NetWatch, September 2001


	September 2001 Copyright © Information Today, Inc.
by Kathie Felix, News/Reviews Editor

News of the latest Net-related products and technology for K-12 may be sent directly to Kathie Felix at 5746 Union Mill Rd., PMB 605, Clifton, VA 20124 or to kfelix@infotoday.com.

Net News

Internet Access in Nearly Every School
By the fall of 2000, almost all of the public schools in the United States had access to the Internet—98 percent were connected, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The Center's report, "Internet Access in U.S. Public Schools and Classrooms: 1994-2000," also indicates that—unlike previous years—there were virtually no differences in 1999 or 2000 in school access to the Internet by school characteristics such as poverty level and metropolitan status. The complete report is available online at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001071.pdf. National Center for Education Statistics, 202/502-7348 or http://www.ed.gov/.

Technology Planning and Budgeting
The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) has expanded its "Taking TCO to the Classroom" initiative designed to help schools and school districts with technology planning and budgeting. The project's initial white paper, "Taking TCO to the Classroom: A School Administrator's Guide to Planning for the Total Cost of New Technology," has been updated and posted on the TCO Web site [http://www.classroomtogo.org/]. Also on the site is an updated downloadable PowerPoint presentation that school administrators and technology directors can use in discussions with stakeholders in their districts. Online courses on budgeting for technology will begin this fall, co-sponsored by CoSN, the Satellite Education Resources Consortium (SERC), and the Education Development Center (EDC). CoSN, 202/466-6296 or http://www.cosn.org/.

Net Tools

Extreme Searching
The Extreme Searcher's Guide to Web Search Engines: A Handbook for the Serious Searcher by Randolph Hock is now available in a completely revised and expanded edition. The book is designed to help information seekers make effective use of the major search engines, Web directories, and meta-search tools including AltaVista, Excite, Fast Search, Google, HotBot, Lycos, Northern Light, Yahoo!, Dogpile, ixquick, MetaCrawler, and ProFusion. The author maintains a related Web resource, The Extreme Searcher's Web Page, featuring updates, important news for users of Web search tools, and links to the search engines. The 272-page softcover book is priced at $24.95. Information Today, 800/300-9868 or http://www.infotoday.com/.

Net Teaching

ClassWorks Gold Expands Professional Development
ClassWorks Online Professional Development provides an on-demand resource for educators using ClassWorks Gold software. Delivered to schools on a subscription basis, the online professional development system provides step-by-step courses that cover all of the ClassWorks Gold features and modules. The courses are designed to supplement the on-site professional development provided with ClassWorks Gold and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Subscriptions are custom-priced. Curriculum Advantage/ClassWorks, 888/221-0802 or http://www.classworks.com/.

Web Design Curriculum Guide
Macromedia has released Web Design Basics, a new curriculum guide to help teach Web design courses using Macromedia software. The guide covers the fundamentals of developing commercial Web sites using six Macromedia Web authoring products. The guide's six lessons run from 6-9 hours; each is structured around developing a Web site for a fictitious company. A companion CD with interactive training on Macromedia products, multimedia asset files for the lessons, and a .PDF file of each lesson (for duplication) are also included. The cost is $25. Macromedia, 800/457-1774 or http://www.macromedia.com/education/.

Net Libraries

Wilson Adds Document Delivery
The H.W. Wilson Company has teamed with Infotrieve Online to provide users with the actual documents cited by all of its databases. Beginning this fall, WilsonWeb databases will include an icon linking to the Infotrieve site, where users can order articles and receive them by e-mail, fax, overnight courier, or by mail. Infotrieve document delivery services start at a $10.75 basic rate per document. H.W. Wilson, 800/367-6770 or http://www.hwwilson.com/. Infotrieve, http://www.infotrieve.com/.

SIRS Updates
SIRS Knowledge Source and SIRS Discoverer now include a list of links to recently added New Content & Hot Topics. The links will be updated weekly and will highlight database content, provide ideas for research topics, showcase sample searches, increase awareness of subject headings, and provide quick and easy access to popular topics. On SIRS Knowledge Source, the New Content & Hot Topics feature can be accessed from the Additional Databases tab. On SIRS Discoverer, this feature can be accessed from the Main Menu by clicking on New Topics. SIRS, 800/232-7477 or http://www.sirs.com/.

Searchable Online Library Catalogs
The complete line of Wilson standard library catalogs is now available in digital format with the release of Fiction Catalog, Electronic Edition and Public Library Catalog, Electronic Edition. The catalogs offer searching by keyword, title, subject, publisher, author, publication year, ISBN, ISSN, Dewey Decimal Classification Number, and document type (book, book chapter, or CD-ROM). The new databases appear exclusively on WilsonWeb. H.W. Wilson, 800/367-6770 or http://www.hwwilson.com/.

Net Learning

American History
The American History subscription Web site from ABC-CLIO offers more than 11,000 entries organized by topic and category. Keyword search access is available to all of the information, including biographies, maps, primary source documents, statistics, video clips, events, and court cases. Among the continually updated materials on the site are weekly features, a student forum, "This Day in History," and living history articles detailing the history behind today's news headlines. ABC-CLIO, 800/368-6868 or http://www.abc-clio.com/.

Presidential Studies
LexisNexis now provides Access to Presidential Studies, a subscription online resource with information on all 43 U.S. presidents. Users can search and retrieve the complete text of inaugural addresses, State of the Union addresses, and scholarly articles dating back to George Washington's presidency. Also included are autobiographies, office diaries, executive orders from 1862 through 1904, photographs, and images. Additional material will be added during scheduled quarterly updates. LexisNexis, 800/638-8380 or http://www.lexisnexis.com/.

Information Today Home Page

Home Page

Current Issue

Top