News

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a five year contract to a consortium of institutions to develop and operate a new database system for the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). The lead institution in the consortium is Computer Sciences Corporation. CSC operatecd the ERIC Document Reproduction Service under the previous ERIC Contract. Under that contract CSC provided full text access through the E*Subscribe service as well as providing reproductions of ERIC documents on microfiche. Subcontractors with CSC include Research Triangle Institute (RTI) of Research Triangle Park, N.C., NATECH of Coos Bay, Ore., DB Consulting of Silver Spring, Md., and CurrenTech, Inc. of Columbia, Md. The full press release on the awarding of the contract is available at http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/03/03182004.html

Posted by Jo Ann Carr on March 22, 2004

Allison Motszko and Susie Juncer have been named CIMC WOW Award winners for February and March. This award is given monthly to the CIMC student staff member who have made an outstanding contribution to the CIMC. Allison and Susie were recognized for their excellence in supporting the ordering of new materials and their work in coordinating the reshelving of the CIMC's PK-12 collection.

Posted by Jo Ann Carr on March 16, 2004

As part of this year's capital exercise, eighteen new Windows
computers were purchased for the Windows classroom, the open lab, and
the E-Portfolio Liaison office. The most striking feature of these new
systems is the 17-inch flat-panel monitor. Their 3-gigahertz Pentium 4
processor is 50% faster than the systems they replace. Each system
contains one gigabyte of working memory, a 75-gigabyte hard drive, a
CD-ROM drive, a CDRW/DVD-ROM drive, a 250-megabyte Zip drive, and
multiple USB 2.0 ports for peripherals.

Posted by Chris Dowling on March 12, 2004

As you may already know, the Educational Resources Information Center (known to many of us as ERIC) is in transition. See related article ERIC Contract Awarded to Consortium. Prior to January 2004, ERIC used multiple “clearinghouses” to provide the organization of and access to educational materials. The mission of ERIC continues to be a centralized database of journal articles and other published and unpublished education materials. A transition to a new model for the ERIC database and their services began in January 2004. Updated information on the timeline for the transition plan is available at http://www.lib.msu.edu/corby/education/eric/timeline.htm. According to this website (which is, apparently, updated as goals change), the new, single, contractor takes over responsibility for making 1993-2003 electronic documents available on September 1, 2004. What’s do these changes mean for you?

For students and staff on the UW campus, there are two ways to find information in ERIC. The first way is through the UW library Home page to the Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers, and to E (ERIC) (http://www.library.wisc.edu/reslist.journals/journals-e.html). Scroll down then click on “ERIC.” You will be taken to an EBSCOHost interface that will help you search the ERIC databaseAnother option is to search the ERIC Database directly, by going to http://www.eric.ed.gov. Several different ways to search the database are explained there.

The important thing to note is that the newest materials are not available for the time being because, even though ERIC continues to be updated on a regular basis, the materials being added will be from the cataloging backlog and not from new materials. Further assistance with ERIC is available at the CIMC reference desk by calling 608-263-4751 or emailing askcimc@education.wisc.edu.

Posted by on March 12, 2004

As part of my coursework to complete my degree in Library and Information Studies, I am working at the CIMC in the area of information literacy and library instruction. Mid semester, here are some reflections about the CIMC instruction program. I have to say… there is A LOT of instruction going on, as well as a host of reminders to help users find specific instruction sessions.

Let’s begin with the poster design. In all SoE buildings, you can find blue and white posters with information about what’s offered—for free—at the CIMC. Posters are updated routinely, and reflect the broad range of topics offered by the CIMC instruction team.

Learning about upcoming workshops is as easy as going online or walking in the door. The CIMC’s homepage has a reminder about upcoming workshop topics and provides a direct link to the workshop calendar and workshop registration. When you arrive at the CIMC, recheck times and room locations posted at “Today at the CIMC” above the water fountain.
As a practicum student, one of my early assignments was to do some reflective thinking about the use of PowerPoint. Indeed, the CIMC offers various ways to learn how to use this tool to create slide shows. There are classes offered, (“Introduction to PowerPoint” and “PowerPoint, Moving On”), and tutorials posted online. Resources at your fingertips! As I browsed the resources I began to formulate my own essay “when is it appropriate to use PowerPoint for teaching and learning?” Check out my critical thoughts on using the PowerPoint as a tool.

