INFOBITS 020 (February 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infobits/infobits-020 IAT INFOBITS February 1995, No. 20 ISSN 1071-5223 About Infobits Infobits is an electronic service of the Institute for Academic Technology's Information Resources Group. Each month we monitor and select from a number of information technology and instruction technology sources that come to our attention and provide brief notes for electronic dissemination to educators. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCUSSING DISTANCE EDUCATION Electronic discussion lists, newsletters, and online databases are excellent resources for information on distance learning and for contacting others in the field for assistance. We now have a major update of our Information Resource Guide "Distance Education: Electronic Sources for Information and Discussion." You can get a copy (1) on our Gopher site at URL = gopher://isaac.engr.washington.edu:70/00/academic/iat/guides/irg-06.txt or (2) on our anonymous FTP site at host: gandalf.iat.unc.edu; directory: guides; filename: irg-06.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? The theme for the March/April 1995 issue of Utne Reader is "Cyberhood vs. Neighborhood," with articles on the virtual community and whether or not networks can constitute or substitute for real neighborhoods and communities. Contributors include John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; Michael Kearney, a 10-year-old college graduate; and Howard Rheingold, author of The Virtual Community. Also included is a guide to using the Internet to organize "non-virtual" communities. Utne Reader [ISSN 8750-0256] is published bimonthly by LENS Publishing Co., Inc., 1624 Harmon Place, Minneapolis, MN 55403 USA. Subscriptions are $18/year (USA), $30/year (Canada), $28/year (elsewhere, surface mail), $50/year (elsewhere, airmail). Send subscription inquiries to Utne Reader Subscriber Service, Box 1974, Marion, OH 43305 USA; tel: 800-736-UTNE (USA) or 614-382-3322 (Canada); email: subscriptions@utnereader.com. Single copies are available for $4.95. The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier by Howard Rheingold. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1993. ISBN: 0-201-60870-7. $22.95. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIKINGS AND MAYANS ON THE INTERNET The World of the Vikings is a project led by the National Museum of Denmark and The York Archaeological Trust over the past four years, in association with over 50 other museums and research institutions from across the Viking world. The multimedia project archive is now available on CD-ROM as the first official publication of the Council of Europe "Cultural Routes" program. It includes software interfaces (both MS Windows and Apple Mac platforms) for researchers, students, libraries, and schools. The objective of the project has been to create the definitive multimedia information resource for university, school, and library study of the Viking world (from Newfoundland to Constantinople) and the Viking age (nearly three centuries of European history from AD800 to 1100). The World of the Vikings also has a World Wide Web page at URL = http://www.demon.co.uk/history/index.html For information on ordering the CD-ROM, send email to Jeremy Johnson, vikings@jjohnson.demon.co.uk The MayaQuest Internet Center allows K-12 students to follow a team of cyclists led by Minnesotan Dan Buettner on an expedition into the Mayan world of Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras that is taking place in the winter and spring of 1995. Students will have opportunities to ask the team questions and direct the path of the expedition. Educators will also find opportunities to continue the MayaQuest experience in their classrooms long after the completion of the live event. The MayaQuest World Wide Web site includes the expedition leader's daily journal entries, images from the expedition sites, a Maya languages chart, teacher tools and guides, and a scavenger hunt for students. Additional links provide information to resources of interest to anthropologists, sources of supplementary books and CD-ROMs, and other Web sites with information on pre-Columbian America. MayaQuest is sponsored by MECC, a producer of educational software; InforMNs (Internet for Minnesota Schools); and TIES, an Internet services provider. Connect to MayaQuest at URL = http://mayaquest.mecc.com/MayaQuest.Home.Page.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- READINGS IN "HI-TOUCH TECHNOLOGY" To accompany the IAT's February 23, 1995, satellite broadcast, "Hi-Touch Technology: Authenticity in the Learning Environment," we have prepared a new bibliography of the same name. You can get a copy (1) on our Gopher site at URL = gopher://isaac.engr.washington.edu:70/00/academic/iat/guides/irg-18.txt or (2) on our anonymous FTP site at host: gandalf.iat.unc.edu; directory: guides; filename: irg-18.txt For information on purchasing videotapes of the broadcast, please call 919-405-1958 or send email to info.iat@mhs.unc.edu (subject -- "videos"). