The Libraries of Fox Valley Technical College

Keeping Current with EDUCAUSE | Fair Use

2012-02-09T10:55:00.002-06:00

I wanted to know what is new in Copyright - Best Practices and found an excellent resource: EDUCAUSE Fair Use. From there I found:
· Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries
[pdf] http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/code-of-best-practices-fair-use.pdf

· Copyright and Fair Use: Trends and Resources for 21st-Century Scholars: has a [Resources] tab that links to a Toolkit page and a PowerPoint presentation.

· Association of Research Libraries (ARL) 's YouTube Channel
VIDEO: Code of Best Practices in Fair Use: Rollout Webcast, Jan. 26, 2012
VIDEO: Fair Use FAQ for Librarians

Accessibility Articles from Online Magazines and Blogs

2012-02-07T11:55:00.001-06:00

As Your World Changes Blog - articles:
· Will Computer Science Meet accessibility in 2011?
· Beyond Universal Design – Through Multi-Sensory Representations

Sydney Morning Herald: Technology News : Articl Computer system gives ears to those who cannot hear article has a link to Access Innovation Media website.

SpeechTEk Magazine - Captioning articles:
· CPC Releases Real-Time Speech Recognition-Based Closed Captioning
· Market Spotlight: Assistive Technologies for the Disabled
· TVEyes and PerVoice Partner: The deal integrates PerVoice's audio-to-text technology with TVEyes' broadcast monitoring services.

Speech Technology Magazine Blog - Hearing Impaired articles:
· Nintendo Launches Speech Recognition Trials
· A Voice For The Deaf

Communications of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) - articles:
· Access for all
· Data Trends on Minorities and People with Disabilities in Computing

See also ACM Special Interest Group on Accessibility, SIGACCESS

Accessibility Conferences

2012-02-07T11:53:00.000-06:00

February 27- March 3, 2012 27th Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference 2012: California State University, Northridge Center on Disabilities. Conference will be held in San Diego, CA

August 13 - 15, 2012 SpeechTEk Conference 2012: Latest speech technology products, including analytics, development tools, in-car systems, natural language and translation, and voice-enabled personal assistants. New York, NY

Oct 22-24 2012 ACM ASSETS 2012 - Boulder, Colorado, Oct 22-24 2012 USA : The ASSETS conference explores the design, evaluation, and use of computing and information technologies to benefit people with disabilities and older adults. Boulder, Colorado

Role Models for Accessibility

2012-02-07T09:32:00.001-06:00

Ohio State University Web Accessibility Center
For an overview of how Accessibility can be provided, check out this website: Ohio State University - Web Accessibility Center - Automated Captioning Project
· Overview
· Automated Transcription
· In-House Captioning Solutions
· Vendor Captioning Solutions
· Captioning Tutorials

Ohio State University Web Accessibility Center also has a list of Tutorials on their OSA Sitemap including:Accessible Design :o Best Practiceso Why and Howo Section 508 Standardso Intermediate tutorialo WAC: Top Ten Tips

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s Illinois IT Accessibility Initiative links to the AbleData database of assistive technology: "Containing objective information on more than 35,000 assistive products including a detailed description of the product's functions and features.”

University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Information Technology (DoIT) has many accessibility related pages, including:· Captioning Accessibility DoIT University of Wisconsin-Madison· Pilot Project Accessibility DoIT University of Wisconsin-Madison· Accessibility DoIT University of Wisconsin-Madison
·Trace Center: Research to Make Everyday Technologies Accessible & Usable
· Resources and Tools from the Trace Center
· Trace Center Handouts
· Web Accessibility
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: The Rehabilitation Research Design & Disability (R2D2) Center webpage ACCESS Main Street : “Offers resources to promote universal design, accessibility, inclusion, and ease of use within all aspects of the community.” Utah State’s WebAIM: Web Accessibility In Mind includes an Introduction to web accessibility and a Web Captioning Overview. Other links of interest include: · Captioning Software· Captioning QuickTime· Captioning RealPlayer· Captioning Windows Media· Real-time Captioning

Accessibility Websites

2012-02-07T09:29:00.003-06:00

The Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDeA) Current projects include:
· Global Universal Design Commission, Inc.
· Bridging the Gap: Increasing Access to Universal Design
· Universal Design E-World

Liberated Learning has a link to information on Real Time Captioning: PrototypesBased on these core requirements, prototype systems have been developed for classroom use, including IBM ViaScribe and Caption Editing System. See also, LL’s list of publications and list of partners and list of institutions.

National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM): NCAM staff lead an industry standards process within the IMS Global Learning Consortium that created and continues to maintain the Access for All metadata and user preference standards, now ISO/IEC Standard 24751. Links from NCAN Sitemap include:
· Accessible Digital Media Guidelines: A publication of the Beyond the Text project
· Tools & Guidelines· Accessible Digital Media Guidelines
· Digital Image and Graphic Resources for Accessible Materials (DIAGRAM):

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities. Links on their website:· Introduction to Web Accessibility
· Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization
· Essential Components of Web Accessibility
· How People with Disabilities Use the Web
· Finding Your WAI to New Web Accessibility Resources

See also:
· Digital Image and Graphic Resources for Accessible Materials (DIAGRAM)
· IMS Global Learning Consortium: Specifications and Adoption Practices
· Rochester Institute of Technology Deaf Studies Internet Resources list of Caption Resources
· Universal Design Network- Links to Universal Design Sites.
· WebInSight Project has link to WebAnywhere: A Screen Reader On-the-Go

FCC .gov Accessibility Clearinghouse

2012-02-07T09:29:00.001-06:00

FCC .gov Accessibility Clearinghouse: Browse Resources by Disability:
· Blind or Visually Impaired Genetic, congenital or acquired vision disabilities including color blindness.
· Cognitive Disabilities Intellectual deficits or impaired thinking, which include intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, acquired brain injuries, neurodegenerative diseases like dementia.
· Deaf-Blind Disability Genetic, congenital or acquired limitations in peripheral vision and chronic hearing impairments.
· Hearing, Language and Speech Disabilities Deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened, problems with voice, difficulties pronouncing sounds, or articulation disorders.
· Mobility and Physical Disabilities Includes auto-immune disorders that can make it difficult to use a phone; and spinal cord injuries, quadriplegia and paraplegia.

Voice/Speech to Text: Accessibility Software and Design Tools

2012-02-07T09:25:00.002-06:00

Assistive Listening System Has a link to C-Print: C-Print ® :A speech-to-text system developed at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) Assistive Technology

CMU Sphinx Open Source Toolkit For Speech Recognition Project by Carnegie Mellon University has links to the CMU Sphinx Download page and a list of Open Source Speech Software from Carnegie Mellon University.

Hewlett-Packard - Assistive Technologies list for hearing impaired disability:
· COMMplements
· iCommunicator
· Omnitor AB
· Oralys
· Vcom3D

IBM Tokyo Research Laboratory Accessibility Center's List of Web Resources.
· IBM AbilityLab Media Captioner and Editor: Media Captioner and Editor that produces synchronized captions. It supports a wide variety of file formats.
· IBM ViaScribe was the world's first specially designed speech recognition captioning system.

NCAM software list from Tools & Guidelines:
· MAGpie, free software for adding captions and video descriptions to QuickTime, Windows Media, Real and Flash multimedia
· CCforFlash, a free Flash component that can be used to display captions of Flash video and audio content
· ccPlayer and ccMP3Player, free players that incorporate CCforFlash components; useful for non-Flash authors who want to add captions to Flash video or audio, respectively
· CaptionKeeper, software that converts television closed-caption data into Web streaming formats
· NCAM QA Favelet, a tool to help developers identify accessibility problems on Web pages
· STEP, the Simple Tool for Error Prioritization for Section 508 compliance.

Nuance - Accessibility Solutions has a Dragon Naturally Speaking Comparison Matrix [pdf] and a page about their Voice to Text Programs and Services.

Using YouTube to Caption VideosCaptioning YouTube Video and Providing Accessible Controls: "A relatively pain-free way to have accessible, captioned video in your web pages. — brought to you by the friendly people at The Ohio State University Web Accessibility Center”.

Accessibility Software and Design Tools … Continued

2012-02-07T09:24:00.000-06:00

Text to speech:Web-based Text To Speech tools Free or Inexpensive Text-to-Speech Reading Software How-To Solutions - Accessibility Tools.

FAE Website AnalyzerFunctional Accessibility Evaluator 1.1 based on these HTML/XHTML Standards from the University of Illinois IT Accessibility Tools website. “The Functional Accessibility Evaluator (FAE) analyzes web pages for markup that is consistent with the use of iCITA HTML Best Practices for the development of functionally accessible web resources that also support interoperability.”

Everybody’s favorite Colorblind Web Page Filter should also be used when designing webpages.

Find Your Technology Strengths and Weaknesses

2012-01-24T16:35:00.001-06:00

I took this test and found it very interesting. Give it a try!

SmarterMeasure (formerly READI) http://uw.readi.info/

SmarterMeasure is an assessment that measures learner readiness. SmarterMeasure is an indicator of the degree to which distance learning and/or learning in a technology rich environment will be a good fit for you. It will help you prepare to be successful as a student. You are not penalized for guessing on SmarterMeasure, please enter an answer for each question on the assessment. Upon completion of SmarterMeasure you will receive a score report which will not only help you understand your strengths and opportunities for improvement, but will also provide resources to help you succeed. Remember, this assessment is strictly for your benefit. Take the time to rate yourself honestly.

Urban Legends, Hoaxes, Scams and Fraud

2012-01-12T15:08:00.005-06:00

Don't believe everything you read!

1) Test internet web page claims or email chain letters:
Put a phrase from the email into a Google or Yahoo Search and add scam fraud hoax:
Google: help provide food for abused and neglected animals hoax fraud scam 2,130,000 results
Yahoo: help provide food for abused and neglected animals hoax fraud scam 1,100,000 results

2) Get more than one opinion
Hoax-slayer.com: Verdict “The information in the message is true.” Clicking does feed animals.
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/ .

Snopes.com: Verdict: Status: True. Includes other true charity click sites as well.
http://www.snopes.com/

Truth Or Fiction: Verdict : Not in database
http://www.truthorfiction.com/

3) Watch for Red Flags
· Home page is list of diet fads or other list of advertisements.
· Information “About” website origin is lacking or is generic and vague.
· If it says “Advertorial”: It means advertisement.
· No author or author is generic – no authority.
· No “Contact Us” or no email or email not valid – no accountability.
· When you close window, it has a pop-up trying to lure you back.
· Notice the free trial ends tomorrow: Also known as a hard sell: Now or never!
· Aims at impulse buying.
· Lots and lots of approving comments (do not necessarily come from real people).
· Forwards you to another site for purchase.

More about Urban Legends, Hoaxes, Scams and Fraud:
About.com: Hoax Information Center
About.com: Urban Legends and Folklore
How to Spot a Virus Hoax
HowStuffWorks: How Urban Legends Work
Museum of Hoaxes
Symantec: Hoaxes

See also:
MyMoney.gov: Scams / Fraud
USA.gov Consumer Frauds and Scams
USA.gov Internet Fraud

Steve Jobs Overview (1955-2011)

2012-01-12T13:14:00.000-06:00

Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) Entrepreneur, Computer Programmer, Inventor: “Steve Jobs was born February 24, 1955, to two University of Wisconsin graduate students who gave him up for adoption. Smart but directionless, Jobs experimented with different pursuits before starting Apple Computers with Stephen Wozniak in the Jobs' family garage. Apple's revolutionary products, which include the iPod, iPhone and iPad, are now seen as dictating the evolution of modern technology.”
" Steve Jobs." 2012. Biography.com 12 Jan 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/steve-jobs-9354805

Steve Jobs - In Memoriam (1:50 minutes) Apple announced that their company's co-founder, Steve Jobs, died Wednesday evening. He was 56 years old. His revolutionary products, which include the iPod, iPhone and iPad, are now seen as dictating the evolution of modern technology.
" Steve Jobs - In Memoriam." 2012. Biography.com 12 Jan 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/steve-jobs-9354805/videos/steve-jobs-in-memoriam-2149203248

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die “At his Stanford University commencement speech, Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple and Pixar, urges us to pursue our dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself.”
"Steve Jobs: How to live before you die." Stanford University, Filmed Jun 2005; Posted Oct 2011. TED.com.com 12 Jan 2012. http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

Steve Jobs: A timeline “Renowned technology pioneer Steve Jobs died today at the age of 56. The Apple co-founder had been the company's CEO until August when he stepped down for health reasons. For the past two months, he was Apple's chairman of the board.” You can read more in CNET full coverage.
“Steve Jobs: A timeline.” Oct 2011. Cnet.com 12 Jan 2012. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20116374-37/steve-jobs-a-timeline/

See also:
o Steve Jobs Reuters.com
o BBC News - Steve Jobs, Apple 'visionary', dies aged 56
o Steve Jobs - One Last Thing : PBS
o NOVA An Interview With Steve Jobs
o Jobs' Biography: Thoughts On Life, Death And Apple

Accessibility News

2011-12-20T16:49:00.004-06:00

National Association of the Deaf: Summary of the "21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act" : In summary, the “Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act,” when passed would update the Communications Act and establish new safeguards for disability access to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind as technology changes and the United States migrates to the next generation of Internet-based and digital communication technologies.

Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT)has news about Progress of the Bill: “On October 28, 2011, the FCC launched an Accessibility Clearinghouseto assist with the finding of accessible technologies. "The launch occurred during a series of technology demonstrations held the same day at the FCC. The 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, enacted in October 2010, updates requirements for accessibility for people with disabilities, including rules on closed captioning, programming guides and emergency access. This Act also established a clearinghouse of information that is intended to make it as easy as possible for people with disabilities, families and support professionals to find information about accessible technologies. Visit the Clearinghouse here.”

