A happy New Year to all readers of the Internet Resources Newsletter!

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Worthy Charity

I'm not over-enthusiastic about some particular charities. I don't want to open a can of worms by going into detail, but sometimes it seems to me that the business of some charities should really be done by government(s), or that some charities may actually have an adverse effect on their chosen target, or that they may even create a 'cargo cult'.

I do, however, think that Book Aid International http://www.bookaid.org/ is a very worthy charity.

Book Aid International promotes literacy in developing countries by creating reading and learning opportunities for disadvantaged people, in order to help them realise their potential, and eradicate poverty.

New items of interest.

Ingenta launches pub2web
http://allmyeye.blogspot.com/2007/11/ingenta-launches-pub2web.html
Ingenta, the technology provider that connects the publishing and information industries, has announced the launch of its next generation publications platform, pub2web

Journal of European Real Estate Research (JERER)
A new journal from Emerald
http://web.vivavip.com/forum/Wire/read.php?i=38591&start=0&PHPSESSID=c5adbb96155d726676d44c860b3696d4
via: VIP

A-Z NEW & NOTABLE WEB SITES

10 Universities Offering Free Science Courses Online

http://education-portal.com/articles/10_Universities_Offering_Free_Science_Courses_Online.html

From the Education Portal. Some of the world's most prestigious universities now offer free science courses online.

1997-2007: A Decade of Find, Use, Manage, Share

http://www.freepint.com/issues/201207.htm#feature

An article in Free Pint, by various authors.

AgriSeek

http://www.agriseek.com/

AgriSeek combines a worldwide news service with an interactive business directory and international online job market focusing on agriculture and related fields.

ALT Newsletter

http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/

From the Association for Learning Technology.

Awareness Watch Newsletter

http://zillman.blogspot.com/2007/11/awareness-watch-newsletter-v5n12.html

V5N12 December 2007 is now available. The theme this month is Theology Resources.

Bentham Open Access

http://www.bentham.org/open/index.htm

Bentham Publishers are launching more than 200 peer-reviewed open access journals during this year, under the banner of "Bentham OPEN". The journals will cover all major disciplines and are exclusively open access publications.

Beyond Green

http://www.beyondgreen.co.uk/

A consultancy for sustainable development.

BioCentury

http://www.biocentury.com/

“BioCentury is the essential source of intelligence for a global audience of biotech and pharmaceutical executives and investors who demand deep industry knowledge, data-driven analysis, independent perspective and a commitment to accuracy“

British National Space Centre: BNSC

http://www.bnsc.gov.uk/

The British National Space Centre (BNSC) partnership is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space. This site explains what they do and how it affects you.

Broadwater

http://www.broadwaterbooks.com/

Virtual book wholesaler.

“Broadwater will provide all book business’s with the ability to source from worldwide stocks, giving huge choice and the quickest delivery times. When allied to a flat pricing structure this means that all customers – no matter what size – get the same service and pricing so that everyone competes on a level playing field.”

Brunel Museum

http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk/

Brunel's Thames Tunnel & Brunel's Great Eastern Steamship. Award winning Museum in an ancient monument set in picturesque riverside gardens. Open daily 10.00 to 17.00 using new technology and spanning the career of both Brunels.

Code4Lib Journal

http://journal.code4lib.org/

“This mission of the Code4Lib Journal is to cover “the intersection of libraries, technology, and the future.” We hope that this journal can be one more contribution to the developing culture of collaboration around library technology, and we welcome you to join in our experiment.”

Collaborative Collection Management

http://www.cocoman.ac.uk/

This website has been set up to provide a centre for information about the management of traditional library collections and the additional value which working collaboratively can bring to this activity.

Council Conclusions on scientific information in the digital age: access, dissemination and preservation

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/intm/97236.pdf

A document in pdf from the Council of the European Union.

DebateEurope

http://europa.eu/debateeurope/

The European Commission has relaunched its ‘Debate Europe’ .

DirectIndustry

http://www.directindustry.com/

An online industrial exhibition featuring catalogues and technical brochures.

Dumpr

http://www.dumpr.net/

Do clever things with digital photos.

