December 30-January 5
I've had the opportunity to view numerous veterinary practice web pages
over the years and feel that I have to give the creativity award to Dr. David Tayman's Columbia Animal Hospital. Located in Columbia, Maryland, it's "Pet's Health" theme is highly original, informative, and entertaining,
everything a good website should be.
December 23-29
This time of year, cold weather is on many people's minds. When I think of
cold, I think of bears, who get to take it easy and hibernate throughout the winter. To
learn just about everything you would ever want to know about hibernation and bears, visit
the Bear Den. This
multi-award winning site features detailed information on 8 different kinds of bears, a kids
area called the Cub Den, a Photo Gallery, and much more. Webmaster Don Middleton provides
a wealth of online knowledge about the Ursidae family, which you can experience while
hopefully keeping yourself warm.
December 16-22
Veterinarian and Webmaster, Dr. Adrian Smith and his wife,
Karina, live in Oslo, Norway, and have compiled the
NORINA Database over a
period of many years. NORINA (A Norwegian Inventory of Audiovisuals) consists
of information on over 3000 computer programs, laser discs, films, slide series,
3-D models and classroom charts, that can be used as alternatives or
supplements to the use of animals in teaching, at all levels
from K-12 to university. This database is easily searched and should
prove useful to students and teachers alike.
December 9-15
Webmaster Mike Wyche's website,
Cat Tales has been a work in progress for quite some time. Cat Tales is
located in Spokane, Washington, and is a nonprofit zoological park dedicated to
the preservation of endangered felines. They also operate a training center, and
the website offers a plethora of pictures, links, and FAQ's about large feline
species. Cat Tale's mission includes education, rescue, and research. You can
also "adopt" one of the animals in order to support its annual care. Good job!
December 2-8
Okay...like millions of others, I watched "Jurassic Park" on television
again. While that was a great movie, you might want to check out the
real thing at the
Dinosauria On-Line website. Webmaster Jeff Poling has assembled a great dinosaur
science resource, appropriate for experts and amateurs, with numerous paleontological
references and images.
November 25-December 1
In America, it's that time of year again and surfing the turkey sites
is made all that much easier by going to
Kaplan's Turkey on the Web. A previous "Cool Site of the Day", I think you'll
find just about all the tidbits about Thanksgiving and Turkey you'd ever want to know.
Have a good holiday!
November 18-25
Mississippi State University Bulldogs
When an event that has only happened twice in my lifetime occurs, I simply cannot let it go unheralded. The Mississippi State University Football Bulldogs stood toe-to-toe on National Television with the Univeristy of Alabama Crimson Tide this past weekend and came out on the winning end, 17-16. I understand the goalposts are still missing :-)
(Okay, so I bleed Maroon....did I mention that the MSU Basketball team went to the Final Four this year? :-) Just in case everyone isn't sharing in my alumnus enthusiasm, here are bonus "pick of the litter" links to the Mississippi State College of Veterinary Medicine, the Bulldog's Home Page, and the Elephant Manager's Association.
November 11-17
This is definitely one of the most informative and attractive veterinary sites
to grace the World Wide Web. The Care for Pets
site is a project created by the American Veterinary Medical
Association. Over 180 pages deep, this site covers the spectrum of veterinary medicine
and animal health, with pet health news, pet loss information, what you need to know
when buying a pet, animal safety, pet stories, how to select a veterinarian, veterinary
career information, and a "Kid's Korner". The pages are very well laid out and a pleasure
to surf. I'm sure you will enjoy this one.
November 4-10
This week marks the 47th Annual Meeting of
AALAS, the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, being held in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. AALAS is dedicated to advancing and disseminating knowledge about the responsible
care and use of laboratory animals for the benefit of human and animal health. AALAS's
Alpha server is the latest in a long history of electronic communications for this organization and serves as a source of information exchange
about the field. Available there are numerous reference and contact sources and for members, there is the new AALAS Careerline, listing job
opportunities, course outlines for laboratory animal technicians, newsletters, and
articles from the journals Laboratory Animal Science and Contemporary Topics.
