INTER-MEDIA COLUMN

Internet Resources:
WWW Update for Media Managers

by Michael J. Albright


A little over a year ago, I wrote a WWW column for MC Journal in which I
reported that 23,500 Web sites existed in June 1995, and that by press time
in November the total was projected to be a whopping 50,000.  Moreover, the
number of Web sites was doubling every five months.  Well, according to a
company called Internet Solutions
(http://www.netree.com/netbin/internetstats/), the Web site total passed
the million mark in November 1996.  The WWW is now doubling in size about
every 50 days.

No implication is made here that all these sites are worth your attention.
Here at Iowa State alone, almost 5,000 home pages have gone public for the
world to see, the vast majority of them student sites addressing such
important issues as why Tupac Shakur should be canonized.

Nonetheless, a great many sites of immediate interest to the media
management community have come online.  A few months ago, I grew tired of
rummaging through piles of "stuff" in my office looking for that newsletter
or e-mail message or ... something ... that had that great URL on it, so I
started compiling them into a single index.  It is now an 18-page document
in 9-point font that I use virtually every day as a professional reference.
I also extract sections of it as handouts when I do Internet or distance
education training sessions.  If your mail system can handle attachments,
I'll share, but the file is too large to fit within the text of a message
or do faxes or photocopies.  One of these days, I hope to make a Web page
out of it.

*Page 9*

Here are some nuggets from that list.  All the URLs were checked and were
current as of our electronic press time.


General Interest to Media Managers

International Videoconferencing List
http://www.sju.edu/~lees/vc_list.html

        This is David Lees' terrific complication of videoconferencing
sites, for those of you trying to set up a two-way videoconference for
someone on your campus.

College and University Media Center Web Sites
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mrc/links/centers.html

        Here you will find links to the home pages of over 300
instructional technology support services located on colleges and
universities in 14 countries.  This is my site, and your contributions and
updates are always welcome.

CineMedia
http://www.afionline.org/CineMedia/

        Self-described as the world's largest film and media directory,
this source provides links to over 8,000 sites related to the entertainment
industry.

*Page 10*

Smarter College Classrooms Home Page
http://classrooms.com/

        This is Dan Niemeyer's compilation of everything you need to know
to design, install, and maintain a high-tech college classroom.  Includes
design principles, specs, photos, and links to vendors.

ADA Accessibility Guidelines
http://www.usa.net/ada_infonet/adaag.htm

        And for those of you concerned about compliance with specific
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines, here they are, straight
from the Federal Register and made available on the Web by the U.S.
Architectural & Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.

Links to Manufacturers and Vendors
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~mrc/links/vendors.html

        This is another page that we maintain on the Media Resources Center
Web site at Iowa State.  Here you will find a central location for links to
about 40 manufacturers, vendors, and distributors that we use in the
instructional media business.  It's nothing fancy, but it is functional.

Multimedia Source Book
http://www.mmsource.com/

        If you don't want to spend fifty bucks for the paper copy, here is
the free online version, providing over 6,000 listings of companies
offering products and services related to the multimedia industry.

*Page 11*

NewJour Archive of Electronic Journal and Newsletter Announcements
http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/

        NewJour is a listserv maintained for the purpose of announcing new
electronic journals and newsletters.  Nearly 3,000 such announcements are
indexed and available on this archive.  This is a terrific source that will
help you identify electronic publications that you personally need and also
let you make points with your faculty colleagues.


Distance Education

Distance Education Clearinghouse
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/home.html
        and
Distance Education Resource Sites
http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~cedcwis/Distance_Ed_Index.html
        and
Distance Education Resources
http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~wallace/de.html
        and
Distance Learning on the Net
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~ghoyle/
        and
Distance Education Subject Guide
http://www.extension.ualberta.ca/atl/deg/deframe.htm
        and
Distance Learning Directory
http://www.con-ed.howard.edu/Webpages/Husce/Dld.htm

        Just getting into distance ed and need some background info?  Or
looking for stuff on specific topics?  Apparently, you aren't the only one,
based on the recent proliferation of sites like these.  These are
comprehensive sites that provide general information and links to
everything you EVER wanted to know about DE.

*Page 12*

Guiding Principles for Distance Learning in a Learning Society
http://www.acenet.edu/programs/CALEC/Guides&Principles/distlearn.html

        The American Council on Education worked with an alliance of
technology and distance education-related organizations to develop this set
of principles for distance ed.  It may be quite helpful in evaluating the
effectiveness of the DE program on your campus.

Principles of Good Practice for Electronically Offered Academic Degrees and
Certificate Programs
http://www.wiche.edu/telecom/principles.htm

        Apparently concurrently, the Western Cooperative for Educational
Telecommunications was developing a similar set of principles, funded by
the U.S. Department of Education's FIPSE program.


Copyright

Copyright and Intellectual Property Resources
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/II/cpyright.htm    ( "II" is two capital i's)

        The International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions (IFLA) has compiled a comprehensive resource on copyright,
including an extensive bibliography -- most with links to full text, links
to electronic journals, organizations, and companies (i.e., law offices),
examples of copyright policies, and a country by country listing of
copyright resources.

*Page 13*

Copyright Website
http://www.benedict.com/

        Another comprehensive listing of copyright information and
resources, but from the perspective of P.J. Benedict O'Mahoney, an
intellectual property attorney.  This site has a section on copyright
issues related to the Internet.

ILT Guide to Copyright
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/copyright/index.html

        Here is another extremely comprehensive resource for copyright
information, but this time from the perspective of the educational
community.  Maintained by the Institute for Learning Technologies at
Columbia University.

Copyright and Fair Use
http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

        This site from Stanford University Libraries is a central location
for information specifically about fair use, including summaries of past
and current fair use litigation.  It also provides general info about the
copyright law.

*Page 14*

Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/avs/fairuse/fairuse.html

        Here is the full text of the new fair use guidelines for
educational multimedia, developed by a task force of representatives of the
educational community, led by the Consortium of College and University
Media Centers (CCUMC), and copyright holders and distributors.  The
guidelines stand as a tribute to noted copyright attorney Ivan Bender, who
spearheaded their development and passed away just days after they were
blessed by Congress.

I Saw It On TV: Sources of Permission for Using Copyrighted TV Shows
http://thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/library_info/departments/imc/ISawItOnTV.html

        The professor walks into your office and tells you about the great
show on TV last night and asks you to order it for her class.  Or perhaps
she taped it and wants to use it forever.  This happened to Corinne Smith,
then at Penn State, so often that she developed a comprehensive directory
of programmers and copyright holders, the people to contact.  Now a little
dated but still useful, this listing is maintained on the Purdue University
Libraries Web site.


Professional Associations/Consortia

No annotations are offered here.  You've heard of these folks before.

American Association for Higher Education  (AAHE)
http://www.ido.gmu.edu/aahe/welcome.html

*Page 15*

American Film Institute
http://www.afionline.org/

Association for Educational Communications and Technology  (AECT)
http://www.aect.org/

CAUSE
http://cause-www.colorado.edu/

EDUCOM
http://educom.edu/

International Communications Industries Association  (ICIA)
http://www.usa.net/icia/

International Society for Technology in Education  (ISTE)
http://isteonline.uoregon.edu/

International Television Associaiton  (ITVA)
http://emporium.turnpike.net/I/itva/   ("I" is a capital "i")

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE)
http://www.smpte.org/

U.S. Distance Learning Association  (USDLA)
http://gopher.usdla.org/

*Page 16*

Electronic Publications

Each of the following has at least some articles and features in full text.
In many cases, each issue is provided in full text.

AV Video
http://www.kipinet.com/av/

CAUSE-EFFECT
http://cause-www.colorado.edu/cause-effect/cause-effect.html

Change
http://www2.ido.gmu.edu/AAHE/Change.html

EDUCOM Review
http://educom.edu/web/edreview.html

Multimedia Producer
http://www.kipinet.com/mmp/

New Media
http://www.hyperstand.com/

Syllabus Magazine
http://www.syllabus.com/syllmag.html

T.H.E. Journal
http://www.thejournal.com/

*Page 17*

Internet

Web MultiMedia Tour
http://ftp.digital.com/webmm/

        This is Digital's great source for detailed descriptions and links
to resources and download sites for the full range of Internet-based
multimedia software.  General subject headings include audio, video,
animation, virtual reality, and person to person conferencing.  Make sure
you include the "http://" in the address, or you will be connected with
Digital's FTP site.

