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Monday, February 7, 2011

New Online: Searchable Data File From FEMA: Collection of Photos From Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and Other Storms (More than 8K Images, Most Online)


February 7, 2011 23:10

http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=4400

From a NARAtions Blog Post (National Archives and Records Administration)

The photographs [are] from the Public Affairs Division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] are now available online.

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast of the United States, displacing thousands of residents and causing billions of dollars in damage. Less than a month later Hurricane Rita.

Pictures from these storms and others are captured in over 8,000 photographs from the series “Photographs Relating to Disasters and Emergency Management Programs, Activities, and Officials, 1998-9/30/2008.”

To Search Photographs Use the Following URL to Access the Collection via NARA’s Online Public Access:
http://research.archives.gov/search?v%3Aproject=opa&query=626166

You may browse the photographs by clicking the link that reads “View all Online Holdings” in the top right corner of the search results. To refine your search, add key words to the search box at the top of the page
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E-Books' Varied Formats Make Citations a Mess for Scholars


February 6, 2011
Kindle, Nook, and other devices put the same text on different pages
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phati'tude Literary Magazine launches its First Annual African American Literary Festival at the Langston Hughes Community Library in Queens, NY on Saturday, February 26, 2011 during Black History Month


NEW YORK CITY – phati’tude Literary Magazine proudly announces its 1st Annual African American Literary Festival in celebration of Black History Month. New York City residents are invited to attend the event at the Queens Library’s Langston Hughes Community Library & Cultural Center in Corona, Queens, New York, on February 26, 2011 from 10:00am-4:00pm, which is free and open to the public.

The Festival will promote literacy and increase the awareness of African American literature with a day-long celebration that includes workshops, panel discussion, poetry readings, a musical performance, a short-film premiere and book signings. Additionally, the Winter issue of phati’tude Literary Magazine, “Celebrating Black History Through Literature: From the Harlem Renaissance to Today” will be unveiled, featuring local and nationally recognized writers Amiri Baraka, Quincy Troupe, Ishmael Reed, Shonda Buchanan, devorah major, Yusef Komunyakaa, Stephani Maari Booker, Tony Medina, Askia Toure, Haki Madhubiti, among others. phati'tude Literary Magazine is a quarterly publication that promotes multicultural literature, and is published by the Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc., a NY-based nonprofit that promotes multicultural literature and literacy.

The Festival kicks off with three workshops, 10:00 AM – 11:30 PM: The Key to Good Writing by Louis Reyes Rivera; Community Publishing by Ron Kavanaugh; and African American Children’s Literature by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. The workshops are free, but seats must be reserved by registering on Eventbrite at http://phatitudeliteraryfestival.eventbrite.com.

Activities continue at 12:00 noon with a panel discussion, moderated by Gabrielle David, founder/editor of phati’tude Literary Magazine, which will cover issues pertaining to African American Literature and feature panelists historian and scholar, Louis Reyes Rivera; publisher of Mosaic Magazine, Ron Kavanaugh; award winning children’s author Sharon Dennis Wyeth; and poet and writer Reginald Harris.

Special guest, poet, teacher and activist, Tara Betts, will discuss the relevancy of African American literature and will read some of her works. Performance by Urban Word NYC; presentations by National Writers Union (NWU) and Poetry Club for Kids; will be followed by the premiere of the short film DUST, written, produced and directed by poet Shane Book. The poets from phati’tude Literary Magazine will also read from their works, with books and copies of the magazine available for sale during the event.

This event is co-sponsored by Queens Library's Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center, with grants received from the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council Discretionary Grant from Councilmember Julissa Ferreras, Queens Library, Library Action Committee of Corona-East Elmhurst, Inc. and private donations and contributions.

The Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc. (IAAS) is sincerely grateful for its sponsors: National Writers Union (NWA), HarperCollins Publishers, Scholastic, Inc., Duke University Press, Pepsi Bottling Company of New York and Frito-Lay, with funding made possible, in part, by the Queens Council on the Arts with public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and private donations and contributions.

For more information, check out www.phatitude.org. The Langston Hughes Library is located at 100-01 Northern Blvd., Corona, New York, 718-651-1100.

# # # # # # #

phati'tude Literary Magazine, established in 1997, an internationally-acclaimed magazine, is published by The Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc. (IAAS), a New York-based nonprofit organization. A themed, quarterly publication, phati'tude Literary Magazine is an 8" x 10" perfect-bound book that ranges from 130-160 pages. It is a collection of the best poetry, prose, short stories, articles and interviews along with literary criticism, book reviews and biographical profiles by established and emerging poets, writers and artists with a focus on writers of African, Hispanic/Latino, Native American and Asian descent, whose works exhibit social, political and cultural awareness.

The Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc. (IAAS) is a New York-based nonprofit organization founded in 2000 to foster understanding of and respect for cultural diversity through literature and media literacy. To reach the broadest audience possible, the IAAS collaborates with artists, scholars and community organizations to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education and to promote literary talent and achievement. Over the past ten years, the IAAS has built an enviable reputation for staging exciting and innovative literary programs that engage the public with issues and ideas from differing perspectives. The IAAS remains committed to introducing new and diverse literatures and multicultural literary resources into the public discourse with initiatives such as phati'tude Literary Magazine.

