Blackboard 9.0 Release

Blackboard has released an all-new version of Blackboard Learn, formerly known as the Blackboard Academic Suite. The new 9.0 release adds social learning and Web 2.0 tools, as well as capabilities for integrating the software with open source systems like Moodle and Sakai.

Blackboard Learn 9.0 focuses heavily on Web 2.0 and social and collaborative learning tools. These include a variety of enhancements to existing features, as well as some completely new capabilities, in the areas blogs, group tools, journals, notifications, and the UI itself, which has undergone a redesign and is now built on Web 2.0 technologies.

Some of the other new features include:

1) Facebook integration, including access to course information and alerts within Facebook;
2) SafeAssign for plagiarism detection and prevention;
New navigation capabilities, including enhanced keyboard navigation;
3) "Standards based design for ease of use with assistive technologies such as screen readers"; and
4) New integration capabilities for using Blackboard in conjunction with open source and home-grown learning management systems.

America's Favorite Movie Star

I know you have all been waiting for this information. For the third year in a row, Denzel Washington comes in on top as America’s favorite movie star. Returning to the list this year at number two, after a one year absence, is Clint Eastwood. The perennial favorite, John Wayne, who died 30 years ago, is tied with Will Smith at number three. These are the some of the results of The Harris Poll, a new nationwide survey of 2,388 U.S. adults surveyed online by Harris Interactive between December 9 and 15, 2008.
Source: Harris Poll

American History:American Presidency Project

The American Presidency Project is an impressive resource for the study of the Presidency, complete with a searchable database of more than 84,000 records. This project of the University of California-Santa Barbara offers a rich combination of both current and historical information on American Presidents from 1789 to 2008. Researchers and students will find themselves exploring these primary documents for just one more piece of history. The information is presented through an attractive and highly functional web site.
Source: College and Research Libraries News January 2009

Stimulus Plan Aids for Education

The economic stimulus plan that The House of Representatives passed yesterday will shower the nation’s school districts, child care centers and university campuses with $150 billion in new federal spending, a vast two-year investment that would more than double the Department of Education’s current budget. Read the article in the New York Times.

Source: New York Times January 28

Working with Students with Autism

Working With Students With Autism
When: Wednesday, January 28, 4 to 5 p.m. EST
Where: http://www.edweek-chat.org

Children are currently being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders at the staggering rate of 1 in 150. Many of these children are being mainstreamed, but how can general education teachers support them in an inclusive setting? How can teachers transform a challenging classroom situation into a growth experience for all students? Chat guests will discuss teaching strategies and behavior-management techniques for the general and special education classroom. If you are unable to attend the Edweek chat, transcripts are available after the chat.

American Library Association Book Awards

Neil Gaiman's novel The Graveyard Book, won the American Library Association's Newberry Medal while the Caldecott Medal for children's book illustration went to Beth Krommes for The House in the Night, written by Susan Marie Swanson. The Coretta Scott King Award for best author was given to Kadir Nelson, for We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. The illustrator award went to Floyd Cooper for The Blacker the Berry. The King prizes were founded 40 years ago to honor the works of black Americans. They will be in the Goodwin library soon!

CQ Researcher: REgulating Toxic Chemicals

Chemicals are integral to many everyday products, from electronics and toys to building materials and household goods. But environmental, health and consumer advocates say the agencies responsible for protecting Americans from exposure to harmful chemicals are allowing too many dangerous substances into the market without testing them for toxicity. Some goods, such as medicines, are tested for safety before they can be sold, but many common products do not go through premarket safety screening. Many concerns focus on infants and young children, who are especially sensitive to toxic hazards. Chemical manufacturers say the existing regulatory system works effectively and can be tightened to address new concerns, but critics argue that a precautionary approach — which would require producers to show that materials are safe before they can be marketed — would protect consumers more fully.
This report is available online for the Goodwin community (password protected).

