Webcast — 10 Ways to Wreck Your Database

Want to make sure your database loses data, duplicates records, and can only handle 5 transactions a minute? Want to make your application developers curse you, your sysadmin hate you, and get yourself fired without a reference? These ten database design techniques will set you on the road to downtime perdition and maintenance hell.

Date: Friday, July 10th at 10 am PT
Price: Free (registration required)
Duration: Approximately 60 minutes

Source: O’Reilly Media

From the Summary:

In a world where we are surrounded by technology, where boundaries between our personal and professional lives merge, JISC’s e-Learning team have been looking at how to support teachers, researchers and academics with best practice advice and guidance for working in a ‘digital age’.

In this podcast with Rebecca O’Brien, Sarah Knight, a JISC e-Learning programme manager, shares the success of the team’s Effective Best Practice guide series and launches a new publication ‘Effective Practice in a Digital Age’. This new guide puts the teacher and learning at its centre and takes those new and experienced in using Web 2.0 technologies on a journey to enhance their practices and illustrates through case studies how practitioners are opening up their practice and enhancing the learner experience as well as their own.

Direct to Podcast
It runs about 19 minutes.

Source: JISC

Climate Change Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit

The new Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit for Formal and Informal Educators is an updated and expanded version of the award-winning (2001 Public Relations Society of America Bronze Anvil Award for Interactive Communications and 2002 Telly Award) and very popular (over 40,000 kits distributed in all 50 states and U.S. territories and over a dozen countries across the world) Climate Change, Wildlife and Wildlands Toolkit for Teachers and Interpreters first published in 2001.

The Toolkit profiles climate stewards in all 11 ecoregions. Here, students participate in the Baldwin County Grasses in Classes program to help grow native plants for wetland and dune restoration projects.

The new kit is designed for classroom teachers and informal educators in parks, refuges, forest lands, nature centers, zoos, aquariums, science centers, etc., and is aimed at the middle school grade level. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with six other federal agencies (National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USDA/Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management), developed the kit to aid educators in teaching how climate change is affecting our nation’s wildlife and public lands, and how everyone can become “climate stewards.”

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

From the Announcement:

The CASLNetwork is an online community for school library specialists working in or for Canadian schools. CASL has created this network so that teacher librarians, library technicians, and school library staff across the country can meet, discuss issues, ask questions, find answers, form groups either by province or territory or by themes like advocacy and literacy skills, and post relevant pictures and videos. In moving on to a Web 2.0 platform, CASL is looking to meet the needs of its membership by offering a multi-faceted communication tool so that they can participate in the process rather than simply receiving information.

Direct to CASLNetwork

Source: CASL (via Canadian Library Association)

From an Announcement:

The Library of Congress has a new home for teacher resources: the Teachers page is at loc.gov/teachers.

For more than ten years, the Library has provided teachers with access to millions of digitized primary sources and the tools educators need to use them in the classroom. As of today, these tools are moving to a new, easy-to-find center for teachers just one click away from the Library’s home page. Some of the new features include:

+ TPS Direct, the Library’s new build-your-own professional development tool.

+ A dedicated home page for primary source sets.

+ Using Primary Sources, a quick introduction to the authentic classroom use of primary sources.

+ Coming soon, a new search tool just for classroom materials.

The full transition will take place over time, and new features will become available from now on, so keep watching for the latest developments. If you’re having trouble finding a familiar resource, ask our reference staff using the Contact link at the bottom of every Library Web page.

Whether you’re a longtime user or just beginning, we hope you’ll explore the new site, update your bookmarks, and discover the instructional power of primary sources at loc.gov/teachers.

Source: LC

First, a bit about the database from the Alexander St. Press Web Site:

Produced in partnership with Arcadia Publishing, Local and Regional History Online: A History of American Life in Images and Texts includes more than 150,000 images—it will continue to grow to include thousands of Arcadia volumes and more than one million photographs and other primary materials. Each Arcadia book tells a small piece of American history, but when searched together, the collection becomes a massive and powerful primary-source research tool for academic libraries, and a great way to bring local history and genealogical information into the public library.

