01/29/02
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Coming soon: The NSDL Scout Reports
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/2002/scout-020125-new.html#1
“The Internet Scout Project is proud to announce a new series of reports
funded by the National Science Foundation. Part of the National Science
Digital Library Project, these reports will cover the best new and newly
discovered resources in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. They will
include resources for nearly everyone -- kids, researchers, life-long
learners, and those teaching in K-12 and higher education. Next week, you will
be sent information on how to subscribe and where to find more detailed
information about these reports.”
USING PUBMED
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/
PubMed is one of my favorite databases, but I don't do a lot of medical
literature searching. Don't be fooled by the name. PubMed is a premiere
database for medical literature, of course, but besides that it also contains:
I have successfully used Pubmed for searches in biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, even geoscience, on occasion. It is a terrific database, very clean and well indexed. In fact, I don't know a single database in any subject that is put together better than PubMed. It also contains citations back to the mid-1960s, so it is very deep. Try a search on biodiversity, for instance, or epiphytes, robotics, biodegradation . . . You will be surprised at how much you find and how easily and cleanly you can find it.
It has some very nice search features. The initial screen allows you to do a “plain vanilla” search, but you don't need to stop there. There is a well-written help screen, an excellent tutorial and additionally a well-written FAQ to help you get the most out of searching the database.
The PubMed Journal Browser allows you to look up journal names, MEDLINE abbreviations, or ISSN numbers for journals that are included in the PubMed system.
PubMed Citation Matcher allows users to match their own single or list of citations to PubMed entries, using bibliographic information such as journal, volume, issue, page number, and year. Very handy when you have the citation to an article, but need the actual article title.
The MeSH Browser lets you efficiently explore and use the elegant tree of medical subject headings used to index the articles.
You can, in fact, search by any of the “tags” used in the PubMed indexing. These include those you would expect, such as author, title, etc., but many of which you may not be aware because they do not all display in the default mode. (If you want to see the tags, choose the “Medline” display to see all tags). These tags include author affiliation (Oh, yes! PubMed does indeed have author contact information!), publication type, name of substances listed in an article, and more.
Once you identify the proper MeSH subject term, you can limit your search, if you desire, to only those articles in which it is a “major” term. You can limit by language, by human/non-human research, by gender. You can use elaborate boolean structures for your searching. In fact, if you read the documentation, you will find that you can do with PubMed just about anything you can do with any other database. It is rich, and it is flexible!
But you must be aware of one very important idiosyncrasy. If you choose to use boolean logic in your PubMed search, your connectors (AND, OR, etc.) must be in ALL CAPS. Strange, but true.
If you are looking for information in any subject that impinges in any way on the fields of medicine (and that covers a lot of territory), give this fabulous resource a try.
Growth Continued in 2000 in Graduate Enrollment in Science and Engineering Fields.
NSF, 2001.
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/databrf/nsf02306/db02306.htm
Review of Middle School Physical Science Texts.
2000.
http://www.aeaweb.org/aer/contents/
Global Networks and Local Values: A Comparative Look at Germany and the United States.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10033.html?onpi_listserv011102
Coal Waste Impoundments: Risks, Responses, and Alternatives.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10212.html?onpi_listserv011102
Capitalizing on New Needs and New Opportunities: Government - Industry Partnerships in Biotechnology and Information Technologies.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10281.html?onpi_listserv011102
Genetic Status of Atlantic Salmon in Maine: Interim Report.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10273.html?onpi_listserv011102
Cybersecurity Today and Tomorrow: Pay Now or Pay Later.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10274.html?onpi_listserv011102
The Missouri River Ecosystem: Exploring the Prospects for Recovery.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10277.html?onpi_listserv011102
Predicting Invasions of Nonindigenous Plants and Plant Pests.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10259.html?onpi_listserv011102
The Knowledge Economy and Postsecondary Education 2001 Report.