Edina Newsline

http://edina.ac.uk/news/newsline12-4/index.html

Vol 12, Issue 4 is available. Newsline is aimed at user support staff, interested users and others with an in interest in EDINA. It carries information on EDINA services and developments and this issue is particularly full of varied information.

ELPUB2008

http://www.elpub.net/

12th International Conference on Electronic Publishing 25 to 27 June 2008, Toronto, Canada.

Second Call for Papers, ELPUB2008, Submission deadline: January 20, 2008.

Enterprise Search: Rethinking it in a Web 2.0 World

http://www.freepint.com/issues/291107.htm#feature

An article in Free Pint, by Jayne Dutra.

EnvironmentJobs.co.uk

http://www.environmentjobs.co.uk/

The Environment Post advertises vacancies throughout the UK and overseas.

EQUATOR project

http://www.equator-network.org/

The EQUATOR Network is a new initiative that seeks to improve the quality of scientific publications by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of health research.

The EQUATOR Network is funded by the NHS National Knowledge Service and National Institute for Health Research.

File Extensions

http://www.file-extensions.org/

Here you can find details of file extension, including easy-to-understand descriptions and associated applications. Search by extension, view common and most visited extensions, and click for extension categories including audio and music files, game files, system files and text files.

First Port

http://www.firstport.org.uk/

First Port is a registered charity working to support new and emerging social entrepreneurs throughout Scotland.

Focus on Mimas

http://www.mimas.ac.uk/focus/07dec/

Issue 34 is available. Mimas is a JISC and ESRC-supported national data centre providing the UK higher education, further education and research community with networked access to key data and information resources to support teaching, learning and research across a wide range of disciplines.

IGI Global

http://www.igi-global.com/

Founded in 1987, IGI Global (IGI) is an international publishing company specializing in high-quality research publications in the fields of information science, technology, and management.

Insourced

http://www.insourced.com/

Insourced is one part job board and one part search engine...a “hybrid”, if you will. We scour the Web for jobs from employers and staffing agencies (but never from other job boards, newspapers, or non-hiring sources) and strive to deliver only the most relevant, “clean” job search results.

JustFreeBooks

http://www.justfreebooks.info/

JustFreeBooks searches the content of more than 450 web sites, including gutenberg.org, wikibooks.org and archive.org.

LITRO - Stories for the Underground.

http://www.litro.co.uk/

LITRO is a literary alternative to Metro (the free newspaper) and has been distributed for free every other Friday near to London Underground stations and elsewhere around the world since April 2006.

ManyBooks.net

http://manybooks.net/

There are 19,150 eBooks available here and they're all free.

Mucosal Immunology

http://www.nature.com/mi

Mucosal Immunology is a new journal from the Society for Mucosal Immunology (SMI) and Nature Publishing Group (NPG).

OECD.Stat

http://www.sourceoecd.org/database/oecdstat

OECD.Stat enables users to search for and extract data from across OECD’s many databases included in SourceOECD Statistics.

Open Repositories 2008

http://or08.ecs.soton.ac.uk/index.html

3rd International Conference, Southampton, UK, 1-4 April 2008.

Repositories play a pivotal role in the evolving scholarly information environment of open access research outputs and scholarly collections. With its theme of "Practice and Innovation", OR08 will create an opportunity for practitioners and researchers to share experiences and to explore the challenges of the new scholarly communication.

Red Button Design

http://www.thisisredbutton.co.uk/

Red Button Design is a Glasgow based speculative design company founded by James Brown, Amanda Jones and Nicky Pang. The Partners are currently engaged in bringing to Market the "Reverse Osmosis Sanitation System" (ROSS) an innovative water transport, sanitation and storage device designed to bring relief to the 1.2 billion people across the world without access to safe water.

Rural Innovation Systems

http://portals.kit.nl/rural_innovation_systems

This information portal presents free Internet information on the innovation systems approach to rural development, including newsletters, discussion groups, websites, databases, and directories.

Rural innovation systems is a new, broad approach aimed at the systemic understanding and facilitation of the interaction among all factors and actors for generating, diffusing, and utilizing new knowledge for rural development.

