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Infobits/TechKnowLogia

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October 3, 1999: This message was distributed by Papyrus News, a free e-mail distribution list on the global impact of information technology on language, literacy, and education. Feel free to forward this message to others, but please include this introductory paragraph. For information on subscribing or unsubscribing to Papyrus News see http://www.lll.hawaii.edu/web/faculty/markw/papyrus-news.html.

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The University of North Carolina Center for Instructional Technology publishes this monthly INFOBITS. I may not forward it every month, as you can subscribe yourselves if you want (see subscription info below). But occasionally I might pass on interesting items or the whole issue, depending on how much else there is for Papyrus News that week.

You'll note below an announcement of a new online journal, _TechKnowLogia_. It's worth a look. The articles tend to be short summary pieces rather than in-depth research pieces, but they do cover a lot of interesting ground, especially as relates to technology in developing countries (at least in this inaugural issue). Main complaint: very slow download time on the home page due to lots of needless graphics. Somewhat odd for a journal which seems to be targetting an international audience. (Note that all new readers must register for a free subscription before accessing any articles.)

Mark

CIT INFOBITS September 1999 No. 15 ISSN 1521-9275

About INFOBITS

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

Contents

Professors Stressed by Computer Technologies

The Virtual Technical Reports Center

What Authors Want: A Survey Of Scholarly Publishing

New Online Journal of Technologies for Knowledge

Survey of Student Internet Use

Report on Public Universities and Lifelong Learning

Web Search Engines Around the World

Recommended Reading

CIT Information Resource Guides Updated

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PROFESSORS STRESSED BY COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES

A recent survey conducted by Linda Sax at the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that "technology is the fourth most cited source of stress among female professors and the fifth most cited among male professors, surpassing traditional stress producers such as research and publishing demands, teaching loads and the review and promotion process." Results from the mailed survey of 34,000 faculty members at 378 institutions of higher learning indicate that 67% of the survey respondents feel regular stress keeping up with information technology. Only 35% use the Internet to conduct research and 38% use information technology to create classroom presentations. One professor says, "I just don't have the time. I don't have time to use everything they come up with."

Faculty stress contrasts sharply with student nonchalance. Noting that 80% of freshmen at UCLA arrived last year with their own computers, a spokesman from that university says, "We are seeing a generation that has practically grown up with computers as a part of everyday life."

See "An Overview of the 1998-99 Faculty Norms" http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/Faculty_Overview.html

and

"Keeping up with Technology is a Major Source of Stress for the Nation's College Faculty, UCLA Study Shows" http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/prtechnology.html

The Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) is based in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. HERI serves as an interdisciplinary center for research, evaluation, information, policy studies, and research training in postsecondary education. For more information about HERI see their Website at http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/

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THE VIRTUAL TECHNICAL REPORTS CENTER

Gloria Lyles Chawla, Technical Reports Librarian at the University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, Maryland, created and maintains the Virtual Technical Reports Center. The Center provides links to either full-text or searchable, extended abstracts of technical reports and other types of research publications (preprints, reprints, dissertations, and theses). The site, which is updated weekly, is organized alphabetically. Links consist mainly of governmental and university-based research institutions from around the world.  

The Virtual Technical Reports Center is located at http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/ENGIN/TechReports/Virtual-TechReports.html 

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WHAT AUTHORS WANT: A SURVEY OF SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING

The Association of Learned, Professional and Society Publishers (ALPSP) in the United Kingdom recently carried out a survey and produced a report, "What Authors Want." Questionnaires were sent to approximately 10,500 contributors to learned journals published in the UK, the USA, and elsewhere. The response rate was over 30%. The survey examined: "the motivations involved when authors publish their work; which factors authors take into consideration when deciding where to submit their work; the concerns of authors about the publishing process; the hopes and expectations of authors for the future of scholarly publishing." Authors were concerned mainly with issues of copyright, peer reviewing, and publication delays. For a summary of the survey (in PDF and PowerPoint formats) see http://www.alpsp.org.uk/pubs.htm  

The complete survey report is available from the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex, BN13 3UU, UK; tel: 01903 871 686; fax: 01903 871 457; email: alpsp@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk; Web: http://www.alpsp.org.uk/form/wawform.htm  

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NEW ONLINE JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR KNOWLEDGE

This month Knowledge Enterprise, Inc., in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC), launched a new online publication. TechKnowLogia, International Journal of Technologies for the Advancement of Knowledge and Learning provides policy makers, strategists, practitioners, and technologists at the local, national, and global levels with a strategic forum to "explore the vital role of different information technologies (print, audio, visual, and digital) in the development of human and knowledge capital."  

TechKnowLogia is on the Web at http://www.TechKnowLogia.org/ Articles in the first issue include:  

TechKnowLogia is published bimonthly by Knowledge Enterprise, Inc., PO Box 3027, Oakton, Virginia 22124 USA; fax: 703-242-2279; email: techknowlogia@knowledgeenterprise.org; Web: http://www.techknowlogia.org/

Subscriptions are free, but readers must register to gain access to articles. Readers will be notified by email when new issues are published.

