Index

ISSN: 1521-9275

About INFOBITS

Infobits is an electronic service of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Academic & Technology Networks' Center for Instructional Technology. Each month the CIT's Information Resources Consultant monitors and selects from a number of information technology and instruction technology sources that come to her attention and provides brief notes for electronic dissemination to educators.

Electronic Publishing and Scholarly Communication
Designing and Using Web Pages
Online Journal for Engineering Education
Guidance for Web Searchers
Publist.Com -- Electronic Yellow Pages for Periodicals
The Future of Education and For-Profit Universities

ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION

"The main issue of the transition from paper to electronic publishing comes down to a simple fact: scientific journals are most intensely read by young researchers, but decisions about how these journals communicate information are made by much older editors. Thus, changes are being made according to the perceptions of the producers rather than what the consumers need, expect, and are ready to use." In "Science and Communication: An Author/Editor/User's Perspective on the Transition from Paper to Electronic Publishing" (Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, Summer 1998), Vincent H. Resh explores several commonly-held perceptions on copyright and licensing, budgetary issues, and implementation of technology in scholarly journal publishing. Resh writes from the dual perspectives of a scholar (Professor of Entomology in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at University of California, Berkeley) and an editor (The Annual Review of Entomology). His article is on the Web at http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/98-summer/article3.html

Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship [ISSN 1092-1206] is a quarterly publication of the Science and Technology Section, Association of College and Research Libraries. Back issues are available on the Web at http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/
For more information contact: Andrea L. Duda, ISTL Editor, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara; CA 93106 USA; email: duda@library.ucsb.edu

The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. For more information link to http://www.ala.org/acrl.html

The Science and Technology Section of the ACRL provides a forum for librarians in scientific and technical subject fields. For more information link to http://aztec.lib.utk.edu/sts/

Other recent articles on electronic publishing:

The theme for articles in the June 1998 issue of The Journal of Electronic Publishing (JEP) is "Reflections on the Revolution: Moving from Print to Electronic Publishing." JEP is published online by the University of Michigan Press.
http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/

"Electronic Publishing Takes Journals into a New Realm: Publications Slip Off Restrictions of Print World and Carve Out a Unique Identity" by Sophie L. Wilkinson in Chemical & Engineering News, May 18, 1998.
http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/cenear/980518/elec.html

"Educational Publishing and the WWW" by Ann Marion and Elizabeth L. Hacking.
http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/98/marion/marion.html
This preprint in the Journal of Interactive Media in Education (JIME) includes video demonstrations and interactive links to reader comments. JIME is peer-reviewed and published online by the Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, UK. Other articles are available at http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/index.html

"Issues and Opportunities in 'E-Publishing'" by Edna Reid in The Star Online, August 11, 1998.
http://thestar.com.my/intech/980811/edna11.html
This column from a Malaysian newspaper provides a global perspective.

DESIGNING AND USING WEB PAGES

If you are planning to create your own Web pages as teaching resources, take some advice from Jakob Nielsen, Sun Microsystems' "guru of interfaces." In "That Mess on Your Web Site" (Technology Review, vol. 101, no. 5, September/October 1998, pp. 72-5), Nielsen discusses his "seven deadly sins" of Web design. He stresses that design practices that don't put the user first also don't get your message across to your audience, wasting everyone's time. The article is available online at http://www.techreview.com/articles/oct98/nielsen.htm

Nielsen also writes "The Alertbox: Current Issues in Web Usability," a biweekly online column covering Web design topics. Link to it at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/

Technology Review [ISSN 0040-1692] is published six times a year by the Association of Alumni and Alumnae of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 201 Vassar St., W59-200, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA; tel: 617-253-8250; fax: 617-258-5850; Web: http://www.techreview.com/

To subscribe, contact Technology Review, P.O. Box 489, Mount Morris, IL 61054 USA; tel: 800-877-5230; fax: 815-734-5237; email: trsubscriptions@mit.edu; Web: http://www.techreview.com/free.htm
Annual subscriptions are available for $30 (U.S.); $36 (Canada); $42 (all other countries).

