January 23, 2008

NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY; 2008-2

JUST OFF THE NEW BOOKSHELF

Building online learning communities: effective strategies for the virtual classroom / Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass, c2007. LC5805 .P35 2007

From the cover: “The second edition of the groundbreaking book Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. Palloff and Pratt share insights designed to guide readers, offering illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses.”

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OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE

As I hope you already know, Ramsey Library has for a number of years offered a variety of online, electronic books. Some have we’ve paid for and have proven successful (e.g., SAFARI technical books online, http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/). Some we’ve received access to for free via the state’s NC LIVE program (e.g., some 14,000 titles via NetLibrary, http://www.netlibrary.com/). These have tended to be less successful with display and printing being major issues.

Electronic books in general offer many attractions IF they’re used. On a per title basis they’re far less expensive than the print versions. They’re accessible via the web. They can be accessed by more than one person at a time (in some cases). And if it’s a user-friendly system, they can greatly facilitate note taking, locating information within the text.

The library continues to look at these products ~ one looks interesting for purchase later in the year IF we get some extra money. In order to be ready if we do, we’d like to ask you to take a look at Oxford Scholarship Online during a current 30-day trial. You will have access to all thirteen subject areas now available: Economics/Finance, Political Science, Religion, Philosophy, Literature, History, Classics, Psychology, Linguistics, Physics, Mathematics, Biology, and Business/Management. Complementing the 1,354 scholarly monographs already available in Economics/Finance, Political Science, Religion, and Philosophy, an additional 461 classic and newly published titles bring further depth and breadth of content to this cross-indexed, fully searchable database. When the trial ends, we’ll ask for your assessment in a brief web survey.

To begin using Oxford Scholarship Online, contact the Research Desk at 251-6111.

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Computer Literacy Doesn't Mean Information Literacy, Report Says

In a January 16 note, the Chronicle shares “A new report from the Joint Information Systems Committee, a British higher-education research institute, says the “Google Generation” (those born after 1993, who can’t remember a time when the Internet wasn’t widely available) may be computer literate. But that doesn’t make them information literate.” Check it out.

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2670/computer-literacy-doesnt-mean-information-literacy-report-says?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

January 20, 2008

NEW READINGS on Civil Rights & Nonviolence


From civil rights to human rights : Martin Luther King, Jr., and the struggle for economic justice
At Canaan's edge : America in the King years, 1965-68 / Taylor Branch
Social solutions to poverty : America's struggle to build a just society
The Civil Rights movement in American memory
Rhetoric, religion and the civil rights movement, 1954-1965
The spirit and the shotgun : armed resistance and the struggle for civil rights
Christianity and human rights : influences and issues
Religion, terrorism and globalization : nonviolence : a new agenda
Gandhi and beyond : nonviolence for an age of terrorism
The dream long deferred : the landmark struggle for desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina
Dreams of peace and freedom : utopian moments in the twentieth century
Many minds, one heart : SNCC's dream for a new America
Challenging U.S. apartheid : Atlanta and Black struggles for human rights, 1960-1977
Frontiers of justice : disability, nationality, species membership

January 16, 2008

Free From MIT: Digital Media and Learning

The full text of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning is available online through the MIT Press. This series "examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect a person's sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically." Worthwhile reading for educators.

CURRENT VOLUMES:
Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth
Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility
The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning
Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected
Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media
Youth, Identity, and Digital Media

January 10, 2008

NOTES FROM RAMSEY LIBRARY; 2008-1

From all in Ramsey Library we hope that you and yours enjoyed a safe and wonderful holiday season, and we wish you the very best of new years!!


STREAMING VIDEO ACCESS TO PBS PROGRAMS

As we begin an exciting new semester, Ramsey Library is very pleased to announce the availability of some of the best and most popular PBS educational and documentary programming from accessible via the Internet. Provided by NC LIVE -- North Carolina’s virtual library cooperative -- students, faculty, and staff can view these programs via computer on campus, in classrooms, from home, or wherever you have access to the Internet (off campus users please note that a high speed internet connection and Flash Media Player 9.0 or higher are required to use this resource) . The collection offers nearly 250 PBS programs including the Emmy award winning series “American Experience” and “Frontline,” as well as groundbreaking programs such as Ken Burns’ “The Civil War, “ “Baseball,” and “Jazz.” We anticipate that a second group of videos will be available later in January 2008 that will include children’s programming from the highly acclaimed “Cyberchase” and “Liberty Kids” series.

The NC Live PBS Video Collection is accessible via the Ramsey Library web site. Choose Research Databases and find the NC Live PBS Collection listed under General Indexes, Audio/Video Resources or the title list.

Check them out at:

NC LIVE Media Collection
http://0-media.nclive.org.wncln.wncln.org/


RAMSEY OFFERS RSS FEEDS

Hard at work toward the end of the fall semester, Ramsey Library and the WNCLN network now offer RSS (really simple syndication?) feeds. Check it out at http://wncln.wncln.org/screens/feeds_example.html or go to any WebPac search screen and click on 'Our RSS feeds' in the right-hand (crème colored) box. If you have any suggestions for additional feeds, please contact Janet Ferguson (jferguso@unca.edu) or Brandy Bourne (bbourne@unca.edu) in Ramsey Library.


SCIENCE & JSTOR

Good news! Our friends at JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/) have just announced that the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and JSTOR reached an agreement at the end of 2007 under which Science will continue its participation in JSTOR (read online availability via Ramsey Library). Science will be available with a 5-year moving wall. In addition, JSTOR officials expect to introduce more opportunities within the JSTOR site for users to link directly to Science's website from Science legacy content (backfiles) located in JSTOR.

January 02, 2008

NEW E-RESOURCE: PBS Video Collection

NC Live, which provides access to online content to a statewide network of community college libraries, university/college libraries, and public libraries, is now offering online access to nearly 250 PBS programs.

UNC Asheville students, faculty and staff may access documentaries by Ken Burns as well as series like Scientific American Frontiers, American Experience, and Frontline from computers on campus or at home. (Home users please note that a high speed internet connection and Flash Media Player 9.0 or higher are required to use this resource.)

The NC Live PBS Video Collection is accessible via the Ramsey Library web site. Choose Research Databases and find the NC Live PBS Collection listed under General Indexes, Audio/Video Resources or the title list.

Go to the NCLive PBS Video Collection.

Watch more FrontLine videos online.

Inclement Weather

We're open for some snowy day reading.

Library reopens January 2

We're open for the new year!

Wednesday, January 2 - Friday, January 4
8 am - 6 pm

Saturday, January 5 - Sunday, January 6
CLOSED

Monday, January 7 - Friday, January 11
8 am - 6 pm

Saturday, January 12
CLOSED

Sunday, January 13
1 pm – 9 pm

Monday, January 14
CLASSES BEGIN
Regular hours resume


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