NAP, 2001.
http://www.nap.edu/books/0309082927/html/
Public Opinion on Poverty, Income Inequality and Public Policy 1996-2001 Report.
Demos, 2001.
http://www.demos-usa.org/Pubs/POReport/
The Liveliest Effusion of Wit and Humor
http://news.bmn.com/hmsbeagle/118/xcursion/humor
“. . . it can be argued that scientists have left the field (of humor in
science) wide open for others to exploit because they have failed to undertake
the critical analysis of humor that they would apply to their research. The
present article . . . is an attempt to put the field of scientific humor on a
firm footing, or at least to persuade scientists to take humor seriously, for
it is a serious matter with important implications for scientific creativity.
Audrey Wells [5], for example, has described the results of research carried
out by Vaughan Goddard. He reported that watching a humorous videotape led to
higher scores on a creativity test than did watching a videotape of Stephen
Hawking's A Brief History of Time. It was not reported whether the difference
was because the audience for the latter video had fallen asleep.” A lovely
article by Jan A. Witkowski, published at the BioMedNet website (free
registration required).
Lichens of North America
http://www.lichen.com/
“Uniquely beautiful but easily overlooked composite life-forms, lichens
partner with bacteria or algae in a symbiotic relationship to manufacture food
by photosynthesis. Tiny, slow-growing lichens pioneer difficult ecological
niches where they serve as sensitive monitors of ecosystem changes. Check out
the extraordinary diversity of color, pattern, and form in photographs by
Stephen and Sylvia Sharnoff. There's a lot to lichen here.” (From Yahoo's
Picks of the Week)
The Alfred Russel Wallace Page
http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/index1.htm
“Alfred Russel Wallace was a naturalist who explored the Amazon, the Malay
archipelago, and Indonesia, gathering countless samples of plant and insect
life. An evolutionist whose thoughts are sometimes mistakenly assumed to
precede those of Darwin, he was also a prodigious author, lecturer, and
spiritualist. The material is well organized, extremely legible, and easy to
access. The work of a scholar who has researched the works of Wallace for over
20 years, what might have developed into a dry read is, instead, filled with
fascinating information about a remarkable individual. A portrait of the
scientist emerges, fleshed out with his very human tribulations. There is a
section devoted to correcting Wallace misinformation. You will have to search
a bit, but Wallace's enthusiastic response to durians is here as well. Rating:
9 out of 10 AD” (From New Scientist Picks)
BioMedia: Learning programs for biology
http://ebiomedia.com/
“A collaboration between teachers, biologists, and filmmakers, this site
offers educational materials for use in classrooms. Selections from these
products are shown, and it is a tasty, colorful, and well laid-out sampler.
Animations are used sparingly, and enhance rather than detract. Space is
devoted to the diversity in eye formation, and fans of rotifers will find
those whirly creatures featured in another section. There are contests (open
to high school students and their instructors)with vaguely sinister organisms,
and an archive of mystery quizzes involving forehead mites and other exotic
lifeforms. Educators are offered free downloads, movies, and annotated web
link sets for class enrichment. Rating: 7 out of 10 AD” (From New Scientist
Picks)
BIODIDAC: A Bank of Digital Resources for Teaching Biology
http://biodidac.bio.uottawa.ca/
“The title mostly says what you will find. High school biology teachers may
find some good clear line drawings or photographs here to show various
concepts. The site has images from many, but not every, area of biology.