Science Advisory Board

http://www.scienceboard.net/

The mission of The Science Advisory Board is to improve communications between medical and life science professionals and the companies who provide this community with products and services.

SCImago Journal & Country Rank

http://www.scimagojr.com/

The SCImago Journal & Country Rank is a portal that includes the journals and country scientific indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus® database (Elsevier B.V.). These indicators could be used to assess and analyze scientific domains.

Scottish Crop Research Institute: SCRI

http://www.scri.ac.uk/

SCRI is Scotland's leading institute for research on plants and their interactions with the environment, particularly in managed ecosystems. The website contains information about SCRI’s research programmes, knowledge transfer activities, events, news, staff and more.

Searchforvideo.

http://www.searchforvideo.com/

Searchforvideo.com is a video search engine which has been online for over 2 years now and which searches video clips from thousands of content sources.

Seawater Greenhouse

http://www.seawatergreenhouse.com/

“The Seawater Greenhouse is a unique concept which combines natural processes, simple construction techniques and mathematical computer modelling to provide a low-cost solution to one of the world's greatest needs – fresh water. The Seawater Greenhouse is a new development that offers sustainable solution to the problem of providing water for agriculture in arid, coastal regions.”

Senscot

http://www.senscot.net/

Senscot started in response to Scotland's many social problems - mainly concentrated in areas of chronic poverty. Our particular role is to recognise the contribution of individual leaders in tackling injustice and to support them and their endeavours.

Shelfari

http://www.shelfari.com/

Shelfari makes it easy to see what your friends are reading, what others with similar tastes have enjoyed, and even get and give book recommendations.

Solimar Research Group

http://www.solimar.org/

“Solimar's mission is to provide solid research and policy analysis on land-use and related issues so that government land-use policymakers can make informed decisions. Land-use decisions are often made in a highly charged political environment, sometimes with little information about whether they will be effective. Solimar is committed to building a stronger base of solid knowledge with which to make decisions about local and regional land use, metropolitan growth patterns, and related policy concerns. We use a combination of geographical, statistical, and qualitative methods to provide a well-rounded view.”

Spinebreakers.co.uk

http://www.spinebreakers.co.uk/

“Spinebreakers.co.uk is Penguin's pioneering online book community for teenagers, run by teenagers themselves. Editorial control of the site is in the hands of a core editorial team of nine teenagers aged between 13 and 18 years, supported by a large network of contributing teen editors from across the UK.”

TheGlasgowStory

http://www.theglasgowstory.com/index.php

“As told by some of Scotland's best writers, and illustrated with thousands of images from the collections of the city's world-famous libraries, museums and universities. From football to fashions, Auchenshuggle to Yoker, you'll find it all here.”

Top 12 Areas for Technology Innovation through 2025

http://changewaves.socialtechnologies.com/home/2007/11/20/top-12-areas-for-technology-innovation-through-2025.html

A discussion from ChangeWays.

Transition Towns WIKI

http://www.transitiontowns.org/

This website is a WIKI for use by all the communities that have adopted the Transition Model for responding to the twin challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change.

Value Chains for Development

http://portals.kit.nl/value_chains_for_development

This information portal presents free Internet information on the value chains approach to rural development, including newsletters, discussion groups, websites, databases, and directories.

Visual Dictionary Online

http://visual.merriam-webster.com/

“The Visual Dictionary is designed to help you find the right word at a glance. Filled with stunning illustrations labeled with accurate terminology in up to six languages, it is the ideal language-learning and vocabulary dictionary for use at school, at home or at work.”

WeTrust.org

http://wetrust.org/

WeTrust.org is part of the WeTrust Internet Research Group. WeTrust.org is a safe shopping search and directory for web sites that have secure shopping facilities. The WeTrust organisation is based in the United Kingdom.

WiserWiki

http://www.wiserwiki.com/

WiserWiki is provided as a free service by Elsevier. It is evolving to become a key source of authoritative, online medical information.

Your Archives

http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

The National Archives' online community of records users.

