D-Lib Magazine
September 1996

ISSN 1082-9873

Clips and Pointers

Point-to-Point

• The New Zealand Digital Library offers full-text searching of an international collection of computer science technical reports; a subset of German technical reports; The Computists' Communique, an on-line AI magazine; the Oxford Text Archive; Project Gutenberg; and an FAQ archive. The site also includes pointers to the project's research program and available technology.

• Members of the University of Library and Information Science (ULIS) have started an experimental gateway for multilingual browsing of web pages in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, based on approaches discussed at the ISDL'95 and ACM DL'96 conferences: (http://mhtml.ulis.ac.jp/papers/). The homepage of this multilingual experiment is at: http://mhtml.ulis.ac.jp/. The investigators invite comments from researchers interested in browsing Web pages in foreign languages: comments@mhtml.ulis.ac.jp

• Webseek: Searching for Images and Videos on the World Wide Web, John R. Smith, Center for Image Technology for New Media and Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University

  Webseek (http://www.itnm.columbia.edu/webseek) is a content-based image and video catalog and search tool for the World Wide Web. The system collects the images and videos using several autonomous Web agents which automatically analyze, index, and assign the images and videos to subject classes. The system is novel in that it utilizes text and visual information synergistically to provide for cataloging and searching for the images and videos. The complete system possesses several powerful functionalities, namely, searching using content-based techniques, query modification using content-based relevance feedback, automated collection of visual information, compact presentation of images and videos for displaying query results, image and video subject search and navigation, text-based searching, and search results lists manipulations such as intersection, subtraction and concatenation. At present, the system has catalogued over 650,000 images and 10,000 videos from the Web. A more detailed description is available at: http://www.itnm.columbia.edu/webseek/paper.

Get Started: Education

Anyone who regularly explores the Web knows it's a work constantly in progress. Its character changes more quickly than the media can report and its dimensions expand exponentially so there is always more out there to be found. This characteristic can be both exciting and frustrating, especially for classroom teachers who want to use the Web as a resource but have limited time because of other school demands. Listed below is a selection of reputable education resources recommended by individuals working on the University of Michigan's Digital Library Project. These resources do not-- and cannot-- include everything that is out there, but they are good places to start and worthy of recognition for their various efforts.

Research on education and technology

A number of universities and non-profit organizations are engaged in research concerning education and technology. Listed below are a few sites which provide information about projects of interest to educators.

• CoVis, the Learning Through Collaborative Visualization Project at Northwestern, a design experiment that aims to establish open-ended collaborative science projects as a regular part of day-to-day activity within and between a community of science classrooms.
• CSile (Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environments), a project of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, is a network system providing across-the-curriculum support for collaborative learning and inquiry.
• Hi-C (Highly Interactive Computing) Research Group a cooperative effort between the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Public Schools to create an innovative, integrated, technology-intensive science program. .
• Kids as Global Scientists is a project focusing on maximizing the educational potential of an Internet- based middle school weather curriculum. It is based at the University of Colorado's School of Education and Institute of Cognitive Science.
• KIE - Knowledge Integration Environment, a project from the University of California at Berkeley studying educational uses of the Internet and World-Wide-Web for K-12 science instruction.
• TERC, a non-profit organization in Cambridge, MA, dedicated to improving math and science learning and teaching.
• UMDL Teaching and Learning Project, the University of Michigan's project exploring digital libraries in K-12 education.

Web 66 is made possible by a grant from 3M and is the Web's answer to the legendary Route 66. It is designed to facilitate the exploration of a new frontier in education: Web use in a K-12 setting. Web66 includes detailed information about educational issues as well as step-by-step solutions to technical problems. The technical pointers can be especially useful for individuals just starting out on the web, because they are straightforward and easy to understand. The site's clever design is user friendly and presents information in a helpful fashion for educators and the general public.

The Schoolhouse is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Funds for Innovation in Education, Teacher/Pathfinder Project. The Schoolhouse provides comprehensive educational resources, projects, discussions, interactions, collaborations, lessons, curriculums, and standards for grades K-12. Its resources are well rounded and include not only the four r's but links for school counselors, principals, physical education teachers and much more.

