western and
Eastern Europe. Provides analyses on European companies from leading
British and international analysts. The database includes over 13,000
stockbroker reports, industry structures, market sizes, market trends,
development and prospects, and profiles on major public and private
companies involved in these markets. Search fee per hour: $60.
Per page:
$8.90. TITLES per Report plus all per-page charges: $1.00.
- ICC British Company Directory. Contains a record for each company
(ca. 2
million) registered in the United Kingdom as well as companies which have
been dissolved since 1968. Includes company name, address, issued and
nominal share capital, dates of incorporation, latest filed annual
accounts
and annual returns, changes of directors, special resolutions, mergers of
public companies, and notification of mortgages. Search fee per
hour: $30.
To type or print: $1.20. Report cost per element: $.10.
- ICC British Company Annual Reports. This database contains the annual
reports produced by all U.K. quoted companies and provides detailed
financial information on over 1,800 U.K companies. Search fee per hour:
$60. Price per page: $4.10. TITLES per report plus all per-page
charges:
$1.00.
- ICC British Company Financial Datasheets. Provides information on 205,
000 British companies, including company name, registered number, trading
address, description of business, directors' names, corporate
linkage, key
business, ratios, growth rates, industry ratios, credit rating, credit
commentary. Search fee per hour: $30. To type or print: 33.10. Report
cost per element: $.50.
- Hoppenstedt Directory of German Companies. This database covers 50,000
German companies-address, line of business, number of employees, sales,
capital stock, branches and subsidiaries, names of executives. In
German or
English. Fee per hour: $90. Type or print: $3.90. Report cost per
element: $.20.
- Informat International Business. Provides English language abstracts,
organized by industry, from business news articles in over 600
international business newspapers and journals from more than 20
countries.
Search fee per hour: $90. To type or print: $1.30. Alerts (20 prints
weekly): $5.
V. Countries
It is important to note that many web sites in Western
Europe have
only recently been developed. Although a site address may exist, it is
sometimes difficult to access that site. When one is able to connect, it
can be quite disappointing to find that only a "shell" exists. However,
information is being added and updated rapidly to fill in the holes and
make the site more useful. While it is frustrating to access a web site
only to find a list of upcoming information, remember that the same site
could very soon contain valuable information. Remember also that
sites are
being discontinued as quickly as they are being developed.
General Information
- European Home Page
- URL=http://s700.uminho.pt/ec.html
This web site offers information regarding specific country
statistics and
questions about specific countries and cities. A map of a particular
country will appear and you can then click on a city of interest to
narrow
your focus. This web site is mainly a shell at present, though
efforts are
underway to fill in the appropriate data.
- European Union Basics (FAQ)
- URL=http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
Great source for information on the European Union. There are
descriptions
of the member countries and the Nordic countries' referendum
campaigns for
membership in the EU. In English.
- EINet Galaxy
- URL=http://galaxy.einet.net/community/World Communities/Europe
Statistics and details regarding geography, people, government, economy,
communications, and defense forces of various European countries.
You can
access information through a variety of menus which will connect you to
other gophers and web sites.
- The WWW Virtual Library
- URL=http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/DataSources/
Click on "Subject." The Virtual Library is a distributed subject catalog
that contains information including very general and very specific
information. Subjects of possible interest to Western Europe are
culture,
geography, The German Subject Catalog, politics, and economics.
Austria
- Index of Austria
- URL=http://www.ifs.univie.ac.at/austria/austria.info.html
Click on "austria_info.html." Both general and specific
information about
Austria. Additionally, a link to the Virtual Tourist.
Denmark
- Denmark (Danmark)
- URL=http://info.denet.dk/denmark.html
Various information about Denmark. Denmark is a rapidly growing area on
the Internet and new sources and sites appear frequently. This source
lists country information as well as new web servers and sites.
- DKnet WWW Server
- URL=http://www.dknet.dk
Results from the 1994 Danish parliamentary elections, by county. In
English or Danish.
- DENet Gopher
- URL=gopher://gopher.denet.dk
Daily news from Denmark in Danish. Additionally, contains weather,
information servers, and links to other gophers and Veronica.
England
- United Kingdom Newsgroup Hierarchy (uk=United Kingdom)
- URL=news://uk .*
News from Britain. See the uk.media news group in particular.
Finland
- Facts About Finland
- URL=http://www.funet.fi/Finland Info.html
This site is composed of a fact sheet including both general and specific
information about Finland. Subject areas include industry, history,
education, government, and a detailed map of the country. This site is
also developing rapidly so check for improvements. In Danish.
