Being literate in a real-world sense means being able to read and write using the media forms of the day, whatever they may be. For centuries, consuming and producing words through reading and writing and, to a lesser extent, listening and speaking were sufficient. But because of inexpensive, easy-to-use, and widely available new tools, literacy…

Science teachers struggle with meeting curricular goals outlined by professional organizations within the constraints of traditional school. Engaging science learners as a community who collaboratively and creatively co-construct scientific understanding through inquiry requires teachers to adopt new tools as well as a different mindset about the…

This paper focuses on the accessibility of North American library and library school Web sites for all users, including those with disabilities. Web accessibility data collected in 2006 are compared to those of 2000 and 2002. The findings of this follow-up study continue to give cause for concern: Despite improvements since 2002, library and…

Previous research has linked teachers' physical attractiveness and students' evaluations of teaching. We expanded on this literature by using data from RateMyProfessors.com (RMP), a database popular among college students. Additionally, we examined the unique variance that physical attractiveness explains in student evaluations of teaching while…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the work undertaken by Vancouver Public Library (VPL) in an effort to convert its website into a true virtual branch, both through the functionality of the website itself and by extending its web presence on to external social networking sites. Design/methodology/approach: VPL worked with its…

RefWorks is ideally suited for undergraduate students with team-based research projects as part of their course assessment. The Dorothy Hill Physical Sciences and Engineering Library at the University of Queensland taught students from three engineering courses how to use RefWorks to manage project references and to create team-based…

Plagiarism is an increasing problem in high schools and universities. To address the issue of how to teach students not to plagiarize, this study examined several pedagogical approaches for reducing plagiarism and the use of Turnitin, an online plagiarism detection software. The study found a significant difference between the control group and…

Darien Library, where the author serves as head of knowledge and learning services, launched a new website on September 1, 2008. The website is built with Drupal, an open source content management system (CMS). In this article, the author describes how she and her colleagues overhauled the library's website to provide an open source content…

This article discusses Research Blogging, a community-run nonprofit organization that is promoting a suite of blogging software to scholars. Research Blogging itself does two things. First, it extends an invitation to a community, and it is open to anyone. Second, it requires its users to follow guidelines. The combination of rigorous guidelines…

The purpose of the study was to examine the role of domain knowledge when retrieving and using information from the Internet as a resource for essay tasks, as well as to investigate the quality of Internet searches and its relation to essay performance. In two experiments, 100 undergraduates searched the Internet for 30 min and completed two…

iTunes University, a website with downloadable educational podcasts, can provide students the opportunity to obtain professors' lectures when students are unable to attend class. To determine the effectiveness of audio lectures in higher education, undergraduate general psychology students participated in one of two conditions. In the lecture…

Conflict management is a significant and unavoidable part of a manager's role in an organization. Employees need conflict management skills to manage themselves, make decisions, and work effectively in the ever-increasing team environment of today's organizations. In the present article, the author demonstrates the disconnect between the…

Internet tools associated with Web 2.0 such as wikis, blogs, and video podcasts are increasingly available in elementary classrooms. ("Web 2.0" is a vaguely defined, folk-tech term that means, roughly, the Internet and all software and devices, constantly improving, that strive to exploit it in creative and useful ways.) Today,…

Millions of contemporary young adults use social networking sites. However, little is known about how much, why, and how they use these sites. In this study, 92 undergraduates completed a diary-like measure each day for a week, reporting daily time use and responding to an activities checklist to assess their use of the popular social networking…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain the changes in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 compared with WCAG 1.0 within the context of its historical development. Design/methodology/approach: In order to compare WCAG 2.0 with WCAG 1.0 a diachronic analysis of the evolution of these standards is done. Known authors and…