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

NICE WEB SITE

In the course of finding sites of interest for this Newsletter, we sometimes come across Web sites which we feel deserve slightly more than a passing mention. Each month we will pick out one or more such sites, and give them a short review. The sites will normally be UK based, may be small or large, and be of interest or potential interest to academics. After lengthy discussions we have decided, with incredible creativity :-), to call these: Nice Web Sites. Details of previous Nice Web Sites are available in the Nice Web Site Archive.

SCImago Journal & Country Rank
http://www.scimagojr.com/

This is being billed as a possible alternative to Thomson’s Impact Factors. The indicators included in the SJR portal were calculated from the information exported from the Scopus® database on March 2007 and will be updated periodically. It allows you to list journals according to various indicators, such as:

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

BLOGORAMA

Selected interesting blogs, RSS feeds and news items

You already know what blogs are, but for more information about RSS see the Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(protocol) or Webopedia http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RSS.html

The Internet Resources Newsletter has an RSS feed (essentially the Table of Contents for each issue): http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.rss
To add this RSS feed to any feedreader, go to: http://tinyurl.com/39sg5j

Business of Online Video
http://blog.streamingmedia.com/

30 More Excellent Blog Designs
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/11/22/30-more-excellent-blog-designs/
From Smashing Magazine

Open Knowledge Foundation Weblog
http://blog.okfn.org/

SEO Blog
http://www.joostdevalk.nl/
by Joost de Valk

blogAERADE
http://aerade.cranfield.ac.uk/blog/
The AERADE portal provides integrated access to key aerospace and defence information sources.

Fade Library
http://fadelibrary.wordpress.com/
Fade Library is the Library Service of Liverpool PCT. We act as the North West Grey Literature Service and offer back up library services to the Primary Care Trusts of Cheshire and Merseyside.

LibWorld
http://infobib.de/blog/features/libworld/
Libworld is a series of postings in which guest authors introduce the library and library related blogs of their particular country.

Au Courant
http://paulcourant.net/
Paul Courant’s blog about libraries, economics, public policy, and other stuff

"Self-plagiarism is style"
http://www.daveyp.com/blog/
Dave Pattern's weblog

Reportlinker's blog : Web 3.0, Vertical Search, Information Industry and Market Research News
http://blog.reportlinker.com/

Edublog Awards 2007 winners
http://edublogawards.com/and-the-winners-are/

A Library By Any Other Name
http://alibraryisalibrary.blogspot.com/
Winner of the Edublog Best librarian / library blog

RSS feeds
http://websearch.about.com/od/rsssocialbookmarks/f/rss.htm?nl=1
Wendy Bosswell explains

For Librarians News
http://www.oxfordjournals.org/news/for_librarians/index.xml
From Oxford Journals

Oxford Journals News RSS feeds
http://www.oxfordjournals.org/news/index.xml

libraries in the nhs
http://www.nelh.blogspot.com/

Walt at Random
http://walt.lishost.org/

Technically Random
http://depts.washington.edu/randtech/blog/

Not the Edublog Award Winners
http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2007/12/not-edublog-award-winners.html
This is a list of sites that should be recognized but which, for one reason or another, were overlooked by the Edublog Awards.

International Herald Tribune RSS feeds
http://www.iht.com/rss/index.php

The Blog Council
http://www.blogcouncil.org/
The Blog Council is the community for large companies' blogs

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

RECENT INTERNET BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY

The Mantex Information Design web site has reviews of some of the books mentioned in previous issues of the Internet Resources Newsletter.

Recent Arrivals

303.38 SUR
The wisdom of crowds
by James Surowiecki
Anchor Books, 2005

A complete list of new books added to Heriot-Watt University Library is available at: http://hw.lib.ed.ac.uk/cgi-bin/newbooks.cgi

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

NEW BOOK REVIEW

Blended Learning: Tools for Teaching & Training
by Barbara Allan
Facet Publishing 2007-12-04
ISBN: 978-1-85604-614-5

This well structured and clearly written book tackles blended learning for information professionals, so filling what the author identifies as a gap in the literature. Given that mainstream literature in this general area focuses on e-learning or face-to-face learning for lecturers or educational developers, this book is a useful addition on how a mix of delivery styles can be used by library and information service (LIS) professionals in their teaching and training programmes. It is (with its many examples of blended learning in LIS contexts) a useful counterpoint to the Higher Education Academy’s 2006 report on the student experience of blended learning which fails to mention LIS practice.