France
- Tour de France
- URL=http://town.hall.org/travel/france/france.html
French culture. Travel information for France and surrounding cities and
regions. Mostly tourist information and detailed lists of the climate,
city attractions, accommodations, etc.
- WWW Home Page for France
- URL=http://www.urec.fr/france/france.html
Home page for France. Clickable maps. Lists other web sites and servers
for the French region. Also lists, in French, various menus for
obtaining
other information regarding France. This site is in its developing
stages
and has made recent improvements. Keep checking for new information.
- Yaleinfo
- URL=gopher://yaleinfo.yale.edu/Internet-Misc
News from France in French; arrives almost daily.
- Dialog
- URL=telnet://dialog.com
The Delphes European Business database available through Dialog is
a French
database that provides information on international markets, products,
industries, and companies from a European perspective. Titles of
abstracts
are in their original language (French, German, English, Italian, or
Spanish). The abstracts themselves are in French. One thousand new
sources are reviewed yearly.
* Delphes costs $30 per hour, $1.30 for viewing or printing a full
record,
and alerts (includes 20 prints) weekly for $5 or monthly for $10.
- French Newsgroup Hierarchy (fr=french)
- URL=news://fr .*
The fr hierarchy contains various subgroups with menus which recall
bulletin board messages posted in French.
Germany
- EUnet Germany Information Services
- URL=http://www.EU.net/cgi-bin/imagemap/eunetflags?413,89
This is a web site that offers good information about interests in
Germany
or in the German language: science, new Internet technology, classic
literature, Internet shopping, and technical computer information.
Includes the text of the German Constitution, maps of all the
states, and a
list and brief description of international organizations with German
membership.
- FUB CHEMnet WWW Entry Point
- URL=http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de
WWW site with material from the CIA World Factbook. Incredible
Government
Section, including information on the legal system, voting patterns,
political parties, and leaders of Germany. Also offers an efficient
section on the economy. A must see.
- Uni Oldenburg-Rechenzentrum Homepage
- URL=http://www.hrz.uni-oldenburg.de
This site provides information on the German Green Party. It gives an
history of the party and results of the 1994 German elections to the
Bundestag and the states. In German.
- Dialog
- URL=telnet://dialog.com
The Hoppenstedt Directory of German Companies covers 50,000 German
companies with sales exceeding 2 million DM or with a minimum of 20
employees. Records include current company addresses, line of business,
number of employees, sales, company stock, branches and
subsidiaries, and a
listing of executives and directors with positions within the
company. The
records are available in either English or German.
- German Newsgroup Hierarchy (de=Deutsch)
- URL=news://de .*
The de hierarchy contains subgroups with further menus which will assist
you in obtaining information, posted in German, on bulletin boards. For
example, de.soc.politik is a newsgroup with various information on German
politics.
Ireland
- Ireland WWW Home Page
- URL=http://www.bess.tcd.ie
Virtual tourist guide including information about the cities and
regions of
Ireland. Current events, accommodation guide, etc. Also includes other
web sites in Europe.
- ESO (European Southern Observitory) Homepage
- URL=http://http.hq.eso.org
A general directory for on-line services in Ireland.
- IRL-POL Mailing list
- URL=listserv://irl-pol@irlearn.bitnet
subscribe: listserv@irlearn.bitnet
body: SUBSCRIBE IRL-POL FirstName LastName
unsubscribe: listserv@irlearn.bitnet
body: UNSUBSCRIBE IRL-POL
This is a major mailing list regarding current issues in Irish politics.
It is very current, informative, and entirely politically oriented. It
focuses on major events as well as speeches and controversies.
Italy
- Italy Home Page
- URL=http://www.mi.cnr.it/NIR-IT/Italy.html
Geography, people, government, economy, communication, and defense
information about Italy. This is an excellent source which spans a great
deal of basic data.
- The Italian General Subject Tree
- URL=http://www.mi.cnr.it/IGST
A brand-new site which covers architechure, science, economy, medicine,
environment, sports, tourist information, among other miscellaneous
topics.
Norway
- Norway WWW Home Page
- URL=http://www.nr.no/S1/byraa.html
Government reports on investigations covering varying topics. Contains
facts about Norwegian press services-for example, newspaper names and
editors. Also offered on this site is a list of parliamentary
administrations. In Norwegian only.
