Infobits is an electronic service of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ITS Teaching and Learning's Center for Instructional Technology. Each month the CIT's Information Resources Consultant monitors and selects from a number of information and instructional technology sources that come to her attention and provides brief notes for electronic dissemination to educators.

Professors Stressed by Computer Technologies
The Virtual Technical Reports Center
What Authors Want: A Survey Of Scholarly Publishing
New Online Journal of Technologies for Knowledge
Survey of Student Internet Use
Report on Public Universities and Lifelong Learning
Web Search Engines Around the World
Recommended Reading
CIT Information Resource Guides Updated

PROFESSORS STRESSED BY COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES

A recent survey conducted by Linda Sax at the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that "technology is the fourth most cited source of stress among female professors and the fifth most cited among male professors, surpassing traditional stress producers such as research and publishing demands, teaching loads and the review and promotion process." Results from the mailed survey of 34,000 faculty members at 378 institutions of higher learning indicate that 67% of the survey respondents feel regular stress keeping up with information technology. Only 35% use the Internet to conduct research and 38% use information technology to create classroom presentations. One professor says, "I just don't have the time. I don't have time to use everything they come up with." Faculty stress contrasts sharply with student nonchalance. Noting that 80% of freshmen at UCLA arrived last year with their own computers, a spokesman from that university says, "We are seeing a generation that has practically grown up with computers as a part of everyday life."

See "An Overview of the 1998-99 Faculty Norms"
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/Faculty_Overview.html
and
"Keeping up with Technology is a Major Source of Stress for the Nation's College Faculty, UCLA Study Shows"
http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/prtechnology.html

The Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) is based in the Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. HERI serves as an interdisciplinary center for research, evaluation, information, policy studies, and research training in postsecondary education. For more information about HERI see their Website at http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/

THE VIRTUAL TECHNICAL REPORTS CENTER

Gloria Lyles Chawla, Technical Reports Librarian at the University of Maryland Libraries, College Park, Maryland, created and maintains the Virtual Technical Reports Center. The Center provides links to either full-text or searchable, extended abstracts of technical reports and other types of research publications (preprints, reprints, dissertations, and theses). The site, which is updated weekly, is organized alphabetically. Links consist mainly of governmental and university-based research institutions from around the world.

The Virtual Technical Reports Center is located at http://www.lib.umd.edu/UMCP/ENGIN/TechReports/Virtual-TechReports.html

WHAT AUTHORS WANT: A SURVEY OF SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING

The Association of Learned, Professional and Society Publishers (ALPSP) in the United Kingdom recently carried out a survey and produced a report, "What Authors Want." Questionnaires were sent to approximately 10,500 contributors to learned journals published in the UK, the USA, and elsewhere. The response rate was over 30%. The survey examined: "the motivations involved when authors publish their work; which factors authors take into consideration when deciding where to submit their work; the concerns of authors about the publishing process; the hopes and expectations of authors for the future of scholarly publishing." Authors were concerned mainly with issues of copyright, peer reviewing, and publication delays. For a summary of the survey (in PDF and PowerPoint formats) see http://www.alpsp.org.uk/pubs.htm

The complete survey report is available from the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, South House, The Street, Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex, BN13 3UU, UK; tel: 01903 871 686; fax: 01903 871 457; email: alpsp@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk; Web: http://www.alpsp.org.uk/form/wawform.htm

NEW ONLINE JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR KNOWLEDGE

This month Knowledge Enterprise, Inc., in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and the Global Information Infrastructure Commission (GIIC), launched a new online publication. TechKnowLogia, International Journal of Technologies for the Advancement of Knowledge and Learning provides policy makers, strategists, practitioners, and technologists at the local, national, and global levels with a strategic forum to "explore the vital role of different information technologies (print, audio, visual, and digital) in the development of human and knowledge capital."

TechKnowLogia is on the Web at http://www.TechKnowLogia.org/
Articles in the first issue include:

"Information Literacy: How Does It Differ From Traditional or Computer Literacy?"
"Does Hypermedia Accelerate Learning?"
"Computers in Schools: 10 Points to Avoid Past Errors"
"Electronic Books: The Future of Publishing?"

TechKnowLogia is published bimonthly by Knowledge Enterprise, Inc., PO Box 3027, Oakton, Virginia 22124 USA; fax: 703-242-2279; email: techknowlogia@knowledgeenterprise.org;
Web: http://www.techknowlogia.org/
Subscriptions are free, but readers must register to gain access to articles. Readers will be notified by email when new issues are published.

SURVEY OF STUDENT INTERNET USE

Student Monitor, a team of student marketing experts, conducts a twice-yearly survey for companies that are interested in reaching the college-student market. "Computing & Internet Study" compiles the results of a survey of 1,200 undergraduate students. The survey asks "what computer hardware and software students own, use, and plan to purchase. . . .[and] what students are doing on the Internet, how frequently, and why."

You can read highlights of the study on the Web at http://www.studentmonitor.com/
A one-year subscription to the survey's findings costs $20,000.

REPORT ON PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES AND LIFELONG LEARNING

The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities have released the fourth report in the "Returning to our Roots" series: "A Learning Society." This report focuses on the role of state-supported universities in creating new kinds of learning environments and in providing lifelong learning in U.S. society. The report includes recent examples of how public institutions are making lifelong learning a part of their core mission. The complete report is available on the Web (in PDF format) at http://www.nasulgc.org/Kellogg/learn.pdf

NASULGC, the nation's oldest higher education association, is a voluntary association of public universities, land-grant institutions, and many of the nation's public university systems. The association is dedicated to supporting excellence in teaching, research, and public service. For more information, see their Website at http://www.nasulgc.org/

For more information about the Kellogg Commission, the Kellogg Foundation, and other reports in the "Returning to our Roots" series, link to http://www.nasulgc.org/Kellog/

WEB SEARCH ENGINES AROUND THE WORLD

Search Engine Colossus, created by Bryan Strome, British Columbia, Canada, is an international directory of search engines, many in the language(s) of the country of where they are located. Links on the site can be used to enhance online language learning activities. Visit the site at http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/

Information Technology Services at UNC-Chapel Hill

Teaching and Learning

CIT Infobits - September, 1999

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