Goodbye to Eduref.org and AskERIC.org

2011-12-09T16:24:00.005-06:00

I was disappointed to find that http://www.eduref.org/ and http://askeric.org/ had disappeared. I wondered if the server was down, but R. David Lankes replied by iPhone “We had to discontinue the service. We had been running it for years with no support and just could no longer continue it.” So here are some links to carry you through the grieving process:

See last pages posted from July 2011 at WaybackMachine Internet Archive.

ERIC - the Education Resources Information Center
You can read About the ERIC Collection , or look at the Journal List or the Non-Journal Source List. It also had a link to the What Works Clearinghouse

U.S. Department of Education
· Strengthening Teaching
· FREE -- Teaching Resources and Lesson Plans from the Federal Government

Teachers Landing - ED.gov - U.S. Department of Education
Excerpts:
· Search the What Works Clearinghouse
Recommendations for improving reading and math achievement, reducing behavior problems, and more.
· Organize Instruction
Research-based tips on how to organize instruction to help students learn and remember.
· Recovery Act Resources
Publications on using data, improving teacher quality, and turning around low performing schools.
· Teaching Resources, Lesson Plans
Lesson plans, primary documents, and teaching resources across the federal government.
· Doing What Works
Research-based practices for teaching English language learners, encouraging girls in math and science, and more.

Math Mimics Nature : Fractals

2011-11-21T10:17:00.001-06:00

What do planets, moons, stalagmites, canyons, mountains, clouds, ferns, trees, leaves, animal and plant veins, cauliflowers, clouds and lightning have in common? They are natural fractals!

PBS.org has these links:
A Radical Mind: Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractals and fractal geometry, was a true maverick, as this interview reveals.

Design a Fractal: Create and save your own wildly colorful fractals using our generator.

Fractals: A Sense of Scale: Explore the infinite detail of a Mandelbrot set as you zoom to a magnification of 250,000,000x.

Describing Nature With Math: How do scientists use mathematics to define reality? And why?

Yale’s Collection of Natural Fractals and Gallery of natural fractals are awesome. If you like those, you will also enjoy the NASA/USGS “Earth as Art” from Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center gallery.

Next look at Yale’s Introduction to Fractals: Where they introduce the basic geometry of fractals, with emphasis on the Iterated Function System (IFS) formalism for generating fractals. Especially, from a standpoint of math mimicking nature, look at IFS rules for natural fractals and more examples of self-similarity. Some of my favorite links are Mountains, Simulated and Forgeries of Nature

For more detail: Fractals, Graphics, and Mathematics Education.

Fractal Tree Animations! See them Grow!

2011-11-21T10:16:00.001-06:00

The fixed tree animation shows the whole tree, through 10 levels of branching. All pictures are the same absolute size, to illustrate the relative size of each of the trees.

The variable tree animation shows the whole tree, through 10 levels of branching. The height of each picture is adjusted to the vertical extent of the tree. The aspect ratio is chosen to preserve slopes.

The fixed tip animation shows the branch tips, represented by the 13th level of branching. All pictures are the same absolute size, to illustrate the relative size of each of the tip set.

The variable tip animation shows the branch tips, represented by the 13th level of branching. The height of each picture is adjusted to the vertical extent of the corresponding tree. The aspect ratio is chosen to preserve slopes. Note an additional delay near the end, revealing a familiar shape.

More relations between the parts of an Iterated Function System (self-repeating) image can be seen in other IFS animations.

Useful Occupation Therapy Resources on the Web

2011-10-18T10:01:00.002-05:00

Focus on Free Trade Magazine Subscriptions

2011-10-06T11:41:00.002-05:00

Gizmo's Freeware Tech Support Alert is a non-commercial community website staffed entirely by volunteers. “Our primary function is to help you select the best freeware product for your particular needs.”

For example, here is an a great review of All You Can Read which may convince you to look at the Allyoucanread.com: Free Trade Magazine Subscriptions & Technical Document Downloads : See Publications by Name, or browse by topic, for free magazines, white papers, downloads and podcasts to find the titles that best match your skills; topics include farming, forestry, feed and poultry. Simply complete the application form and submit it. All are absolutely free to professionals who qualify:
· Agriculture
· Automotive
· Construction
· Education
· Engineering
· Finance
· Food and Beverage
· Healthcare and Medical
· Human Resources
· Information Technology
· Life Sciences
· Management
· Manufacturing
· Marketing
· Multimedia and Printing Technologies
· Operations and Management
· Retail
· Sales
· Utility and Energy

Finding Images For Commercial Use

2011-09-23T16:10:00.002-05:00

Although there may be images available for free or low fee that can be used for commercial purposes... Finding pictures for commercial use in PowerPoint slides says it well: “All images you find online are protected by copyright law, which says pictures are the property of whoever created them. You always need the owner’s permission to use them.”
See: Finding Images Online and Public Domain Texts, Images and Music.

The point of copy right is to give people who generate original content the right to sell copies. With this in mind, your best bet is to produce your own original work, or hire an artist to do "works for hire" and have them sign a contract specifically designating that only you have the right to use the content for commercial purposes. That would mean they cannot then turn around and sell the same content to Microsoft.

What is a work made for hire? “Although the general rule is that the person who creates the work is its author, there is an exception to that principle; the exception is a work made for hire, which is a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment; or a work specially ordered or commissioned in certain specified circumstances. When a work qualifies as a work made for hire, the employer, or commissioning party, is considered to be the author. See Circular 9, Work-Made-For-Hire Under the 1976 Copyright Act.”

For example, any learning tools I create at work, such as Library Instruction Videos belong to FVTC.

See also:
About.com: Thirty Free Image Resources on the Web and Public Domain Images.
Webdesignlessons.com: 16 websites with Free Stock Images for commercial use and Free Stuff for commercial web designers.

Looking for Word 2010 help?

2011-09-16T11:01:00.005-05:00

Go to Library Instruction Videos and select Basic Computer Skills 101.

Or go to Microsoft’s website: Word 2010 Help and How-to and scroll down to your topic of interest, for example:

Add or remove headers, footers, and page numbers

Add a page number without any other information

Add a header or footer that includes a page number

Start numbering with 1 on a different page

Add different headers and footers or page numbers in different parts of the document

Remove page numbers, headers, and footers

Introduction to FVTC Library Services Library Instruction

2011-09-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

Videos created by Valerie Magno for FVTC Library Services using the free “Jing” screen-capture software. You have permission to copy, print, attach, forward, and share these materials provided by FVTC Library Services. Content should be distributed with the FVTC logo, header/footer provided. Excerpts should be cited. Materials that have been created for and by FVTC Library Services are considered a "work for hire" and belong to the school. Use [F11] to get full screen view.

Access to FVTC Library databases from Off-Campus through Library proxy use your FVTC student number 123456789@fvtc.edu and FVTC email password or staffemailID@fvtc.edu and FVTC email password.

1. VIDEO: Intro to FVTC Library Services Resources on Blackboard
http://screencast.com/t/y9S7htwIS (3:10 minutes) In particular you will find [DATABSE TIPS] and [Handouts] and [Bibliographies] tabs useful. Tip sheets in the [DATABSE TIPS] folders are also available in the [Handouts] tab. [Bibliographies] are from Lunch & Learn topics and other questions people have had about what resources are available. Materials that have been created for and by FVTC Library Services are considered a "work for hire" and belong to the school. You have permission to copy, print, attach, forward, and share these materials provided by FVTC Library Services. Content should be distributed with the FVTC logo, header/footer provided. Excerpts should be cited.

2. VIDEO: Finding the FVTC Library Website
http://screencast.com/t/OXJId9RCKN (29 seconds) You can find the FVTC Library Services website by going to http://www.google.com and typing in FVTC library. Or you can go to http://www.fvtc.edu and select [Student Services] and from the pull-down list, select [Library].

3. VIDEO: Off-Campus Access to FVTC Library Databases
http://screencast.com/t/wA6fMbyva5 (48 seconds) To access the Library's subscription databases off campus: Log in to Library proxy pop-up box the same way you log into your FVTC email.

4. VIDEO: Blackboard Hints
http://screencast.com/t/d5Yh7Djq (1:06 minutes) This covers the most common pop-ups you will encounter while using Blackboard. Remember that Blackboard is a secure environment, so you can choose the least restrictive options, allow access to your clipboard content, and run applications.

5. VIDEO: Overview of Searching on Library Databases http://screencast.com/t/tUw5sWGa2lQ (2:49 minutes) Boolean Operators: OR AND NOT Truncation: EBSCO and Proquest: nurs* instructs the database to search for various endings such as nurse, nurses, nursing, etc. Synonyms: Similar words or concepts Limits: Add limits of field(s) to be searched, more terms, document types, date ranges, etc.

6. VIDEO: Example Google Search
http://screencast.com/t/rYzV751p (2:06 minutes) Google can find millions of websites that match your question. It is sorted by link popularity, and term matching, among other things. To get a more relevant search, use the Advanced Search form to create your search strategy.

Main Resources on FVTC Library Services Website

2011-09-12T16:23:00.008-05:00

1. VIDEO: Ask A Librarian and Askaway
http://screencast.com/t/Wodnv9EeHGv (55 seconds)
You can fill out the form and get an email response during the next business day, or you can scroll to the bottom of the page and click the [AskAway] button to access live chat: Giving you access to a live librarian, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. You can be anonymous. If you give your email address, it will only be used for follow-up on your question.

2. VIDEO: FVTC/WISPALS Catalogs
http://screencast.com/t/riiqT21L3 (1:22 minutes)
When you need a book, pamphlet, video, DVD, audio-book, or various reserve material, use the FVTC/WISPALS Catalogs. The detailed record for each item tells you which collection has the item, and the call number (address) of the book. We use the Library of Congress Call Number (LCCN) system: Look for the letter(s) which indicate the primary subject, and then look for the numbers(s). If an item is checked out, ask someone at the front desk to put a hold on the item. We will contact you when the item is available for you to check out.

3. Films on Demand Searching
http://screencast.com/t/CjnJffwW8A ( 2:27 minutes)
New front page now has videos organized by subject. Note [Subjects] tab and [Special Collections] tab. Use spelling variations in Advanced Search. Access to URL from Off Campus through Library proxy.

Films on Demand Sharing
http://screencast.com/t/cIwYxjlC2J (2:22 Minutes)
Add Films on Demand URL to Blackboard, email or PowerPoint Access to URL from Off Campus through Library proxy.

4. VIDEO: NetLibrary Now EBSCO eBooks
http://screencast.com/t/stmqBAAP (1:15 minutes)
From the FVTC Library catalog, NetLibrary links now default to EBSCO eBooks. Electronic books now available through EBSCO eBooks found under EBSCO > Research Databases.

5. VIDEO: Britannica Online
http://screencast.com/t/2xXoz1rB6Ze (34 seconds) This Electronic Encyclopedia can give you background information on a topic. It provides access to country comparisons and other multimedia resources.

6. VIDEO: Vocational Biography
http://screencast.com/t/vDJLfNtFFw9I (57 seconds) This database has detailed descriptions of numerous jobs, from the viewpoint of people who are working in those jobs.

7. VIDEO: EBSCO Academic Search Premier
http://screencast.com/t/EbRmu5FsSg98 (2:21 minutes) Academic Search Premier is the first place to search for articles. If you are not finding what you need in this database, ask your local librarian for assistance.

8. VIDEO: Infotrac
http://screencast.com/t/q1jlr8s3i (1 minute) Take a look at the Business Database and the Wellness Resources Center. Relevant information provided for specific needs.

9. VIDEO: World News Digest
http://screencast.com/t/1M1rHQbafVW (38 seconds) Best of the news from Facts on File. Also provides Tools for teaching and learning.

10. VIDEO: MEDLINEPLUS
http://screencast.com/t/swP0IExdOHy0 (1:03 minutes) You can use the search box to find authoritative medical information. The Sitemap leads you to excellent resources such as a reliable medical dictionary, encyclopedia, tutorials, videos and more!

11. VIDEO: PubMed
http://screencast.com/t/7sSUeQnvMn (1:15 minutes) Find full text articles, books and more. This is an extensive government database of databases.

12. VIDEO: Proquest
http://screencast.com/t/RyUqNUA0F8kS (1:48 minutes) This database is an excellent supplement to the EBSCO databases. Some articles may be found in EBSCO, but it has many unique sources as well.

13. VIDEO: Culturegrams
http://screencast.com/t/fz91CquzxH (47 seconds) Provides a variety of cultural information. This is a great resource to explore before you go to a new country!

14. VIDEO: Westlaw Campus Research
http://screencast.com/t/k83WyXjbz (1:33 minutes) Resources for Business (See Hoovers for business research) and Law ( See Black’s dictionary for definitions).

15. VIDEO: Wisc-Online Resources (Learning Objects) http://screencast.com/t/NtVUYjqesaQG (1:26 minutes) Interactive Power Point slides often require students to answer questions to move through the presentation.

Overview of Searching on EBSCO and PROQUEST

2011-09-12T16:22:00.002-05:00

1. VIDEO: Boolean Searching http://screencast.com/t/Hl766PaPlI8 (1:27 minutes)
When you search for:
job OR advice - you get ALL the documents in the database that have these words.
job AND advice - you get ONLY the documents in the database that have BOTH of these words.
job NOT advice - you get all the documents in the database that have the word JOB, but EXCLUDING documents that have the word ADVICE.

2. VIDEO: Broaden search with Truncation http://screencast.com/t/ceBiV0ZdWC (1:17 minutes) Use the * to search for a word root with various endings. Nurs* finds nurse OR nurses OR nursing…

3. VIDEO: Broaden search with Synonyms http://screencast.com/t/HftLBrxUy3l (46 seconds) Add synonyms and related vocabulary terms to catch/retrieve more possible documents.