October 28-November 3
Interactive Frog Dissection Tutorial
Having just returned from a recent
meeting on Animal Alternatives in the Netherlands, I thought this might be a good week
to highlight one of the classic web sites known as the
Interactive Frog Dissection Tutorial, located at University of Virginia. Designed for use in
high school biology programs, this program can function as a supplement or an alternative
to the use of real frogs in teaching dissection and anatomy. When I was that age, I preferred
working with the real thing. However, some people learn in different ways, so check it out
for yourself. I'm sure the frogs would appreciate it. :-)
October 21-27
All the Virology Servers on the WWW
All the Virology Servers on the WWW is pretty well summed up by its title. This
invaluable resource, put together by webmaster David Sander of the Garry Lab at Tulane
University, serves both the scientific community and the general public, providing information
and insights to agents that are important to both human and animal health and disease. Here
you will find microscopic and macromolecular images, notes, diagrams, even videos of many viral
organisms + a comprehensive set of links to all relevant and related websites on this
topic, including labs, techniques, taxonomic and genomic data, and more. I would be
surprised if you did not find useful information at this site. Well worth your next click.
October 14-20
On the Internet, the world becomes a smaller place. The same is true in real
life, with increasing contact between cultures and people. Much attention has
been focused in the media on the Ebola virus, an infectious agent transmissible between
monkeys and humans. However, as you'll see on the
Outbreak web page, this is only one of many emerging diseases that we should be
concerned about. Maintained by a
dedicated group of volunteers, Outbreak is truly one of the more ambitious and important
sites you will find on the Web.
October 7-13
Chin Net, covers the World Wide Web
of pet chinchillas in great detail, offering pointers on everything from pet chin sites on the
Net to book lists, directories for organizations, cage designs, genetics, FAQ's, and lots of
pictures. The real enthusiast will want to join the
ChinMail Mailing List or follow along on the Usenet newsgroup,
alt.chinchilla.
September 30-October 6
I guess webmaster Mary Jo Sminkey is just going to have to add one
more entry to her growing list of accolades :-)
Her website, The Dogpatch, is a brilliantly
designed and informative set of pages encompassing numerous canine topics, including the
Doghouse, the Sheltie page, the
Dog Obedience and Training Page, the
Dog Agility page, the
Frisbee Dog page, and much, much,
more. I'm sure you will surf this site for hours.
September 23-29
The 30th
anniversary of the Animal Welfare Act was recently
recognized. The AWA is administered by the Animal Care
branch of the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
A great deal of information may be found at this site, including a variety of reports,
lists, fact sheets, press releases, regulations, pending legislation, a Missing and Found
Animals Page, and the Horse Protection Home Page.
Webmaster Jerry DePoyster has done an excellent job of assembling these materials for
easy and efficient retrieval.
September 16-22
Zoological Society of San Diego
The Zoological Society of
San Diego website serves as the electronic home for the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species. Known the world over, more than 4.5 million people visit these resources each year. Until you can plan your trip, check out the website and see hippos, gorillas, chimpanzees, pandas, polar bears, and other species in natural habitat settings.
September 9-15
SCIVAC is the
Societŕ Culturale Italiana Veterinari per Animali da Compagnia, a
non-profit association of companion animal practice veterinarians. SCIVAC originated
in Milan, Italy and has 5,500 members. The SCIVAC website is very
well designed and easy to navigate, with sections on continuing education, specialties,
upcoming congresses and seminars, and more. They also sponsor a veterinary professional
mailing list called Vetlink.
September 2-8
A site sure to catch the eye of guinea pig fanciers and pet owners is
The Guinea Pig Hutch. Webmaster
Todd Medley has assembled a superbly designed collection of information, health
and care tips, bedding information, related links, and guinea pig photographs. Anyone
interested in cavies would do well to check out this site.
August 26-September 1
One of the more well designed and informative sites to come around on the web
may be found at WWW.Woofs. This is a non-profit
corporation devoted to the care of (as you might guess) our canine companions. Among the numerous things
to see are sections on Adoption, Health Care, Nutrition, Training, News, Images, a
Celebrity Dog Owners Column, and a Chat Line. I found it to be an entertaining site and I'm sure you will, too.
August 19-25
And I thought I had some links :-) .... Check out the (many)
pages of BIOSIS. This non-profit
organization supports the growth, communication, and use of biological
knowledge for the common good. They have accumulated the world's largest
collection of abstracts and bibliographic references to biological and
medical literature. Two essential online indexes they've produced include the
Resources for Biologists
page and Taxonomy
and Nomenclature page. There's a lot more....so get your mouse finger warmed up.