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SURVEY OF STUDENT INTERNET USE

Student Monitor, a team of student marketing experts, conducts a twice-yearly survey for companies that are interested in reaching the college-student market. "Computing & Internet Study" compiles the results of a survey of 1,200 undergraduate students. The survey asks "what computer hardware and software students own, use, and plan to purchase. . . .[and] what students are doing on the Internet, how frequently, and why."  

You can read highlights of the study on the Web at http://www.studentmonitor.com/

A one-year subscription to the survey's findings costs $20,000.  

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REPORT ON PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND LIFELONG LEARNING  

The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities have released the fourth report in the "Returning to our Roots" series: "A Learning Society." This report focuses on the role of state-supported universities in creating new kinds of learning environments and in providing lifelong learning in U.S. society. The report includes recent examples of how public institutions are making lifelong learning a part of their core mission.

The complete report is available on the Web (in PDF format) at http://www.nasulgc.org/Kellogg/learn.pdf

NASULGC, the nation's oldest higher education association, is a voluntary association of public universities, land-grant institutions, and many of the nation's public university systems. The association is dedicated to supporting excellence in teaching, research, and public service. For more information, see their Website at http://www.nasulgc.org/

For more information about the Kellogg Commission, the Kellogg Foundation, and other reports in the "Returning to our Roots" series, link to http://www.nasulgc.org/Kellog/  

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WEB SEARCH ENGINES AROUND THE WORLD  

Search Engine Colossus, created by Bryan Strome, British Columbia, Canada, is an international directory of search engines, many in the language(s) of the country of where they are located. Links on the site can be used to enhance online language learning activities. Visit the site at http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/  

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RECOMMENDED READING  

"Recommended Reading" lists items that have been recommended to me or that I have found particularly interesting and/or useful. Send your recommendations to carolyn_kotlas@unc.edu  

Khalid Hamza, Professor of Educational Technology at Florida Atlantic University College of Education has recommended the following article that he co-authored:  

"Technology and Education: Between Chaos and Order" by Mohammad Khalid Hamza and Bassem Alhalabi. First Monday, vol. 4, no. 3, March 1, 1999. http://firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4_3/hamza/index.html  

The article "explores contemporary issues of technology in education, investigating its impact upon the American educational system, and examining the nature of its unprecedented relationship to the posthaste changes of the information age."  

First Monday [ISSN: 1396-0466] is an online, peer-reviewed journal whose aim is to publish original articles about the Internet and the global information infrastructure. It is published in cooperation with the University Library, University of Illinois at Chicago. For more information, contact: First Monday, c/o Edward Valauskas, Chief Editor, PO Box 87636, Chicago IL 60680-0636 USA; email: ejv@uic.edu; Web: http://firstmonday.dk/  

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CIT INFORMATION RESOURCE GUIDES UPDATED  

The following documents in the CIT Information Resource Guides collection have recently been updated:  

"English Literature and Composition Resources on the Internet: Selected Sites" http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/irg-30.html  

"Spanish Language Resources on the Internet: Selected Sites" http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/irg-53.html  

For a complete list of all the resource guides, see:   Title Listing http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/guides.html or Subject Listing http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/subjects.html  

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To Subscribe  

CIT INFOBITS is published by the Center for Instructional Technology. The CIT supports the interests of faculty members at UNC-CH who are exploring the use of Internet and video projects. Services include both consultation on appropriate uses and technical support.  

To subscribe to INFOBITS, send email to listserv@unc.edu with the following message:  

SUBSCRIBE INFOBITS firstname lastname  

substituting your own first and last names.  

Example: SUBSCRIBE INFOBITS Sandra Tsing Loh  

To UNsubscribe to INFOBITS, send email to listserv@unc.edu with the following message:  

UNSUBSCRIBE INFOBITS  

[Note: do not include your email address or name when unsubscribing.]  

INFOBITS is also available online on the World Wide Web site at http://www.unc.edu/cit/infobits/infobits.html (HTML format) and at http://www.unc.edu/cit/infobits/text/index.html (plain text format).  

If you have problems subscribing or want to send suggestions for future issues, contact the editor, Carolyn Kotlas, at carolyn_kotlas@unc.edu  

Article Suggestions

Infobits always welcomes article suggestions from our readers, although we cannot promise to print everything submitted. Because of our publishing schedule, we are not able to announce time-sensitive events such as upcoming conferences and calls for papers or grant applications; however, we do include articles about online conference proceedings that are of interest to our readers. While we often mention commercial products, publications, and Web sites, Infobits does not accept or reprint unsolicited advertising copy. Send your article suggestions to the editor at carolyn_kotlas@unc.edu  

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Last updated: October 6, 1999