Interesting and Cool! Video Lecture and Demo: Information Visualization: Flowing Media’s Martin Wattenberg at MIT

http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/804

Numbers, Words and Colors by Martin Wattenberg

May 21, 2010 - Running Time: 56:20

About the Lecture

Tools developed by Martin Wattenberg and his associate Fernanda Viégas, have changed the way people look at and use visualizations, by empowering and equipping users with the methodology needed to ask different questions. Wattenberg, whose background is in math and computer science, asks how the humanities have influenced the evolution of data visualization and then answers with several examples from his own work.


Web Seer compares Google's "auto-suggest" feature in one-to-one, weighted comparisons such as "why doesn't he…" and "why doesn't she…" The resultant text image uses the size of arrows and words to reflect frequency, demonstrating how text can impart meaning.


Another Wattenberg/Viégas collaboration is Many Eyes, a social media tool and Web site that has "democratized" powerful visualization systems by putting them in the hands of general audiences. This tool lets users visualize data in numerous ways, from scatterplots and bar charts to tree maps and stack graphs.


Word Tree, a visualization technique that lets users pick a word or phrase from a data set, shows the different contexts in which it appears via a tree-like branching structure. Chimera takes care of the "boilerplate problem" by examining large collections of text, such as contracts, and pointing out identical phrases. Seeing results arranged in faux 3D "skyscrapers" clearly illustrates levels of recurrence. Although Word Tree and Chimera are fundamentally repetition searches, they are important tools for semantic analysis: simple, but revealing.


The idea behind Phrase Net is to expose a text's underlying network; this visualization tool diagrams the relationships between different words used in a text. It uses a simple form of pattern matching to provide multiple views of the concepts contained a book, speech, or poem.


Another Wattenberg/ Viégas collaboration is Fleshmap, "an inquiry into human desire." The relationship between the body and its visual and verbal representation are explored in a series of artistic studies employing song lyrics and body imagery. Flickr Flow, Wattenberg explains, is an experiment whose materials are color and time. Software calculated the relative proportions of different colors seen in photos of Boston taken during each month of the year and plotted those colors on a wheel creating a "river of meaning."


Wattenberg addresses questions regarding the impact of race in personified visualizations, and his subjective motives in selecting particular data for analysis. He admits that his "hard drive is loaded with failed visualizations," but emphasizes that the visualization process should be one of trial and error. As for encouraging the development of visual literacy, Wattenberg concludes, "as visualization becomes part of the discourse and people realize, 'this is something that's powerful, it can help me make my case in life,' they'll learn… I'm hoping for education and good, old-fashioned human brain power."

Interesting and Cool! Video Lecture and Demo: Information Visualization: Flowing Media’s Martin Wattenberg at MIT

Survey of Electronic Research Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw in Law Firms

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1649471

Survey of Electronic Research Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw in Law Firms

Laura K. Justiss

Southern Methodist University (SMU) - Dedman School of Law
July 21, 2010

SMU Dedman School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 62

http://www.slideshare.net/ccharles/a-survey-of-electronic-research-alternatives-to-lexis-and-westlaw-in-law-firms

Abstract:
Mrs. Justiss conducted a survey of law firm librarians in 2010 that identified electronic research database alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw and ranked them by subscription frequency. The survey included research databases for primary source alternatives; court docket and case information services; secondary sources for topical legal research and legal periodicals; financial, business and news sources; public records; and non-legal and legal-related sources, including intellectual property databases. The survey also generated information regarding suggested or mandated legal research policies in law firms for the use of alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw and examined their applicability to billable and non-billable research. Lastly, it examined the prevalence in firms of flat rate pricing agreements with Lexis, Westlaw or both.
Working Paper Series

Survey of Electronic Research Alternatives to Lexis and Westlaw in Law Firms

Metadata and the Future of E-Books

http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/08/04/metadata-and-the-future-of-e-books/