August 12-18
Heather Mazzaccaro has created a tribute website to popular
veterinarian/author
James Herriot, who wrote the classic
All Creatures Great and Small and many other wonderful stories, certainly a huge
inspiration for many young veterinarians.
August 5-11
Australian Environment On-Line
As the Olympic torch passes from Atlanta to our friends in Sydney,
many may want to virtually explore the land down under at the
Australian Environment On-Line web
site managed by ERIN, the
Environmental Resources Information Network, located in the
Federal Department of the
Environment, Sport and Territories. Read about
Endangered Species,
the Diversity of Australian
Fauna, and much, much more. G'day, mates!
July 29-August 4
Always a great web resource, the newly redesigned home for the
Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is better than ever.
The Aquatic Resources section is attractively designed with easy to follow tables
and graphics. The Marine Biological Laboratory is a non-profit institution devoted to
research and education in basic biology. Scientists and students throughout the
world come to the MBL to conduct research, teach, and study. Other resources at this
site include the MBL courses and programs, as well as information on fellowships and
scholarships.
July 22-28
AVMA - American Veterinary Medical Association
This week marks the 133rd Annual Meeting of the
American Veterinary Medical Association in Louisville, Kentucky. The AVMA
has approximately 56,000 members engaged in a variety of professional activities.
The membership represents over 80 percent of the active veterinarians in the United
States. The objective of the Association is to advance the science and art of
veterinary medicine, including its relationship to public health, biological
science, and agriculture. The Association provides a forum for the discussion of
issues of importance to the veterinary profession, and for the development of
official positions. The Association is the authorized voice for the profession in
presenting its views to government, academia, agriculture, pet owners, the media, and
other concerned publics. (Big Hint...keep your eye on this site as it develops on
the Web.)
July 15-21
CLIVE - Computer Aided Learning in Veterinary Education
The
Computer Aided Learning in Veterinary Education home page, CLIVE for
short, provides training materials from the 6 UK veterinary schools. Many excellent
examples of these collaborative efforts may be found, including software
modules on anesthesia, pathology, ophthalmology, cytology, diagnostic imaging and more.
These pioneers bring us one step closer to a virtual veterinary university.
July 8-14
Longtime net wizard and librarian, Wilfred ("Call me Bill") Drew, is
the author of the popular, award-winning
Not Just Cows document and website. Recently renovated, bigger and better than
ever, here you will find just about every library, gopher, BBS, website, database,
electronic journal, or discussion group dealing with the subject of Agriculture.
Clearly an inspiration for this site and one you should check out right away!
July 1-7
One of my favorite spots on the Net resides at the University
of California-Riverside and is called
InfoMine. Just as it claims, InfoMine is a comprehensive biological,
agricultural, and medical Internet resource collection. You can search by
subject, keyword, or title and all references are annotated. A great alternative
to the larger search engines if these topics are what you are looking for.
Highly recommended!
June 24-30
Infinite Wildlife Resources Network
Well, it's that time of year....everyone usually takes a break
during the summer....another way of saying "I've gone fishing". If
sport fishing is your way to relax, you might want to check out
Infinite Wildlife Resources Network web
page.....state by state listings of all the good spots. Here's hoping
you find the big one that didn't get away. :-)
June 17-23
AAHA HealthyPet - the American Animal Hospital Association
New to the World Wide Web, but outstanding nonetheless, is the
HealthyPet site created by the
American Animal Hospital
Association. AAHA is an international association of more than 12,000
veterinarians who treat companion animals and is well known for its
standards for hospitals and pet health care. Their website has a
Veterinary Hospital
Locator, newsletter, pet care tips and library, and even a kid's coloring
page. I think you'll like this one as much as I do.
June 10-16
National Wildlife Health Center
One outstanding and helpful site at the U.S. Department of Interior's
National Biological Service is the
National Wildlife Health Center. There you will find information on wildlife diseases
and mortality reports, diagnostics, and helpful links to publications, meetings, and
training opportunities. Also, learn more about
WHIP, the
Wildlife Health Information Partnership, and the
WildlifeHealth Group Mailing List.
June 3-9
My 8 year-old niece, Madeline, and 10 year-old nephew, Mark, visited me
this weekend, and their vote for this week's pick of the litter is the
SeaWorld/Busch Gardens Animal Information Database. Come to think of it, they get my vote,
too. This site is rich in information, both quick and detailed, on a wide variety of
animal species. The site is useful for teachers and kids will get a kick out of the many images
and, of course, Shamu! Well worth your visit, online, or better yet, in real life.