Museums with great exhibits and information

The Exploratorium The Exploratorium is San Francisco's museum of science, art, and human perception with over 650 interactive "hands on" exhibits. Each year more than 660,000 visitors come to the Exploratorium, over 67,000 children come on field trips, and more than 500 teachers are trained here. The museum's on-line site takes the strengths of its physical collections and makes the exhibits and information available to people who cannot travel to San Francisco. Exhibitions such as the demonstration of fruit fly mutations and Turbulent Landscapes, which displays the complexity of nature through the eyes of artists and scientists, are examples of the interdisciplinary nature and breadth of information available at this site.

The Smithsonian Institution is living up to its name "America's Museum". The Electronic Smithsonian is designed to guide the user through the various facets of the Institution, weaving its museums with research, education, activities, and events that make the Smithsonian both unique and exciting. The SI web site is a major feature of the Smithsonian's program to reach people throughout the world. Included are on-line representations of various exhibits such as minerals and gems and reptiles and amphibians.

The Franklin Institute Science Museum has a mission to, "stimulate interest in science, to promote public understanding of science, and to strengthen science education." Its web site offers visitors an overview of the actual, physical museum as well as the unique experience of visiting online exhibits. When visiting the Franklin Institute web site, it's possible to view their excellent list of educational web sites, find science news, activities, and resources in their publications library and sample some interesting science programs and demonstrations.

Collections of good sites

The Internet Public Library is a project which originated at the University of Michigan's School of Information. It offers a user friendly interface to the ever-increasing confusion of web-based resources. This site includes youth and young adult sections, Weblink, an internet newsletter for kinds, and links to reference materials as well as a place for users to submit reference questions. The IPL has gained recognition for its efforts to provide valuable library services in a digital environment.

Yahooligans!, a kid-sized version of Yahoo!, is a searchable, browsable index of the Internet designed for Web surfers ages 8 to 14. It is a wonderful site for kids, complete with advice about being "street smart" on the web and suggestions for parents who recognize the educational value of the web but are also aware of its dangers. Yahooligans includes heaps of links to valuable, child-oriented sites on an encyclopedic array of topics.

Ask An Expert is part of Pitsco Technology Education Web Site. From the Amish to Zookeeping, Ask An Expert includes over 200 web sites and email addresses where users can find experts to enhance their curricula and answer their questions.

Possibilities! Integrating the Internet Into the Secondary Science Classroom is a site put together by a science teacher, Bill Band, who has a personal interest in using the internet to enhance his instruction methods. He states, "Here, I have tried to categorize the various types of projects that could be incorporated into a science classroom. With each category I am listing interesting examples that could serve as a model project or a useful resource. ...As you observe the work of other teachers, students and organizations, my goal is that these might inspire you to create your own electronic learning environment in your science classroom. "

The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse encourages the adoption and use of K-12 curriculum materials and programs which support state and national efforts to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science. It provides a comprehensive collection of materials and programs for the use of educators. The site includes a resource finder, curriculum ideas, a "digital dozen' site which highlights outstanding educational sites each month, as well a host of links to informational pages with information about subjects ranging from air quality lesson plans to grant applications.

On-line publications

Edupage, a summary of news about information technology, is provided three times a week as a service by Educom, a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.

Educom is a nonprofit consortium of higher education institutions that facilitates the introduction, use, and access to and management of information resources in teaching, learning, scholarship, and research. Edupage is also available through subscription: send mail to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: subscribe edupage Ray Charles (if your name is Ray Charles; otherwise, substitute your own name). ... To cancel, send a message to: listproc@educom.unc.edu with the message: unsubscribe edupage. (If you have subscription problems, send mail to manager@educom.unc.edu.)

The Scout Report is a weekly publication offering a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators, the InterNIC's primary audience. However, everyone is welcome to subscribe to one of the mailing lists (plain text or HTML). Subscription instructions are included at the end of each report.