Finally, I am struck by the personal touch of the instruction that occurs in the CIMC. People want to know my name. They invite me to be a part of informational meetings. To me, that is what education is all about: making connections with people and information. Thank you, CIMC, for helping me learn about how to help others learn!

Posted by on March 12, 2004

The Greenwood Dictionary of Education is the first comprehensive dictionary on education published since the 1973 Good’s Dictionary of Education. From “ability grouping” on page one to “Zero-based budgeting” on page 389, this volume provides carefully researched definitions that range from a few dozen to a few hundred words.

Some definitions include references to articles, books and other materials that relate to the given term. Most terms come from contemporary usage. Some terms - “New England Primer,” “New Math Movement” and “new social studies,” for instance - lend historical context.

The Greenwood Dictionary of Education is in the CIMC Reference Collection and has the call number LB15 G68 2003. If the words and meanings of the language of education are important to you, get to know this volume.

Posted by on March 12, 2004

No Fooling!

At noon Thursday, April first we will celebrate three wonderful things with an exploration of many surprising and useful talents of Google, the great tastes of Glass Nickel Pizzas and the "Spring is here!" spirit of April first.

This will be the third Advanced Google session at the CIMC. The first two were highly “hands-on,” well received and packed with interesting discoveries.

The combination of Google and food is obviously interesting to us. Due to the size of the room and pizzas, this workshop has a limit of twenty four. We want to be sure there is room and pizza for all, so please register for this event -- sign up at: http://cimc.education.wisc.edu/contact/staff/peter.html

Mention the Advanced Google & Pizza workshop on April 1st and let us know your pizza topping preference.

We hope to see you there!

--Peter Cupery and Amanda Werhane

Posted by on March 11, 2004

During the second half of March, continue to browse our displays for Women's History Month and the 200th Anniversary of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

Throughout April, the CIMC will honor National Poetry Month by featuring children’s poetry on a variety of subjects and themes. Additionally, exhibits will highlight the life and works of celebrated poets and resources for teaching poetry. Accompanying this display is our poetry webliography.

The CIMC celebrates National Library Week from April 18-24! Research shows that students perform better academically when they have access to a school library, and better still when the library is staffed by a trained librarian. Displays will feature materials about libraries, the teacher-librarian relationship, and information literacy.

Posted by Amanda Werhane on March 11, 2004

The Education and Standards Site, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, McREL, is an important database for educators interested in academic content standards.

This site, http://www.mcrel.org/ , offers, "A compilation of content standards for K-12 curriculum in both searchable and browsable formats," and also offers a considerable amount of information about those education standards and benchmarks.

McREL's database search page, http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/search.asp , offers topical and/or grade level access to K-12 education standards and benchmarks identified by McREL..

Posted by on March 11, 2004

The BBC Sound Effects Library is a great resource. It includes

4 minutes and 11 seconds of an "Open-Air Swimming Pool, With Children"
3 minutes and 35 seconds of a "Mountain Stream"
3 minutes and 10 seconds of a "Tropical Dawn Chorus, Sri Lanka,"
39 seconds of a "Whistling Kettle coming to the boil"

and hundreds of other sound effects tracks on twenty CDs available in the CIMC Computer Lab Resource Collection. CIMC purchase of these CDs included rights to, "allow use of the discs in audio, video and film productions . . ."

At the present time iTunes software is our preferred method to retrieve, listen and save BBC Sound Effects Library tracks. iTunes software is currently available on CIMC Macintosh computers and will be added to the CIMC Windows computers in mid-March.

Come in and "give a listen"!

--Peter Cupery

Posted by on March 11, 2004