Thursday, March 25, 2004

New Documents Shed Light on Microsoft's Tactics [Slashdot] 9:33:43 AM      .

Classroom Teaching Changes in Web-Enhanced Courses: A Multi-Institutional Study - Robin G. Wingard. Web-based instruction in higher education has grown exponentially, with more than a thousand universities offering courses over the Web in the United States alone.1 Web-based instruction offers obvious advantages for distance and continuing education [Online Learning Update] 9:25:20 AM      Google It!.

Sony launches true electronic book. Digital paper, runs off disposable batteries, the works [The Register] 9:23:35 AM      Google It!.

Phil Ringnalda: "TypeKey isn't really about authentication, so much as a way to make comment moderation actually work." [Scripting News] 9:20:17 AM      Google It!.

Free Full Text journals. Yahoo maintains Free Full Text, a directory of over 7,000 scientific and scholarly journals. The directory is not limited to peer-reviewed journals or to journals that permit more than "fair use". Journals needn't offer free access to all their content, provided they do so for at least one whole issue --such as all issues older than six months. When a journal qualifies, the directory tries to link directly to the free content, not to the journal home page. It organizes the journals alphabetically by title, and offers no subject organization and no searching. Despite these limitations, it's very useful and Yahoo has the resources and commitment to keep it up to date. For more details, see the FAQ. (Thanks to ResourceShelf.) (PS: FFT is not new but I can't tell when it launched. Does anyone know?) [Open Access News] 9:18:14 AM      Google It!.

Publicly funded research in Australia. Yesterday, the Australian Department of Education, Science and Training released its report, Review of Closer Collaboration Between Universities and Major Publicly Funded Research Agencies. Excerpt: "Broadly speaking, the key driver of collaboration is the existence of a perceived benefit. This can take many forms such as the creation of critical mass, increased funding, or intellectual enhancement or a combination of all three. Key drivers identified in the submissions include...rapid and flexible access to new ideas...." (PS: The report takes no position on open access to publicly funded research.) [Open Access News] 9:11:45 AM      Google It!.

Free Culture published and free. Lawrence Lessig's new book was published today: Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity , Penguin Press, March 25, 2004. Lessig is releasing it under one of his own Creative Commons licenses, so that you are free to view the full-text online (a 352 page PDF file) and free to "redistribute, copy, or otherwise reuse/remix [it] provided that you do so for non-commercial purposes and credit Professor Lessig." [Open Access News] 9:10:50 AM      Google It!.