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TECHNOLOGY VIEWS & REVIEWS Knowledge Brokers has launched a videotape subscription series for K-12 educators focusing on technology in the classroom. The videocassette format was chosen to reach the widest possible audience. Two issues will be introduced in the 1995 school year. The first issue (January/February 1995) will focus on "Cooperative Learning with Technology," and the second issue (April/May 1995) will concentrate on "Electronic Books in the Classroom." Each issue includes classroom visits showing technology in use, educators discussing classroom instructional strategies, and reviews of technology products. An accompanying Discussion Guide includes suggestions for discussion groups, reading lists, and a listing of national and regional trade shows that highlight the technologies shown in the videos. Subscribers will also have access to the Scholastic Network bulletin board on America Online for electronic discussions. Subscription for two issues is $249.95 and includes copying rights on both the video and print materials. For more information contact John Talbot, Knowledge Brokers, 1 Kalisa Way, Suite 203, Paramus, NJ 07652 USA; tel: 201-599-0003; fax: 201-599-0044. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN READINGS The IAT has a new bibliography, "Instructional Design: Bibliography," to help educators who are getting started in courseware design. You can get a copy (1) on our Gopher site at URL = gopher://isaac.engr.washington.edu:70/00/academic/iat/guides/irg-22.txt or (2) on our anonymous FTP site at host: gandalf.iat.unc.edu; directory: guides; filename: irg-22.txt Another resource useful for courseware development is "User Interface Design: Bibliography." You can get a copy (1) on our Gopher site at URL = gopher://isaac.engr.washington.edu:70/00/academic/iat/guides/irg-05.txt or (2) on our anonymous FTP site at host: gandalf.iat.unc.edu; directory: guides; filename: irg-05.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? Book publishers' and book sellers' catalogs are proliferating on the World Wide Web. Browsing the Internet may not replace the pleasure of visiting a neighborhood book shop, but it can fill a need for those who are not close to book sellers or who need specialized materials not available in most stores. Here is a sampling of the many book lists available. Many vendors also allow you to place orders either by telephone or by setting up an account that can be accessed over the Internet. [Note: addresses and filenames are case-sensitive. Capitalization (and punctuation) in URLs must be typed as indicated.] Macmillan Computer Publishing (including Adobe Press, Alpha, Brady, Hayden, New Riders, Que, Que College, and Sams) http://www.mcp.com Prentice Hall http://www.prenhall.com Internet Book Shop http://www.bookshop.co.uk/ MIT Press Bookstore http://www-mitpress.mit.edu/ West Publishing's Law School Division http://www.westpub.com/LSchool/LSHome.htm National Academy Press http://www.nas.edu/1/nap Virtual Booksellers Association http://www.virtual.bookshop.com/booksellers.html Book Stacks Unlimited, Inc. http://www.books.com/info.htm O'Reilly & Associates http://gnn.com/gnn/bus/ora/index.html BookWire: The Book Publishing Industry's Online Information Resource http://www.bookwire.com/links/online_booksellers/online_booksellers.html Taugher Books http://www.batnet.com:80/taugher/ Bookport http://bookport.com/b_about.html Duthie Books Virtual Bookstore http://www.wimsey.com:80/Duthie/ UCI Bookstore (University of California, Irvine) http://bookweb.cwis.uci.edu:8042/Books.html Powell's Technical Books http://www.technical.powells.portland.or.us/ Future Fantasy Bookstore http://www.commerce.digital.com/palo-alto/FutureFantasy/home.html Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press http://www.cshl.org/about_cshl_press.html Along with book catalogs there are also book reviews and other evaluating resources on the Web. Book reviews online http://www.books.com/rants1.htm Files from rec.arts.books and alt.book.reviews newsgroups gopher://locust.cic.net/11/Book.Reviews New Book Bulletins: reviews of new books received by Computer Literacy Bookshops http://www.clbooks.com/nbb/nbbindex.html Chapter One: first chapters, tables of contents, and other excerpts of books; link to Internet World Magazine book reviews http://www.psi.net:80/ChapterOne/index.html Newbery Award books http://ils.unc.edu/award/nhome.html Borders Books & Music http://gopher.metronet.com:70/1/borders/special Australian Computer Journal Book Reviews http://frey.newcastle.edu.au/~acjbooks/ Practical Psychology Book Reviews http://www.thegroup.net/ppm/bookrev.htm Internet Book Information Center http://sunsite.unc.edu:80/ibic/About-IBIC.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Subscribe Infobits is published by the Institute for Academic Technology. The IAT is a national institute working to place higher education at the forefront of academic technology development and implementation. A partnership between the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and IBM Corporation, the IAT strives to facilitate widespread use of effective and affordable technologies in higher education. To subscribe to Infobits, send email to listserv@unc.edu with the following message: SUBSCRIBE INFOBITS your_firstname your_lastname substituting your own first and last names. Example: SUBSCRIBE INFOBITS Erica Jong Infobits is also available online on the University of Washington's Gopher server. The URL is gopher://ike.engr.washington.edu:70/11/academic/iat/infobits If you have problems subscribing or want to send suggestions for future issues, contact the editor, Carolyn Kotlas, at carolyn_kotlas@unc.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 1995, Institute for Academic Technology. All rights reserved. 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