4. VIDEO: Narrow EBSCO search with Limits http://screencast.com/t/ZKWFSnoU9sf (2:10 minutes) Once you have the broad search optimized, narrow your search to gain the most relevant articles.

5. VIDEO: DE-scriptor search; Cite suggestion link http://screencast.com/t/HzzYRqppw (1:45 minutes) Use the Subject terms to refine your search. Select Subject term link to do a DE-scriptor search for all articles tagged with that description by a human. Pulls up all the articles about that subject, even if those particular descriptive words are not in the document. Ex): DE "JOB hunting"
Alternate VIDEO: EBSCO DE-scriptor Search http://screencast.com/t/irquteXze9 (1:39 minutes) If you open a title in the Result List to the Detailed Record, you can see how a human has tagged the article with Subject Terms. If you select one of these Subject Terms it will create a new DE-scriptor search, pulling up all the articles tagged with that Subject Term, even if those specific words are not in the document. This can create a more relevant Result List.

6. VIDEO: EBSCO HTML versus PDF http://screencast.com/t/vSUeuuZTjTly (1:03 minutes) EBSCO Full text is database dependent and may change over time. The PDF is a scan of the article as it was printed. This is the same as a photocopy of a journal in hand, and will look the same on any database.

7. VIDEO: Search multiple databases in EBSCO http://screencast.com/t/YMLo10hzUYz (1:03 minutes) Searching for job hunting advice for nurses may be too narrow of a topic. Another way to broaden your search is to select all databases available in EBSCO.
Alternate VIDEO: EBSCO Multiple Databases http://screencast.com/t/XRrTxdzXda (38 seconds) EBSCO is a database of databases. Searching one database at a time, such as Academic Search Premier, will allow you to take advantage of special limiters that may not be available in all the EBSCO databases. If you are not finding what you want in Academic Search Premier, however, you can choose to search all the EBSCO databases.

8. VIDEO: Similar search in Proquest http://screencast.com/t/BRaWEUf2EEX (36 seconds) It is a good idea to search in more than one database, as each database has unique sources.
9. VIDEO: Proquest Full text – If scholarly journal search finds nothing http://screencast.com/t/dKnr5pI0 (2:06 minutes) If a Proquest search for job hunting advice for nurses gets nothing when you limit to full text and scholarly journals: What do you do then? Increase number of fields searched, or use synonyms to broaden your search; Full text versus PDF; cite suggestion link.

10. VIDEO: Proquest Databases http://screencast.com/t/MpJX86X8Tz (53 seconds)
The default is to search all Proquest databases. You can choose just one database to narrow your search further.

Computer Skills 101

2011-09-12T16:18:00.002-05:00

Photo ID Law: Changes to the Election Process Effective Immediately

2011-08-08T13:39:00.008-05:00

For the latest information go to: Government Accountability Board Homepage
Topic :Voter Photo ID: Governor Walker has signed Act 23 requiring voters to show a photo ID at polling places, and making other changes to election law affecting residency and straight-party voting.
· Information about the Voter Photo ID Law
· Frequently Asked Questions about the Voter Photo ID Law
· Voter Photo ID Speakers Bureau Now Open

To learn about getting a free Wisconsin ID card, please visit the Wisconsin Department of Transportation website: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/drivers/apply/idcard.htm

What Is The National Academy of Sciences?

2011-08-03T10:40:00.002-05:00

Relevant Excerpts from http://www.nap.edu website:

The National Academy of Sciences, a private nonprofit corporation chartered by an act of Congress, and the organizations formed under its congressional charter, the National Academies Press, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council are collectively referred to herein as the "National Academies."

The National Academies Press is proud to be one of the only online bookstores that provides anyone in the connected world with free page-by-page access to all of our books.

As of June 1st 2011, PDFs of reports that were previously for sale on the National Academy Press (NAP) Website and PDFs associated with future reports will be offered free of charge to all Web visitors.

We offer more than 4,000 titles in PDF format. All of these PDFs can be downloaded for free by the chapter or the entire book. (There are a small number of reports that never had PDF files and therefore, those reports are not available for download. In addition part of the series, "Nutrient Requirements of Domestic Animals" are not be available in PDF and future titles in this series will also not have PDFs associated with them.)

All of the National Academies Press books (electronic and printed versions) on this website are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences with all rights reserved. You may not distribute, post, or copy our work without written permission from the National Academies Press. Posting or distributing our PDF files not only violates our copyright but it also could proliferate the sharing of non-authoritative versions of our reports.

We encourage sharing our books via approved means to help to maximize the impact of our work. Please use the following methods to ensure that everyone receives up-to-date, authoritative files directly from the National Academies Press servers:

1) Point your colleagues to the book's unique URL indicated above item.
Example: www.nap.edu/catalog/12614.html.
Each book will have a different number prior to .html.

2) Use the widget on the book's catalog page for posting on your Website. The widget will allow people to download the PDF for free without leaving your site but will pull the file from our servers, ensuring an authoritative version.

3) Click the share button on the book's catalog page to conveniently access the tools to tell your colleagues about the book and point to its free PDF file.

RECAP: YES: Free to read online, download one copy for personal non-commercial use, or share citation or unique URL with others. NO: Do not make multiple copies, post online, or forward pdfs!

Please see terms of use statement for additional information.

Exciting! National Academies Press: Free Books!

2011-08-02T11:15:00.005-05:00

The National Academies Press (NAP) “Created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States. The NAP publishes more than 200 books a year on a wide range of topics in science, engineering, and health, capturing the most authoritative views on important issues in science and health policy.

Digital (PDF) Content: “We offer more than 4,000 titles in PDF format. All of these PDFs can be downloaded for free by the chapter or the entire book*. Our frequently asked questions guide answers questions about accessing our digital content.”

Topics:
Agriculture
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Biography and Autobiography
Biology and Life Sciences
Computers and Information Technology
Conflict and Security Issues
Earth Sciences
Education :
*Subtopics
** Education Research and Theory
** Teacher Preparation and Professional Development
Energy and Energy Conservation
Engineering and Technology
Environment and Environmental Studies
Food and Nutrition
Health and Medicine
Industry and Labor
Math, Chemistry and Physics
Policy for Science and Technology
Space and Aeronautics
Transportation and Infrastructure

A few books I noticed:
1. America's Climate Choices (2011)
2. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011)
3. Wireless Technology Prospects and Policy Options (2011)
4. Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust (2011)
5. Global Technology: Changes and Implications: Summary of a Forum (2011)
6. Advancing Oral Health in America (2011)
7. Issues in Commuting and Pilot Fatigue: Interim Report (2011)

Welcome to Windows 7 and Office 2010

2011-07-27T16:41:00.004-05:00

Customguide.com Quick References: “Provide shortcuts, tips, and tricks for over 100 of the most popular programs used in today's business market. Use them to brush up on the basics and to find alternate methods to your favorite commands.
Feel free to download, print, and distribute as many copies as you like to your colleagues.”

Operating System:
[PDF]Windows 7

Microsoft Suite:
[PDF] Office 2010
[PDF] Access 2010
[PDF] Excel 2010
[PDF] Outlook 2010
[PDF] PowerPoint 2010
[PDF] Word 2010

Try Yogile for Easy Photo-sharing!

2011-07-26T12:09:00.003-05:00

About Yogile:
Yogile is different because it lets multiple people contribute with ease. Once you create an album, you get a customizable URL and e-mail address to share with anyone who wants to add photos, either as e-mail attachments or uploads through the site.

More information: Yogile FAQs.

See also:
EU.Techcrunch.com: Yogile – a dead simple photo sharing site with a collaborative twist by Steve O'Hear on July 13, 2010
“Founded by Netherlands-based Maurice Sikkink…The service is free for 100mb of upload space, after which an ad-free premium offering is available at $24.95 per year that gives unlimited photo uploads, albums and storage.”

Gadgetcage.com: Yogile: The Most Flexible and Reliable Photo Sharing Website by Siddartha on August 6, 2010 excerpts:
· Once you create a album, nobody has to signup with a username or password.
· They can simply send the pictures via email or SMS to the email address name-of-album@yogile.com or you can also directly upload them directly at website of the album(yogile.com/name-of-album).

Makeuseof.com: Yogile: A Cool Alternative To Flickr With Group Sharing Features posted on August 30, 2010 by Nancy Messieh excerpts:
· Upload the photos directly onto the site, and you don’t even have to be a registered member to do so… if you are not a registered member, you will be listed as an anonymous contributor.
· If you sign up, you have the added advantage of being able to take credit for the photos that you added.
· You can send the photos to the album-specific email and they will be added to the album.
· If the album is password protected, simply add the password to the body of the email.
· If you enter a subject in the email, it will be used as the title of the photo, otherwise the file name will be used.
· If an album is not password protected, you can use the subject to enter a title, and the body of the email to enter a caption.
· You are limited to 100MB per month for your uploads
· You can keep track of your usage each time you upload a new photo.

Google in the News

2011-07-20T12:25:00.002-05:00

What is going on at Google?
Bloomberg: GOOG:US
Google Finance: NASDAQ: GOOG
New York Times: Google Inc.
Yahoo Finance : Google Inc. (GOOG)

Google in the News:
PCMag.com: Got Malware? Google Adding Warnings Atop Search Results
“If you don't see the alert but are concerned that your computer might have malware, you can run a system scan using the directions on Google's Help Center.” See also on Google Topics: Suspicious results and strange behavior

ArsTechnica.com: Study: why bother to remember when you can just use Google?
“Our memory appears to be adapting to technology, for better or worse. Some argue that the changes to our brains caused by instant access to information are damaging and similar to addiction, but other results suggest that actively searching online can actually strengthen some brains.”

What is Schema.org? Bing, Google and Yahoo! have come together to provide a shared collection of schemas: html tags, that webmasters can use to markup their pages in ways recognized by major search providers.

Keep up to date at: http://searchenginewatch.com/

ICANN Approves Historic Change to Internet's Domain Name System

2011-06-24T11:25:00.002-05:00

Board Votes to Launch New Generic Top-Level Domains
"ICANN will soon begin a global campaign to tell the world about this dramatic change in Internet names and to raise awareness of the opportunities afforded by new gTLDs. Applications for new gTLDs will be accepted from 12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012." See video ICANN Approves Historic Change to Internet's Domain Name System.

ICANN-Accredited Registrars

2011-06-24T11:24:00.000-05:00

ICANN currently accredits domain-name registrars for the following Top Level Domains. This is the list from http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/accredited-list.html :
.aero, (reserved for the global aviation community) sponsored by Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques (SITA INC USA)
.asia, (reserved for the Pan-Asia and Asia Pacific region) sponsored by DotAsia Organisation
.biz, (restricted to businesses), operated by NeuStar, Inc.
.cat, (reserved for the Catalan linguistic and cultural community), sponsored by Fundació puntCat.
.com, operated by VeriSign, Inc.
.coop, (reserved for cooperatives) sponsored by Dot Cooperation LLC
.info, operated by Afilias Limited
.jobs, (reserved for the human resource management community) sponsored by Employ Media LLC
.mobi, (reserved for consumers and providers of mobile products and services) sponsored by mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.
.museum, (restricted to museums and related persons), sponsored by the Museum Domain Management Association International (MDI)
.name, (restricted to individuals), operated by Verisign Information Services, Inc.
.net, operated by VeriSign, Inc.
.org, operated by Public Interest Registry
.pro, (restricted to licensed professionals) operated by Registry Services Corporation (dba RegistryPro)
.tel, (reserved for individuals and businesses to store and manage their contact information in the DNS) sponsored by Telnic Limited
.travel, (reserved for entities whose primary area of activity is in the travel industry) sponsored by Tralliance Registry Management Company, LLC
.xxx, (reserved for online adult entertainment) sponsored by ICM Registry, LLC

Education and Technology News

2011-06-23T12:29:00.001-05:00

Campus Technology
Monthly publication focusing exclusively on the use of technology across all areas of higher education.

Chronicle of Higher Education
Weekly news and job-information source for college and university faculty members.

eCampus News
Providing the latest news, resources and reports on the applications of technology to improve learning.

eSchool News
Providing the latest news, resources and reports on the applications of technology to improve learning. School Technology News and Resources for Today's K -20 Educator.

Inside Higher Ed
Education news, higher education jobs, higher education commentary and opinion. Higher education career advice.

Technology Review: The Authority on the Future of Technology
Jun 23, 2011 ... From MIT. Information on Emerging Technologies & impact on business & society.

The SOURCE on Community College Issues, Trends and Strategies
Links to timely and important news, articles, reports and organizations relevant to community colleges.

Today's Campus - The Business Magazine For Higher Education
Today's Campus Magazine - The Business Magazine of Higher Education.

University Business Magazine
News, Articles and Community for higher education decision makers. Magazine published monthly, with daily news and blogs and online content.

League for Innovation in the Community College

2011-06-23T12:24:00.001-05:00

League for Innovation in the Community College: Claims to be “the only major international organization specifically committed to improving community colleges through innovation, experimentation, and institutional transformation.”
Free resources include:
· Education Resources: The links listed on this page provide a variety of information resources for community and technical college students, faculty and staff. In general, the site descriptions included below are taken directly from the site itself.
· Higher Education Resources on the Web The links listed on this page provide a variety of information resources for community and technical college students, faculty and staff. In general, the site descriptions included below are taken directly from the site itself.
· Learning Links : Community College Service Connections for Implementing Innovative Solutions
· Resource Connections for improving learning, leadership, student services, technology, and workforce initiatives in 21st century community colleges.
· Resources on the Web offer access to educational associations, community colleges on the Web, and learning resources for educators.
· Training Resources on the Web National and International Community and Technical College Resources

Citizen Journalism: Make Money!