Histology seems to have the best coverage. Some images have only French
descriptions, but I would not apologize for this as they do. The site
navigation is confusing to me. Menus appear on one page and then are gone on
the next. Perhaps I just did not see the pattern. Please read and follow the
‘terms of use’ as linked at the bottom of each page.” (From Finger Searcher
Science Seeker)
Physiology Educational Research Consortium
http://www.physiologyeducation.org/
“The Physiology Educational Research Consortium (PERC) is a collaborative
research and development effort among 13 physiologists and physiology
educators representing 12 post-secondary institutions, ranging from community
colleges to medical schools. PERC develops materials and techniques that can
help students build ‘better mental models of physiological systems’ and, in
order to create more productive learning environments, educates teachers on
how to incorporate these techniques into a classroom setting. The site offers
research papers, abstracts, workshop and course information, and network
support for those needing ideas on how to approach a topic or set of topics in
physiology. [MG]” (From the Scout Report)
Cetacea
http://www.cetacea.org/
“This searchable site provides ‘background information on every species of
whale, dolphin and porpoise known to humankind....’ In addition to the entries
for each species, there are FAQs, a glossary, essays on Cetacaen evolution and
conservation, and information on whale watching opportunities.” (From
Librarian's Index to the Internet)
Computerworld Honors Program
http://www.cwheroes.org/
“Documenting ‘case studies of a revolution in progress,’ this site pays
tribute to the people, institutions and organizations nurturing ‘the global
information technology revolution.’ Each year, a committee identifies ‘those
organizations whose use of information technology has been especially
noteworthy for the originality of its conception, the breadth of its vision,
and the significance of its benefit to society.’ Here find archives of
symposia and award ceremony pictures and video clips. Searchable.” (From
Librarian's Index to the Internet)
Alliance to Save Energy (ASE)
http://www.ase.org/
“This organization assembles ‘leaders in the public and private sectors in
a unified effort to promote a national commitment’ to an efficient, secure
energy future. Find here content about energy conservation education,
advocacy, and policy formulation, including elementary, middle, and high
school lesson plans; sustainable school design; home and business energy
check-up tools; and legislative analysis and updates. Many links to other
relevant sites are gathered and described. Searchable.” (From Librarian's
Index to the Internet)
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
http://www.aceee.org/
“This site advocates energy efficiency, economic prosperity, and
environmental preservation. Staff and experts from universities, laboratories,
and the private sector collaborate to analyze technology, legislation, and
policy; to publish; and to educate. The site contains extensive links to other
sites concerned with energy efficient utilities, vehicles, business practices,
and building technologies.” (From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
World's Longest Tunnel
http://home.no.net/lotsberg/index.html
Not a single tunnel, this webpage is about tunnels all over the world.
Choose your country, it will present a table of data on the road tunnels,
subsea tunnels, railroad tunnels and canal tunnels. It will also link you to
webpages for the particular tunnels, if available. Additional information and
links are provided on tunnel history and current and future tunnel projects.
San Diego's Ocean
http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/ocean/
“Information on ‘a variety of ocean-related resources for the waters off
San Diego,’ including surf cams, marine weather forecasts, tide predictions,
whale migrations, seal protection, grunion-hunting, fish and game laws and
regulations, ocean maps, and geodetic survey charts. Other resources include
lifeguard services, scuba diving guides, underwater parks, aquariums, water
quality, and much more. From the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Library.”
(From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
Lost in the Grand Canyon
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/canyon/
“In the summer of 1869 a one-armed Civil War veteran, John Wesley Powell,
led an epic journey down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It was
the last important exploration within the continental United States. Powell
wrote a literary classic about his trip, explored the region for another ten
years, studied Native American cultures, and used his position as director of
the U.S. Geological Survey to argue against the over development of the West.”
This website is about the PBS “American Experience” program of this title.
It has biographies of people involved with the Canyon, an interactive map of
Powell's journey, a timeline, a fascinating chart of the creation of the
canyon, and the “Granite Rapid Run.”
Santorini Decade Volcano, Greece
http://www.decadevolcano.com/
Everything you ever wanted to know (geologically, at least) about Thera,
the volcano that is reputed to be the cause of the collapse of the Minoan
civilization. Tom Pfeiffer of Geologisk Institut, Universitet Århus, Denmark,
has put together this well done website about this infamous volcano, complete
with geologic history, tectonics, and photographs, as well as links to related
sites.