To Access the Database Simply Enter:

Username: reviewer
Password: 69preventative2

in the appropriate boxes.

This trial is through July 31, 2009.

Thanks to Alexander Street Press for making it available.

Office of the Historian Announces New Website: www.history.state.gov

The Department of State is pleased to announce the official unveiling of the Office of the Historian’s new website: www.history.state.gov.

The new website boasts greater accessibility and searching within the Foreign Relations of the United States documentary series. It currently offers both textual and facsimile copies of Foreign Relations volumes from the Kennedy Administration through the Nixon-Ford administration. The Office plans to continue to digitize older volumes and eventually house all of the Foreign Relations volumes on its website. The website also contains updated sections on the history of the Department of State, biographies of notable diplomats, and an in-depth timeline of United States diplomatic milestones. The Office’s educational curriculum guides are also downloadable from the website. The Office hopes that through its enhanced presentation and organization, the new website will become the preeminent online resource for U.S. diplomatic history.

Source: U.S. Department of State

From the Web Site:

PBS Teachers is PBS’ national web destination for high-quality preK-12 educational resources. Here you’ll find classroom materials suitable for a wide range of subjects and grade levels. We provide thousands of lesson plans, teaching activities, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations. These resources are correlated to state and national educational standards and are tied to PBS’ award-winning on-air and online programming like NOVA, Nature, Cyberchase, Between the Lions and more.

PBS Teachers is also the gateway for local resources and services offered by your local PBS station. By localizing this website to your local PBS station, you gain access to educational resources, programs, TV schedules and more.

Direct to PBS Teachers

See Also: PBS TeacherLine

Professional development for PreK-12 educators. A service of PBS Teachers.

Source: Public Broadcasting Service (via E-Mail Post)

From a Summary:

This guide provides sources to assist middle school students and teachers in planning, preparing, and executing environmental science fair projects and updates Environmental Science Projects (TB 97-6).

Direct to Tracer Bullet

Source: Science Reference Services, Library of Congress

From a Summary:

Social media and how Web 2.0 technologies are impacting education are the main themes of the new JISC Inform published this week.

Ewan McIntosh, digital media manager with Channel 4’s Innovation for the Public (4iP) shares his thoughts on the issues he thinks will resonate for the future of educational and public-funded technologies and Sir David Melville, Chair of the Committee of Inquiry behind the ‘HE in a Web 2.0 World’ report writes about its key findings.

The details of JISC’s digitisation programme are highlighted by Michelle Pauli, who gives an overview on how over £22 million has been spent to digitise over 6.5 million items for teaching, learning and research.

Opening up resources continues with a summary of JISC’s most successful annual conference – Opening Digital Doors and a review by David Flanders, a self-proclaimed ‘alpha geek’ working for JISC as a programme manager, on the organisation’s first developer happiness day.

Direct to Complete Issue (24 pages; PDF)

Source: JISC

From the News Announcement:

The migration of information from GPO Access into FDsys will be complete in 2009. The migration is occurring on a collection-by-collection basis. If you are searching for information other than what is listed above, use GPO Access. Conference Reports are available on both FDsys and GPO Access.

Collections currently available on FDsys are:

+ Budget of the United States Government (Fiscal Year 2010)

+ Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993 to Present)

+ Congressional Bills (103rd Congress to Present)

+ Congressional Calendars (104th Congress to Present)

+ Congressional Committee Prints (105th Congress to Present)

+ Congressional Documents (104th Congress to Present)

+ Congressional Hearings (105th Congress to Present)

+ Congressional Record (1994 to Present)

+ Congressional Reports (104th Congress to Present)

+ Economic Indicators (1995 to Present)

+ Federal Register (1994 to Present)

+ List of CFR Sections Affected (1997 to Present)

+ Public and Private Laws (104th Congress to Present)

Source: Government Printing Office

Sum Help: New Search Engine for Mathletes

It is the tool you wish you had in high-school math class.