The Barebones Guide to HTML
http://werbach.com/barebones/

        This is a spiffy guide to HTML tags, so good it has been translated
into 15 languages.  Its author, Kevin Werbach, is an attorney for the
Federal Communications Commission.

The HTML Goodies Domain
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/

        Here is a great source of how-to-do-it info for intermediate to
advanced HTML authoring, including sections on Java scripting, creating
transparent GIFs, advanced tables, animations, counters, forms, and frames.

Que's Internet and New Technologies Publishing Group
http://www.mcp.com/26336114123610/que/et/

        Que Publishing is one of the top producers of Internet books.  Here
is the site where you can read and download their publications in full text
-- yes, full text, and free.  It's a gold mine.

*Page 18*

Bobby
http://www.cast.org/bobby/

        Developed by the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST),
Bobby allows you to test your Web site for design flaws that prevent its
pages from being displayed correctly on a wide variety of browsers.  Bobby
also helps you identify ways in which your pages are inaccessible to the
handicapped.

Carl Davis's HTML Editor Reviews
http://homepage.interaccess.com/%7Ecdavis/edit_rev.html

        Carl has put together a site that allows you to compare the
features of most of the HTML editors available today.  He's also graded
them on an A-B-C basis to assist you in selecting one of quality.

BrowserWatch Plug-In Plaza
http://browserwatch.iworld.com/plug-in.html

        Here is one central source for all the plug-ins you might ever want
to install on your computer.  Maintained by Internet World magazine, this
site provides specs and descriptions for each plug-in as well as a link to
a download site.

*Page 19*

Miscellaneous

Most of these will be of personal more than professional interest.

Switchboard
http://www3.switchboard.com/

        This is a composite of most of the nation's phone books.  Track
down that long lost cousin or the fool who owes you money.  Here's a
terrifying thought:  there are at least 110 Mike Albrights in the
U.S........

Olsen & Associates Currency Convertor
http://www.olsen.ch/cgi-bin/exmenu/

        Planning an international trip?  This is a great site for
calculating how much the dollar is worth in another country's currency, or
for determining what that conference registration rate in French francs
really is in dollars.

United Parcel Service
http://www.ups.com/
        and
Federal Express
http://www.fedex.com/

        If you have the bar code from your shipping receipt, you can track
the status of any package sent via either company, right from your own
computer.  Find out if Grandma ever got that Christmas box.

Weather Channel
http://www.weather.com/

        The ultimate weather source.  Get the current radar and forecasts
for about every county seat in the U.S.

*Page 20*

The Dilbert Zone
http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/dilbert/

        If you missed The Dilbert Zone in the newspaper, don't miss it
here!!  You can order Dilbert merchandise (great Christmas gift ideas) and
download GIFs for your Web site.

Internal Revenue Service
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/prod/cover.html

        If you have Adobe Acrobat and a printer that handles about a
million fonts, you can download the tax forms you desparately need on April
15, after the library closes.  The proximity to the Dilbert Zone link is
purely coincidental.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
http://www.rockhall.com/

        Listen to golden oldies and, if you have QuickTime VR (they'll help
you get it free), take a virtual tour of their exhibit rooms.

Kelly Blue Book Used Car Guide
http://www.kbb.com/

        If you wonder how much that clunker in your garage is worth in a
trade, here's how to find out.


Michael J. Albright is an instructional development specialist in the Media
Resources Center, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011.  His e-mail
address is mikealbr@iastate.edu.

MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship
ISSN 1069-6792
v.4 #2, Fall 1996

November 1996

This article copyright (C) by Michael J. Albright. All Rights
Reserved. All commercial use requires permission of the author and the
editors of this journal.

*Page 21*