Allan (currently Senior Lecturer in student learning and management learning at the Hull University Business School) has used her experience, in academic and workplace libraries and in designing and delivering training programmes, to provide practical advice in this new book. The practical nature of much of the content is enriched by her easy explanation of the theories underpinning learning. The theoretical content helps the reader understand the rationale of blended learning approaches and is justified on the basis that you should know why you’re doing something to do it well.

Because the book is written in the context of library and information services, the main readership will be information professions, particularly those involved in teaching or instructing library users and/or library staff, but also those working in multi-disciplinary educational development teams or with virtual learning environments, as well as those with an interest in the application of new and emerging technologies in learning. However, it will also be useful for library and information students, consultants and trainers as well as educational developers and technologists who may have no awareness of library services as providers or blended learning programmes.

Indeed, while multi-disciplinary teams including lecturers, librarians and education development staff should work together in the provision of blended learning, it is often the case that they don’t. Allan has described this elsewhere as a “silo mentality”. Whilst this may be true, and whilst this book is a very useful addition to the LIS literature, the very nature of its specificity to the library and information sector may in some ways perpetuate professional divisions in the area of blended learning.

That said, the book offers a valuable text in an uncatered-for area. It outlines how to use the best elements from traditional and new approaches to create a mix of learning materials and delivery modes which most suit learners. Allan deftly illustrates the diverse nature of learning styles and modes of study to be catered for, as well as the issues of teaching very large and/or diverse groups of students.

She also clearly depicts the range of technologies available, and how these can be combined to deliver engaging and effective learning programmes. In this sense the book impresses that there are almost infinite possibilities to create contextualised learning, specific to individual or groups of students working in particular environments. Whilst this is an attractive prospect, it raises the question of how re-usable the programmes or individual learning materials can be. Whilst Allan does mention re-usable learning objects (p88) she does so briefly. A fuller discussion on the place for creating and sharing discrete learning objects would have added a useful dimension to the text.

Perhaps drawn from the author’s experience of delivering training, the book is very well structured. There are nine chapters, each with an introduction signalling what is going to be covered and a summary re-stating what has been included in each chapter.

A full table of contents is available at http://www.facetpublishing.co.uk/614-5.pdf. In summary, chapters include - tools and technologies; models for teaching and learning; planning and designing blended learning programmes; planning and designing learning activities; working with groups; working as a tutor; communities of practice; and managing blended learning projects.

Tools and technologies which can be used in blended learning are comprehensive and clearly explained – ranging from first generation tools, such as Powerpoint and email to Web 2.0 applications such as blogs and social networking sites. Case studies showing how some are used help to root the text in practice. This section also covers virtual learning environments.

Practical advice is given on the design and delivery of blended learning programmes – particularly useful for those working in muti-disciplinary teams who have no prior knowledge in this area and who need to get up to speed with others in the group. Useful checklists and key questions to ask at the planning stages are given, as well as examples (with pros and cons) of different learning activies, e.g. debates, quizzes, brainstorming, simulations and visits.

An increasing amount of learning is done in groups. Chapter 6 addresses this in detail, covering issues surrouning different types and sizes of both physical, and virtual, groups. Tutoring individuals is also covered, including what it takes to be an effective tutor, with thought provoking situtations designed to prepare the tutor for more difficult interactions.

Project management is covered in the final chapter. Although tweaked to the design and delivery of blended learning, much of this chapter covers general project management skills and may therefore be of use to a wider audience.

Throughout the book there is a broad range of examples and illustrative case studies.

As a whole, this book will be helpful and instructive to those designing and/or delivering programmes of blended learning. It will assist readers in achieving a suitable and engaging mix of learning activities, using an appropiate range of technologies and based on a knowledge of students’ needs and expections as well as an understanding of general learning theories.

MK

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

GET A LIFE! - LEISURE TIME

Things to do in Edinburgh
http://www.edinburgh.org/events/
Events and festivals

[Contents] - [ IRN Home Page ] - [HWU Library Home Page] 

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