2011-06-16T16:23:00.000-05:00

Digital Journal http://www.digitaljournal.com/ “Founded on the Internet in 1998, DigitalJournal.com began as a technology news site. When our readers started asking to take part in the news-gathering process, we jumped at the idea and in 2006 we started paying writers who wanted to contribute news from around the world. DigitalJournal.com has been a pioneer in online revenue-sharing, as well as a pioneer in the world of participatory media, user-generated news and citizen journalism…..While everyone can contribute to DigitalJournal.com through blogs, images, video and groups, we also offer Digital Journalists a chance to get paid to report the news.”

Demotix http://www.demotix.com/ “Upload your news stories, images and video, Build your profile and portfolio and join the thriving Demotix community; we'll push your work out to over 200 news companies around the world - giving strength to your voice and splitting any fee 50:50…. Basic, non-exclusive rights to your photos will sell for anything between $50 and $3,000 USD. We sell exclusive rights for whatever we can get. And some photos and videos can go for $100,000s.”

Citizen Journalism: Education Based

2011-06-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

Columbia.edu: New Media And Development Communication “This website is a survey of new projects and ideas from around the world. They share a common interest in using new media technology to help people in developing countries face the challenges in their lives.”
Here is their take on Cell Phones and Citizen Journalism.

UTexas.edu: Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas “at the University of Texas at Austin is a professional training and outreach program for journalists in Latin America and the Caribbean”. Their blog discusses how 20 years after Rodney King's beating was caught on tape, new technologies allow anyone to be a citizen journalist.

Wisc.edu: Center for Journalism Ethics School of Journalism and Mass Communications University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their page on Digital Media Ethics poses a number of difficult questions, including how and when to use citizen reports.

Yale.edu: Politics and the New Media is a blog written and administered by Yale College undergraduates in a political science course titled “Politics and the New Media.” Here is their discussion of Cellphone Journalism.

Citizen Journalism: Support

2011-06-16T16:20:00.001-05:00

J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism http://j-lab.org/ “J-Lab has a long and respected track record of turning ideas into action. Through our pilot projects, innovation awards, consulting, research, learning modules and training, we create space for experimentation, identify what works and apply those insights to the future of journalism.”

Journalism.org http://www.journalism.org/ “Journalism.org is designed to give users the power to find precisely what they want and then customize that data to learn more. Here is a rundown of each part of the site and how to get the most from it.” See: How to Use Our Site.

Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ) “is dedicated to trying to understand the information revolution. We specialize in using empirical methods to evaluate and study the performance of the press, particularly content analysis. We are non partisan, non ideological and non political.”

Citizen Journalism: Mediated Sites

2011-06-16T16:19:00.000-05:00

The Rapidian http://www.therapidian.org/ “The Rapidian is a citizen journalism project intended to increase the flow of local news and information in the Grand Rapids community and its neighborhoods. By providing tools, training, platforms and support, we hope to empower neighborhood residents to report the news from the inside out. We are an outlet for Grand Rapidians to become more than just content consumers but also providers by becoming citizen journalists.”

Now Public http://www.nowpublic.com/ “If you're a newbie and you've never posted a story before, we want to make sure we're a good fit for each other so for your first post only our spam-busters will give it a once over and sniff out pure self-promotion, business pitches, offensive rants, and all other forms of anti-posts. Chances are you are legit and will just need a bit of help to get the largest audience and reward for your work, so we'll give you some hints to make it so. Once you've got your first post under your belt, subsequent posts will go live and we'll advise after the fact.”

Wikinews http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page “Anyone can contribute, and articles are written collaboratively for a global audience. We strive at all times to meet the policy of using neutral point of view, ensuring our reporting is as fair as possible.

Furthermore, everything we write is cited, to maintain the highest standards of reliability.

Wikinews, like its big sister Wikipedia, is run and funded by volunteers donating their time and money, and has no advertising. Decisions are made collectively, and we like to negotiate. Discussion is encouraged, and there are plenty of people around to learn from.

Our policy is to omit opinion and commentary in our articles — if you want to tell the world what you think, try blogging.”

Citizen Journalism: Unmediated Sites

2011-06-16T16:17:00.000-05:00

AllVoices http://www.allvoices.com/ “allvoices is an open and unmediated site. Every voice (contribution) is automatically checked for spam and relevance to the news event. A contribution is posted as is as long as it is relevant to the news event. The relevance is checked by our algorithms and technology - not humans.”

Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/ “Since Examiner.com does not control the User Content posted on the Site, it does not guarantee the truthfulness, integrity, suitability, or quality of that User Content, and it does not endorse such User Content.”

ChicagoTalks http://chicagotalks.org/ “You are solely responsible for the User Submissions you post on or through the Service. Chicagotalks.org does not endorse and has no control over any User Submission. Chicagotalks.org has no obligation to monitor the Site, Service, Content, or User Submissions.”

Citizen Journalism: News Organizations

2011-06-16T16:16:00.000-05:00

CBS Eye Mobile http://www.cbseyemobile.com/ "When you provide User Submissions, you grant to CBS Interactive, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, and partners a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully sublicenseable license to use, distribute, edit, display, archive, publish, sublicense, perform, reproduce, make available, transmit, broadcast, sell, translate, and create derivative works of those User Submissions, and your name, voice, likeness and other identifying information where part of a User Submission, in any form, media, software, or technology of any kind now known or developed in the future, including, without limitation, for developing, manufacturing, and marketing products."

CNN iReport http://ireport.cnn.com/ "The stories in this section are not edited, fact-checked or screened before they post. Only ones marked 'CNN iReport' have been vetted by CNN."

MSNBC.com: Newsvine http://www.newsvine.com/ "Please note that Newsvine and its Affiliates, as a policy, do not actively edit User Content. We either leave the User Content posted as is or take it down entirely. However, in some situations, certain modifications may occur without our active participation, such as due to our obscenity filtering software, which may automatically change profane language to characters such as '@#!%'. "

ACCUPLACER Preparation: Recommended Online Resources

2011-06-13T14:20:00.001-05:00

Recommended Online Resources for ACCUPLACER Preparation Include:

ACCUPLACER practice questions.

Assessment study guide.

Practice tests on FVTC’s website for Reading and Sentence practice.

Review of basic math operations.

For more information go to Accuplacer.org

Google Guitar Lives on in Google Archive

2011-06-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

Google Doodle Archive: How You Can Play Google's Addictive Les Paul Guitar Doodle After It's Down - The Huffington Post Dean Praetorius First Posted: 06/ 9/11 05:43 PM ET Updated: 06/ 9/11 05:43 P “Google's logo archive has every portrayal of the company's logo index, all the way back to the very first Google doodle from August 30, 1998. Today's logo will be no exception, and amateur Google guitarists can rest easy knowing their instrument of choice hasn't vanished completely.”

Must See! Must Try!

2011-06-09T09:13:00.005-05:00

The Official Google Blog refers to A doodle for an instrumental inventor : “For the next 24 hours on the Google homepage, you’ll find an interactive, playable logo inspired by the guitar developed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee that made the sound of rock and roll possible.” You can still try it: Les Paul Google Guitar in the Google Archive! See : How To Play Guitar On The Les Paul Google Doodle (LESSONS) for more details!

My experiment: http://goo.gl/doodle/Y2tT

Q: What are the strings tuned to?
A: According to Answers.yahoo.com:
The group of 2 strings has the notes C3 and E3 (top to bottom)
The wider group of 4 has the notes G2 B2 G3 B3 (top to bottom)
The shorter group of 4 has the notes A2 D3 F#3 A3 (top to bottom)
You can arrange these notes to create a complete G major scale that spans an octave and a third, so yes, you can play countless actual songs, such as "Mary Had A Little Lamb". http://goo.gl/doodle/ZEKs ... and more using the Axis Of Awesome chords: http://goo.gl/doodle/wWKn

Check this out! Axis Of Awesome YouTube Video: According to Axis Of Awesome a lot of popular songs use the same 4 chord progession.

Now this is when Wikipedia is useful: Fun, probably true information that doesn’t really matter: According to Wikpedia on 6/9/2011 at 09:25 a.m CST, “The band plays the song in the key of E so the progression they use is E-B-C♯m-A. Many of the songs featured in the medley have been transposed from their original keys.”

See: Some guitar doodle tunes by Alexander Chen!

See also: More Google-gab in Googland : All the news about Google Syndicated posts from all official Google blogs.

Digital Literacy.gov

2011-05-19T16:56:00.001-05:00

The Digital Literacy portal organizes content provided by a number of governmental departments.http://www.digitalliteracy.gov/.

People new to computers can Learn the Basics: Build digital literacy skills by selecting from the categories below:
· Using a Computer or Mobile Device: Learn how to use the mouse, keyboard, icons, and folders
· Using Software and Applications Use software applications: word processing, creating spreadsheets, tables and databases
· Using the Internet Search the Internet, use email, register on a website
· Communicating on the Web Share photos and videos, communicate using social networks, learn to be an informed digital citizen
· Child Online Protection Help children learn to be responsible and make informed decisions online

More advanced users will find these categories useful: Digital Literacy Resources and Educator Tools.

Open Education Resources

2011-05-19T16:55:00.000-05:00

OER: Open Education Resources Wiki: Great list of resources available. Includes links to OER useful resources/Portals and gateways and OER useful resources/Repositories. Some of my favorites include:
· GEM (Gateway to Educational Materials)
· HEAL (Health Education Assets Library)
· IDEAS (Interactive Dialogue with Educators from Across the State)
· Knowledge Hub (KHUB)
· NSDL (National Science Digital Library)
· OER Commons
· Wisconsin Online Resource Center
· XPERT

iTunes U

2011-05-19T16:53:00.003-05:00

iTunes U — a powerful distribution system for everything from lectures to language lessons, films to labs, audiobooks to tours — is an innovative way to get educational content into the hands of students.
iTunes U

Start here: Guide to iTunes U
See also: Directory of Colleges and Universities with iTunes U Sites. Here are some you might want to look at more closely:
· Berkley
· Duke
· Madison Area Technical College
· Medical College of Wisconsin
· MIT
· Stanford
· Texas A&M
· UW- Madison and their Learning Support Services
· Yale

YouTube EDU

2011-05-19T16:53:00.002-05:00

You might also like to look at some popular YouTube Channels. As with anything on the internet, you need to think about where the information and financing is coming from.

YouTube EDU "Videos and Channels from college and university partners of YouTube" See the Most subscribed and Most viewed.

Other interesting You Tube channels:
· AssociatedPress
· Consumerreports
· Google
· Expert Village
· Howcast
· Khan Academy
· Mayo Clinic
· TheNewYorkTimes
· TEDtalksDirector
· TEDxTalks
· VisibleBody

Pink eye (conjunctivitis) Prevention

2011-05-18T09:41:00.002-05:00

Mayclinic.com: Practice good hygiene to control the spread of pink eye. For instance:
· Don't touch your eyes with your hands.
· Wash your hands often.
· Use a clean towel and washcloth daily.
· Don't share towels or washcloths.
· Change your pillowcases often.
· Throw away your eye cosmetics, such as mascara.
· Don't share eye cosmetics or personal eye-care items.

More information:
About.com: What Is Conjunctivitis?: An Overview of "Pink Eye" There are several types of conjunctivitis. It is important to have an eye doctor evaluate the condition to determine proper treatment.

A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia: MedlinePlus.gov
Conjunctivitis is swelling (inflammation) or infection of the membrane lining the eyelids (conjunctiva).

Pink eye (conjunctivitis) - MayoClinic.com
Comprehensive overview covers symptoms, treatment and self-care of this contagious condition.

WebMd.com Conjunctivitis (Pinkeye)
Learn more about the eye infection conjunctivitis -- or pinkeye -- prevention, symptoms, causes, and treatment.

Choose Privacy Week will take place May 1-7, 2011

2011-05-04T16:37:00.003-05:00

ALA Choose Privacy Week Materials:
ALA offered a Choose Privacy Week webinar on March 31, featuring a panel of experts on "hot topics" in privacy. Slides are now available here. Topics included the USA Patriot Act and reader privacy; airport screening and surveillance; and current research on privacy attitudes of young people.

Privacy Myth Buster (PDF)

Privacy Position Paper (PDF)

Privacy Survey Findings (PDF)

Privacyrevolution.org: “We are a movement of librarians dedicated to intellectual freedom. Led by the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and with the support and involvement of our allies, we are urging Americans to assert their privacy rights.” Choose Privacy Week will take place May 1-7, 2011 website and Video Gallery. Privacy Revolution Friends and Allies include:

Campaign For Reader Privacy

Center For Democracy & Technology

Cory Doctorow, author & blogger

Data Privacy Day

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Freedom To Read Foundation

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Society of American Archivists

Spring Cleaning Tips

2011-05-04T16:26:00.004-05:00

"Stop clutter from stealing your life" is a 2001 Electronic book from our NetLibrary Collection. It suggests: Get rid of what you don’t want to make room for what you do want.

Other suggestions included: Set a date. Before you start, get a good night sleep. Visualize a clutter free space. Make room to sort. Break it up into little steps. Take before- and after-photos. Celebrate each little success. Expect setbacks. Don’t give up.

I would also recommend using the Flylady Cleaning Guru-style sorting method: Put away, Give away or Throw away.

Remember the clutter didn’t appear overnight: You are not going to be able to get rid of it all in one day.

Ant Rafts and Death Spirals

2011-05-04T16:22:00.002-05:00

Fire ants self-assemble into waterproof rafts to survive floods
Mlota, Toveyb, and Hua, “ We find that ants can considerably enhance their water repellency by linking their bodies together, a process analogous to the weaving of a waterproof fabric.”
See More Ant Raft News from Google

If you are feeling brave, check out these videos:
A floating fire ant raft

A fire ant ball is pushed underwater part 1

A fire ant ball is pushed underwater part 2

Not really new news….Ants create a lifeboat in the Amazon jungle - BBC wildlife A flood hits a fire ant colony in the Amazon jungle. by BBCWorldwide

Other Ant-related news…Ant Death Circles Explained Why are these ants walking to death? by DiscoveryNetworks.

