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How to go to M.I.T. for free
by Subbiah Arunachalam 04 Jan '07

04 Jan '07

>From Christian Science Monitor, 4 January 2007 How to go to M.I.T. for free Online 'intellectual philanthropy' attracts students from every nation on earth. By Gregory M. Lamb | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor By the end of this year, the contents of all 1,800 courses taught at one of the world's most prestigious universities will be available online to anyone in the world, anywhere in the world. Learners won't have to register for the classes, and everyone is accepted. The cost? It's all free of charge. The OpenCourseWare movement, begun at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2002 and now spread to some 120 other universities worldwide, aims to disperse knowledge far beyond the ivy-clad walls of elite campuses to anyone who has an Internet connection and a desire to learn. Intended as an act of "intellectual philanthropy," OpenCourseWare (OCW) provides free access to course materials such as syllabi, video or audio lectures, notes, homework assignments, illustrations, and so on. So far, by giving away their content, the universities aren't discouraging students from enrolling as students. Instead, the online materials appear to be only whetting appetites for more. "We believe strongly that education can be best advanced when knowledge is shared openly and freely," says Anne Margulies, executive director of the OCW program at MIT. "MIT is using the power of the Internet to give away all of the educational materials created here." The MIT site (ocw.mit.edu) along with companion sites that translate the material into other languages, now average about 1.4 million visits per month from learners "in every single country on the planet," Ms. Margulies says. Those include Iraq, Darfur, "even Antarctica," she says. "We hear from [the online students] all the time with inspirational stories about how they are using these materials to change their lives. They're really, really motivated." So-called "distance learning" over the Internet isn't new. Students have been able to pay for online courses at many institutions, either to receive credit or simply as a noncredit adult-learning experience. Many universities also offer free podcasts (audio or sometimes video material delivered via the Internet). But the sheer volume and variety of the educational materials being released by MIT and its OCW collaborators is nothing less than stunning. For example, each of the 29 courses that Tufts University in Medford, Mass., has put online so far is "literally the size of a textbook," says Mary Lee, associate provost and point person for the OCW effort there. The material provides much more than "a skeleton of a course," she says. Visitors to Tufts' OCW course on "Wildlife Medicine" call it is the most comprehensive website on that topic in the world, Dr. Lee says. What OCW is not, its supporters agree, is a substitute for attending a university. For one thing, OCW learners aren't able to receive feedback from a professor - or to discuss the course with fellow students. A college education is "really the total package of students interacting with other students, forming networks, interacting with faculty, and that whole environment of being associated with the school," says James Yager, a senior associate dean at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He oversees the OCW program there. His school of public health now offers nearly 40 of its most popular courses for free via OCW. The school's goal is to put 90 to 100 of its 200 or so core courses online within the next year or so. In November, learners from places such as Taiwan, Britain, Australia, Singapore, Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands logged some 80,000 page views of OCW course material, Dr. Yager says. MIT's initiative began with the idea of giving faculty at other universities access to how professors at MIT approached teaching a subject. But after the OCW project went online, the school quickly realized it had two other huge constituencies: students at other colleges, who wanted to augment what they were learning, and "self learners," those not pursuing a formal education but interested in increasing their knowledge. Along with course content, MIT also wanted to showcase its teaching methods. Many schools follow a traditional model, teaching the theory first, then allowing students to practice what they've learned. MIT has a "practice, theory, practice" way of teaching, Margulies says, that aims to get students engaged and energized immediately - before delving much into theory. Younes Attaourti, a physics professor in Marrakesh, Morocco, stumbled upon MIT's OCW site while