Metadata and the Future of E-Books

A Book (Print and Electronic) About E-Books in Libraries: “No Shelf Required” Edited by Sue Polanka Due Out Later this Month from ALA Editions

http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=2902

E-books have been around for more than 10 years but are still a relatively new phenomenon to many librarians and publishers. With the introduction of e-book readers, the e-book has become mainstream, with recent triple-digit annual increases in sales. But what place do they have in the library? In this volume, Sue Polanka brings together a variety of professionals to share their expertise about e-books with librarians and publishers. Providing forward-thinking ideas while remaining grounded in practical information that can be implemented in all kinds of libraries, the topics explored include



An introduction to e-books, the different types, and an overview of their history and development E-book technology: general features of interfaces and e-book readers, best practices for acquisition, data standards, and how to track usage


Why e-books are good for learning, and how librarians can market them to a wide range of users, as illustrated by case studies and examples


This crucial collection is a must-read for librarians who wish to understand how e-books fit into today’s library.

A Book (Print and Electronic) About E-Books in Libraries: “No Shelf Required” Edited by Sue Polanka Due Out Later this Month from ALA Editions

Laptop Magazine

http://www.laptopmag.com/

LAPTOP Magazine is your complete mobile gear guide. We review the latest mobile tech products and provide expert buying advice, plus breaking industry news.

Laptop Magazine

A Couple of EPUB Items Including a Primer on the E-Book Format and the Official EPUB Logo

EPUB Format For Papers in Repositories by: Brian Kelly

From the Article:
If we wish to maximise the take-up of our repositories whilst minimising the effort in processing the files it seems to me that we should explore ways of creating derivative versions from the master source. So rather than uploading a PDF shouldn’t we be uploading the master file and creating a PDF automatically form this resource? And rather than creating an EPUB file, as I have done, shouldn’t the repository software create the EPub file from a HTML version of the file? And whilst I acknowledge that authors may not wish to make their original document (in, say MS Word or Open Office format) available to others and would regard the interoperability aspects of PDF as a feature rather than a flaw there should be nothing to stop the master file being stored in the repository but not openly accessible.
Source: UK Web Focus
Hat Tip and Thanks: Peter Suber
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/epub-format-for-papers-in-repositories/

+ EPub Primer: Everything You Need to Know And More
EPUB is a free and open standard developed by a third-party, the International Digital Publishing Forum http://www.idpf.org/ (IDPF). These devices joined a growing list of eReaders that can read the format, and hundreds of libraries and independent bookstores now offer eBooks that aren’t restricted to a single device.
Source: Laptop Magazine
Hat Tip and Thanks: TeleRead
http://blog.laptopmag.com/epub-primer-everything-you-need-to-know-and-more

A Couple of EPUB Items Including a Primer on the E-Book Format and the Official EPUB Logo

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

http://www.academicleadership.org/

About this Journal

The online Journal of Academic Leadership is aimed at those in the academic world who are dedicated to advancing the field through their research. ALJ provides an array of articles and essays that speak to the major issues of the field faced by those in leadership roles across all content areas and disciplines – from classroom instructors to university presidents.

The Journal is peer edited through a blind review process that utilizes national and international editorial boards and peer reviewers. It is listed in Cabell's and has a 45% acceptance rate.


I encourage novice authors to submit their work. To provide some support for new writers, the Journal includes a section called Publishing Assistance.


At this time the Journal is not published in a hard copy. However, all articles can be printed in pdf.


Welcome to the Academic Leadership Journal
Kathy
Press Release: Official Launch of Academic Leadership Journal at Fort Hays State University



Dr. Kathy Dale, Editor

Kathy is the Assistant Dean of the College of Education and Technology, an Educational Consultant-Coach, and Assistant Professor at Fort Hays State University in Education Administration & Counseling. As Editor of Academic Leadership, her role is to work with the Fort Hays State University Advanced Education Programs Department and academic community at large to advance the knowledge base and research in the field of academic leadership across disciplines and content areas.