FBI Opens the "Vault"

2011-04-19T10:06:00.003-05:00

Someone at the FBI has a sense of humor: The announcement that the FBI was opening its “Vault” of records to the public was published on April Fool’s day. See: FBI Records:New 'Vault' Comes Online - 04/01/11.

It finally percolated into the Google News page where I noticed it last night: FBI opens online vault, revealing UFO, Roswell files - By John Platt “Real-life 'X-Files' reveal policy of destroying documents related to UFO investigations because they would have taken up too much filing space.”

FBI Records: The Vault: Some images are so bad the page starts with this Disclaimer:

“The FBI’s Reading Room contains many files of public interest and historical value. In compliance with the National Archives Record Administration (NARA) requirements, some of these records are no longer in the physical possession of the FBI, eliminating the FBI’s capability to re-review and/or re-process this material. Please note, that the information found in these files may no longer reflect the current beliefs, positions, opinions, or policies currently held by the FBI.
The image quality contained within this site is subject to the condition of the original documents and original scanning efforts. These older files may contain processing procedures that are not compliant with current FOIA processing standards. All recently scanned images posted to the Reading Room adhere to the NARA 300 DPI standard. Therefore, we have provided the best representation of the files contained within the Reading Room for your viewing purposes.”

I found the FBI records Vault A-Z Index fascinating.

It is OK to Make Mistakes

2011-04-19T10:05:00.000-05:00

Why Letting Yourself Make Mistakes Means Making Fewer of Them
“When we think about what we are doing in terms of learning and improving, accepting that we may make some mistakes along the way, we stay motivated despite the setbacks that might occur.”

Myths about Making Mistakes
“Many perfectionists fear challenging tasks, take fewer risks and are less creative than nonperfectionists.”

Perfectionist versus Healthy Striver
“Perfectionism does not lead to success and fulfillment. Although some perfectionists are remarkably successful, what they fail to realize is that their success has been achieved despite-not because of-their compulsive striving”

Diabetes and Alzheimer's linked

2011-04-19T10:04:00.000-05:00

Old Question: Time.com Is Alzheimer's a Form of Diabetes?
By Catherine Guthrie Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007 “a team of scientists at Northwestern University were the first to show why the brain's "memory function" fails in the face of an insulin shortage.” Read more.

New Answer: Insulin could help fight Alzheimer's
ANI, Apr 2, 2011, 01.17pm IST “A new clinical research by University at Buffalo endocrinologists has shown that a low dose of insulin can suppress the expression in the blood of four precursor proteins involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.”

Mayo clinic.com: Diabetes and Alzheimer's linked
“Diabetes may increase your risk of Alzheimer's. Reduce this risk by controlling your blood sugar. Diet and exercise can help.”

To keep up to date on Alzheimer’s see the Alzheimer’s Association website: http://www.alz.org/

Fox Cities Book Festival

2011-04-13T14:23:00.009-05:00

April 11-17, 2011 is the Fourth Annual Fox Cities Book Festival, held in conjunction with National Library Week April 10-16 2011. See the Sort-able Schedule! Lots to see and do next weekend!

Stop by the Appleton FVTC Library and see our Fox Cities Book Festival Themed book display!

Tax Day Postponed to April 18, 2011

2011-04-13T14:23:00.006-05:00

“Taxpayers have an extra weekend to file this year because of a District of Columbia holiday: The deadline for 2011 is Monday April 18, instead of April 15.”

You can find a lot at the IRS.gov website, including:
Free File: File Your Federal Taxes or a Filing Extension Form for Free: Can't make April 18th filing deadline? Use Free File to file Form 4868 for an extension.

Don’t Fall Prey to the 2011 Dirty Dozen Tax Scams: IRS has compiled a list of the worst tax-related scams for this year.

Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions: Law expands health coverage for children under 27, encourages small businesses to cover employees.

Michael Miller Series 2011

2011-04-13T14:19:00.021-05:00

Michael Miller Series 2011: Dealing with Change
Michael Miller’s insights included:

Seek positive allies and avoid negative people.

Gossip is 99% negative. Reject gossip!

A good attitude is often more important than skill.

Find reasons for buying-in to changes

Recall your gifts and strengths, and your core values.

Know your core values, feeling bad means you have moved away from your core values.

He also talked about the book “Who Moved My Cheese? We have various copies available at FVTC Libraries!

Michael Miller Series 2011: Productive Group Behaviors
Miller ‘s seminar discussed behaviors that take energy away from team productivity, and how to manage and improve those behaviors.
Behaviors that take energy away from the group include:

Playgirl/playboy makes distracting non-verbal interruptions

Aggressors attack or ridicule others

Monopolizers are loud and won’t let others talk

Recognition seekers challenge the leader and try to position themselves as the expert

Blockers kill ideas.

Wool Gatherers daydream or drift off topic.

Whisperers have side conversations. May be bored or confused.

Zippermouths don’t contribute.

Bad behavior seems to stem from attention seeking or boredom. Suggestions for dealing with problem behaviors included:

Asking for input from people who have not contributed

Asking nay-sayers for clarification

Praising ideas

Ignoring bad behavior

Asking people to talk about off-topic items at another time

Talking to trouble makers in private during the break.

Avoiding confrontations during a meeting.

The FVTC Library Appleton General Collection has some related classic books:

Coping with difficult people / HF 5548.8 B683 1981

Emotional intelligence / BF 561.G65 1995

Executive EQ : emotional intelligence in leadership and organizations / HD 38.2 C66 1997

Getting past no : negotiating with difficult people / BF 637.N4 U79 1991

High-maintenance employees/ HF5549.5.E42 G72 2005

Primal leadership : realizing the power of emotional intelligence / HD 57.7 G664 2002

Winner's attitude : change how you deal with difficult people and get the best out of any situation / HF5415.5 .G442 2006

See: Michael Miller Biography.
Email him if you have questions at michael@funent.com
See also: Michael Miller Series 2010

Spelling Bee Resources

2011-03-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

If you are interested in studying for a Spelling Bee, the Scripps National Spelling Bee website suggests you “read How to Study for a Spelling Bee by national finals pronouncer, Dr. Jacques Bailly. When you master the words in Spell It!, expand your spelling skill set by playing the fun word games at Merriam-Webster's Word Central.”

Other websites recommend Learner.org: Spelling Bee an interactive website for students in grades 1-12 which allows you to start at your assumed grade level and gradually move on to more difficult levels.

English as a Second Language: ESLdesk.com: provides a Smart words List and a list of Most commonly Misspelled words in the English Language.

See also:
· FreeVocabulary.com: sat vocabulary words
· Grammar.ccc.commnet.edu: Commonly Misspelled Words
· Pocket Basics.com: Spelling List for High School
· Spelling bee word lists from The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
· Teacher’s Lounge.com: Advanced Spelling/Vocabulary Words
· YourDictionary.com: List of 100 Most Often Misspelled Words in English

Resources for Problem Gambling

2011-03-15T16:21:00.003-05:00

Brief Addiction Science Information Source (BASIS): Provides Self-Help Tools : “Many people are able to change their excessive behavior patterns without entering formal treatment. The Division on Addictions, Cambridge Health Alliance, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School has created a series of self-change toolkits.” See other BASIS Addiction Resources.

Familydoctor.org: Gambling: When Is It a Problem?: “People who are pathologic gamblers can't control their impulses to gamble.”

Gam- Anon : “Compulsive gambling is the obvious symptom of an emotional disorder.”

Gamblers Anonymous 20 Questions: “Gamblers Anonymous offers the following questions to anyone who may have a gambling problem. These questions are provided to help the individual decide if he or she is a compulsive gambler and wants to stop gambling.”

Helpguide.org: Gambling Addiction and Problem Gambling: “In America alone, problem gambling affects more than 15 million people. More than 3 million of these are considered severe problem gamblers, otherwise known as gambling addicts or pathological gamblers.”

National Council on Problem Gambling : “The term "Problem Gambling" includes, but is not limited to, the condition known as "Pathological", or "Compulsive" Gambling, a progressive addiction characterized by increasing preoccupation with gambling, a need to bet more money more frequently, restlessness or irritability when attempting to stop, "chasing" losses, and loss of control manifested by continuation of the gambling behavior in spite of mounting, serious, negative consequences.”

NORC Diagnostic Screen for Gambling Problems-Self Administered (NODS-SA) : “This tool provides a simple self test to evaluate your gambling behavior. Please note: This is not a diagnosis and DOES NOT replace a face-to-face evaluation with a trained clinical professional.”

Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling (WCPG) :
“If you know someone who might have a gambling problem, urge him or her to call:
------1-800-GAMBLE-5 which is the same as 1-800-426-2535---------
The Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling can confidentially refer you to current Self-Help Information (such as local meetings of Gamblers Anonymous and Gam-Anon), Treatment Provider Referrals, Crisis Center Information, In-Patient Centers and many other community resources.”

About.com: Expert Advice about Antivirus Software

2011-03-14T15:42:00.002-05:00

Mary Landesman "is an antivirus professional with several years of experience in virus research, virus prevention and virus detection techniques. Currently, Mary is a Senior Security Researcher for ScanSafe, acquired by Cisco in late 2009. In 2009 and again in 2010, Mary was awarded a Microsoft MVP for her work in consumer security".

In her article, Before You Buy Antivirus Software, Mary explains that the basis for Top Picks is based on results from AV-Test.org and VB100% Award and ICSA Certification.

Some of her picks are listed in Top Mac Antivirus : Top three: Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac Home Edition; PC Tools iAntivirus -- Free Mac Antivirus Software and Intego VirusBarrier.
Top Windows Antivirus: Top three: Norton Internet Security; ZoneAlarm Extreme Security and F-Secure Internet Security Suite.

For more information:
About.com : Antivirus, Firewall, and Security Software Reviews

See also:
About.com: Top Ten Ways to Get Infected
Go through these tips to better secure your computer.
1. Browsing the Web with javascript enabled by default
2. Using Adobe Reader/Acrobat with default settings
3. Clicking unsolicited links in email or IM
4. Clicking on popups that claim your computer is infected
5. Logging in to an account from a link received in email, IM, or social networking
6. Not applying security patches for ALL programs
7. Assuming your antivirus provides 100% protection
8. Not using antivirus software
9. Not using a firewall on your computer
10. Falling for phishing or other social engineering scams

NSS Labs: Warns of Malware and Exploits

2011-03-11T16:36:00.003-06:00

NSS Labs occasionally provide free test results such as Consumer Anti-Malware Products: Group Test Report Q3 2010.

According to NSS, Cybercriminals have between a 10% - 45% chance of getting past your AV with Web Malware. Malware is described as “malicious files that a user unwittingly chooses to execute”.

Meanwhile, just as AV software struggles to keep up with malware, an increasing problem is Exploits: “Sometimes referred to as ‘drive-by downloads’. In these cases, vulnerabilities in a PC‘s software can be exploited when a user visits an infected web site – silently, without the user‘s knowledge”. According to NSS, cybercriminals have between 25% - 97% chance of compromising your machine using exploits.

Antivirus Software Reviews

2011-03-11T16:32:00.006-06:00

Here are some reviews, everyone seems to have their own favorites!

Amazon.com: Best Sellers in Internet Security: Kaspersky, Norton and McAfee. Norton gets low marks for customer service, and Kaspersky gets low marks for upgrade glitches.

AV-Comparatives.org: Whole Product Dynamic Tests : "In this test all features of the product contribute protection, not only one part (like signatures/ heuristic file scanning)." Top rated F-Secure, Symantec Norton, AVIRA and Kaspersky.

AVTest.org: AV-Test Product Review and Certification Report - 2010/Q4: Best protectors: BitDefender; BullGuard; Kaspersky; Panda; F-Secure; G Data; Symantec Norton

CNET Best antivirus software Editors’ top 4 picks: ESET NOD32 Antivirus ; ThreatFire AntiVirus Free Edition ; AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 ; and Avast Free Antivirus. CNET Free security software. Top downloads last week: Ad-Aware Free Internet Security ; AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 ; Avast Free Antivirus.

PC Magazine: Free Virus and Spyware Protection: What's Right for You? Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.1 “Best free antivirus and antispyware software we've tested.” Followed by The free edition of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Trend Micro's HouseCall. Full complement of reviews at PCMag.com's security landing page. PC Magazine:The Best Security Suites for 2011: Norton Internet Security 2011, followed by Kaspersky Internet Security 2011 and Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011. PC Magazine: The Best Antivirus Software in 2011: Webroot and Ad-Aware Pro, followed by Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus 2011.

PC World: Fee vs. Free: Free and Paid Antivirus Programs Compared (November 2010): The top five free and top five paid antivirus products. See also: PC World: Antivirus 2011: Digital Defenders: Lists pros and cons of top security suite picks.

United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team TIPS

2011-03-11T16:31:00.001-06:00

US-CERT provides a long list of Cyber Security Tips. These tips sheets provide General information, such as Why is Cyber Security a Problem? And Guidelines for Publishing Information Online.

General security tips include Choosing and Protecting Passwords; and Understanding Anti-Virus Software as well as Coordinating Virus and Spyware Defense and suggestions for Good Security Habits.

Tip sheets about Attacks and threats include Understanding Hidden Threats: Corrupted Software Files and Understanding Hidden Threats: Rootkits and Botnets. Perhaps especially important is their tips about Preventing and Responding to Identity Theft.

When it comes to Email and communication, tips include information about the Benefits and Risks of Free Email Services

Tips for Mobile devices covers topics such as Protecting Portable Devices: Data Security and Using Caution with USB Drives, as well as Securing Wireless Networks and Cybersecurity for Electronic Devices.

Tips about Privacy discuss How Anonymous Are You? And Protecting Your Privacy. Safe browsing tips include Evaluating Your Web Browser's Security Settings, and Shopping Safely Online, as well as Browsing Safely: Understanding Active Content and Cookies and Avoiding Copyright Infringement.