May 28-June 2
Memorial Day is a good time to remember all the loved ones we may
have lost, including our pets. Dozens of people have left heartfelt eulogies
to their furry friends at LavaMind's
multiple award-winning Virtual Pet Cemetery.
May 21-May 27
If French is your native tongue, then you'll really enjoy
visiting the Vétonet web site.
Webmaster Dr. Fabrice Jaffre' has created what I would best describe as
the French equivalent of NetVet, with organizations, veterinary schools,
laboratories, mailing lists, French animal sites, and much more. Even if you don't
read French, the site is well organized and easy to navigate. Well worth your visit.
Bienvenue !
May 14-May 20
Dachshunds on the Worldwide Web and Golden Dox
Okay....I'll admit it.... I .... (ahem...really my wife) has two dachshunds,
Hompo and Mojo, thus the genesis of
the "Pick of the Litter" Wiener Dog Logo. They bark a lot, but otherwise, they're
really good dogs and I could recommend them for almost any family. Two of the
dachshund sites you'll encounter on the Net include the comprehensive
Dachshunds on the Worldwide Web &
Golden Dox, home page for the Dachshund Mailing List. These two will lead you to all the other worthy dachshund sites on
the Wiener Wide Web.
(I suppose my cats will want equal billing now. :-)
May 6-May 13
FutureScan's I Want to be a Veterinarian
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to be involved in the
veterinary profession? Check out the I Want to be a Veterinarian
site from FutureScan. One of a series of
career descriptions, this site provides information about the profession and what
veterinary practitioners do every day. You can read about the personal experiences of
veterinarians and there's also a page to submit
questions.
April 29-May 5
Seeing one of these little guys this weekend reminded me of webmaster and
the worlds' #1 raccoon fan, Seth Morabito's
World Wide Raccoon Web. Here you'll
find stories, bibliographies, images, book reviews, even an interactive chat bulletin board,
all dedicated to Procyon lotor. This crafty creature gets the full web treatment
and no doubt, if there's any raccoon information you wanted, you'll find it here.
April 22-28
These days, there are *lot* of pet sites on the World Wide Web.
One which warrants distinction above and beyond the normal accolades, is
AcmePet. You're likely to find just the
information you're looking for, from puppies to pot-bellied pigs, and everything
in between. Make sure you have the latest version of NetScape or Internet Explorer
to take advantage of their Java and Multimedia pages. The Chat Areas are very popular and
they have a Cool Pet Site of the Day, too. Very much worth your next click.
April 15-21
The HerpMed
website serves up much of what there is to know about the medical aspects of
herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians). Webmaster Steve Grenard's
pages describe how substances from herps may be used for medical purposes, why
some herps dangerous to humans, and why some humans are dangerous to herps. Snakebite
information, conservation resources, and many animal-related links await your next
click.
April 8-14
Don't judge a website just by the name. Just follow the
link to webmaster Mark Varner's Home Page, and
you will find one of the more complete set of
Dairy Cow links on the WWW. Mark also manages one of the largest, if not the largest,
animal-related Internet mailing lists Dairy-L. Of
course one of the hottest topics around today is Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy or "Mad Cow Disease". Again,
Mark's links are comprehensive. Another Varner special is the
National Dairy Database....and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Settle in for a nice long
visit.
April 1-7
Washington University Mad Scientist Network
A great resource right here in my own backyard is Washington University's
Mad Scientist Network,
where you can ask questions on just about any area of science (animal and non-animal), and
get an answer from an expert in that field. The Mad Scientist Network is part of S-SEN,
the St. Louis Science Education Network. It is also a branch of the Young Scientist Program and is
completely staffed and run by graduate and medical students at Washington University and
Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, Missouri.
March 26-31
Mississippi State University Bulldogs
Time out for a little March Madness and to show some obvious bias
for my alma mater, Mississippi State University,
whose Basketball BULLDOGS reached their
first ever FINAL 4 Basketball Tournament.
While you're there, be sure to visit the Home Page for the MSU College of
Veterinary Medicine. Congratulations to all the coaches and players on a fine basketball season!