Kathy has focused her work and research in systemic and systematic continuous improvement and leadership development for superintendents and principals. Kathy continues to present at national and state conferences and maintains a consulting presence in P-12 public, education coaching the implementation of leadership practices in the field. Her 25 years of leadership in school administration and teaching have enabled her to keep a practitioner’s perspective about educational research and the application of research in real world scenarios.


Kathy is a licensed Legacy Leadership Consultant and co-author of Legacy Leadership for Educators that primarily targets superintendents, boards of education and principals. She is an experienced leader and administrator who spreads the positive messages of education through teaching executives the Best Practices of Leadership and assisting executive leaders create practical tools with which to implement the best practices in their school districts through systemic improvement initiatives.


Kathy has an Ed. D. degree in Education Administration from Kansas State University , a Master's degree in special education from Fort Hays State University , and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida Atlantic University.

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

Research from Microsoft & MS Research: Street Slide: Browsing Street Level Imagery

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/kopf/street_slide/paper/street_slide.pdf

Research from Microsoft & MS Research: Street Slide: Browsing Street Level Imagery

iWebKit5 for Free!

www.iwebkit.net

iWebKit5 for Free!

New Mobile Web Site: Research Medical Library @ The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center

http://www3.mdanderson.org/library/mobile/

New Mobile Web Site: Research Medical Library @ The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Online Database: BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) Passes 25 Million Records

http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/08/04/online-database-base-bielefeld-academic-search-engine-passes-25-million-records/

The Search Engine

BASE is one of the world's most voluminous search engines especially for academic open access web resources. BASE is operated by Bielefeld University Library.


As the open access movement grows and prospers, more and more repository servers come into being which use the "Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting" (OAI-PMH) for providing their contents. BASE collects, normalises, and indexes these data.


BASE is a registered OAI service provider and contributed to the European project "Digital Repository Infrastructure Vision for European Research" (DRIVER) which was successfully completed at the end of 2009.


In comparison to commercial search engines, BASE is charcterised by the following features:
Intellectually selected resources
Only document servers that comply with the specific requirements of academic quality and relevance are included
A data resources inventory provides transparency in the searches
Discloses web resources of the "Deep Web", which are ignored by commercial search engines or get lost in the vast quantity of hits.
The display of search results includes precise bibliographic data
Several options for sorting the result list
"Refine your search result" options (authors, subject headings, year, resources and language).

Online Database: BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) Passes 25 Million Records

7 Things You Should Know Guides from EDUCAUSE: VoIP, Open Educational Resources, LMS Alternatives, and Assessing Online Team-Based Learning

http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/08/04/new-7-things-you-should-know-guides-open-educational-resources-lms-alternatives-and-assessing-online-team-based-learning/

7 Things You Should Know Guides from EDUCAUSE: VoIP, Open Educational Resources, LMS Alternatives, and Assessing Online Team-Based Learning

Diverse Issues in Higher Education: HBCUs Struggle With Lag in Academic Progress by Student Athletes

by Kimberly Davis, June 25, 2010

http://diverseeducation.com/article/13909/

Diverse Issues in Higher Education: HBCUs Struggle With Lag in Academic Progress by Student Athletes

Inside Higher Ed: 'Gaps Are Not Inevitable'

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/10/gaps

August 10, 2010

It's well-established by now that African American and Latino students graduate college at lower rates than do their white and Asian peers, so it follows pretty naturally that many individual colleges would have lower graduation rates for those groups than for white students, too.


But in two new reports that the Education Trust released Monday, the advocacy group tries to hammer home the idea that big gaps in the academic performance of minority and white students are not an inevitability. It does so, starkly, by using its College Results Online database to compare the graduation rates of black and Latino students with their white peers at individual institutions, showing widely varying outcomes at colleges and universities with comparably prepared and composed student bodies.