Federal Trade Commission on Avoiding ID Theft

2011-03-11T16:30:00.000-06:00

The website Deter. Detect. Defend. Avoid ID Theft covers topics such as:
* What is identity theft?
* How do thieves steal an identity?
* What do thieves do with a stolen identity?
* How can you find out if your identity was stolen?
* How long can the effects of identity theft last?
* What should you do if your identity is stolen?
* Should you file a police report if your identity is stolen?
* How long can the effects of identity theft last?
* What can you do to help fight identity theft?

Useful Criminal Justice Research Links

2011-03-07T22:15:00.012-06:00

Albany.edu’s Criminal Justice webpage includes information on programs, research, publications, links to Statistical Analysis Center web sites and the Justice Research and Statistics Association databases. See also, Albany’s Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics data tables on criminal justice topics from over 100 sources are presented at this indexed and fully searchable site. Criminology Theory Links on the Web is another comprehensive list, from the Florida State University College of Criminology & Criminal Justice.

Other useful websites include:
• Bureau of Justice Statistics Home page
• Central Intelligence Agency
• Crime Spider
• Criminal Justice MegaLinks
• Department of Justice Home Page (DOJ)
• Federal Bureau of Investigation - Home Page
• LawCrawler - Legal Web & Databases Search
• National Center for Juvenile Justice (NCJJ)
• National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD)
• National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Selected Forensics Links for Criminal Justice

2011-03-07T22:15:00.011-06:00

Job descriptions:
Computer Forensics Engineer from the Central Intelligence Agency: CIA

Federal Bureau of Investigation: Lab Positions at the FBI at FBI Laboratory Services

Private detectives and investigators from Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition

Private Detectives and Investigators (33-9021.00) from O*NET provides comprehensive information on key characteristics of workers and occupations.

Organizations and Related Links:
Forensic Links: Organizations and Publications from American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS)

Forensic and Professional Organizations from Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE)

Forensic Associations and Societies from American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors/Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB)

Forensics Resources from National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC)

Forensics Links from Wisconsin Association for Identification

Other links:
· "Forensic Science Communications” April 2010 Issue
· "Forensic Science Communications” Back Issues
· New York Times Topic: Forensic Science
· Top 50 Blogs for Forensic Science Technicians
· Top 50 Criminal Justice & Criminology Blogs

DNA Initiative Databases

2011-03-07T22:09:00.002-06:00

The DNA Initiative at http://www.dna.gov/ has a goal of “providing funding, training and assistance to ensure that forensic DNA reaches its full potential to solve crimes, protect the innocent and identify missing persons.”

DNA Databases include Combined DNA Index System(CODIS) and Local, state and national databases. See: Solving Cold Cases, Solving Property Crimes, and Identifying Persons and Victims to learn more on how DNA databases are used.

Other Resources for DNA Information:“DNA research goes far beyond its use in the criminal justice system. These resources can help find information on DNA from sources throughout the government.”
· DNA and Forensics
· State and Local Laboratories
· The Human Genome
· General Resources to Learn About DNA
· General Research Resources· DNA and Medicine
· DNA and Wildlife Forensics

See also: The NCSTL - National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law, hosted by the Stetson University College of Law, which provides the NCSTL.org searchable database of legal, forensic, and technology resources.

Additional Criminal Justice Links on the Web

2011-03-07T22:07:00.003-06:00

There are many websites that list links to various topics in Criminal Justice, including:
* Bureau of Justice Statistics, includes Special Topics: “Topics that are of critical interest or that frequently cut across the justice system.”

* Criminal Justice Resources from Michigan State University.

* National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) from the University of Michigan. “The mission of the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) is to facilitate research in criminal justice and criminology.” You may also like to view their list of Other Criminal Justice Sites.

* National Criminal Justice Reference Service, “a federally funded resource offering justice and substance abuse information to support research, policy, and program development worldwide.” Includes NCJRS Q&A database— a searchable knowledge base with answers to many of your criminal justice-related questions.

* Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance includes Crime Statistics.

* Wisconsin Department of Justice, “provides legal advice and representation, criminal investigations, and various law enforcement services for the state.”

Green Fire Synopsis

2011-02-18T13:42:00.003-06:00

Green Fire Synopsis

“Aldo Leopold is considered one of the most important conservationists of the twentieth-century. He is the father of the national wilderness system, wildlife management and ecological restoration. His classic book A Sand County Almanac inspires us to see the natural world as a community to which we belong….Green Fire explores Leopold's personal journey of observation and understanding and reveals how his ideas resonate today with people across the entire American landscape, from inner cities to the remotest wild lands. The film challenges viewers to contemplate their own relationship with the land community….The film features commentary from conservation leaders and practitioners, including scientists, ranchers, scholars, and three of Aldo Leopold’s children—Nina, Carl, and Estella. Dr. Curt Meine, Leopold’s biographer, serves as the on-camera guide to his life and legacy, making the connections between Leopold’s ideas and their expression in the conservation movement today.”

Green Fire Screenings in Wisconsin

2011-02-18T13:24:00.005-06:00

Green Fire Film Screenings:
Celebrating Aldo Leopold
6:30 p.m.: Doors open to public.
7:00: Welcome and introductions.
7:20 to 8:25: Film screening.

Press release: New Documentary Film Connects Leopold to Modern Conservation Efforts.

Tuesday, March 1, 7:00 pm Al. Ringling Theatre.
· About the Al. Ringling Theatre, Baraboo, WI

Wednesday, March 2, 7:00 pm Milwaukee Public Museum.
· IMAX theater at the Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI
· Directions to the Milwaukee Public Museum

Thursday, March 3, 7:00 pm UW-Fox Valley.
· James W. Perry Hall at the UW-Fox Valley Communication Arts Center, Menasha, WI
· UW-Fox Valley Campus Map

Friday, March 4, 7:00 pm (Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery)
· Directions to the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, Madison, WI

Saturday, March 5, 2011 12:00 PM Green Fire Film Screening:
Mosquito Hill Nature Center, New London
· Phone: 920-779-6433
· Email: swifkamk@co.outagamie.wi.us
· Link: http://www.mosquitohill.com/

Sunday, March 6, 7:00pm (Barrymore Theatre)
· Directions to the Barrymore, Madison, WI

Leopold Weekend 2011 Programs at Mosquito Hill Nature Center

2011-02-18T13:23:00.000-06:00

Leopold Education Project
Saturday, March 5, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
The Leopold Education Project is a curriculum based on Aldo Leopold’s classic, A Sand County Almanac. This class is perfect for teachers, naturalists, group leaders, and others interested in fostering a relationship between children and the natural world. Cost: $20/person. Registration and payment due February 22.

Green Fire Movie Showing
Saturday, March 5, 12:00 Noon
The first full-length, high-definition documentary film ever made about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold, Green Fire highlights Leopold’s extraordinary career, tracing how he shaped and influenced the modern environmental movement. Cost: Free

Leopold Bench Building Workshop
Sunday, March 6, 1:00 – 3:00 PM
Build your own rustic wooden bench designed and made popular by noted Wisconsin conservationist Aldo Leopold. Naturalist Mike Hibbard will lead you through the steps to create an attractive bench to grace your patio or back yard.
Cost: $50/person, $45/students, seniors, FOMH. Registration and payment due February 22.

For more information go to : Leopold Weekend 2011 Programs at Mosquito Hill Nature Center.

What is Next for Watson

2011-02-17T14:22:00.003-06:00

IBM.com video: Final Jeopardy! and the Future of Watson
For a look at Watson and the philosophical questions the existence of this super computer poses, check out IBM's A Smarter Planet blog post about Jeopardy Day 3.”

PC Mag.com: IBM's Watson Wins Jeopardy! Next Up: Fixing Health Care
“The technology has the ability to scan and analyze data from far more sources than a human ever could in a short period of time, potentially aiding doctors in diagnosing complex but urgent conditions.”

Mashable.com: Engineering Intelligence: Why IBM’s Jeopardy-Playing Computer Is So Important
“This feat of answering “open questions,” as computer scientists call them, puts IBM’s last big AI triumph - the chess-playing, Garry Kasparov-beating Deep Blue— into perspective. While chess is a complex game, the number of legal moves available at any time is finite. Not so, with natural language. To document this historic leap in computer science, IBM allowed one journalist - Stephen Baker - unmatched access inside its labs.”

TED.com: TED Talks VIDEO: The Future of Watson
“The impact of Watson, the IBM computing system that competed against the two greatest Jeopardy! champions of all time, will be felt far beyond the game show. This technology could have significant effect on business, government and society.
Join host Stephen Baker, author of "Man v. Machine," as he discusses Watson's performance on Jeopardy! and the possible real-world applications of this technology with the following panelists: IBM Watson Principal Investigator Dr. David Ferrucci, IBM Fellow and CTO of IBM's SOA Center for Excellence Kerrie Holley and Columbia University Professor of Clinical Medicine Dr. Herbert Chase.”

Watson's Big Bytes Devouring Human Competition

2011-02-16T09:52:00.003-06:00

Watson’s 13.64 terabytes of memory pulls ahead of human's 100 billion brain neurons.

IBM's Watson Dominates Jeopardy Competition on Day 2
Excerpts:
· The competitors will square off again Wednesday night for a final Jeopardy battle.
· Watson surprised the audience during the second Daily Double clue when the computer wasn't sure of the answer but hazarded a guess anyway.
· You can check out IBM's take on what went wrong on the company's A Smarter Planet blog.

Computer Versus Man Already a Tie

2011-02-15T16:53:00.002-06:00

Excitement over the IBM Watson Super Computer has increased as IBM's Watson Ties for Lead on Jeopardy but Makes Some Doozies. Ferrucci analyses the misses on IBM's A Smarter Planet Blog.

The Opinion L.A. article Jeopardy!': A singular moment, or the onset of singularity? leads you to the Time magazine article: 2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal. My favorite part is when “Kurzweil admits that there's a fundamental level of risk associated with the Singularity that's impossible to refine away, simply because we don't know what a highly advanced artificial intelligence, finding itself a newly created inhabitant of the planet Earth, would choose to do. It might not feel like competing with us for resources. One of the goals of the Singularity Institute is to make sure not just that artificial intelligence develops but also that the AI is friendly. You don't have to be a super-intelligent cyborg to understand that introducing a superior life-form into your own biosphere is a basic Darwinian error.”

Kurzweil Predicts Singular Excitement Soon!

2011-02-15T16:49:00.002-06:00

Ever notice how surnames sometimes seem so appropriate?

In German Kurzweil means something that makes time pass quickly (pastime or recreation: approximately kurz = quick or short and weile = time) and kurzweilig indicates amusingly, in an interesting manner.

It seems appropriate then, that Mr. Kurzweil suggests we shall have Singularity in a short while. What could be more interesting?

Singularity Links

2011-02-15T16:39:00.004-06:00

Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence:
Launched in 2001, KurzweilAI explores the forecasts and insights on accelerating change.

The Singularity Hub:
This site led me to the Video: I am the very model of a Singularitarian and Lyrics of :I Am the Very Model of a Singularitarian by Charlie Kam which begins:
- I am the very model of a Singularitarian
-I'm combination Transhuman, Immortalist, Extropian,
-Aggressively I'm changing all my body's biochemistry
-Because my body's heritage is obsolete genetically,
-Replacing all the cells each month it's here just temporarily
-The pattern of my brain and body's where there's continuity,
-I'll try to improve these patterns with optimal biology,
- ("But how will I do that? I need to be smarter. Ah, yes...")
-I'll expand my mental faculties by merging with technology….

The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence:
Their overview explains that: The Singularity is the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence. See their Free Podcasts from SIAI of The Singularity Summit at Stanford, which brought together over 1300 people and 10 speakers to explore the future of human and machine cognition. These audio and video podcasts capture the significance of this rare event, the first academic symposium focused on singularity dialogue.

Singularity University:
Aim is to assemble, educate and inspire a cadre of leaders who strive to understand and facilitate the development of exponentially advancing technologies and apply, focus and guide these tools to address humanity’s grand challenges.

Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) Update

2011-02-15T12:34:00.003-06:00

Did you get an email lately warning about: Drug products containing PPA (phenylpropanolamine) were pulled from the market due to FDA concerns over a possible connection to strokes?

I used Snopes to sniff this one out. I went to Google and put in these two terms: phenylpropanolamine snopes which led to http://www.snopes.com/medical/drugs/ppa.asp which indicates that it is true, but really old news.

I then looked at the FDA site myself. If the letter gives a “proof” URL, look at the URL for date and authority. In this case, the "proof" : Safety of Phenylpropanolamine is from November 6, 2000.

If you put phenylpropanolamine into the FDA page’s search box find:
Office of Drug Safety Annual Report 2001 which states:
“Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) and risk of hemorrhagic stroke: OPDRA staff performed a critical review of the Hemorrhagic Stroke Project study and testified before the Non Prescription Drugs Advisory Committee. The Committee recommended that PPA not be marketed OTC. FDA issued a Public Health Advisory which led to a voluntary withdrawal of PPA from the US and Canadian markets.”

The most current FDA page I could find was [PDF] MEMORANDUM DATE: 17 June 2010 FROM: Eric Colman, MD :“Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) containing nonprescription drugs such as Dexatrim were removed from the market in 2000 due to concern that PPA increased the risk for hemorrhagic stroke.”

If you get a letter warning about something, it is good to look at "proof" websites to see if they are current and authoritative. For more information go to the FVTC Library Services Blog Topic : Hoaxes and Urban Legends on the Internet.

