INTER-MEDIA COLUMN 

Internet Resources: WWW Update for Media Managers 

 
by Michael J. Albright
MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Media Librarianship, v4#2, Fall 1996:9-21. 

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. 

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.
    


  • 
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.
    



     

  • 
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 

  • 
Distance Education Resource Sites
    • 


    http://miavx1.muohio.edu/~cedcwis/Distance_Ed_Index.html 

  • 
Distance Education Resources
    • 


    http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~wallace/de.html 

  • 
Distance Learning on the Net
    • 


    http://homepage.interaccess.com/~ghoyle/ 

  • 
Distance Education Subject Guide
    • 


    http://www.extension.ualberta.ca/atl/deg/deframe.htm 

  • 
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. 


    


  • 
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.
    


  • 
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.
    



     

  • 
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


    



     

  • 
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/ 


    



    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/


    



     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.
    



     

  • 
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.
    



     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.
    



     

  • 
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. 


 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.



Hypertext links are not maintained by the author or the Editors of MC
Journal



ISSN 1069-6792

  Lori Widzinski, Editor (widz@acsu.buffalo.edu)


  Revised: 08/27/98

  URL: http://wings.buffalo.edu/publications/mcjrnl/v4n2/intern6.html