Return-Path: <nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h6HEAr709037; Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:10:53 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 10:10:53 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <00bd01c34c6c$ea84b350$d8f06083@ED856ALCDGG1> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <epedgg@panther.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WORKPLACE:716] RE: ERIC X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6156 Lines: 131 This article is taken from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Thursday, July 17, 2003 http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/07/2003071701t.htm Daphne Center for the Study for Adult Literacy Georgia State University Syracuse U. Team Hopes to Keep Alive AskERIC, an Online Source for Education Data By BROCK READ A team of professors and consultants at Syracuse University is hoping to keep alive a popular online research tool for education data that the U.S. Department of Education has decided to stop financing. The search tool, a Web site known as AskERIC, provides researchers with access to education resources online and also allows them to request information from experts in a number of educational fields. The information that appears on the site was collected by the Educational Resources Information Center, known as ERIC, which consists of 16 subject-specific clearinghouses that have been supported by the Education Department. One of the clearinghouses, the Clearinghouse on Information Technology, has operated the AskERIC site. But in June, the department began a search for a contractor to collapse the clearinghouses into one database, arguing that a centralized system would be more efficient and affordable (The Chronicle, April 23). The proposed revamping does not include financial support for AskERIC, which the Education Department deemed inessential, according to Luna Levinson, an educational-program specialist at the department's Institute of Education Sciences. "The new system will include an online database that is exceedingly fast," she said. "Therefore, a search service like AskERIC should not be necessary." But professors at the Information Institute of Syracuse, the location of ERIC's Clearinghouse on Information Technology, think the AskERIC site is worth continuing, and are preparing to manage it as a branch of the university. Since the Syracuse staff already oversees the site's day-to-day operation, the change will involve only seeking money from the university and from outside sources, rather than depending on the Education Department for funds. R. David Lankes, AskERIC's director, said that the transition would not impede the services of the Web site, which aims to help teachers, students, and parents find online educational resources and sift through them -- if necessary, by putting the site's users in contact with experts who can sort the wheat from the chaff. The site's team of experts was drawn largely from administrators of the ERIC clearinghouses, but Mr. Lankes says the restructuring of ERIC will not affect the experts' availability. Cataloging useful and credible online sources has been the online project's goal since 1992, when AskERIC -- which was then run on a lone computer in the closet of a former morgue -- offered nothing more than an e-mail address through which teachers could contact a consultant on education issues. Questions and comments flooded in, according to Mr. Lankes, and AskERIC has gradually expanded ever since, adding information about postsecondary education to its collection of K-12 links and broadening its base of participating experts. The site, managed by Mr. Lankes and a team of assistants, now employs seven consultants at Syracuse and receives input from almost 200 education analysts nationwide, including college professors, library and museum administrators, and officers in state education departments. Visitors to the site can contact its staff of experts through e-mail. From 1 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, they can engage in real-time conversations online. They can also canvass ERIC's database of resources, which includes links to about 3,500 Web sites and studies, more than 250 lesson plans, and archives of mailing lists maintained by the information center. With the database, and through the online consultations, Mr. Lankes hopes to offer teachers unbiased information that helps them determine if education trends like technology integration and high-risk testing will work in their classrooms. "It's sort of like an academic library," he said of the database. "It's about delivering multiple perspectives on each issue. Our job is to say, 'Here are 12 articles expressing different viewpoints from credible sources.'" ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Wagner" <wagner.6@osu.edu> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-workplace@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 2:32 PM Subject: [NIFL-WORKPLACE:712] RE: ERIC > You can get a complete list of Clearinghouses at http://www.eric.ed.gov/. > Go to the top bar ERIC CLEARINGHOUSES for a pull-down menu. That will take > you directly to the individual clearinghouses--most of which have full text > of their own pubs. > > Enjoy! > > At 02:24 PM 7/16/2003 -0400, you wrote: > >While you are all screaming that the sky is falling, you may want to take > >the time to actually go to the old clearinghouses. They are working fine and > >are still available for downloading info. Bold proclamations about the death > >of the mind and soul aside, why not take the time to download some stuff > >today? You can use WebReaper to download each clearinghouse as a complete > >offline website. To install a free copy of web reaper, go to: > > > >www.webreaper.net > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: nifl-workplace@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-workplace@nifl.gov]On Behalf > > > Of kmccook@tampabay.rr.com > > > Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2003 11:54 AM > > > To: Multiple recipients of list > > > Subject: [NIFL-WORKPLACE:710] ERIC > > > > > > > > > One of the first moves of a one-party state is to make > > > information less available. The people of the state of Florida > > > rose up when Jeb Bush tried to dismantle our state library in > > > Jnaury 2003. Legislators did not go along. However, since > > > then some dissenting librarians have been fired and the Bush > > > appointees are closing access to the collection to the public. > > > A less obvious, but likely more effective strategy is to make > > > sure things don't get into libraries in the first place. ERIC > > > clearinghouses have been full of documents that ask hard > > > questions. > >
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