surfing the Net. He's used the materials as the basis for courses he's taught on statistical physics and quantum theory of fields. And for his own learning, he's downloaded theoretical physics courses and one on ultrafast optics. "I don't think there is another university elsewhere in the world that is more generous," he writes in an e-mail: "[T]his is the first time that many people around the world are able to have access to top-quality courses." Phillipa Williams is an adult (40-something) student at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, studying mathematics ("don't groan, I love it!" she writes in an e-mail). She's worked her way through many of the OCW undergraduate mathematics courses, she says, because they provide "a different viewpoint, another explanation of material," as well as different practice questions. MIT's OCW website features even more glowing feedback from learners. "[B]ecause of money, many good students with great talent and [who are] diligent do not have the chance to learn the newest knowledge and understanding of the universe," says Chen Zhiying, a student in the People's Republic of China. "But now, due to the OCW, the knowledge will spread to more and more people, and it will benefit the whole [world of] human-beings." "The MIT OCW program is a generous and far-sighted initiative that will do more to change the world for the better than a thousand Iraq-style invasions," the MIT site quotes Leigh Pascoe, a self-learner in Paris, as saying. "It does much to restore my faith in the enlightenment of the American people and their great experiment in democracy. This program should be emulated by every university worthy of the name." Besides MIT, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins, the OCW consortium (ocwconsor tium.org) in the United States includes among its members Michigan State, Michigan, Notre Dame, and Utah State. Internationally, members include groups of universities in China, Japan, and Spain. So far MIT has published 1,550 of its courses for OCW and plans to get the rest online by the end of this year. The materials for each course vary. Full videos of lectures, one of the most popular features, are available for only 26 courses, about 1,000 hours of video in all. "We'd like to do more video because it's really quite popular and our users love it," Marguiles says. "But it's quite expensive." The program relies on "generous support" from foundations, individuals, and MIT itself for funding, she says. Schools like Tufts and Johns Hopkins were able to jump-start their OCW programs quickly because the schools had already committed themselves for many years to putting all their classroom materials online for use by their own students. The biggest job has been to vet the materials for copyright issues, so-called "copyright scrubbing," Lee and Yager say. If permission cannot be obtained for a specific photo or chart, it must be left out of the OCW version or a substitute found. The OCW effort is part of a wide range of dynamic educational content emerging on the Internet, says Dan Colman, associate dean and director of Stanford University's continuing studies program and host of the website oculture.com, which highlights what's happening in Web-based education, with an emphasis on podcasts. Full-fledged online courses "might eventually offer a viable alternative to the classroom, but right now we have a ways to go," he writes via e-mail. Podcasts, for example, let learners hear a lecture, but they don't require that the listener write a critical essay or take part in a classroom discussion - activities that are a key element of the learning process, Mr. Colman says. And technology still needs to advance a bit more too. "We'll need a very fast fiber network and communication tools that give courses a greater degree of immediacy and sociability before this [online] model will become a real option educationally and economically," he says. "In the meantime, the traditional classroom is fairly safe." For example, lab work, which usually requires close hands-on collaboration between an instructor and students, remains problematic online, Yager points out. The losers in putting free content online aren't likely to be universities, which will continue to attract young students, Colman says. But free podcasts and OCW courses may pull adult learners away from other leisure activities, he says, such as reading books, watching educational television shows, or buying recordings of books or lectures. "All of these entities could suffer as users find free high-quality information on the Web," Colman says. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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library software - e-granthalaya
by Wendessa Thakur 04 Jan '07