March 18-25
Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing
Many people have probably never heard of the 3 R's. A visit to
the
Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing will enlighten you
about that and more. CAAT's programs include laboratory research,
education, information, and validation of animal alternative methodologies
in product development and safety testing. They publish a couple of interesting newsletters and provide links to other useful resources.
March 11-17
Those who are interested in pet rats and mice
should check out the website of the
Rat and Mouse Club of America. Webmaster Brian Lee has done
a fine job of assembling a variety of information on the Club and
its services and activities. There's a newsletter, Show
information, loads of rat and mouse
web links, and much more.
March 4-10
If you want to visit a site that is useful for
both veterinarians and pathologists, then check out
PathIT Pathology Online. Webmaster (and veterinarian)
Dr. Anil Dhiri pushes the bleeding edge of Web technology, with
features such as server push, javascript, and Netscape frames, all in a
content-rich site, filled with pathology news, links, directories, and
more.
February 26-March 3
One of the treasures of the Internet is the
Primate Gallery Archive, in Seattle, Washington. Webmaster
Tim Knight is responsible for putting together images and
sounds of many, if not all, of a wide variety of primate
species. You will also find references on taxonomy, identification,
and natural history, as well as a healthy supply of other
primate links. Be prepared to be entertained for hours.
February 19-February 25
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
The webmasters at APHIS,
the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United
States Department of Agriculture, have been working overtime
lately. You can easily spend an entire afternoon (I did
:-) perusing the many
veterinary and animal components that make up this
organization. To take in a bit at a time, go on one of
several guided
tours that show how APHIS protects American agriculture.
February 12-February 18
Department of Poultry Science (Texas A&M University)
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? If your
web questions concern poultry, search no further, as one of the
key information resources may be found at the Department of Poultry
Science at Texas A&M University. Webmaster Greg Martin
and others have written several Departmental pages, as well as the
WWW
Virtual Library for Poultry Science.
February 5-February 11
ProMED - Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases
This week's pick is not so much about how great a
website looks as it functions. One of the most important and
fastest growing mailing lists on the Internet is
ProMED, which
stands for the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases.
Sponsored by the Federation of American Scientists, ProMED
represents a global system for early detection and timely response to
disease outbreaks, both human and animal. At their website, you'll find
archives of the ProMED list, in addition to lists that cover
Emerging Disease Reports (ProMED-EDR), and Animal and Zoonotic
Diseases (ProMED-AHEAD). Dr. Stephen Morse of the Rockefeller
University chairs the ProMED Steering Committee.
January 29-February 4
PotBellied Pig Information & Resource Center
What started as a simple list just a short time
ago, has developed rapidly into a fine web page. The
PotBellied Pig Information & Resource Center tells you
everything you want to know about these friendly pets,
including their origin, health, and the latest "fads". Also useful are the
other potbelly pointers and archives of the potbellied pig
listserver. Webmaster Scott Graham and his pet pig Dweezil
will be glad you stopped by. (recently appears to be MIA...maybe it will
resurface one day.)
January 22-28
Before anyone ever heard of the Web, libraries and
librarians were key resources for information storage and
retrieval. Guess what? They still are. Hard-working library staff at
each veterinary college are among the best resources to consult
when searching for veterinary medical information. Webmaster
Ken Ladd at the University of Saskatchewan has done a fine job
in collecting all the names, addresses, and pointers in
his page dedicated to
Veterinary Medicine Libraries.
January 15-21
No doubt about it....if you are looking for
information on cats, the
Cat Fanciers' Home Page is the place to go. Webmasters
Marie Lamb and Orca Starbuck have compiled a large quantity of
information on cat breeds, diseases, organizations, breeders, shows, and
other related items. My own cat, Elvis, gives his highest
recommendation. :-)
January 8-14
The National Cattlemen's Association logs in
with a fine web effort called
Beef Homepage. Practically every aspect of beef cows are
covered here, including market reports, surveys, reports,
mailing lists, cow pictures and clip art, and a generous set
of links to other cow sites, all done in an attractive format.
I suggest you moooove it on over there. :-)
January 1-7
What can I say? I've got a natural affinity for
zoos. :-) The best place to start when you're looking for
zoo information around the world is the
ZooNet Webserver. Many links as expected and a treasure
trove of pictures of everything you might (or might not) want
to see in the wild.
Copyright ©1994-98,
Ken Boschert, DVM
All Rights Reserved