Wolfram Alpha, a new search engine, has been assessed by Web watchers for its potential to compete with Google. But it’s really a bigger threat to calculators — and science and math curricula. Enter a chemical formula for, say, caffeine, and it will tell you everything from its molecular weight to its structure diagram. Enter a derivative, that fixture of calculus class, and it will determine the results, complete with a helpful “show steps” button.

Math teachers say the software, which takes elements from pricey proprietary programs and makes them freely available online, has the potential to give students empowering new tools. Some would argue too empowering. Lazy students could take shortcuts, while harried teachers get headaches redesigning their homework and tests in response to a moving target: The company behind Wolfram Alpha vows to keep expanding and improving it.

“Why bother learning information that can be Googled when needed?” asks Bruce Yoshiwara, a math professor at Los Angeles Pierce College. “And why master some mathematical algorithm, say long division, when computational power is always at hand?” Prof. Yoshiwara adds, “Wolfram Alpha should reinforce the millennial generation’s devaluation of knowledge.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

Direct to CIA World Factbook Web Site

From the Announcement:

On Monday, June 8, the World Factbook team unveiled its thoroughly redesigned Web site. Presenting a cleaner look, improved navigation, and a host of added features, the new site provides visitors with a more user-friendly experience. More than 3 million visitors access the online Factbook monthly. The world-renowned Factbook provides visitors with wide-ranging and hard-to-locate information about the background, geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 countries and other entities.

Key changes to the site include:

+ An overhaul of the entire site’s look/feel, including new uniform navigation throughout the Factbook site.

+ A new homepage, featuring: A color-coded, easily navigable world map

+ A featured links section that showcases regional maps, flags of the world, and a gallery of Factbook covers

+ Country pages now have collapsible/expandable content, giving visitors more information at their fingertips

In addition to the new look and improved navigation, the site provides several exciting new features:

Downloadable and printable photos for nearly 100 countries
+ “Did You Know?” section that explains the impact of the Factbook around the world
+ “What’s New” section that highlights recent significant updates and additions
+ Built-in world rankings for many of the Factbook information fields

Direct to CIA World Factbook Web Site

Source: Central Intelligence Agency

From the Announcement:

The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association, has added more recommended Web sites to Great Web Sites for Kids (www.ala.org/greatsites), its online resource containing hundreds of links to commendable Web sites for children.

Great Web Sites for Kids (GWS) features links to Web sites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings such as dinosaurs, authors and illustrators; games and entertainment; U.S. history; astronomy and space; and reference desk. There is also a special section with sites of interest to parents, caregivers and teachers. Some of the Web sites even include blogging opportunities for kids.

Review the New Sites Added to the Collection
The list is at the bottom of the web page.

Review the Complete List of Sites and Review the Selection Criteria

Source: ALSC

From the Announcement:

As the entertainment industry promotes its new anti-copying educational program to the nation’s teachers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched its own “Teaching Copyright” curriculum and website to help educators give students the real story about their digital rights and responsibilities on the Internet and beyond.

The Copyright Alliance — backed by the recording, broadcast, and software industries — has given its curriculum the ominous title “Think First, Copy Later.” This is just the latest example of copyright-focused educational materials portraying the use of new technology as a high-risk behavior. For example, industry materials have routinely compared downloading music to stealing a bicycle, even though many downloads are lawful, and making videos using short clips from other sources is treated as probably illegal even though many such videos are also lawful. EFF created Teaching Copyright as a balanced curriculum encouraging students to make full and fair use of technology that is revolutionizing learning and the exchange of information.

[Snip]

The Teaching Copyright curriculum was developed with the input of educators from across the U.S. and has been designed to satisfy components of standards from the International Society for Technology in Education and the California State Board of Education.

Direct to Teaching Copyright Web Site

Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Hat Tip: SLA Public Policy Connections Blog