INFOBITS 023 (May 1995) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/infobits/infobits-023 IAT INFOBITS May 1995 No. 23 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. ========================================================== SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION In April the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Working Group on Scholarly Communication hosted a presentation by John Unsworth, Director of the Institute for Advanced Technology (IATH) in the Humanities at the University of Virginia and co-editor of the electronic journal POSTMODERN CULTURE. Unsworth demonstrated a MOO-based World Wide Web server that allows scholars, editors, and reviewers to engage collaboratively in networked publishing over the Internet. A MOO is a type of MUD (Multi-User Dungeon or, sometimes, Multi-User Dimension) defined by Pavel Curtis, the inventor of MOOs, as "a network-accessible, multi-participant, user-extensible virtual reality whose user interface is entirely textual. Participants (usually called players) have the appearance of being situated in an artificially-constructed place that also contains those other players who are connected at the same time. Players can communicate easily with each other in real time." Although originating in the computer game environment, MUDs and MOOs also have potential for use in learning activities. Connect to telnet://guest@hero.village.virginia.edu to explore Unsworth's MOO. For another example in education, go to telnet://moo.daedalus.com:8888 to connect to a French language learning MOO. To read more about MOOs, see INTERNET VIRTUAL WORLDS QUICK TOUR: MUDS, MOOS & MUSHES: INTERACTIVE GAMES, CONFERENCES & FORUMS by Sean Carton. Chapel Hill: Ventana Press, 1995. 192 pp. ISBN: 1-56604-222-4, $14.00 US. Ventana's Internet Virtual Worlds Quick Tour Online Companion contains pointers to a number of MOOs and MUDs on the Internet. This World Wide Web site is located at http://www.vmedia.com/ivwqt.html For more information about the IATH at the University of Virginia connect to their World Wide Web home page at http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/ To access the electronic journal Postmodern Culture, co-edited by John Unsworth, connect to http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/pmc/contents.all.html For more information on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Working Group on Scholarly Communication, see their World Wide Web site at http://ruby.ils.unc.edu/schol-com/ ========================================================== MORE SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION -- HYPERJOURNAL HyperJournal is a discussion list devoted exclusively to electronic journals, especially those that publish on the World Wide Web. It is concerned with all aspects of the production and publication of electronic journals, particularly those managed by academics themselves. Currently, the list is discussing the recent debate on electronic journals between Stevan Harnad and Steve Fuller that appeared in the May 12, 1995 issue of the Times Higher Educational Supplement [THES]. Stevan Harnad, professor of psychology and director of the Cognitive Sciences Centre at the University of Southampton, "argues that academics will benefit by having specialised scholarly and scientific research literature published on the Internet. Steve Fuller, professor of sociology and social policy at Durham University, argues that works will not be published as freely or cheaply as Steve Harnad suggests and that a sharp eye needs to be kept on the changing political economy of electronic communications." To subscribe to the list, send email to mailbase@mailbase.ac.uk with the message: join hyperjournal-forum Firstname Lastname, substituting your own first and last names. The HyperJournal discussion list also has a World Wide Web site, which includes pointers to all the THES articles, at http://www.gold.ac.uk/history/hyperjournal/hyperj.htm ========================================================== TERC CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF SERVICE TERC, a nonprofit organization founded in 1965, researches, develops, and disseminates innovative programs in science, mathematics, and technology for educators, schools, and other learning environments. TERC is organized into four project-based centers: Mathematics, Research, Science, and Tools for Learning. Some of the recent TERC projects include: The Global Laboratory project - a worldwide network of student scientists from over 20 countries involved in collaborative environmental investigations; New Directions in Science Playgrounds - TERC's new science playground designs; and LabNet - a telecomputing network of the science teaching community. More information about TERC and its projects is available at http://hub.terc.edu/terc.html or gopher://hub.terc.edu TERC also publishes HANDS ON! [ISSN 0743-0221], a semi-annual newsletter. Send subscription inquires to: TERC Communications, 2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140 USA; tel: 617-547-0430; fax: 617-349-3535; email: communications@terc.edu Back issues of Hands On! are available online at http://hub.terc.edu:70/1/hub/owner/TERC/Hands_On