The University of California at Riverside has about 14,700 students, about 25 percent of whom are Hispanic, and an average SAT score of 1040; about 12 percent of California State University at Chico's 14,600 students are Latino, and the institution's average SAT is 1025. Yet Latino students who entered Riverside from 2000 to 2002 graduated at a rate of 63.4 percent over six years, 1 percentage point better than its white students, while 41.5 percent of Chico's Hispanic students do, compared to 57.5 percent of white students there.



Similar gaps exist at more selective public institutions (the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's 2 percentage point graduation rate gap between its Hispanic and white students, compared to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's 16 percent, for example) and all manner of private institutions, too (Rice University's black and white students both graduate at a rate of about 92 percent, while black students at Lehigh University graduate at a six-year rate of 64.5 percent, compared to 86.3 percent for white students).


While some college officials complain that the Education Trust appears to relish pointing out flaws in American higher education, officials at the group said these reports, like their others, are designed not to embarrass (or at least not only to embarrass) but to make the point that no institution is predestined to have different success for different groups.


"We did uncover some large gaps in student success rates and low graduation rates for students of color. But it would be wrong to assume that these gaps are inevitable or immutable,” Mamie Lynch, a policy analyst at the Education Trust and co-author of the report, said in a news release. “For many of the ‘big gap’ schools, we can point to an institution working with a similar student body that graduates students of color at rates similar to those of white students.”


That is certainly true, and many of the colleges and universities with small or no gaps have instituted policies, programs and other practices specifically to strengthen the academic success of underrepresented students.


But many of the top-performing institutions cited by Education Trust have also been at it a long time: Cynthia Wolf Johnson, associate provost for academic services at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said in an interview Monday that her institution's summer bridge program just celebrated its 25th anniversary, and that its Student Advising for Freshman Excellence program, which provides intensive advising and support for between a third and half of first-year students, has been around for nearly two decades. That "longstanding commitment to retention and graduation of minority students" has resulted in a black student graduation that mirrors white students' six-year rate of 50.1 percent. (Rates are significantly higher for participants in the university's bridge and advising programs.)


Salvadore A. Liberto, vice president for enrollment management and associate provost at Loyola University New Orleans, said his institution, too, has all the programs and "best practices" that admissions and retention experts agree greatly increase students' chances of academic success: transition programs for at-risk students, "early warning" systems that alert officials to struggling students, and the like.


But while Loyola certainly works hard to ensure the academic success of its students, it benefits enormously from the fact that, given its regional orientation and history as a Jesuit institution, "we take diversity for granted in the very best way that you can," said Liberto. Without purposefully aggressive recruiting, about a third of its students are members of underrepresented minority groups, and because the university has over time "provided a great deal of support for students who fall into any kind of at-risk categories," it has produced many successful students of all races, Liberto said.


As a result, "when students get to campus, there isn't this culture shock" that minority students at many colleges with smaller cohorts of such students face, he said. Black (65.2 percent) and Latino students (66.0 percent) alike at Loyola graduate at slightly higher rates than do white students (63.2 percent).


The story is similar at George Mason University, which has "many of the interventions and support systems that have proven to be most effective at institutions nationwide" -- learning communities, intensive tutoring, etc., said Andrew Flagel, dean of admissions and enrollment development there. But what most distinguishes the Virginia public university -- but is "virtually impossible to replicate" -- is that it is "intensely globally diverse," such that "nearly every student who comes is going to find a cohort of students that they can see themselves fitting into."


The fact that minority students feel such comfort at Mason, he said, contributes mightily to the statistics showing that black students graduate at a rate 6 percentage points higher than do white students (62.6 percent to 56.8 percent); 58.5 percent of Hispanic students graduate within six years, too.


"I have enormous luxury in my role compared to most of my peers nationwide," Flagel said.


Officials at many of the colleges that show up on Education Trust's list of institutions with big gaps in minority graduation rates know that lacking the historical advantages of colleges like George Mason and Loyola doesn't earn them a pass. It'd be easy for Wayne State University to try to blame the Detroit public schools for the poor academic preparation of so many of its students, and in turn for the 34 percentage point gap between its graduation rates for white (43.5 percent) and black (9.5 percent) students in 2008, said Howard N. Shapiro, associate vice president for student services and undergraduate affairs and a professor of mechanical engineering there.