04 Jan '07

Please provide feedback of personal experience using e-granthalaya software for library automation. If any medical / special libraries in Mumbai have installed this software, I would be interested to take a look at the functioning. Thanks. Wendessa Thakur Librarian Asian Heart Institute Bandra-Kurla Complex Bandra (E) Mumbai 400051

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One day workshop on IPR Awareness
by vimal kumar 04 Jan '07

04 Jan '07

ONE DAY WORKSHOP ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AWARENESS Sophisticated Test and Instrumentation Centre, Cochin University of Science and Technology will organise a one day workshop on Intellectual Property Rights Awareness on 16 January 2007. The workshop will begin at 9.00 a.m. and will go on till 5.00 p.m. The workshop is completely sponsored by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment. Scientists, Engineers, Technologists, teachers, entrepreneurs, students etc. who are interested in Intellectual Property Rights are welcome to participate in the workshop. There are no restrictions on qualification, age or affiliation. The workshop will comprise of presentations on Intellectual Property Rights, including procedures to file patents. There is no registration fee for participation in the workshop. Working lunch and tea will be provided to participants. However, no TA/DA can be paid. Interested participants may apply in the enclosed format so as to reach the co-ordinator on or before 6th January 2007. Applications can be sent by e-mail or fax as well. The number of participants will be limited to 100 on a first come first served basis. Co-ordinator: Dr. Jacob Philip, Director, Sophisticated Test and Instrumentation Centre, Cochin 682 022 Telephone :0484-2575908,2576697,2575975 Fax :0484-2576699 E-mail :jp@cusat.ac.in Vimal Kumar Asian School of Business Technopark Trivandrum-695 581 vimal0212(a)yahoo.com www.asb.edu.in __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AWARENESS Sophisticated Test and Instrumentation Centre, Cochin University of Science and Technology will organise a one day workshop on Intellectual Property Rights Awareness on 16 January 2007. The workshop will begin at 9.00 a.m. and will go on till 5.00 p.m. The workshop is completely sponsored by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment. Scientists, Engineers, Technologists, teachers, entrepreneurs, students etc. who are interested in Intellectual Property Rights are welcome to participate in the workshop. There are no restrictions on qualification, age or affiliation. The workshop will comprise of presentations on Intellectual Property Rights, including procedures to file patents. There is no registration fee for participation in the workshop. Working lunch and tea will be provided to participants. However, no TA/DA can be paid. Interested participants may apply in the enclosed format so as to reach the co-ordinator on or before 6th January 2007. Applications can be sent by e-mail or fax as well. The number of participants will be limited to 100 on a first come first served basis. Co-ordinator: Dr. Jacob Philip, Director, Sophisticated Test and Instrumentation Centre, Cochin 682 022 Telephone :0484-2575908,2576697,2575975 Fax :0484-2576699 E-mail :jp@cusat.ac.in Vimal Kumar Asian School of Business Technopark Trivandrum-695 581 vimal0212(a)yahoo.com www.asb.edu.in __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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Librarians' Internet Index
by Sanjeev Kumar Jain 04 Jan '07

04 Jan '07

Hello Library and Information Professionals Librarians' Internet Index ( http://www.lii.org) Librarians' Internet Index (LII) is a publicly-funded website and weekly newsletter serving California, Washington state, the nation, and the world. Every Thursday morning we send out our free newsletter, New This Week, which features dozens of high-quality websites carefully selected, described, and organized by our team of librarians. Topics include current events and issues, holidays and seasons, helpful tools for information users, human interest, and more. You can subscribe to our newsletter by email or RSS, or read us on the Web. We have close to 40,000 subscribers, many from our funding states of California and Washington. You can also search and browse our website for the best of the Web. We have over 20,000 entries, also maintained by our librarians and organized into 14 main topics and nearly 300 related topics. .......................................... Sanjeev Kumar Jain Central Library Indian Institute Technolgy, Kharagpur-721302 (M) 09732695328 *sanjeevmlis(a)gmail.com * Hello Library and Information Professionals Librarians' Internet Index ( http://www.lii.org http://www.lii.org ) Librarians' Internet Index (LII) is a publicly-funded website and weekly newsletter serving California, Washington state, the nation, and the world. Every Thursday morning we send out our free newsletter, New This Week, which features dozens of high-quality websites carefully selected, described, and organized by our team of librarians. Topics include current events and issues, holidays and seasons, helpful tools for information users, human interest, and more. You can subscribe to our newsletter by email or RSS, or read us on the Web. We have close to 40,000 subscribers, many from our funding states of California and Washington. You can also search and browse our website for the best of the Web. We have over 20,000 entries, also maintained by our librarians and organized into 14 main topics and nearly 300 related topics. .......................................... Sanjeev Kumar Jain Central Library Indian Institute Technolgy, Kharagpur-721302 (M) 09732695328 mailto:sanjeevmlis@gmail.com sanjeevmlis(a)gmail.com