LaRocca's Intro to Sociology Course Resources

Here is the list of resources recommended by the Goodwin LIbrary for Introduction to Sociology. Please contact the library staff for additional information.

SiCKO by Michael Moore

The library has fulfilled a faculty member's request and now has SiCKO, Michael Moore's scathing 2007 film indictment of America's failing health system. It includes over 80 minutes of all-new material. If you haven't already seen it, it might be a good follow-up to today's meeting with Senator Dodd.

Does fMRI See the Future?

For decades, scientists have used an imaging technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to chronicle the brain in action. But a study in the January 22nd issue of Nature suggests that fMRI might show more than what the brain is doing—it might reveal what the brain’s about to do.

FMRI studies assume that blood flow in the brain correlates with neuronal activity. Active brain cells need nutrients, which are brought to the cells by freshly oxygenated blood. But in the new study, scientists found that fMRI also detects increased blood flow in brain regions that aren’t active—but that may be in the near future.

The researchers trained monkeys to perform a specific visual task. And they found that, even when the animals were sitting in the dark waiting for the test to begin, fMRI nevertheless revealed an increased blood flow to the monkeys’ visual cortex.

The study suggests that fMRI data may be a lot more interesting than we thought. Scientists may be looking at their imaging data in a way that’s too simplistic. And fMRI may not be measuring exactly what we thought it did. What will they think of next? Maybe fMRI can tell.
(This is an exact transcript of Scientific American's 60-second podcast. Subscribe to 60-Second Science podcasts--great for stimulating discussions in classes.)

Follow this Blog

You can now actively follow this blog. Just follow the directions and do as you wish.

Text Messaging

I am sure you will now be surprised by this information The Nielsen Company estimates that 57 percent of all mobile phone subscribers ages 13 and older use text messaging on a regular basis. U.S. mobile subscribers now send and receive more text messages in a month than they make phone calls. In 2008, mobile phone subscribers sent or received an average of 357 text messages per month, compared with placing 204 phone calls. Among 13 to 17 year-olds, the average is 1,742text messages per month.
Source: Short Code Marketing Opportunity December 2008

Autism Speaks Adopts Open Access

Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism advocacy organization, has announced that all researchers who receive an Autism Speaks grant will be required to deposit any resulting peer-reviewed research papers in the PubMed Central online archive, making the articles available to the public within 12 months of journal publication. This policy makes the result of their research freely and easily accessible to individuals with autism, families and other advocates, as well as interested researchers. Autism Speaks is the first U.S.-based nonprofit advocacy organization to institute this public access requirement.
Source: Association of College and Research Libraries January 2009

Women in Science

"With the inauguration of an administration avowedly committed to Science as the grand elixir for the nation’s economic, environmental and psycho-reputational woes, a number of scientists say that now is the time to tackle a chronic conundrum of their beloved enterprise: how to attract more women into the fold, and keep them once they are there."
Source: In ‘Geek Chic’ and Obama, New Hope for Lifting Women in Science" in the New York Times

Students Avoid Remedial Courses

Community colleges are increasingly concerned about the large number of students who require remedial education and never make it into college-level classes. And a new study confirms what some have long suspected: Many students don’t even attempt to take remedial classes.

According to the study, 36 percent of those referred to remedial mathematics did not complete their precollege work because they did not enroll in a required course. Likewise, 27 percent of those who required remedial English failed to enroll in a required course.

Source: Report based on the study: "Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colletes"

CHANGE OF HOURS ON SUNDAY

Starting Sunday, February 1, the library will be open from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The library will be closed Sunday, January 25.

Guide to Inauguration Day

From the New York Times, here is an interactive map of the swearing-in and parade, with schedule and transportation information.

