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1. Papyrus News Archives

A reminder that the Papyrus News Archives are maintained at <https://members.tripod.com/vstevens/papyrus/news.htm>. And a huge thank you to Vance Stevens, who has spent countless unsung hours creating and maintaining this site ever since Papyrus News was launched.

2. Wayback Works (as does Google's "cached" option)

I received this message this morning:

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"A colleague and I were looking the other day for Warschauer, M. (1996). Computer-assisted language learning: An introduction. In S. Fotos (Ed.), Multimedia language teaching (pp. 3-20). Tokyo: Logos International.

Thanks to your advice in Papyrus News, I was able to locate it through the Wayback Machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010617170142/http://www.gse.uci.edu/markw/call.html

I was just wondering if you happen to have its current location"
-----------------------------

As it turns out, The UC Irvine Department of Education server (www.gse.uci.edu) seems to be down right now, so I can't locate the source of the problem--but I found it interesting that a PN reader was able to make practical use of Wayback. For those of you who missed my earlier mention of it, Wayback is a net archive found at <http://web.archive.org/>. Unfortunately, the Wayback server is down sometimes too. An additional option in trying to find recently dead links is to search for the item on http://google.com, and then, instead of clicking on the live link, click on the word "cached".

3. Net Activism

I was surfing the Web aimlessly the other day (definitely a quadrant IV activity!) and I came across this interesting site: <http://www.ifisher.com/honda.htm>. It was developed by an extra-large woman, Elizabeth Fisher, who is unable to purchase and drive the Honda car that she wants because Honda reportedly does not make extra-long seatbelts, nor does it make "seat-belt extenders" to accommodate larger people. (Apparently many other manufacturers either make extra-long seatbelts or seatbelt extenders as options that can be purchased.) I'm not really informed about the issue (other than what I read on her site), nor do I have any burning interest in the topic of seatbelts, but I do think her site is a remarkable example of how the Internet potentially magnifies the power of a single individual.

From the looks of this well-designed site, this woman has organized a one-woman national campaign that has attracted huge amounts of media attention. Of course this could have been done even without the Internet--through media efforts, press releases, patient organizing--but the Internet sure makes it a lot easier. I have no idea how Ms. Fisher developed the background and skill to be such an effective Net campaigner, but her site certainly demonstrates the value of "e-literacy." And it's an excellent example of the notion of agency that I have discussed in my writings (see, for example, http://www.gse.uci.edu/markw/global.html -- or, if that server is still down, then http://web.archive.org/web/20010617174759/http://www.gse.uci.edu/markw/global.html).

How about this for an assignment in an advanced English class: Have them examine Elizabeth's site and determine whether or not they think it effectively communicates its message, and, if so, why. And then have them work, either individually or in groups, to develop their own similar site on an issue that they care passionately about.

4. Networking the Network

Phil Agre has updated his outstanding article, "Networking on the Network." I highly recommend it. The guide is a must for doctoral students, and is of great interest to others as well. Here's Phil's description of it:

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"Networking on the Network" is a free 120-page guide to professional skills for PhD students. It explains in great detail how to speak at a conference, build a community around your research topic, write a dissertation, get a job, advise others, and become a leader in your field. Professional networking cannot substitute for good research, but good research cannot substitute for networking either. Networking and research go together, and "Networking on the Network" explains analytically and ethically just how. It also includes an extensive bibliography. It is available on the Web:

http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/network.html

Many of you have seen earlier versions of "Networking on the Network". The new version, however, includes about fifty pages of additional material, especially in the more analytical sections toward the end. This material should be taught in PhD programs, and too many people fail because they do not understand it. "Networking on the Network" sets out to solve this problem, and I hope you will pass it along to anyone who can use it.

Thanks very much

Phil Agre
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cheers,
Mark Warschauer

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For comments, suggestions, or further information on this site, contact Vance Stevens, webmaster. Regarding content of Papyrus-News, contact Mark Warschauer.

Last updated: November 12, 2001 in Hot Metal Pro 6.0