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[LIS-Forum] Information and Knowledge Audit - ISiM One-Day Workshop, Jan 11, 2007 - Early Bird Offer Closes on 5th Jan, 2007
by Angrosh 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Dear All, Announcement One-Day Workshop on Information and Knowledge Audit A Practical Introduction, January 11, 2007, Hotel Atria, Bangalore Topics Covered: Information audit basics definitions, reasons for conducting information audit, problems it can solve, introducing the model. Different approaches to information audits and knowledge audits. Information audit to knowledge management user needs analysis Project management of an audit; focus groups involvement, management support, communications, resourcing, scope. Workout sessions on information and knowledge audit tools and methods Programme: Introduction and hands-on training on KM tools (pre-lunch) Workout sessions and case studies (post lunch) Takeaways: Knowledge of practical ways of assessing strategic information and knowledge assets Hands-on knowledge about KM tools Facilitators: Ms. Waltraut Ritter, Research Director, Knowledge Enterprises, Hong Kong Mr. Ritendra Banerjee, General Manager, Satyam Computers Ltd., Hyderabad Dr. Shalini R. Urs, Executive Director, ISiM, University of Mysore Workshop Fees: Workshop Fee: Rs. 3,000/- per participant Registration before 5th January 2007: Rs. 2,500/- per participant Registration: Registration forms can be downloaded from http://www.isim.ac.in/ikaseminar/ For enquiries contact: Angrosh Tel: 821-2514699 or Mobile: 9886970411 For more details visit http://www.isim.ac.in/ikaseminar ************************************************** Angrosh M. A. Project Manager International School of Information Management University of Mysore, Manasagangotri Mysore 570 006 Tel: +91-821-2514699; Fax: +91-821-2519209 Email: angrosh(a)isim.ac.in Website: www.isim.ac.in ***************************************************

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XXVI All India Conference of IASLIC ~V 2007
by Mailing List Manager 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 17:38:59 +0530 From: Dr. Arun K. Chakraborty <akc(a)bic.boseinst.ernet.in> Kindly circulate ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- XXVI All India Conference of IASLIC 2007 Venue : Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University), New Delhi Date : 26th 29th December, 2007 Theme : Digital Media and Library & Information Science Organizing Secretary : Dr. Gayas Makhdumi University Librarian & Head Dr. Zakir Husain Library Jamia Millia Islamia (A Central University) Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110 025 Ph (Off) 011-2698-4190 (Direct) Ph(Off) 011-2698-8044 (Extn. 1500) e-mail : zhl(a)jml.ernet.in DR. ARUN KUMAR CHAKRABORTY LIBRARIAN BOSE INSTITUTE, KOLKATA, INDIA MAIN CAMPUS: 93/1 A.P.C. ROAD, KOLKATA 700 009 INDIA PH: 91-33-2350 2402/03, FAX: 91-33-2350-6790 CENTENARY CAMPUS : P1/12 CIT SCHEME - VII-M, KOLKATA 700 054 INDIA PH: 91-33-2355 9544, 9416, 9219 FAX: 91-33-2355 3886 Ph(Res): 33-25768192, E-MAIL: akc(a)bic.boseinst.ernet.in