or gopher://hub.terc.edu:70/11/hub/owner/TERC/Hands_On ========================================================== INDIANA UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR ADOLESCENT STUDIES The Center for Adolescent Studies (CAS) focuses on meeting the social and emotional growth and development needs of adolescents through providing support to adults working with youth, investigating current social issues and providing tools for teens to learn and practice new, healthy behaviors. CAS is based at the School of Education at Indiana University in Bloomington. For more information about CAS, send email to adol@indiana.edu or connect to their World Wide Web site at http://education.indiana.edu/cas/cashmpg.html The Center maintains a new World Wide Web service, ADOL (Adolescence Directory On Line), that organizes electronic resources relating to adolescents and is of interest to educators, researchers, health practitioners, parents, and teens. The URL for ADOL is http://education.indiana.edu/cas/adol/adol.html CAS and ADOL sites are maintained by Kevin McCracken, Education 3221-F, Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405 USA; tel: 812-856-8118, extension 33150. ========================================================== LAW IN THE ONLINE WORLD Even in cyberspace you cannot escape the "long arm of the law." If you are concerned about your rights and liabilities on the Internet and other electronic environments, two new books are available to address many legal areas. NETLAW: YOUR RIGHTS IN THE ONLINE WORLD by Lance Rose. Berkeley: Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1995. 372 pp. ISBN: 0-07-882077-4, $19.95 US. CYBERSPACE AND THE LAW: YOUR RIGHTS AND DUTIES IN THE ON-LINE WORLD by Edward A Cavazos and Gavino Morin. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1994. 215 pp. ISBN: 0-262-53123-2, $19.95 US. Both books cover the issues of electronic privacy, intellectual property, freedom of speech and press, online pornography, and criminal activities. Rose's book also contains information on contracts and commercial arrangements, along with sample contracts for online service and information providers. For pointers on the Internet to (primarily US) law resources, connect to http://www.lawmall.com/lawmall/lm_resou.html ========================================================== SEDLETTER GOES ONLINE SEDLETTER (Vol. VIII, No. 1, March-May, 1995), the SEDL (Southwest Educational Development Laboratory) newsletter, is available online this month. The electronic version of the current issue of SEDLetter is available at http://www.sedl.org/viii1.html or gopher://bobby.sedl.org:70/1D-1%3A19545%3AV8N1 SEDL is a private, non-profit corporation funded by the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Currently serving Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, SEDL assists organizations that work directly with schools by collecting resources, synthesizing research, and providing materials, training, and technical assistance. In addition to SEDLetter, SEDL publishes "Schools Along the Border: Education in the Age of NAFTA" and "Networks for Goals 2000 Reform: Bringing the Internet to K-12 Schools" and videos on rural education. For more information about SEDL and its publications and videos, contact: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 211 E. Seventh St., Austin, TX 78701-3281 USA; tel: 512-476-6861; fax: 512-476-2286. To view SEDL information over the Internet, connect to http://www.sedl.org/ or gopher://bobby.sedl.org/ (The gopher site includes a Spanish-language version of the information.) ========================================================== NEW IAT LIBRARY WEB PAGES In addition to producing IAT Infobits, the IAT's Information Resources Group is also responsible for our in-house library. We have a new World Wide Web page to provide online information about the IAT Library. Our library has subscriptions to over 300 computer and education technology journals, magazines, and newsletters; over 600 books covering educational technology, multimedia development, instructional design, and related topics; a small collection of laserdiscs and CD-ROMs representing a variety of academic disciplines; and an extensive collection of vendor catalogs of laserdiscs, CD-ROMs, videotapes, and software for educational uses. While we do not lend materials outside our institute, visitors are welcome to use materials while at the IAT. To learn more about the activities of the Information Resources Group and to view lists of our journal, book, CD-ROM, laserdisc, and videotape collections, connect to: http://ike.engr.washington.edu/iat/iatlib.htm ========================================================== 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 Firstname Lastname substituting your own first and last names. Example: SUBSCRIBE INFOBITS Stephen Fry INFOBITS is also available online on the University of Washington's Gopher server. The URL is gopher://isaac.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, carolyn_kotlas@unc.edu ======================================================= Copyright 1995, Institute for Academic Technology. All rights reserved. May be reproduced in any medium for non-commercial purposes.