Planet Quest
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/
“While the majority of earthlings contemplate day-to-day life, the brainiacs
at NASA and JPL are hot on the trail for elusive Earth-like exoplanets. This
is a serious hunt for another Earth -- entailing light-seeking
interferometers, interstellar telescopic wizardry, massive budgets, and a
molten core of scientific passion that aims to rejuvenate the sometimes
questionable space program. It's pretty heady stuff. But with our deepest
fantasies and perhaps future survival at stake, this incredible undertaking
could very well launch humanity into a new age (and solar system).” (From
Yahoo's Picks of the Week)
VRML Gallery of Electomagnetism
http://physics.syr.edu/courses/vrml/electromagnetism/
“This gallery of appealing visualisations provides a virtual reality
round-up of the work of several researchers in the field of electromagnetism
put together by Syracuse University PhD physicist Rob Salgado. Salgado has
included representations of the likes of Ampere's law, a line integral,
charged points and others. Each VRML production shows the vector, or rather
the k- form, of the electromagnetic field. Salgado confesses that he is no
authority on the applications of electromagnetism. But, he is a graduate
student with a nice idea on how to visualize the electromagnetic field. The
underlying layout of the site is very ‘old school web’ but as such means the
basic pages load relatively quickly. Of course, to get the full benefit of the
site, you need to download a VRML-enabled browser or plug-in. Thankfully,
Salgado has provided links to suitable packages for several operating systems,
and while some of these are fairly hefty to download, they are generic and
will come in useful when visiting other VRML sites. DB” (From New Scientist
Picks)
Figure This! Math Challenges for Families
http://www.figurethis.org/index40.htm
“This colourful site presents maths challenges and brainteasers using
cartoon characters to demonstrate the scenarios. Hints can be obtained to help
solve the puzzles. The main disadvantage with this site is the
graphics-intensive environment, which means that each page takes a long time
to load. In fact, the slowness of this site is its downfall. Although there is
plenty to investigate, the time it takes to load each screen will probably
deter all but the most determined. However, it is possible to print the
questions as PDFs, which may overcome this problem. It would also be helpful
if the puzzles were listed in order of difficulty, as some questions are
suitable for younger children, but some would tax most adults. However,
despite these points, with some digging it is possible to find challenges
suitable for most of the family. With a bit of work, this site could be
wonderful, and a really useful tool, both in the classroom and at home. SC”
(From New Scientist Picks)
sodaconstructor
http://sodaplay.com/constructor/index.htm
“This is a really neat JAVA toy. You use some ‘laws’ of physics to build
things. In the end, many times the result is almost organic in how it moves.
And so, they have a zoo for you to look at. However, the real challenge is in
building your own. Read how it works. Explore. I do want to share this from
the FAQ. Q: ‘help me! i've been playing with sodaconstructor for hours. i
don't work, i don't eat, i don't sleep. am i an addict?’ A: ‘yes’ ” (From
Finger Searcher Science Seeker)
Icebergs of Newfoundland and Labrador
http://www.wordplay.com/tourism/icebergs/
“The main page of this site has FAQs about icebergs, including size, shape,
movement, and origins. There are also photographs and some interesting facts
about icebergs.” (From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
Shackleton's Antarctic Odyssey
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure
http://main.wgbh.org/imax/shackleton/
These two websites focus on the IMAX movie of Shackleton's incredible story
of survival in the Antartic.
The second site has a film trailer (I was not able to view it) and e-postcards you can send, as well as a film schedule. The first website is more extensive: “In October and November, NOVA journeyed into ice-choked Antarctic waters and onto the shores of rugged Elephant and South Georgia Islands as we followed in the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton. This legendary explorer's 1914-1916 Endurance expedition is one of the greatest survival stories of all time. Now we return to document Shackleton's final trial: the crossing of South Georgia by three of the world's most distinguished mountaineers, Reinhold Messner, Conrad Anker and Stephen Venables. Follow the story as it unfolded in real-time on this Web site, and in a NOVA Giant Screen Film and a NOVA program scheduled for broadcast on March 26, 2002.”
