ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 256/C&RL News Internet resources for distance education By Rob M orrison and Jill H. Ellsworth A selected list T he Internet is full o f resources for those interested in distance education (DE). As with all subjects, information can be obtained using Internet search tools such as gopher, Veronica, Jughead, and WAIS. Using distance education/learning and adult education/learn­ ing, these searches reveal many interesting documents, sites, and databases. J. H. Ellsworth maintains a list called “Dr. E’s Eclectic Compendium o f Electronic Re­ sources for Adult/Distance Education.” This re­ source is available as part o f the University o f Michigan’s Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resources Guides. Current access is through anonymous ftp and gopher. (Ftp host: una.hh.lib.umich.edu, path: /inetdirs, file: disted: ellsworth). For the purpose o f this article, DE is de­ fined as any education taking place at a dis­ tance where a geographical separation exists between the instructor and the learner. S c h o la rly d is c u s s io n lists There are several scholarly discussion lists ex­ plicitly focussed on DE, as w ell as a number o f more general lists which touch on DE regu­ larly. • OFFCAMP. Established by Wayne State University to provide a forum to discuss issues on library services to remote users. Subscribe: LISTSERV®WAYNESTl.BITNET. • DEOS-L. The Distance Education Online Symposium List. Sponsored by the American Center for the Study o f Distance Education (ACSDE) at Pennsylvania State University. This forum promotes discussion o f DE issues world­ wide. The center also produces a newsletter called DEOSNEWS. Subscribe: send the mes­ sage: SUB D EO S-L Y o u r Full N am e to LISTSERV@PSUVM .BITNET or LISTSERV@ PSUVM.PSU.EDU. • DEOSNEWS. The Distance Education On­ line Symposium News. Produced by the Ameri­ can Center for the Study o f Distance Educa­ tion. An international electro n ic journal. Subscribe: send the message: SUB DEOSNEWS Your Full Name to LISTSERV@PSUVM.BITNET or LISTSERV@PSUVM.PSU.EDU. • ADLTED-L. The Canadian Adult Educa­ tion Network provides a forum for discussions worldwide. Subscribe: LISTSERV@UREGINA1. bitnet. • EDISTA. Operated by the University Dis­ tance Program (UNIDIS) at the University o f Santiago in Chile. Subscribe: send the message: SUBSCRIBE ED ISTA “y o u r_ fu ll_ n a m e ” to LISTSERV®USACHVMl.BITNET. Messages to the list can be sent via bitnet: EDISTA@ USACHVM1.BITNET. Electronic jo u r n a ls a n d n e w s le tte rs There are some electronic journals and news­ letters that are o f particular interest to distance educators. • DISTED. The O n lin e Jou rn a l o f Distance Education an d C om m u n ica tion from the Uni­ versity o f Alaska. Articles focus on four con­ tent areas: distance education, distance com ­ munication, telecommunications in education, and cross-cultural com m u n ication . S u b ­ s c rib e : sen d the m essa ge SUB D ISTE D your_full_name to LISTSERV©UWAVM. A sub­ scription will provide references to articles that Rob Morrison is reference/extension librarian at Utah State University, e-mait: robmor@cc.usu.edu; Jill H. Ellsworth is an assistant professor at Southwest Texas State University, e-mail: je01@academia.swt.edu mailto:LISTSERV@PSUVM.PSU.EDU mailto:robmor@cc.usu.edu mailto:je01@academia.swt.edu May 1994/257 can be retrieved directly from the listserv or via anonymous ftp. • JTE-L. Journal o f Technology Education. Produced by the Technology Education Pro­ gram at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and featuring peer-reviewed articles on technology in education. Subscribe: send the message SUBSCRIBE JTE-L First Name Last Name to LISTSERV@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU or LISTSERV®VTVM1 (bitnet). A list o f all files can be obtained by sending the message INDEX JTE-L to LISTSERV®VTVMl. • JOE. Journal o f Extension published by the University o f Wisconsin. Refereed publica­ tion o f the Cooperative Extension System, cov­ ers extension and adult education issues. Sub­ scribe: send the message: subscribe joe to almanac@joe.uwex.edu. Full-text articles are available directly from the listserv or via anony­ mous ftp. • IPCT. Interpersonal Computing and Tech­ nology: A n Electronic Journal f o r the 21st Cen­ tury. Published by the Center for Teaching and Technology, Academic Computing Center at Georgetown University, the journal includes peer-reviewed articles on the use o f comput­ ers and other electronic communication sys­ tems used in higher education. Subscribe: send the m essage: SUBSCRIBE IPCT-J YO U R FIR STN AM E YO U R LASTN AM E to LISTSERV@GUVM.GEORGETOWN.EDU or LISTSERV@GUVM. D a ta b a se s There are some special databases o f interest in DE. • ERIC provides a rich repository o f edu­ cationally related papers, studies, reports and information; has abundant DE materials; and can be reached through Syracuse University, the University o f Maryland, Auburn University and other libraries. The Washington and Lee Law Library offers an easy-to-use interface (tel­ net to liberty.uc.wlu.edu and login as lawlib). • The International Centre for Distance Learning (ICDL) based at the British Open Uni­ versity, has a large online database on DE. This database has been developed with funding from the British government’s Overseas Development Administration to provide an information ser­ vice to the Commonwealth o f Learning (based in Canada), an organization created by Com­ monwealth Heads o f Government to expand opportunities for students in Commonwealth countries through DE. There are three sections in the database: courses, institutions, and lit­ erature. There are costs associated with the use o f this database; it can be accessed from the Internet using telnet: telnet acsvax.open.ac.uk, login: icdl. • The scholarly papers archive o f the joint AARE/NZARE Education Research Conference which was held at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia, are available via ftp: host: sol.deakin.edu.au; directory: aare; login: anony­ mous; password: your e-mail address. There is a readme file which outlines infor­ mation about the papers and the file that con­ tains abstracts o f all papers found in the same / aare directory as the file “readme”. • The Cleveland Free-net (telnet to freenet- in-a.cwru.edu and register as a visitor unless you have an account). Archives the papers and scholarly list transcripts from what is known as the Bangkok Distance Learning Conference (The International Conference on Distance Edu­ cation, N o vem b er 6-8, 1992, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Bangkok, Thai­ land). This conference generated a great deal o f interest on the nets as it was taking place. The archives can be found in the Usenet news section o f the Free-net. The Usenet can be ac­ cessed from The Teleport section from the main directory. Usenet DE archival files: alt. education.bangkok alt.education.bangkok.cmc alt.education.bangkok.databases alt. education.bangkok. planning alt.education.bangkok.research alt.education.bangkok.student alt.education.bangkok.theory alt.education.distance In addition, in alt.education.distance some o f the topics currently include the National In­ structional Satellite Service, the Davenport Media Literacy Program, distance learning pro­ grams in physics, GED materials, computer me­ diated distance learning, the University o f Phoenix distance learning degree programs, copyrights and distance learning, and more. As with most archives and Usenet lists, the mate­ rial changes day to day. O t h e r resources • The National Project for Computer-based Distance Education at Miami Dade Community College. (Internet cont. on page 258) mailto:LISTSERV@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU mailto:almanac@joe.uwex.edu mailto:LISTSERV@GUVM.GEORGETOWN.EDU 258/C&RL News Letters Food in the library To the Editor: I read with interest the article entitled “No food, no drink, no noise” (Februaiy 1994) and I was amused by the author’s innovative signs such as “Ravenous Roaches Ravage Rootbeer and Rare Books.” T w o years ago our library dropped its “no drink” policy and began allowing drinks in any kind o f covered container. W e also eased our “no food” policy, prohibiting only messy, smelly foods such as pizzas or hamburgers and fries, etc. We have even gone as far as to establish an annual Christmas party in the li­ brary. The library provides the drinks, cookies, snacks, and loud Christmas music. The students LOVE it! In two years I have yet to see a roach in our library. In fact, I have detected no major spills, wet books, water rings, or any o f the other nightmares librarians have about allowing food and drink in the libraiy. In my judgment, this is a customer service issue. I want to do everything reasonable to make our students feel good about libraries. Allowing food and drinks has been a reason­ able concession and, I believe, it has had very positive repercussions.— Dennis Ingolfsland, Bryan College More w om e n ’s studies resources on the N e t … To the Editor: I am writing in response to Mary Glazier’s article, “Internet resources for women’s stud­ ies” (March 1994). I have been doing research on women’s studies and the Internet and was very glad to see such attention given to women’s studies. However, I would like to call your atten­ tion to an oversight in that article: since there are no databases/CD-ROMs dedicated to women’s studies, and others may include only some wom en’s studies journals, a database which includes almost all (over 80) such jour­ nals is CARL UnCover. CARL UnCover is avail­ able through the Internet by telnetting to uncover.carl.org. Also, a list I compiled o f the wom en’s studies-related journals on CARL UnCover and some search tips are available on the University o f Maryland gopher. Telnet to inform.umd.edu, then choose 4. Educational Re­ sources, 17. Women’s studies, 11. Resources, then 6. Using CARL UnCover. Access to women’s studies information is a major concern o f all librarians because women’s studies has been integrated into all subjects, in particular literature, sociology, and psychology. CARL UnCover is a great resource for women’s studies information.—-Jill Morrissey, University o f Connecticut … and another To the Editor: As a women’s studies librarian, I was veiy pleased to see Mary Glazier’s article in the March 1994 issue o f C&RL News. I must point out, however, that Glazier makes an unfortunate omission by neglecting to mention the Schlesinger Library on the His­ tory o f Women in America in her section on OPACs. The Schlesinger Library is one o f the larg­ est and best-known women’s history libraries in the world. All o f our holdings, including 50,000 books and 2,000 manuscript collec­ tions, are listed on Harvard’s online catalog, HOLLIS. T o access HOLLIS, teln et to HOLLIS.HARVARD.EDU. Press return for v tl00 terminals, or enter in another type. Select HOLLIS from the next menu. Our holdings are included in the HU database.— Wendy Thomas, Radcliffe College ■ (Internet cont.from page 257) • The National Distance Learning Center Clearinghouse at Owensboro Community Col­ lege in Kentucky. • The Centre for Distance Education at Athabasca University is creating a database of e-mail addresses o f adult and distance educa­ tion researchers in an effort to provide infor­ mation and connections. • At the University of Washington, IBM and the university maintain a Bulletin Board Ser­ vice for educators which contains a conference on DE. It may be reached by telnet to isaac.engr.washington.edu or 128.95.32.61. This service requires registration. ■