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UK Has New Search Engine

M2 Communications (UpMyStreet.com) has launched Find My Nearest, a postcode driven database that enables users to access a comprehensive list of localized services, information and amenities. The database presents information and lists the search results in the order of the nearest proximity to the specified postcode. UpMyStreet.com also allows users to find information about local areas like property prices, local schools and services, and local authority performance statistics.

Here's how it works. Surf over to http://www.upmystreet.com/, and enter a UK town or postal code (they only have information currently for England and Wales.)  I'll choose Leatherhead. The first graph you get is a comparison of your region's real estate prices with the national average. Interesting stuff, but not what I'm here for. Further down the page is the Find My Nearest ... menu, which gives me a variety of shop categories. I choose pubs and bars. I get a list of shops with address and phone number, with how far away the shop is from Leatherhead -- I guess center Leatherhead?  Some of these distances were as short as 600 yards.

Moving back to the page, you'll find a variety of demographic information here, including crime, education, and local politics. The presentation is a little confusing -- all the information seems kind of hodgepodged together without a sense of priority. Why have real estate values on top, shopping in the middle, and politics on the bottom? But if you want to get the sense of a place and an idea of the demographics, the information presented here is clean and easy to read. Worth a look.

Clinical Texts and Journals Now Available Online

Ovid Technologies, in conjunction with Harcourt, Inc., will make available online several key clinical textbooks and journals published by W.B. Saunders, Mosby, and Churchill Livingstone. The books and journals will be added to the Books@Ovid and Journals@Ovid full text databases this summer. Items to be added include:

New Construction Industry Directory                                                     
TenLinks.com has launched what it calls the Ultimate Construction Directory. it contains over 3,500 links to companies that manufacture specified products for the construction industry.You can access the directory at http://www.tenlinks.com/Construction/index.htm. It's set up as subject based directory with news headlines on the right, and ads and partner links on the left. Most of the listings only give you ten links -- TenLinks provides only what it considers to be the "top ten" links of interest so don't go here expecting exhaustive or obscure listings. The specified product listings, however -- which you can find at http://www.tenlinks.com/Construction/4specs/index.htm -- provide listings in sixteen different categories from general questions to electrical systems.

Pick a section -- say, Wood and Plastic -- and you'll get a sub-listing of categories. Pick a subcategory -- say, Countertops -- you'll get a listing of suppliers. Only one of the supplier listings in the countertops category was annotated, and that was unfortunate -- it's be nice to get more information on a supplier before proceeding to their Web site. However, the way the links are categorized means you're going to have a really good idea of what the company is all about with or without annotation.

SmithKline Beecham Biologicals Announces Educational Site 
SmithKline Beecham Biologicals now has a web site featuring a comprehensive education package on vaccination and vaccine preventable diseases with links to other related web sites. This site contains more than 30,000 constantly updated vaccination related references, personalized literature alerts for physicians, a weekly news bulletin with reports on congresses, papers of immunization, and access to health bulletins, and a calendar of all upcoming conferences on immunization and related topics. Jean Stephenne, President and General Manager of SB Biologicals says the objective of this site is to "provide a virtual gateway into the world of vaccinology." The site is at http://www.worldwidevaccines.com/, although it denotes at the top of the page that "This site is not intended for U.S. audiences."

New York State Places Database of Restaurant Health Inspection Information Online

The New York City Department of Health has made available a database of restaurant health inspection information. You can access it at http://207.127.96.244/webfood/search.htm. Start by selecting a borough from the ones available at the top of the screen. On the left side of the screen you'll get a map of the borough. On the right side of the screen you'll have the option of keyword searching for an establishment name. Once you've chosen a location or searched for a keyword, the left side of the screen will present you with a list of restaurants that match your specifications. Choose one. If it has no violations, you'll get the name and address of the restaurant, the date of inspection, and the note: "At the time of inspection, no violations were found that presented a threat to public health, or were related directly to factors leading to food borne illness. "If there has been a violation, you'll get a note about what the violation was and occasionally a link to a glossary that explains the violation further. The link takes you to another page, so if you plan to do a lot of searching, be sure to use the right-click, "open this page in new window" function instead of just clicking on it.

These are not full inspection reports -- you have to call the NY Department of Health to get those. There is contact information for those reports on every restaurant information page.