Preparing Realistic Paths To Employability

2011-02-07T15:24:00.005-06:00

Report Calls For National Effort To Get Millions Of Young Americans Onto A Realistic Path To Employability February 2, 2011
"The Pathways to Prosperity Project, which is based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, has released a major new report that examines the reasons for our failure to prepare so many young adults, and advances an exciting vision for how the United States might regain the leadership in educational attainment it held for over a century. Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century contends that our national strategy for education and youth development has been too narrowly focused on an academic, classroom-based approach."
Excerpt:
This pathways system would be based on three essential elements:
1) The report contends that at present, we place far too much emphasis on a single pathway to success: attending and graduating from a four-year college.
2) The report argues that we need to ask our nation's employers to play a greatly expanded role in supporting the pathways system, and in providing more opportunities for young adults to participate in work-based learning and actual jobs related to their programs of study.
3) Third, the report contends that we need to develop a new social compact between society and our young people: That by the time they reach their mid-20s, every young adult will be equipped with the education and experience he or she needs to lead a successful life as an adult.

College Isn't the Only Answer. Now What?
By Lauren Moore on February 3, 2011 2:28 PM
Excerpt:
It means that we must simultaneously focus on preparing students for four-year colleges, while also providing more opportunities for vocational training and access to community colleges. It means that we must provide a quality of education and a level of information about post-secondary opportunities that gives all students the knowledge and support they need to discern the career path that is best for them.

Fortunately, we have some research on what works. Future of Children volumes on Transition to Adulthood and America's High Schools discuss in greater detail a range of programs from work training to high school college preparatory programs that have already shown evidence-based success.

There are no simple solutions, but it is helpful to have information on what we believe is effective. The Future of Children provides research and analysis on the most important issues facing children, from poverty to electronic media, to childhood obesity, and of course, to education.

TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

2011-01-31T16:15:00.009-06:00

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading”. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

You can go for the big list: TED Talks! Themes A to Z which has such themes as:
How the Mind Works
See: Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from
How We Learn
See: Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms
The Creative Spark
See: Dan Phillips: Creative houses from reclaimed stuff
What's Next in Tech
See: Anders Ynnerman: Visualizing the medical data explosion

The other big organized list is TED Talks! Talk Tags which has tags such as:
Talks Tag > Future
See: Amber Case: We are all cyborgs now
Talks Tag > Data
See: David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization
Talks Tag > China
See: Martin Jacques: Understanding the rise of China

If you want to search with more than one term use the [Search] box. Here are two transcripts that can be found using http://www.ted.com/search?q=education+learn+teach:

TED and Reddit asked Sir Ken Robinson anything -- and he answered TED Blog: You might like his book: The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything - Paperback (Dec. 29, 2009) by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica

Bill Gates' talk on mosquitoes, malaria and education -- transcribed TED Blog: Bill recommends: Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America by Jay Mathews (Paperback - Jan 20, 2009)

Videos on Aging

2011-01-27T16:15:00.005-06:00

We have a paid subscription database called “Film’s on Demand” which has a film by Films Media Group entitled “ Accepting Life's Transitions”: 29 min -, 1998.
Segments include:
* Stages of Life and Aging
* Attitudes About Aging
* Successful Aging
* Issues of Old Age: Emotional Health, Caretaking, and Death
* Hospice Care
* Stages of Dying and the Grieving Process
* End of Life Issues and Decisions

Some things don’t change that much over time. Although this video was made over a decade ago, the issues it discusses are still relevant today. Other resources easily available on the internet for free are:

PBS: Mechanics of Aging: 26 min.

Annenberg/CPB Annenberg Foundation: Discovering Psychology - 18 - Maturing and Aging: 27 min.

CSIS Center for Strategic and International Studies: Video: Global Launch of The Global Aging Preparedness Index: 30 min.

Mayo Clinic: Health Matters: Aging and Alzheimer's: 25 min.

For more free videos on aging see:
University of California TV: Aging

Caution: When using free videos, be careful to note the source. Universities and Hospitals have a vested interest in maintaining their “brand” and putting the best information they can on the internet to represent them. Always pre-view videos before showing them in class.

Nursing Code of Ethics

2011-01-14T16:18:00.002-06:00

Q. What is the Nursing Code of Ethics?
A. “In July, 2001, the Congress of Nursing Practice and Economics voted to accept the new language of the interpretive statements resulting in a fully approved revised Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements.” Read more About the Code.

Q. Why do nurses have to buy the code if they want a paper copy?
A. The cost associated with the entire Code covers the cost to print, warehouse, and respond to requests for the document.

Q. Can I read a copy online?
A. The Code of Ethics is available online for viewing only, at no charge:
Code of Ethics for Nurses With Intrepretive Statements (View Only)This View-Only PDF can only be viewed with the Adobe Reader, version 7.0 or above.

Se also: Nursingworld.org: Articles Related to the Code of Ethics:
· Whistleblowers: Troublemakers or Virtuous Nurses? [PDF]
· Whistleblowing: Role of Organizational Culture in Prevention and Management [PDF]
· Practical Use of the Nursing Code of Ethics: Part I [PDF]
· Practical Use of the Nursing Code of Ethics: Part II [PDF]

Nursing Legal Issues

2011-01-14T16:17:00.000-06:00

Medi-smart.com: Nursing Legal Issues: How to Protect Yourself
“With any professional license comes ethical and legal responsibility. Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath pledging to do no harm to patients; lawyers are held responsible for their clients in court; and architects are responsible for the safety of the structures they build. Nurses are no different. Whether it's administering a medication incorrectly or failing to obtain an informed consent from a pre-op patient, nurses may be held legally responsible if they fail to meet certain standards.”

Ehow.com: Legal Issues in Nursing
“Nurses face legal issues daily. Those issues may be in connection to negligence, administering medication and advocating for the patient. The Nurse Practice Act lists all of the duties and role of a nurse, except the legal and ethica onesl. If these duties and regulations are not followed, the nurse is at risk of losing his license and facing a malpractice suit.”

Nurse Practice Act in Wisconsin

2011-01-14T15:33:00.002-06:00

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction provides this document:
[PDF] Delegation, The Nurse Practice Act, and School Nursing in Wisconsin which states “All nurses share a common foundation of responsibility and accountability that is outlined by the practice of nursing and consistent with their level of licensure. The nurse’s scope of practice or set of knowledge and skills are derived from the legal authority in Wisconsin Chapter 441, commonly referred to as the Nurse Practice Act”. This document further discusses questions like: What are some of the criteria that a nurse might use in determining if a nursing related task may be delegated? How often should the nurse monitor the delegation of a procedure?”

See:
* Wisconsin Association of Nurses, Guidelines for Registered Nurse Delegation to Unlicensed Assistive Personnel
* National Council of State Boards of Nursing Delegation Decision-making Tree

What is a Futurist?

2011-01-06T15:04:00.000-06:00

Wisegeek.com: What is a Futurist?
“Futurists are those who attempt to predict and analyze the future….For example, one might say it is probable that we will do the majority of our shopping online in 20 years, but improbable that the majority of work will be conducted in virtual worlds.”

Roger L. Caldwell, Professor Emeritus, Soil, Water and Environmental Science, University of Arizona provides a welcome sense of grounded information. Take a look at his links to Tutorials, Tours and Seminars such as Futures in a Nutshell. His main Futures Page also links to Futures Related Sites and References which leads to Viewpoints of selected futurists. I found this website by following the breadcrumb trail backwards from this piece, which looks like good advice to me: How To Be A Health Futurist In Ten Easy Lessons.

One link I found on his website was: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. Annual Reports has a link to Projections of Education Statistics. A search for trends brought up a list of articles about trends in education including The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long Term Trend Assessment.

Legendary Futurist Marc Gobé Shares Insights on “Emotional Branding”

2011-01-06T15:03:00.003-06:00

Looking through a hit list for futurist site:.edu I found this link:
Legendary Futurist Marc Gobé Shares Insights on “Emotional Branding”. New York, N.Y. (Sept. 28, 2010): THE 10 COMMANDMENTS OF EMOTIONAL BRANDING: The new paradigm for connecting brands with people.

World Future Society Conference 2010

2011-01-06T15:01:00.007-06:00

Diana went to a conference as part of staff development at Southwestern College, and put together a synopsis to share with her coworkers:

World Future Society Conference
Boston, Massachusetts, July 8-10, 2010 Summary and Resources compiled by Diana Kelly
Higher Education in the Future
- More students prefer online courses (even taking them from dorm rooms).
- The role of the “campus” will need to be reconsidered – it may not be sustainable.
- “Second Life” could be used in higher education.
- The role of faculty will be changing away from being “content providers” because content is being provided through many sources (see below PLE and Open Courseware).
- Faculty will have a more important role as coaches, guides, facilitators of learning.
- Some learning software has been developed as games – with motivators to keep learners “playing,” instant feedback with points, etc.

Read more.

Fads, Trends and Principles: David Zach, Futurist

2011-01-06T12:04:00.005-06:00

David Zach gave us interesting quotes and ideas about how to cut through the knots and make things happen. In the Breakout session he answered questions, introduced us to the amazing World Builder video (9 minutes but very worth it).

Then he talked about fads, trends and principles:
“Fads are fun. They are the colors of our clothes,the styles of our shoes, the kinds of music we listen to—things that add spice to life. Fads are the culture and character of who we are. They are market driven, and tend to be pushed. And as soon as something stops pushing them, fads fall away. They are continually replaced by other fads.
Trends tend to be from the ground up. They are longer term, and grow out of needs rather than wants.
Principles, however, don’t change. A principle is something you can rely on, knowing it will never change.”

My synopsis: Imagine you are a boat. Play with Fads: Decorate your boat and go new places. Work with Trends: Take note of the currents. Live by Principles: The boat rudder that helps you get where you want to go.

As a handout on his website concludes: David believes in the importance of distinguishing the temporary from what will last. “Think about your school: What will never, ever change? What are the principles? What trends are you going to work with, and what fads are you going to play with as you move into the future?”

Here is his Handout of FutureQuotes.

Census 2010 Information Now Available

2011-01-06T11:56:00.016-06:00

See the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 Interactive Map!

Data includes:
Population Change : Population change is the rate of change in population between decennial census years. The South and West experienced the largest increases in population.

Population Density: Population density is a measure of average population per square mile. Density levels have been higher across the Eastern seaboard and the Pacific coastline and lower in much of the West.

Apportionment: Apportionment is the process of dividing the 435 memberships, or seats, in the House of Representatives among the 50 states based on the population figures collected during the decennial census.

See:
Apportionment Data: Resident Population: The U.S. resident population includes the total number of people in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The resident population of the United States on April 1, 2010, was 308,745,538 an increase of 9.7 percent over the 281,421,906 counted during the 2000 Census.

Redistricting: Another major use for decennial census data is for geographically defining state legislative districts, a “redistricting” process that begins in 2011. The census data allow state officials to realign congressional and state legislative districts in their states, taking into account population shifts since the last census and assuring equal representation for their constituents in compliance with the "one-person, one-vote" principle of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

See also:
Other Census Data including:
Economic Census
Census of Governments
American Community Survey
Demographic, Economic and Other Surveys
Economic Indicators

News Bytes

2011-01-06T11:53:00.001-06:00

News from the Computer World, a brief look from four favorite sources:

Cnet News:
Ep. 59: Biggest stories of the year, 2010 and Oxford, Rice, Open University release eBooks on iTunes U.

InformationWeek:
15 Green Tech Innovations and Hackers, Insiders Behind Most Identity Theft.

Wired News:
Net Neutrality? The FCC Hopes You’ll Make an App For That And Turn Your Body's Motion Into Power for Your Phone and animal related: Clever Crows Use Tools in New Way.

ZDNet:
Top 10 Ed Tech predictions for 2011 and Digital Underclass? Only if we allow it.

Weather Links

2010-12-21T12:47:00.003-06:00

Know the current Wisconsin road conditions. Call 1-800-ROADWIS or go to the winter road conditions report web page from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. For travel outside of Wisconsin, see the National Traffic and Road Closure Information website. Click on the state of interest for more information.

More useful Links:

* CNN Weather : Enter city or ZIP code for local current conditions and forecast.
* National Weather Service : Local forecast by "City, St" on left side bar.
* TSA’s holiday travel tips. Do not wrap gifts and understand the 3-1-1 program.
* Weather For You : Click on the map for statewide weather.
* Weather Channel : Enter zip or US/Intl city.
See weather.com video: Home full of snow. Dec. 18, 2010 While they were away, a blizzard blew in this Iowa family's door. The storm then filled up the inside of their home with snow.

The Influence of Funding

2010-12-16T16:00:00.004-06:00

Recognizing the bias of content is just a part of evaluating the over-all content.

Determining the bias of controversial issues is an exercise in collecting alternative sources and points of view, but many websites are not about controversial issues.

How then do you recognize the bias if there is no strong pro or con face to a debate?

The biggest indicator of bias that I have found is Funding: Where is the money coming from? Who is paying for the server space and the creation and maintenance of the page. Who stands to gain by you looking at that webpage instead of another?

Ask youself: What are they trying to sell?…a product or an idea?

Are they trying to impress you so you will return for more of their branded products and services? OR are they just trying to get your attention long enough to get you to give them your credit-card number or your vote?

The financial relationship can be obvious, such as selling you books and services, or soliciting support or donations. A less obvious method of funding a website is to use pay-per-click-ads: The website funding comes from providing advertisers a targeted audience for their advertisements.

In general, the companies or organizations looking to involve you in a long term relationship have more reason to provide accurate and useful content.
Examples of trusted sources would be:
3M
Appleton Public Library
FVTC Library Services
Mayo Clinic
WebMd

Companies or organizations that encourage you to act on impulse may be legitimate. However, you should first read up on the frauds and scams before making that impulse decision to buy what they are selling.

For more information about scams and fraud on the internet see:
BBB Useful Links
FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center
Fraud types
Internet Fraud Tips
Web Scams

Examples of Finding the Bias During Content Evaluation

2010-12-16T15:44:00.005-06:00

When looking for the bias or reason for existence of a website, start by looking at the URL address to identify the domain. Look at “About Us” and sponsors to try and determine Funding: This is critical in evaluating bias. “Contact us” and revision date give you information on reliability as well.