Both sites are well worth the visit, and are to some extent intertwined with each other.
Haymarket Affair
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ichihtml/hayhome.html
“This site showcases a collection of more than 3,800 images of original
manuscripts, broadsides, photographs, prints, and artifacts relating to the
Haymarket Affair -- the violent confrontation between Chicago police and labor
protesters in 1886. Materials cover the May 4, 1886 meeting and bombing, the
trial, the conviction and subsequent appeals of those accused of inciting the
bombing, the execution of four of the convicted, and the later pardon of the
remaining defendants. The site also has a ‘special presentations’ area,
containing the Haymarket Affair chronology and autobiographies of two of the
defendants. Viewers can search the site by keyword, or browse by subjects,
names, or transcripts and exhibits from the trial. For more information on
this topic, viewers can also visit The Dramas of Haymarket web site
covered in the May 12, 2000 edition of the Scout Report.” [MG] (From
the Scout Report)
African Writing Systems
http://www.library.cornell.edu/africana/Writing_Systems/Welcome.html
“The African Writing Systems Web page highlights different forms of writing
systems used on the African continent, such as pictographic, alphabetic, and
petrographic. Writing systems are defined as ‘philosophical because they
assist in synthesizing ideas, thoughts, and deeds through the use of signs,
symbols or other pictorial renderings.’ A collaborative effort between Cornell
University assistant professor Ayele Bekerie and the university's John Henrik
Clarke Africana Library.” (From Librarian's Index to the Internet)
The Virtual Inca Trail
http://www.raingod.com/angus/Gallery/Photos/SouthAmerica/Peru/IncaTrail.html
“The real Inca Trail is a walking route that leads through the mountains
above the Urubamba river, following (at least partly) the course of an old
Inca roadway leading to the city of Machu Picchu. The virtual Inca Trail has
the following advantages:
On the other hand, my photographs are no substitute for the real thing.” Thus begins a website of breathtaking photographs and interesting narration by Angus McIntyre.
Virtual Museum of Cham Architecture
http://www.onthe.net.au/~cgribbin/
A website “dedicated to the temples of the rarely-known Kingdom of Champa.
Located in southern and central Vietnam, the Kingdom was traditionally founded
in A.D. 192. It officially ceased to exist in 1832, although it never really
recovered from the military defeat of 1470. It was one of the great Indianised
cultures of South-East Asia, something clearly reflected in its architecture.”
This site is under construction (notably missing the expected “introduction to
the Cham,” but the photographs of the sites are exquisite and fascinating.
Friends and Descendants of Johnson's Island
http://www.heidelberg.edu/~dbush/
Johnson's Island was a prisoner of war depot during the American Civil War.
This intersting personal website has been put together by D. Bush. It
describes the history of Johnson's Island and the use of the site as an
experiential learning project in history archaeology. It isn't a large
website, but it is a small jewel.
The following items are from Edupage. To subscribe to Edupage: send mail to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: subscribe edupage Anonymous (if your name is Anonymous; otherwise, substitute your own name). To unsubscribe send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: unsubscribe edupage. (If you have subscription problems, send mail to: manager@educom.unc.edu.)
PUT ON YOUR THINKING CAP
Australian researchers at the Center for the Mind,
a joint venture between the University of Sydney and the Australian National
University, are working on rolling out the world's first thinking cap.
Spearheaded by esteemed physicist Allan Snyder, the project was inspired by
the study of brain functions in autistic children. After determining that some
damaged areas in the brains of autistic children were actually areas that
allowed healthy people to see the world subjectively, Snyder decided to try
and stimulate that condition in another person, using magnets. By deactivating
the subjectivity centers of the brain, “we have been able to enhance
objectivity,” he said. The research could yield techniques to boost the
cleverness of workers and ease the decision-making process. (InformationWeek,
7 January 2002 via Edupage)
OPENCOURSEWARE: SIMPLE IDEA, PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS
MIT's OpenCourseWare
(OCW) project is an effort to freely disseminate content for over 2,000
undergraduate and graduate courses over the Web. Anyone in the world can make
use of the course materials, but the exact nature of OCW has stirred up
confusion. OCW does not offer online degrees, or even enrollable courses; it
also lacks the student-faculty interaction critical for learning. Rather, it
provides insight, either from faculty or the university itself, into the kind
of material needed to achieve an MIT education. Furthermore, MIT's often
harried faculty only have 10 years to post all the material online; the
learning objects have yet to be rendered reusable; and the site must be
designed to offer both individuality and scalability for content development.