Available at the web site: * The current Scout Report, with active links to featured sites * An archive of previous Scout Reports * A search engine for the archive * The Scout Toolkit, with links to the best Network Tools * Subscription information for the Scout Report

In Print

• The Final Report for TULIP: The University Licensing Program, which ran from 1991 to 1995, involved nine participating universities, and covered 83 journals is now available together with a description of the project, newsletters, and other administrative information.

• The proceedings of the May 21-22, 1996 conference, Organizing the Global Digital Library II (OGDL II) and Naming Conventions at the Library of Congress have been posted. The contents include a list of attendees, copies of papers, overview of the meeting, description of next steps, and a synopsis of the naming conventions pre-conference.

Goings On

• The 38th Allerton Institute, "Libraries, People, and Change: A Research Forum on Digital Libraries" will take place October 27-29, 1996 at Allerton Park and Conference Center Monticello, Illinois. It is sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the National Science Foundation. Participants in this by invitation-only workshop were selected in early September. The proceedings of last year's conference on user- centered design were posted in January 1996.

• The ALCTS Cataloging and Classification Section and NELINET have organized an institute on Interactive Multimedia Cataloging and The Guidelines for Bibliographic Description of Interactive Multimedia on November 1, 1996 at Holy Cross College, Worcester, Massachusetts. The curriculum will address identifying, describing, classifying, and supplying subject and keyword access for interactive multimedia titles with some emphasis on issues specific to such areas as music and law. Further information is available via the American Library Association's gopher server, gopher://ala1.ala.org:70/00/alagophxiii/alagophxiiialcts/alagophxiiialctsinst/interact.inst.

• The 1996 GILS Conference will take place on November 13-14, 1996 at the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland. The conference is directed at the diverse communities concerned with the Government Information Locator Service (GILS)and will review experiences with various GILS applications. Further information is available at http://www.dtic.mil/gils/.

Pointers in This Column

ALCTS Cataloging and Classification Section/ NELINET Institute on Interactive Multimedia Cataloging and The Guidelines for Bibliographic Description of Interactive Multimedia	gopher://ala1.ala.org:70/00/alagophxiii/alagophxiiialcts/ alagophxiiialctsinst/interact.inst
Allerton Institute, Proceedings of the 37th conference	http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/allerton/95/
Ask An Expert	http://www.askanexpert.com/p/askexperts.ht ml
CoVis	http://www.covis.nwu.edu
Csile	http://www.gsn.org/web/reform/sri/csile.htm
Edupage	http://www.educom.edu/web/pubs/p ubHomeFrame.html
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse	http://carson.enc.org
Exploratorium San Francisco	http://www.exploratorium.edu/
Franklin Institute Science Museum Philadelphia	http://www.fi.edu/tfi/welcome.html/
GILS (conference)	http://www.dtic.mil/gils/
Global Digital Library II (OGDL II) and Naming Conventions (Library of Congress) Proceedings	http://lcweb.loc.gov/catdir/ogdl2/
Hi-C (Highly Interactive Computing Research Group	http://hi-c.eecs.umich.edu/
Internet Public Library (University of Michigan)	http://ipl.sils.umich.edu/
Kids as Global Scientists	http://stripe.colorado.edu/~kgshtml/KGS.html
Knowledge Integration Environment UC Berkeley	http://www.kie.berkeley.edu/kie.html
New Zealand Digital Library	http://lucy.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~nzdl/
Possibilities! Integrating the Internet Into the Secondary Science Classroom	http://kendaco.telebyte.com:80/bi llband/Possibilities.html
Schoolhouse (US Dept. of Education)	http://www.nwrel.org/school_house/
Scout Report	http://rs.internic.net/scout/report
Smithsonian Institution	http://www.si.edu/
TERC	http://www.terc.edu/
TULIP: The University Licensing Program Final Report	http://www.elsevier.nl:80/homepage/about/resproj/tulip.shtml
UMDL Teaching and Learning Project	http://www.umich.edu/~aaps/
University of Library and Information Science (ULIS) experimental gateway for multilingual browsing (CJK)	http://mhtml.ulis.ac.jp/
Web66	http://web66.coled.umn.edu/
Webseek	http://www.itnm.columbia.edu/webseek
Yahooligans!	http://www.yahooligans.com

hdl://cnri.dlib/september96-clips