Portugal
- Portuguese Newsgroup Hierarcy (pt=Portuguese)
- URL=news://pt .*
The pt heirarchy contains various subgroups which are menus to general
information and news posted on Portuguese bulletin boards. In Portuguese
only.
Scotland
- Akebono
- URL=http://akebono.scotland.edu
This site does exist, yet it is sometimes difficult to connect. It
includes various regional information about Scotland.
- Scotland WWW Home Page
- URL=http://www.intnet.net/pub/COUNTRIES
Scotland is just becoming acquainted with the Internet, and this source,
like the previous one, is sometimes hard to locate. It does
include great
information about various other European countries. A must see, but
remember to be patient.
Spain
- EUnet Spain Home Page
- URL=http://www.eunet.es
Home page for Spain. This site serves as a commercial Spanish Internet
provider. A directory is listed, in both English and Spanish, and
contains
various web sites in Spain, and other countries. Like many Western
European web sites, this site is in the developing stages.
Switzerland
- ETH Zeurich Home Page
- URL=http://heiwww.unige.ch/switzerland/info.html
Facts regarding almost anything involving Switzerland. Contains detailed
information about the economy and geography, and is a great source for
verifying data.
Sweden
- Tele2-Swipnet
- URL=http://www.swip.net
This is an excellent source for the journalist covering Swedish politics.
It provides extensive information on the political and electoral
system in
Sweden and on the political parties and their platforms.
Here you can also find the 1991 and 1994 Swedish election results in
parliament, municipal and county council elections. The information is
very detailed.
This site also gives the results, by county, of the November 1994 Swedish
referendum on membership in the European Union. You can find the EU
information from proponents and opponents of the EU as well as the
different political parties opinions about Sweden joining the EU.
Neutral
facts are also available. Information is available both in English
and in
Swedish.
- Regeringsfarklaring
- URL=http://www.sb.gov.se/regering/regeringsfrkl.html
This site contains a listing of Cabinet members in Sweden, their
departments, and even some speeches. In Swedish.
- Swedish Commercial Organizations
- URL=http://www.sunet.se/sweden/soretag_e.html
Information about Swedish commercial organizations-mostly on high-tech
companies which post their own data.
Wales
- The COMMA Information Server
- URL=http://www.cm.cf.ac.uk
Click on "guide," then "Wales." This Web site contains limited
information
on Welsh cities, guided tours, maps of cities, etc.
VI. Culture
- The WWW Virtual Library
- URL=http://hirsch.cosy.sbg.ac.at/www Virtual Library culture.html
Information regarding festivals, exhibitions, exhibits and miscellaneous
cultural information from around the world, from Oktoberfest in
Germany to
various art exhibitions in France. This list is updated regularly
and also
serves as a link to other relating web sites including art, literature,
education, etc. A definite starting point for cultural information and
research. The information is organized by subject.
- Beautiful Cultural European Home Pages
- URL=http://5700.uminho.pt.cult-europ.html
This Web site contains information about such topics as schools and
education, adresses of bars, city histories, and other servers.
The places
it covers are: Slovenija, Paris, Yugoslavia, the UK, Coimbra, Portugal,
and Italy. Some of the city/country choices offer English, some do not.
- The Virtual Tourist Guide
- URL=http://wings.buffalo.edu/www-eur.html
Guides of countries, tourist information, etc. Click on "World" to
obtain
various information regarding web sites in Europe, as well as other sites
in the world.
-
- URL=http://xan.esrin.esa.it:2602
Electronic journals, documents, books, equipment, Software, contact
addresses and comments, regarding cultural information in Europe.
On-line
magazines, newsgroups, and addresses are available for further
information
on European television, radio, etc. This is a newly developed web
site, so
be patient and keep checking for new information.
- The University of Michigan Library Gopher
- URL=gopher://gopher.lib.umich.edu
Click on "what's new", then "Clearinghouse." Incredible detailed and
extensive information on Western European history and culture, all
searchable by keyword. Additional e-mail addresses and telephone numbers
are included for more detailed information, changes, and further
contacts.
This is a very reliable gopher covering many topics.
-
- URL=news://soc.culture .*
This contains discussion groups relevant to specific cultures/countries.
It is based on conversations and is a good way to interact with
others with
the same questions and interests. In addition, you can find out about
certain cultural events and upcoming attractions such as plays, concerts,
lectures, etc.
VII. Current Events and News
- EUnet
- URL=http://www.eunet.ch
This site contains information about politics in the European Union.