If your students are using Web pages in their research, "Teaching Undergrads Web Evaluation: A Guide for Library Instruction" (College & Research Libraries News, vol. 59, no. 7, July/August 1998, pp. 522-3), by Jim Kapoun, provides them with a checklist of evaluation criteria in an easy-to-use table format. Kapoun is reference and instruction librarian at Southwest State University in Marshall, MN. The article is on the Web at http://www.ala.org/acrl/undwebev.html

ONLINE JOURNAL FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION

Technology Interface, a peer-reviewed, online journal for engineering technology professionals, covers manufacturing, electronic, civil, and mechanical engineering topics in education and industry. Papers on engineering education include examples of lab and homework exercises, descriptions of semester projects, and tutorials that educators can incorporate into their own teaching activities. The journal is available at http://et.nmsu.edu/~etti/

For more information, contact Jeff Beasley, Editor, Engineering Technology Department, P.O. Box 30001/ Dept. 3566, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003-0001 USA; tel: 505-646-3452; fax: 505-646-6107; email: jbeasley@nmsu.edu

GUIDANCE FOR WEB SEARCHERS

As the Web gets larger and more complex, searching for information becomes more daunting, even for experienced users. Here are some aids recommended by information professionals to make Web searches more productive.

"Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial"
http://lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html
Excellent introduction to Web searching basics; materials come from the University of California, Berkeley Teaching Library's Internet Workshops series.

"Search Engine Showdown" by Greg Notess, Reference Librarian & Associate Professor, Montana State University-Bozeman library
http://www.imt.net/~notess/search/
Summarizes, reviews, and compares the search features and database scope of Web search engines and finding aids.

"Search Tools Chart"
http://infopeople.berkeley.edu:8000/src/chart.html
Summarizes search options used in some of the most popular Web search sites.

"Search Engine Reviews Chart"
http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/reports/reviewchart.html
Compares how search engines have scored in various reviews. Published on Danny Sullivan's "Search Engine Watch" Web site, which contains links to other search engine resources at http://searchenginewatch.com/

"Web Search Services in 1998: Trends and Challenges" by Susan Feldman
http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jun/story2.htm
Comparison of several major search engines shows that "you must use more than one Web search engine if you need a comprehensive search." (Reprinted from Searcher, vol. 6, no. 6, June 1998, pp. 29ff.)

PUBLIST.COM -- ELECTRONIC YELLOW PAGES FOR PERIODICALS

In June 1998, Bowes & Associates, Inc., published PubList.com, a free, online directory of information on over 150,000 journals and newspapers. Users can search for publication information by title, subject, ISSN, publisher, or keyword. The service (using definitive sources such as Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory) includes publisher's name and address, price, Web address, and how to get copies of articles.
PubList is on the Web at http://www.publist.com/

THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION AND FOR-PROFIT UNIVERSITIES

Online technologies are helping to extend the range of traditional higher education institutions. They also can enhance the ability of virtual, for-profit learning institutions to compete with non-profit universities. In "The For-Profit Future of Higher Education" (Training, vol. 35, no. 8, August 1998, pp. 22-30) David Stamps examines the "blurring of the lines between what traditionally has been viewed as higher education and the work-oriented training and instruction" offered by several for-profit educational institutions. He focuses on one, the University of Phoenix, which claims to be the largest private university in the country. According to Stamps, UOP "practices a style of higher education that stands the conventional university model on its head." These educational enterprises hold classes in unconventional locations taught by part-time, non-tenured faculty. The "library" is a collection of online documents accessible from home computers. They offer a standardized curriculum and accredited degrees to older students already in the workforce. And, at a time when money for higher education is tight, they are making millions of dollars doing it their way. The complete article is currently available online at http://www.trainingsupersite.com/tss_link/trainset.htm

Other online articles of interest in this issue include "Tech Trends: Virtual U" by Chris Lee and "Viewpoint: No Cheers for Corporate U" by Allison Rossett. The print version of the magazine also contains a special report on online learning.

Training [ISSN 0095-5892] is published monthly by Lakewood Publications, Inc., Lakewood Building, 50 S. Ninth St., Minneapolis, MN 55402 USA; tel: 612-333-0471; fax: 612-333-6526; Web: http://www.trainingsupersite.com/TSS_Link/lakeset.htm
Annual subscriptions are available for $78 (U.S.); $88 (Canada); $99 (all other countries).

For more about new education ventures, see The Virtual University Gazette, an online digest of news and announcements at http://www.geteducated.com/vugaz.htm
The Gazette is published by Lifelong Learning, an adult education and distance learning consulting firm. The company also maintains the "Adult Education & Distance Learner's Resource Center" at http://www.geteducated.com/

Center for Instructional Technology
Academic & Technology Networks
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill