News 08-27-2002
Grants Underwrite Digital Archiving Research
The Mellon Foundation and the National Science Foundation independently awarded
two, two-year grants totaling about $3 million to the LOCKSS ("Lots Of Copies
Keep Stuff Safe") program. LOCKSS is a joint undertaking of Stanford University
Libraries and Sun Microsystems to develop a secure, reliable system to preserve
access to digital publications. The system is designed to make it feasible and
affordable for even small libraries to preserve access to e-journals and safeguard
access to them. Designed as an Internet appliance, LOCKSS preserves access to
authoritative versions of web-published materials. A PC runs an enhanced web
cache that collects new issues of the e-journal and continually compares its
contents with other caches on other participating computers. If files have been
corrupted or altered, they can be repaired or replaced with intact copies from
the publisher or from other caches.
For more information http://lockss.stanford.edu
Sponsor: James Oliverio Featured Keynote Speaker at Syllabus fall2002
James Oliverio, Professor and Director of Digital Worlds Institute at the
University of Florida, will lead off the first day of Syllabus fall2002's main
conference as keynote speaker on November 4. Oliverio's interest in immersive
collaboration and the use of visualization and multi-modal technologies to increase
understanding and retention promises to be an enlightening, thought-provoking
session. Syllabus fall2002 will be held November 3-5 at the Boston Marriott
Newton Hotel in Newton, Mass with pre-conference seminars on November 3 and
a vendor fair scheduled for November 4.
For further conference details and to register, go to http://www.syllabus.com/fall2002.
Berkeley Offers 'Bioinformatics' Curriculum
The University of California at Berkeley's continuing education arm this fall
will offer courses in "bioinformatics," an emerging field that examines the
relationship between the disciplines of life sciences and computer science.
The program will introduce technical personnel to biology fundamentals and vice
versa, as well as offer in-depth courses focusing on areas of specialization
in each field. A new professional sequence for scientific researchers, computer
engineers or computational specialists is planned for spring of 2003. "Extension's
bioinformatics courses will aid those computationalists and scientists who want
to succeed in this field by providing them with the necessary computer knowledge
and biology background," said academic director Dr. C. J. Chee.
For more information, visit: http://www.unex.berkeley.edu
Oracle Enhances Student Higher Ed Database
Oracle Corp. said it broadened the Oracle Student System, part of its product
line created for the higher education market, to include new applications for
financial aid management and student recruitment, as well as enhanced self-service
functions.
The company said the modular Oracle Student System is based on the
concept of using one database and one student record, allowing student data
to be available across all administrative functions. The system stores all constituent
information in a single repository and allows users to view relationships among
individuals included in the database, such as parents and alumni. The centralized
repository enables users to access up-to-date information on interactions that
may have occurred through other recruitment and marketing efforts.
RealNetworks Launches College Sports Net
Internet media company RealNetworks, Inc. has partnered with the Official College
Sports Network (OCSN) to bring live audio broadcasts of college football, basketball,
baseball to college sports fans across the Internet via a new subscription-only
service called College SportsPass. The college package will kick off the fall
sports season by providing live audio coverage of football games, including
games featuring Miami (Fla.), Washington, Michigan State, Illinois, Arizona
and more than 40 others. The service costs $6.95 per month, and will include
audio and/or video from press conferences, coach's shows, highlight shows, live
statistics breakdowns, and league standings.
Bells & Whistles: Speech-Enabling Campus Calls
The University of Maine, Orono, will speech-enable student, faculty, staff,
and administrative directories, allowing callers to simply say the name of the
person or department they wish to speak with or access a portal of information.
Campus employees will be able to perform pocket pages, change their operational
status (i.e., at desk, in meeting, do not disturb), or signal that they are
reachable at certain times. The school chose the Intellispeech system from Manchester,
N.H.-based System Development Co., which specializes in speech systems and computer-telephone
integration. The company says the system eliminates over half of routine calls
to operators, allowing them to provide a higher-level of support to callers.
Awards, Deals, Contracts, in Higher Education
Help Desk Services: East Carolina University, Eastern Michigan University
and Utah Valley State College chose Magic Service Desk from Network Associates
for help desk services across their campuses. Using the system, help desk technicians
use the Internet access the help desk database anytime and anywhere. Administrators
can centrally manage the service desk system and route trouble tickets automatically
to the appropriate technician. In addition, administrators using Magic Service
Desk can generate reports to view metrics on IT issues, time-to-resolution,
and volatility in help desk calls.
Publishing: McGraw-Hill Education said it would acquire Open University Press,
a leading U.K. social science publisher for academic markets. The purchase would
enable McGraw-Hill Education to expand its print and online product offerings
in the academic area, especially in the area of education, health and social
welfare, psychology and sociology. McGraw-Hill Education will continue to use
the Open University Press imprint.