Queens Library's Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center was founded in 1969 and conceived by local residents in the mid-1960's formed as the Library Action Committee of Corona-East Elmhurst, Inc. (LAC). In 1987, Langston Hughes gained "full branch status" through a Letter of Agreement between the LAC and Queens Library. Today, the Queens Library is responsible for operating and staffing the library, while the LAC serves in an advisory capacity to QL and is solely responsible for funding and operations of the Cultural Arts Program (CAP) and the after school Homework Assistance Program (HAP). The CAP presents musical concerts, film screenings, literature and poetry readings, creative writing workshops, author and publisher fairs, lectures and panels, artist exhibitions, two annual jazz brunches and the Annual Langston Hughes Celebration, Kwanzaa Celebration and Family Day.
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Black History Month February 2011


For Black History Month 2011, we salute the full range of African Americans and blacks from the African diaspora who make up the fabric of our collective identity. These trailblazers and legends have achieved despite seemingly insurmountable odds and have helped to make strides for the black community. BlackVoices.com salutes them!
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New Orleans Afterschool Partnership E-Newsletter | February 2011


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Media Law Handbook Series


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Wiley Announces Launch of Its Open Access Publishing Program


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New York Times Blog: A Race Between Digital and Print Magazines


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Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results




Google has run a sting operation that it says proves Bing has been watching what people search for on Google, the sites they select from Google’s results, then uses that information to improve Bing’s own search listings. Bing doesn’t deny this.

As a result of the apparent monitoring, Bing’s relevancy is potentially improving (or getting worse) on the back of Google’s own work. Google likens it to the digital equivalent of Bing leaning over during an exam and copying off of Google’s test.
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Smashing Magazine: Mastering Photoshop: Noise, Textures, Gradients and Rounded Rectangles


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Faculty Focus FERPA and Social Media


By John Orlando, PhD

FERPA is one of the most misunderstood regulations in education. It is commonly assumed that FERPA requires all student coursework to be kept private at all times, and thus prevents the use of social media in the classroom, but this is wrong. FERPA does not prevent instructors from assigning students to create public content as part of their course requirements. If it did, then video documentaries produced in a communications class and shown on TV or the Web, or public art shows of student work from an art class, would be illegal. As one higher education lawyer put it:

“FERPA cannot be interpreted as building a total and complete wall between the school and the community. We would have really bad schools if that happened and very disengaged students. This is a good example of where the lawyers can't get in the way of the learning. Podcasting is a fabulous learning tool. Digital storytelling, amazing. I love Voicethread, as do thousands of educators around the country. Sharing is an important part of learning and the ability to share has increased exponentially in the past couple decades. Some students right here in Kentucky are sharing with students in Brazil every day, for instance. FERPA cannot be extended to prohibit all of this sharing.” (Bathon, 2009)

FERPA was never intended to place students into the box of a physical or online classroom to prevent them from learning from the public. Rather, FERPA requires schools to maintain control over certain student records (Fryer, 2009). These records include medical information, social security numbers, and grades.

Some people think that students cannot release any personally identifiable student information, but this is also not true. There is a large category of personally identifiable student information that can be released as “directory information.” Moreover, colleges routinely post photos of sporting events, club activities, or lectures that contain personally identifiable images of students.

FERPA and Social Media
FERPA applies only to information in the possession of the institution. This is an important point if instructors require students to post to a blog, social networking site, or any other site not affiliated with the institution. In this case, “the activity may not be FERPA-protected because it has not been received and therefore is not in the custody of the university, at least until the student submission is copied or possibly just reviewed by the faculty member.” (NC State FERPA Guidelines)

Policy Suggestions
While it’s important to check with your own institution regarding FERPA policy guidelines, here are some policy suggestions culled from a variety of university sites for instructors who want to incorporate social media into their classrooms:

•When students are assigned to post information to public social media platforms outside of the university LMS, they should be informed that their material may be viewed by others.
•Students should not be required to release personal information on a public site.
•Instructor comments or grades on student material should not be made public. (Interestingly, grades given by other students on “peer-graded” work can be made public under FERPA). (ACE, 2008)
•While not clearly required by law, students under the age of 18 should get their parent’s consent to post public work.
FERPA does not forbid instructors from using social media in the classroom, but common sense guidelines should be used to ensure the protection of students.

Resources:
American Council on Education, Letter on FERPA, May 8, 2008.
Justin Bathon, Controversial New FERPA Rules take Effect Next Week, EdJurist, December 30, 2008, (edjurist.com/blog/controversial-new-ferpa-rules-take-effect-next-week.html)
Justin Bathon, Keeping the Definition of Biometric Records Under Control, EdJurist, October 8, 2009, (edjurist.com/blog/keeping-the-definition-of-biometric-records-under-control.html)
Fryer, Unmasking the Digital Divide, (unmaskdigitaltruth.pbworks.com/w/page/7254094/ferpa)
NC State University FERPA Guidelines, (delta.ncsu.edu/teach/ferpa)
Norwich University FERPA Guidelines, (norwich.edu/academics/pdf/registrar/ferpa-compliance.pdf)
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Dillard University Writing Proficiency Preparation Workshops-Spring 2011


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Professional Development for HBCU Faculty Development Symposium

The American Association for Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE) offers two professional development opportunities that your members may find beneficial as they prepare for the next phase of academic leadership.

1) The Annual AABHE Conference will be held March 31-April 2 in Atlanta, GA. You can find registration information for the conference at the following link: http://blacksinhighered.site-ym.com/.

2) The 8th Annual Leadership and Mentoring Institute (LMI) co-sponsored by AABHE and Miles College (Birmingham, Alabama) will be held July 17-24, 2011. The Institute prepares African American administrators and faculty for the next step in academic leadership. Application materials must be postmarked by April 1, 2011. Please share the link with colleagues and friends: http://blacksinhighered.site-ym.com/ or http://66.211.6.99:8025/d2c/.
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