Free Healthcare & Nursing Job Fair

FREE HEALTHCARE & NURSING JOB FAIR
HARTFORD, CT
Wednesday, March 4
The Connecticut Convention Center
100 Columbus Blvd, Hartford, CT 06103

FREE Job Fair: 9:30am - 2:30pm / FREE Classes: 8:00am - 3:30pm
Join us for a FREE healthcare Job Fair in Hartford, CT. Enjoy up to 5 hours of FREE CE and an exhibit hall packed with top recruiters, awesome prize drawings,
on-site shopping and more.

New Book of Interest

Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge by Iiyoshi and Kumar

Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. The essays in this book by leaders in open education describe successes, challenges, and opportunities they have found in a range of open education initiatives. An electronic version of this book is openly available under Creative Commons license at the MIT Press Web site. A copy of the book is also available in the library.

LIBRARY CLASSES AND MORE

So far the library staff has scheduled 13 classes and meetings in the library for January and some in February as well. You may contact us directly or use the form on the library page to request a session. All of the activities are on the calendar on the library page.

50 State Report Card

"Quality Counts 2009" is the 13th edition of Education Week’s series of annual report cards tracking state education policies and outcomes. Drawing heavily on data from the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center’s annual state policy survey, the report once again offers a comprehensive state-by-state analysis of key indicators of student success. With English-language learners as the special focus of this year’s report, it also, for the first time, provides 50-state information on this diverse and growing student subgroup, complemented by explanatory articles from Education Week reporters.
Source: Education Week

Best Careers 2009: LIBRARIAN

Forget about that image of librarians as a mousy bookworms. More and more of today's librarians must be clever interrogators, helping the patron to reframe their question more usefully. Librarians then become high-tech information sleuths, helping patrons plumb the oceans of information available in books and digital records. Librarianship is definitely an underrated career! If I do say so myself, librarians are among our society's most empowering people.
Source: U.S. News & World Report

Peeking Inside a Singular Mind: Autistic Savant

This is the title of an article in the current issue of the New Scientist.
"Autistic savant Daniel Tammet shot to fame when he set a European record for the number of digits of pi he recited from memory (22,514). For afters, he learned Icelandic in a week. But unlike many savants, he's able to tell us how he does it. We could all unleqash extraordinary mental abilities by getting inside the savant mind." He tells Celeste Biever how he does it--definitely worth reading!
Source: New Scientist January 3 2009

Making a Science of Education

In 2006, the Science magazine began a monthly Education Forum. They now plan to build on this strong beginning by recruiting high-quality articles on education from the world's best experts for every section of the magazine. They will be publishing important work in education as Perspectives, Policy Forums, Reviews, or as original Research Reports and Articles, while continuing to cover education in the News section. The first issue of 2009, with its focus on Education and Technology includes:
1) Making a Science of Education (editorial by Bruce Alberts)
2) Computers as Writing Instructors
3) NSF Rethinks Its Digital LIbrary
4) Online Education Today
5) Opening Education (open educational resources)

This issue is in the library and highly recommended.

The Hobbit Name Generator

I,Esmerelda Brandybuck and Inwë of Dorthonion in Elfish, offer this site so you, too, can find your Hobbit name and Elf name. It isn't necessary to be serious all the time.

Site: Hobbit Name Generator
Sourc: Mary Laine

Can You Identify this?

WHO WILL BE THE FIRST TO IDENTIFY THIS SECTION OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER? PUT YOUR GUESS IN THE COMMENTS.

New Web Site: Humanities Indicators

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences yesterday unveiled the Humanities Indicators, a prototype set of statistical data about the humanities in the United States. The new on-line resource is available at www.HumanitiesIndicators.org.

The Academy project collected and analyzed data from existing sources to compile a prototype set of 74 indicators and more than 200 tables and charts, accompanied by interpretive essays covering five broad subject areas. The Indicators will be updated as new information becomes available, including data from a survey administered last year to approximately 1,500 college and university humanities departments. The Academy views the Indicators as a prototype for a much-needed national system of humanities data collection.

Source: American Academy of Arts and Sciences