"But I don't want to whine about that and say it's not our problem. This is the hand we're dealt, and something we need to change," he said.


Two years ago, Wayne State implemented the kind of learning community approach that many colleges have embraced, and strengthened its need-based aid program to try to eliminate the financial reasons that might lead many academically undeprepared students to drop out, Shapiro said. The first-to-second-year retention rate for black students rose to 69.6 percent from 56.8 percent from 2007 to 2008, and when the figures for 2009 become available in a month, Shapiro hopes they will show additional progress.


While it will take time for that momentum to affect the six-year graduation rate, the retention rates at the five- and six-semester marks have also turned up, he said.


California State University at Chico also shows up on Education Trust's list of institutions with large graduation rate gaps for black and Latino students as compared to white students -- but those figures fail to capture the progress the university has already made, said Meredith Kelley, vice provost for enrollment management there. The Education Trust report shows the university's six-year graduation rate for the three classes that entered in 2000-2 to be 30.8 percent for African-American students and 41.5 percent for Latino students, compared to 57.5 percent for white students.


Several years after it expanded a minority student success center in its business school to the entire campus and created a Cross-Cultural Leadership Center, Chico has pushed its six-year graduation rate for Hispanic students to 49 percent in 2008 from 39 percent in 2006, and for black students to 51 percent from 31 percent, Kelley said.


More changes are on the way. Like other institutions in the California State University System, which has joined the Access to Success effort sponsored by Education Trust and the National Association of System Heads, Chico has committed to halving its graduation rate gaps for minority and low-income students. As part of that effort, Kelley said, the university is putting in place the sort of academic early warning system that Loyola and many of the other colleges on Education Trust's "small gap" list use.


"We obviously still have a lot of work to do," she said, "but we're showing that we can make progress if we focus intensely on this."
— Doug Lederman

Inside Higher Ed: 'Gaps Are Not Inevitable'

Xavier University News: Remembering Katrina, Looking Ahead: 5 Years Later

Xavier University News

August 2010

Remembering Katrina, Looking Ahead: 5 Years Later

http://www.xula.edu/mediarelations/katrina_fiveyears.php

New Orleans LA - There are some anniversaries we celebrate because they conjure up wonderful memories, and there are other anniversaries people commemorate simply because they want to remember what they endured and survived.


August 29 is one of the latter for New Orleans residents, and for institutions such as Xavier. On that fateful date in 2005 – five years ago – Hurricane Katrina came ashore and dramatically changed things not only for New Orleans in general but for the nation’s only Historically Black and Catholic university.


But five years later, the Xavier campus is fully recovered physically – growing in fact. Enrollment at the highly regarded HBCU powerhouse remains solid. And while many important capital projects around the “Big Easy” continue to languish five years after Katrina, that is hardly the case at Xavier.


The Xavier campus reopens for the Fall 2010 semester with a brand new wing opening at the College of Pharmacy. Meanwhile, pilings are already being driven for a world-class chapel to be erected in honor of the university’s founder Saint Katharine Drexel and, nearby, a previously idle building is being transformed into a new Student Services Center.


Elsewhere, modular housing units – replacing university-owned houses in the neighborhood that were damaged during the hurricane – are going up in several locations, while a new 111-capacity parking lot has been completed near Xavier South on the corner of Howard and So Clark and Dixon Streets.


Across campus, multiple major renovation projects are underway to renovate the university’s Art Village and to upgrade offices housing several academic departments.


And a new Convocation Center is next up and already on the drawing board.


The most visible of these campus improvements is the Qatar Pharmacy Pavilion. Under construction since 2008, it is expected to be ready for partial occupancy in early fall, with the official ribbon-cutting scheduled for October.