Here are some websites evaluated using this method:

Look at the URL address:
http://www.wikihow.com/Recognize-Bias-in-a-Newspaper-Article - - The .com means unrestricted (but intended for commercial registrants). Author responsibility Last edited:November 2, 2010. Who can submit? Anyone. About us: “Because wikiHow is editable by anyone, our content changes every day.” Funding: Volunteers and Ads by Google. Content provided: How to Recognize Bias in a Newspaper Article . NOTE: Has cited sources, including 1) Detecting Bias in the News Created 7 August 2000 Last Updated 15 March 2002; and 2) "How to Identify Media Bias" by Brent Baker, no date. Would not use this as a resource in a research paper. As with most wiki’s, it is a good place to start and can point you in the direction of more authoritative resources. Intent appears to be to impress and educate audience. Bias: Selling you an idea or point of view.

Look at the URL address:
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/29526-assignment-discovery-recognizing-bias-video.htm - The .com means unrestricted (but intended for commercial registrants). Contact us links available. Google search noted video date was 2 min - Oct 9, 2008. Only date easily found on webpage was ©1998-2010 HowStuffWorks, Inc. About us: HowStuffWorks, a wholly owned (funded) subsidiary of Discovery Communications. They have a monetary/reputation reason to provide good information. Content provided: Assignment Discovery: Recognizing Bias: Video: “In researching and writing, one must be aware of bias in articles." NOTE: They provide good information to get you to view commercials and targeted ads. Intent appears to be to impress and educate audience. Bias: Marketing their brand, products and services, making money off of targeted advertising.

Look at the URL address:
http://liblearn.osu.edu/tutor/les1/pg3.html - The .edu is the domain used by United States educational institutions.At the bottom of this page is net.TUTOR © 1997-2008, The Ohio State University Libraries. If you follow the “Breadcrumb trail” backward you can see that it originates from : http://liblearn.osu.edu/ which has © 2010, The Ohio State University Libraries, and contact information and About OSUL. Funding is by the institution. From this origin you can go to > net.TUTOR - self-paced tutorials > Evaluating Web Sites > Content > Content provided:net.Tutor.edu: Evaluating Content Bias/Balance. Quotes the FactCheckED: Tools of the Trade: A Process for Avoiding Deception website, an educational branch of FactCkeck.org. Continues with examples. NOTE: Intent appears to be to impress and educate audience. Bias: Selling you an idea or point of view, as well as marketing their brand, and encouraging you to see OSU as a educating institution of choice. Authoritative and highly recommended website.

Look at the URL address:
http://www.umich.edu/~newsbias/wcact.html - The .edu is the domain used by United States educational institutions. The "~" in the URL indicates personal page. Some hunting on the home website leads to Coursework information and Winter 2003 Project Roster which explains that this was a student project developed in 2003. About us and contact information appears available, but the email given is now defunct. Content provided:News Bias Explored. Page looks good, but [Go] links go nowhere. NOTE: Not authoritative, but some interesting points are provided in this student project. Bias: Selling you an idea or point of view, as well as to do well enough to pass the class.

How to Avoid Bias in Your Writing

2010-12-16T15:38:00.001-06:00

A way to become acquainted with the pitfalls of un-intentional bias is to look at advice on avoiding bias in writing. Here are some links from the Purdue Online Writing Lab:

Avoiding Bias
. Removing Bias in Language: Disabilities
. Removing Bias in Language: Race & Ethnicity
. Removing Bias in Language: Sexuality

Avoiding Stereotypes and Biased Language
Find alternative terminology: Instead of using the term mankind, try alternatives such as humanity, people, and human beings.

Review of Media Ethics
. Distinguish between advocacy and news reporting.
. Analysis and commentary should be labeled, and not misrepresent fact or context.
. Distinguish news from advertising and avoid hybrids that blur the two.
. Examine your own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others.
. Avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status.
. Support the open exchange of views, even views you might find repugnant.

Stress and Anxiety: In the News

2010-12-15T12:10:00.004-06:00

huffingtonpost.com: 'Good' Worry: How Worrying Well Can Help You Manage Stress: “Worry generally gets a bad rap in modern life. That's because most of us don't know how to worry well -- using it to manage stress instead of letting it cause more stress.”

motherjones.com: Disorders Made to Order: “Pharmaceutical companies have come up with a new strategy to market their drugs: First go out and find a new mental illness, then push the pills to cure it.”

nytimes.com: In Cybertherapy, Avatars Assist With Healing.” In a series of experiments, researchers have shown that people internalize these virtual experiences and their responses to them — with effects that carry over into real life.”

wsj.com: Relax, You Can Beat That Stress Brain Scan Reveals Source of Anxiety “Scientists pinpointed the "worry center" of the brain for the first time in a discovery that could lead to new, more effective ways to treat anxiety and depression. Video courtesy of Sky News.”

Time Management: Tips on the Internet

2010-12-15T09:18:00.005-06:00

A look at domain – funding information – and content.

.com
about.com – Funding: Sponsored links. - Content provided: Time Management : List of links.

mayoclinic.com – Funding: products and services and Ads by Google - Content provided: Time management: Tips to reduce stress and improve productivity: Excellent advice, easy to read.

mindtools.com – Funding products, services, memberships and Ads by Google. - Content provided: Time Management Skills: List of links.

msn.careerbuilder.com – Funding products and services, tip from Kelly Services - Content provided: Time Management Crucial to Reducing Stress: Excellent advice, easy to read.

.edu
DePaul University – Funding: Division of student affairs - Content provided: Time Management Video Links: Visual material.

San Diego Unified Schools District – Funding: Triton and Patterns Projects - Content provided: Time Management: Excellent advice, easy to read.

University of Minnesota at Duluth - Funding: Campus Student Handbook - Content provided: Time Management: links to time audit and some basic time management principles.

Washington State University - Funding: Student Advising and Learning Center - Content provided: Time Management Tips: Excellent advice, easy to read.

.gov
dpi.wi.gov – Funding: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction - Content provided: [PDF] Life Skills Helping students develop a perfect fit : Excellent advice, easy to read.

dshs.texas.gov – Funding: WIC - Content provided: Wellness Works - Holiday Survival Packet : Amusing and colorful and fun.

noaa.gov – Funding : Employee Work/Life Center - Content provided: [PDF] Time Management: Seminar slides.

usgs.gov – Funding: Department of Employee and Organizational Development - Content provided: [PDF] The Covey time management grid is an effective method of organizing your priorities.

.org
managementhelp.org – Funding: Ads by Google, products and services - Content provided: Basics of Time and Stress Management : More detailed.

gradresources.org – Funding: non-profit organization - Content provided: Time Management : More detailed.

academictips.org – Funding: Ads by Google, tip from George Mason University - Content provided: Time Management Tips: Excellent advice, easy to read.

RelayHealth from Thedacare

2010-12-14T15:10:00.004-06:00

RelayHealth: Clinical Reference Systems Patient Education Advisors
from https://my.thedacare.org/ provides Fact Sheets and Illustrations.
Pick a link andscroll down the list for your topic:
Adult Health Advisor
Adult Topics
Pediatric Topics
Cardiology Advisor
Eye Advisor
Medication Advisor
Pediatric Advisor
Senior Health Advisor
Sports Medicine Advisor
Women's Health Advisor

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)

2010-12-13T09:32:00.004-06:00

Q. Is there a cure for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)? How should patients with CJD be treated?

A. So far there is no cure for CJD. The emphasis in the care of CJD patients should be on making the patient comfortable and relieving or improving symptoms.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) provides this Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Fact Sheet:
“There is no treatment that can cure or control CJD. Researchers have tested many drugs, including amantadine, steroids, interferon, acyclovir, antiviral agents, and antibiotics. Studies of a variety of other drugs are now in progress. However, so far none of these treatments has shown any consistent benefit in humans.”

Current treatment for CJD is aimed at alleviating symptoms and making the individual as comfortable as possible. Opiate drugs can help relieve pain if it occurs, and the drugs clonazepam and sodium valproate may help relieve myoclonus. During later stages of the disease, changing the person’s position frequently can keep him or her comfortable and helps prevent bedsores. A catheter can be used to drain urine if the individual cannot control bladder function, and intravenous fluids and artificial feeding also may be used”.

For more information go to this list of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Organizations.

See Also: ClinicalTrials.gov:
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome
Prion Diseases
Clinical Research Collaboration Trials
Throughout the U.S. and Worldwide

Synthetic Ice is Nice and Green

2010-12-07T12:07:00.001-06:00

Is synthetic ice new? Not really.

A Google Books Search found a reference in “Plastics technology handbook” by Manas Chanda, Salil K. Roy: In 1982, High Density Plastics launched Hi-Den-Ice.

According to OnEdgeSkating.com
“Synthetic ice surfaces are more giving than traditional ice and are therefore easier on the joints and make skaters less injury prone. Cleaning the ice is simple and eco-friendly. All that is needed is a solution of either Dawn liquid detergent or eco-green and water.”
Here are some Synthetic Ice websites I found:
· EZ Glide 350®
· Global Synthetic Ice - Super-Glide Synthetic Ice
· Ice Pro
· ICE-Y-BLUE 700™
· KwikRink Synthetic Ice®
· Viking Ice
· XTRAICE ®

If you thought a skating rink with synthetic ice was cool, how about a skating treadmill?

No ice? No problem with skating treadmill “The town west of Red Deer, Alta., is now home to one of the world’s largest skating treadmills, with a 2.5-by-2.5-metre revolving surface located at the Complete Athlete training centre.” The article refers to the Endless Ice 1750 system “Endless Ice is the only treadmill on the market to offer multiple stopping mechanisms, including an overhead safety system that will stop the treadmill immediately if a rider were to fall.”

Glycemic Index, Carbohydrates, and Dieting

2010-11-29T15:51:00.005-06:00

Web Md.com : The Glycemic Index Diet (Low Glycemic Diet) :
"The "glycemic index diet," "GI diet," and "low glycemic diet" are more than diet books. They refer to a system of ranking carbohydrate foods according to how much a certain amount of each food raises a person's blood sugar levels."

“This study provides no evidence to support an effect of a reduced GI diet on satiety, energy intake or body weight in overweight/obese women. Claims that the GI of the diet per se may have specific effects on body weight may therefore be misleading."Aston, L., Stokes, C., & Jebb, S. (2008). No effect of a diet with a reduced glycemic index on satiety, energy intake and body weight in overweight and obese women. International Journal of Obesity (2005), 32(1), 160-165. Retrieved from MEDLINE database.

Mayo Clinic.com: Skip fad diets and make healthier choices:
"Low-carb diets, the glycemic index diet or other fad diets may help you lose weight at first, but their effectiveness at preventing diabetes isn't known nor are their long-term effects. And by excluding or strictly limiting a particular food group, you may be giving up essential nutrients. Instead, think variety and portion control as part of an overall healthy-eating plan."

For more information:
See: Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source: Carbohydrates.
See also: The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Healthy Diet Resource Library and their Tipsheet--What to Look for When Grocery Shopping.

Water, Fiber and Protein: Satiety Index: Fullness Factor

2010-11-29T15:50:00.004-06:00

WebMD.com: Satiety: The Secret Sauce to Weight Control: “Foods with a high water content, such as fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk, cooked grains, beans, meats, poultry, and fish have a substantial impact on satiety. Eating water-rich, low-calories foods such as soups, stews, casseroles, veggie pasta dishes, and fruit-based desserts can have a significant impact on your feeling of fullness without eating excessive calories.”

Nutritiondata.self.com: Fullness factor: Understanding Hunger and Satiety: "Foods that contain large amounts of fat, sugar, and/or starch have low Fullness Factors, and are much easier to overeat. Foods that contain large amounts of water, dietary fiber, and/or protein have the highest Fullness Factors. These high-FF foods, which include most vegetables, fruits, and lean meats, do a better job of satisfying your hunger."

Associatedcontent.com: The 10 Most Filling Foods for Dieters: Lean steak, potatoes, fish, apples, oranges, grapes, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, air-popped popcorn, bran cereal: fiber is a huge factor in making you feel full.

Womenshealthmag.com: Eat These Healthy Foods For Maximum Satiety: Potatoes; eggs; beans; fish; soup; apples; lean beef, salad, popcorn.

Viscous Soluble Fiber and Satiety

2010-11-29T15:44:00.002-06:00

National Agricultural Library.gov: Glycemic index, cholecystokinin, satiety and dis-inhibition: is there an unappreciated paradox for overweight women? According to this paper, a low glycemic index (LGI) diet with high insoluble fiber may not be as successful for women as for men. Women may have increased weight-loss benefits from increased intestinal phase satiety produced by viscous soluble fiber.

The relationship of viscous soluble fiber and an increased intestinal phase of digestion is supported by this paper: “Viscous soluble fibres may be useful because they prolong the intestinal phase of nutrient digestion and absorption.” Slavin, J., & Green, H. (2007). Dietary fibre and satiety. Nutrition Bulletin, 3232-42. doi:10.1111/j.1467-3010.2007.00603.x.

You may ask then: What are some good sources of viscous soluble fibers?

“Viscous, or sticky, soluble fibre, found in oat bran cereal, barley, okra, eggplant and psyllium.” THE CANADIAN, P. (n.d). Foods to help bust bad cholesterol. Canadian Press, The, Retrieved from Newspaper Source Plus database.

“Sources include baked beans, a pear, peach or plum, carrot, cooked peas, broccoli or Brussels sprouts and oats. A cup of brewed coffee is also suggested since an analysis shows that a cup of brewed coffee contains about 1 gram of soluble fiber.” (2007). Sources of soluble fiber. Mayo Clinic Health Letter, 25(8), 3. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database.