- Clari Netnews Europe Hierarcy
- URL=news://clari.world.europe. *
This is a compilation of news briefs relevant to specific
countries/regions. The articles are listed in alphabetical order, and
quite often overlap. You can obtain almost any information regarding a
current topic in the news.
VIII. Education
While it has been difficult to find specific web sites, newsgroups, and
mailing lists that focus specifically on education in Western
Europe, many
gophers exist that link us to Universities there. Universities, as we
know, are the most common hosts to gopher sites. Yet while we were
able to
reach such gophers at educational establishments, it has been
difficult to
find gophers that link us to general information about education. More
than three dozen European Universities are accessible through
gopher sites,
yet most of the information listed is in reference to course schedules,
student e-mail addresses, campus building hours, etc.
IX. European Information SuperHighway
-
- URL=http://info.learned.co.uk:70/7c/cache?europe
Fill in a search term and the computer will search for relevant
information. "Europe" brings up information regarding on-line
services in
Europe including web sites, servers, gophers, etc. A general
linking point
to other European on-line services.
X. European Union
- European Union Basics (FAQ)
- URL=http://www.vub.ac.be/CSNMIT/eubasics.html
Great source for information on the European Union. There are also
descriptions of the member countries and the Nordic countries' referendum
campaigns for membership in the EU. In English.
- EINet Galaxy
- URL=http://galaxy.einet.net/community/WorldCommunities/Europe
Statistics and details regarding geography, people, government, economy,
communications, and defense forces of various European countries. Access
information through a variety of menus which will connect you to other
gophers and web sites.
- EUnet
- URL=http://www.eunet.ch
This Web site includes information about politics in the European Union.
- Wiretap
- URL=gopher://wiretap.spies/gov
Has full text of Maastricht Treaty.
-
- URL=gopher://gopher.niord.shsu.edu
From this gopher you can reach the Office for Official Publications
of the
European Union. It provides information as to which publications are
available (there are over 10,000). You can search by keyword, but
in order
to see the full text, you have to order it by e-mail or telephone.
At the
time of publication, this server was off-line.
XI. Politics
- EU Referendum
- URL=http://www.swip.net
This is an excellent source for a journalist covering Swedish
politics. It
provides extensive information on the political and electoral system in
Sweden and on the political parties and their platforms.
Here you can also find the 1991 and 1994 Swedish election results in
parliament, municipal and county council elections. The information is
very detailed.
This site also gives the results, by county, of the November 1994 Swedish
referendum on membership in the European Union. You can find the EU
information from proponents and opponents of the EU as well as the
different political parties opinions about Sweden joining the EU.
Neutral
facts are also available. Information is available both in English
and in
Swedish.
- DKnet WWW Server
- URL=http://www.dknet.dk
Results from the 1994 Danish parliamentary elections, by county. In
English or Danish.
- Uni Oldenburg-Rechenzentrum Home Page
- URL=http://www.hrz.uni-oldenburg.de
This site provides information on the German Green Party. It gives a
history of the party and the results of the 1994 German elections to the
Bundestag and the states. In German.
- FUB CHEMnet WWW Entry Point
- URL=http://www.chemie.fu-berlin.de
Has the text of the German constitution, maps of all the German
states, and
a list and brief description of international organizations with German
membership.
- ECHO
- URL=telnet://echo.lu
The EUROLIB-PER database within ECHO is a catalogue of periodicals
available from the libraries belonging to the EUROLIB group. Some of the
sources for the database are the Council of Europe, Commission of the
European Communities, and the European Parliament.
The EURHISTAR database contains listings of European Community
archives and
private files donated by politicians and/or officials. It also contains
documentation from European movements and organizations.
-
- URL=news://alt.politics.greens
Information about what the Greens are doing as political parties in
Europe.
- IRL-POL Mailiing list on current Irish politics
- URL=listserv:/irl-pol@irlearn.bitnet
subscribe: listserv@irlearn.bitnet
body: SUBSCRIBE IRL-POL first-name last-name
unsubscribe: listserv@irlearn.bitnet
body: UNSUBSCRIBE IRL-POL first-name last-name
This a voluminous mailing list regarding current issues in Irish
politics.
It is very current, informative, and entirely politically oriented. It
focuses on major events as well as speeches and controversies. It
is also
very pro-IRA.
Copyright 1994, 1995 Christopher Simpson.
All rights reserved. Single copies permitted for non-profit,
educational purposes only; any other reproduction must have
permission in advance. Contact simpson@american.edu for information
concerning permissions or to report copyright violations.
This notice must accompany any reproduction of this text.
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