This article features a major statewide initiative in North Carolina that is showing how a consortium model can minimize risks for districts and help them exploit the advantages of cloud computing. Edgecombe County Public Schools in Tarboro, North Carolina, intends to exploit a major cloud initiative being refined in the state and involving every…

A parent walking into a classroom in a Minnesota public school today will be presented with a different learning environment compared to that of 20 years ago. Gone are filmstrips and movie projectors and in their place are computer screens. Today's classroom is a heavy user of digital media, and much of that is accessed via the Internet. It is…

Many e-learning service systems fail. This is particularly true for those sponsored by joint industry/university consortia where substantial economic investments are required up-front. This article provides an industry/university consortia reference model validated through experiences with the 8-year-old Teradata University Network. The reference…

The concept of today's cloud computing may date back to 1961, when John McCarthy, retired Stanford professor and Turing Award winner, delivered a speech at MIT's Centennial. In that speech, he predicted that in the future, computing would become a "public utility." Yet for colleges and universities, the recent growth of pervasive, very high speed…

Examines the role of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII). Highlights include the standards process; voluntary standards; Open Systems Interconnection problems; Internet Protocol Suite; consortia; government's role; and network security. (16 references) (LRW)

Looks back at the innovations/tribulations that went into the making of Merit Network, Inc., Michigan's pioneering Internet provider. Today, Merit is serving as the GigaPoP organization for its two current Internet2 members, Michigan State University and University of Michigan, and will provision a vBNS connection for Wayne State University.…

Identifies a working set of standards by which to assess individual digital reference services (Internet-based human-mediated information services) and to define membership within a collaborative network of digital reference services. The standards are designed for the Virtual Reference Desk AskA Consortium. (Author/LRW)

Explores the possibility of using Web contact center software to offer reference assistance to remote users. Discusses a project by the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System/Santiago Library System consortium to test contact center software and to develop a virtual reference network. (Author/LRW)

Both a classification of the relatively new standards-setting consortia and a theoretical basis for their emergence are developed. It is noted that the theory is based on the confluence of political theory and the theory of markets, and the implications of these consortia for the standards-setting process are considered from theoretical and…

The final report from the Higher Education Library Integrated Network (HELIN)'s Task Force on Bibliographic and Authority Control begins with a statement of the charge to the task force. It then summarizes its activities in each of five areas: (1) documentation of local authority control (cataloging) practices; (2) consultation with vendors of…

Southeastern New Hampshire schoolchildren are involved in three network science projects for grades 2-8: Batnet, Birdnet, and Treenet. The listserv projects were developed by a group of teachers interested in using the computer-Internet connection to enrich and extend the science learning. Network science makes topics more real, lends immediacy to…

Describes CAUL (The Council of Australian University Librarians) which is dedicated to improving access by the staff and students of Australian universities to scholarly information resources. Discusses funding, access to databases, electronic information resources, information infrastructure and network information support, and electronic…

Internet Access for Florida's Public Libraries was a pilot project that linked six public libraries to the Internet for twelve months between October 1993 and September 1994. The project sought to collect information and identify issues that would help in devising future plans and policies for network development for libraries. The project…

Describes the initial results of a survey sent to colleges and universities that was conducted to better understand the range and scope of collaborative computer networking activities between elementary and secondary schools and postsecondary institutions. Examples of statewide networks as well as local and regional consortia are described. (LRW)

Twelve rural North Carolina colleges facing decisions regarding campus technology investments chose to form a technology alliance to share information, identify critical needs, rethink budget development and funding formulas at local and state levels, leverage resources, and cooperate in new ventures. Includes recommendations for other colleges…