OCW is meant to counterbalance the increasing privatization of education.
Participation “reflects the idea that, as scholars and teachers, we wish to
share freely the knowledge we generate through our research and teaching,”
according to S. Miyagawa, professor of linguistics at MIT. (Syllabus, January
2002 via Edupage)
RESEARCHERS RECRUIT PC USERS FOR ANTHRAX PROJECT
The Anthrax Research
Project has launched a distributed computing project to try to develop a cure
for anthrax, using computer-aided molecular analyses. Individuals can download
a screen saver program and contribute some of their PC's unused processor
cycles to the effort, creating a supercomputer that analyzes billions of
molecules, the group said. Members of the group, including Intel, Microsoft,
United Devices, the National Foundation for Cancer Research, and Oxford
University, promise users that the system is secure and private. The screen
saver operates whenever resources are available for computation; results are
sent back to a data center run by United Devices. (Reuters, 22 January 2002
via Edupage)
BROADBAND COWBOY
The Dandin Group's Dewayne Hendricks is setting up a
wireless network at Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation that could be a model
of the kind of network he wants -- one that may have to circumvent FCC
regulations on frequency, power, and transmission technology to deliver
high-performance broadband. Complaints or blockage attempts by the FCC may be
negated if the tribe asserts its Native American sovereignty; more
importantly, Hendricks hopes it will put public pressure on the FCC to open up
the spectrum. The FCC is concerned that unlicensed access to the full spectrum
would give rise to too much transmission interference. Hendricks is convinced
that spread spectrum technology will make a common-use spectrum workable, with
technologies such as ultrawideband and dense-packet networks shoring things up
if spread spectrum comes up short. So far, Hendricks' team has set up wireless
connections for Turtle Mountain Community College and a small group of other
buildings. Turtle Mountain is one of four reservations whose colleges are
being equipped for wireless as part of a $6 million National Science
Foundation initiative administered by EDUCAUSE. (Wired, January 2002 via
Edupage)
RAISE OUR TECHNOLOGICAL IQ
More Americans believe they are computer
literate than they really are, concluded a recent poll by Gallup and the
International Technology Education Association. Roughly three-fourths of all
respondents said they can understand and use the technology to a “somewhat or
great extent.” But Gerard Salinger of the National Science Foundation said the
approximation is overestimated and that most people are not as computer
capable as they would like to believe. The report calls for better
technological education in both schools and the workplace. It recommends that
technology content be infused more widely in kindergarten through high school.