Connected to both the Library Resource Building and the existing College of Pharmacy building, the new Pavilion faces the campus’ I-10 boundary to the north. Once completed, the five-story, 60,000-square foot addition will allow the University to sustain its increased enrollment growth while drastically improving the overall quality of the academic programs and research endeavors.


All of the new high-tech teaching labs, as well as two large auditorium-style lecture halls – each capable of seating as many as 200 students – will be housed in the expansion. The building will also hold teaching and research laboratories, a mock pharmacy skills laboratory and a Drug Information Center.


It would be an understatement to suggest that building a free-standing religious chapel on campus has been an elusive dream for most of Xavier's history. A chapel was actually included in (then) Mother Katharine Drexel’s original blueprint plans for the Xavier campus in the late 1920’s and it has been mentioned as an upcoming project in nearly every university strategic plan for the past 80+ years.


That dream, however, is finally about to become reality. Test pilings are already been driven, the close to 200 permanent pilings are expected to be in place with-in the next two weeks.


The 11,000 square foot structure, designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, will be situated next to the pharmacy addition right alongside the Interstate-10 Expressway bringing motorists to and from downtown New Orleans.


Like the other buildings on campus, the chapel’s exterior will be made of limestone. Its domed roof will be made of copper with a large cross located strategically at its crest that architect Pelli joked “will be visible from the airport to the river...” adding that “...people will see this cross and know it is the chapel at Xavier University.”


A construction fence has also gone up around the old St. Joseph’s Residence Hall facing Drexel Drive, signaling the beginning of gutting and transformation of the dated 40-year old building into a new energy efficient Student Service Center. When completed, the three-story building will house the Student Health Center, the Counseling Center, as well as the reading and writing labs and various other student-oriented offices. It replaces the Old Student Center – yet another victim of Hurricane Katrina.


Construction projects always infuse a certain amount of vitality to the campus – and with enrollment expected to remain consistent and healthy at 3,000+ students as Xavier reopens for another academic year – the university remains confident and focused on the future.


Still when such anniversaries do occur, it is sometimes helpful to look back at where you’ve been and how far you’ve come. You can view the story of Xavier’s recovery in a 6:00-minute You Tube video entitled “After Katrina: Rebuilding Xavier” HERE or check a the 2006 view book which is still available ONLINE.

Xavier University News: Remembering Katrina, Looking Ahead: 5 Years Later

Free Technology for Teachers Free Downloads!

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/free-downloads.html

Google for Teachers
Google for Teachers II

Google Earth Across the Curriculum

Beyond Google - Tips and Tools for Improving Internet Search Experienc
Twelve Essentials for Technology Integration
Making Videos on the Web - Make videos without purchasing software or video equipment.
Making Videos on the Web - A Guide for Teachers

***All of these guides were designed to be used for professional development workshops. Please feel free to download them, print them, and freely give them to others. (Just don't charge for them or pass them off as your own).***

Free Technology for Teachers Free Downloads!

Free Technology for Teachers: 11 Techy Things for Teachers to Try This Year!

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/p/free-downloads.html

Richard Byrne at Free Technology for Teachers writes about 11 Techy Things for Teachers to Try This Year. These are eleven goals that would benefit any teacher’s skill set. Be sure and read the full article for his commentary on these helpful suggestions:

1. Build a Blog or Build a Better Blog

2. Build a Wiki With Your Students

3. Build a Website

4. Create Videos Without Purchasing any Equipment

5. Create Maps to Tell a Story

6. Try Backchanneling in Your Classroom

7. Join a Social Network for Your Professional Development

8. Use an Online Service to Save Your Bookmarks

9. Get Your Students Searching More Than Just Google.com

10. Have Your Students Create Podcasts

11. Eliminate Inbox Overload

Free Technology for Teachers: 11 Techy Things for Teachers to Try This Year!

Smashing Magazines: Showcase Of Delicious Coffee Websites!

www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/.../showcase-of-delicious-coffee-websites/

Smashing Magazines: Showcase Of Delicious Coffee Websites!