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OA developments in 2006
by Subbiah Arunachalam 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Peter Suber's summary of OA developments is now available from: http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/01-02-07.htm#2006 It makes very encouraging reading and can be forwarded to your colleagues. It mentions MedKnow and Open J-Gate. Best wishes for 2007! Arun Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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Fwd: Re: Bangalore OA policy document
by Subbiah Arunachalam 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Friends: NIT-Rourkela is mentioned in the year-end review by Peter Suber. Arun > Dear All, > > Peter Suber's summary of OA developments is now > available from: > http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/newsletter/01-02-07.htm#2006 > It makes very encouraging reading and can be > forwarded to your colleagues. > > Best wishes for 2007! > > Barbara Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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One day Seminar on Benchmarking and Best Practices in Special Libraries
by Mailing List Manager 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 09:04:59 +0000 (GMT) From: Muniraj. T <t_muniraj(a)yahoo.co.in> Dear All, Asian Chapter of Special Libraries Association will organize a One day Seminar on Benchmarking and Best Practices in Special Libraries on Feb. 2, 2007, Venue: Indian Institute of Public Administration, I P Estate, ITO, New Delhi. For details of the program please visit: http://units. sla.org/chapter/ cas/bench07. html Regards, MUNIRAJU.T IV Sem. MLISc Department of Library and Information Science. E-mail:t_muniraj@yahoo.co.in E-mail: muniraj.t(a)gmail.com

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Sensitization workshop on Information Literacy at Calicut
by vimal kumar 03 Jan '07

03 Jan '07

Sensitization workshop on Information Literacy 27 January 2007 (9am to 5pm) Organized by Kerala Library Association Sponsored by UNESCO Venue Hotel Alakapuri Kozhikode (Preferred Participants from Ernakulam Dist. & northwards up to Kasaragod) Coverage/Contents IL overview components of IL, Models and the learning process ICT applications, Internet/ e-Resources, etc. in the IL perspective IL and Life skills development IL competency standards Target Groups: LIS professionals/ practitioners, LIS students Mode of selection: By registration in the prescribed form. Preference will be given to young LIS professionals & students. Registration Fee: Nil Filled up Registration form may be sent to Dr. Dineshan Koovakkai Regional Secretary, KLA CHMK Library University of Calicut Calicut University-PO Malappuram Dist. 673635 P.S. Can be registered by e-mail also. E-mail registrations are to be mailed to any of the following addresses: dineshank(a)gmail.com dineshkoovakkai(a)yahoo.co.in mgsree(a)iimk.ac.in Brochure and registration form can be download at http://www.asb.edu.in/library/IL-calicut.pdf Vimal Kumar Asian School of Business Technopark Trivandrum-695 581 vimal0212(a)yahoo.com www.asb.edu.in __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Sensitization workshop on Information Literacy 27 January 2007 (9am to 5pm) Organized by Kerala Library Association Sponsored by UNESCO Venue Hotel Alakapuri Kozhikode (Preferred Participants from Ernakulam Dist. & northwards up to Kasaragod) Coverage/Contents IL overview components of IL, Models and the learning process ICT applications, Internet/ e-Resources, etc. in the IL perspective IL and Life skills development IL competency standards Target Groups: LIS professionals/ practitioners, LIS students Mode of selection: By registration in the prescribed form. Preference will be given to young LIS professionals & students. Registration Fee: Nil Filled up Registration form may be sent to Dr. Dineshan Koovakkai Regional Secretary, KLA CHMK Library University of Calicut Calicut University-PO Malappuram Dist. 673635 P.S. Can be registered by e-mail also. E-mail registrations are to be mailed to any of the following addresses: mailto:dineshank@gmail.com dineshank(a)gmail.com mailto:dineshkoovakkai@yahoo.co.in dineshkoovakkai(a)yahoo.co.in mailto:mgsree@iimk.ac.in mgsree(a)iimk.ac.in Brochure and registration form can be download at http://www.asb.edu.in/library/IL-calicut.pdf http://www.asb.edu.in/library/IL-calicut.pdf Vimal Kumar Asian School of Business Technopark Trivandrum-695 581 vimal0212(a)yahoo.com www.asb.edu.in __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

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