“We need to include subject matter beyond math and science so that people do
not think of technology as science but as fundamental social questions,”
insisted Columbia University's provost and dean of faculties, Jonathan Cole,
who co-authored the report. (Medill News Service, 18 January 2002 via Edupage)
UNITED STATES URGED TO ADD MORE PROTECTION TO GPS SYSTEMS
The Sept. 11
attacks and the growing threat of wireless hacker intrusions has spurred a
homeland security task force to urge the government to designate the Global
Positioning System (GPS) as a critical national infrastructure in need of
beefed-up protection. In addition to providing precision navigation, the GPS
satellite network supplies timing support for a spate of electronic systems,
including back-up systems for the Internet, cell phones, financial network
encryption, and the electric power grid. The task force, which is backed by
The Heritage Foundation, said President Bush should issue a new presidential
order that categorizes GPS as a critical infrastructure. It is not hard to jam
GPS signals, warned Major Barry Venable of the Pentagon's Space Command. He
said, “In the military, we encrypt all of our data, but that is not
necessarily happening in the commercial sector.” Former CIA scientist Allen
Thomson said satellite defense will be a much more complicated proposition
than has been suggested. (Computerworld Online, 24 January 2002 via Edupage)
STANFORD TO TEST A COMPUTERIZED TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM
Stanford University
is taking part in a pilot program to test a system that improves the odds of
students with learning disabilities performing well in college. Test results
of students who participated in the Liberated Learning Project (LLP) found
that they no longer had to take notes at lectures where LLP was used. LLP uses
voice-activated software, which immediately translates the instructor's words
into print that flashes onto a large screen. Students with or without learning
disabilities can get a copy of the lecture online, as can visually impaired
students, who can have the notes translated into Braille. Hearing impaired
students especially stand to benefit from the system. LLP has been tested at
colleges and universities in Canada, Britain, and Australia. (Chronicle of
Higher Education Online, 24 January 2002 via Edupage)
MAKING COMPUTER SCIENCE MORE OPEN TO WOMEN
Jane Margolis of UCLA and
Carnegie Mellon University's Allan Fisher propose ways that high schools and
colleges can encourage more women to take computer science courses in their
new book, “Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing.” The authors contend
that society discourages women from taking an interest in computer science as
early as childhood, while a prevailing “geek culture” further estranges them.
Margolis and Fisher conducted a four-year study of female Carnegie Mellon
students as the university retooled its school of computer science,
instituting new admissions policies, community groups, and interdisciplinary
courses. These programs, along with a “ferocious attention to the quality of
student experience,” have yielded positive results, according to the
professors. Between 1995 and 2000, the percentage of female computer science
majors leapt from just 7 percent to roughly 40 percent. Furthermore, the
concluding surveys indicated that female students were no more likely than
their male counterparts to leave the major, whereas they were twice as likely
to do so in 1995. (Chronicle of Higher Education Online, 25 January 2002 via
Edupage)
DEPT. OF EDUCATION TO GAUGE TECH ROLE IN THE CLASSROOM
Department of
Education Secretary Rod Paige called on educators and school boards to support
a new push on using technology to enhance the quality of the educational
experience. “It's pointless to integrate [computers and online links] if they
don't add value to the curriculum,” he said. Paige aired his agency's views at
a conference hosted by the National Coalition for Technology in Education and
Training. He advised that it would be in the best interests of schools to
collaborate with private industry. Paige noted that the White House's $860
million education reform bill earmarks $15 million for an effort to learn how
education can be improved through technology. However, Roy Pea of Stanford
University cautioned that most studies have not yielded any solid conclusions
on the effectiveness of technology-enhanced instruction. (Newsbytes, 25
January 2002 via Edupage)
NEWSPAPER DATABASES HAVE BECOME UNRELIABLE AND FRUSTRATING
Academic
scholars who rely on newspaper databases for research material have been
significantly affected by the Supreme Court's decision in the case of The New
York Times Company v. Jonathan Tasini. The court ruled that the rights to
publish articles online are separate from other rights, a move that prompted
publishers to purge online databases of freelance articles rather than
negotiate with writers for permissions. Scholars are unsure how much archival
material from the late '70s, '80s, and early '90s has been deleted.
Determining what articles are missing can be an arduous and complex
undertaking. Princeton University history professor Stanley N. Katz called the
publishers' actions “devastating” and added that it severely handicaps
research by social scientists and historians. For example, a study of trends
in multiple cities can only be practically accomplished electronically; the
alternative is to visit each city and plumb through its records, an
unaffordable proposition for most researchers. But not all scholars consider
the purging to be a bad thing. Bonnie Sue Brennen of the University of
Missouri at Columbia said less reliable databases could force lazy students to
avoid online short-cuts and use hard copy as a research resource. (Chronicle
of Higher Education, 25 January 2002 via Edupage)
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