D E P A R T M E N T S 41 SELECTIONS FROM ERI C Journal Articles EJ 476 317 Cullen, Charles T. and others. ( 1 993). The Role and Future of Special Collections in Research Libraries : British and American Perspectives. Journal of Library Administration, v 1 9 n 1 p 1 -98. Six papers from a seminar on special collections in research libraries address special collections and the scholarly community; the function of special collections in research and education; services and development issues; the evolving character of special collections; special collections in emerging information delivery programs; and the changing nature of scholarship. EJ 413 601 Dorner, Daniel G. ; Stenstrom, Patricia F. ( 1 990, July). Resources for S ch ol ars : Four Library and Information S cience Collections: Part 1 : Universi ty of Western Ontario and University of lllinois at Urbana-Champaign. Library Quarterly, v60 n3 p232-53. Describes the resources available to scholars in the library and information science collections of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Western Ontario. For each university, the description includes a h istory of the development of the school of library and information science as well as resources found in special collections and archives. EJ 462 312 Glau, Gregory R. ( 1 993, Spring) . Mirroring Ourselves? The Pedagogy of Early Grammar Texts. Rhetoric Review, v 1 1 n2 p4 1 8-35. Argues that the use of specific grammar texts, along with the books themselves, has remained essentially unchanged for over 200 years. Examines how grammar texts were established and used historically. Claims that pedagogical uses of grammar textbooks mirrors instructors' perceptions of their students. EJ 439 898 Jesudason, Melba. ( 1992). Building a Women's Studies Reading Area Collection: University of Wisconsin-Madison, College Library Experience. Reference Services Review, v20 n 1 p8 1 -93. Discusses women's studies as a discipline and describes methods of collection development of women's studies materials for academic libraries. An example is given of a women's studies collection at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, including development models, budget, personnel, role of the librarian, types of materials, and appropriate subject headings. (24 references) EJ 450 250 Jones, Linda Bunnell. ( 1 992, Summer). Linking Undergraduate Education and Libraries : Minnesota's Approach . New Directions fo r Higher Education, No . 78 (Information Literacy: Developing Students as Independent Learners), v20 n2 p27-35 . Resource-based learning and information literacy skills play important roles in the Minnesota State University System's efforts to improve undergraduate educational quality, and the library is seen as both the locus and the agent for acquiring those skills. A blue ribbon commission's 1 99 1 report describes the academic library of the future. EJ 469 731 O'Brien, Nancy P. ( 1 993, Jan-Feb). Resources for Curriculum History: Emerging from the Warehouse. Journal of Curriculum Studies, v25 n 1 p95 . Maintains that there are several large collections of educational materials that reflect the historical development of textbooks and curriculum guides. Describes major collections at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago, Harvard University, and Teacher's College, Columbia University. EDUCATION LI B RARIES VOL. 22, No. 1 / 2 42 D E P A R T M E N T S EJ 413 641 Roberts, Francis X. ( 1990). An Early Example of a Curriculum Materials Collection in an Institution of Teacher Education. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, v9 n 1 p2 1 -28. The University of Northern Colorado has had a curriculum materials collection in its library since 1 896. This early collection contained school furniture, books, pictures, apparatus and devices for class use, games, and toys. The collection has been maintained despite periods of neglect and today contains all the formats of an up-to-date curriculum collection. ( 1 3 references) EJ 492 035 Stray, Chris. ( 1 994, Jan-Feb) . Paradigms Regained: Towards a Historical Sociology of the Textbook. Journal of Curriculum Studies, v26 n l p l -29. Maintains that educational history and the history of textbooks have merged recently within the history and sociology of culture. Examines school textbooks as a focal element in the processes of cultural transmission. Focuses specifically on Benjamin Kennedy's Latin grammars that are still in use in Great Britain today. EDUCATION LIBRARIES VOL 22, No. 1 / 2 How to Obtain Materials Cited in this Bibliography: Journal article citations are from Current Index to Journals in Education. The articles may be obtained from a college, university, or large public library, borrowed through interlibrary loan or, if so indicated, ordered from: UMI Clearinghouse, 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48 1 06. Phone: 1 -800-52 1 -0600. This column was prepared by the staff of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 1 3244. Phone: (3 1 5 ) 433-3640; E-mail: eric@ericr.syr.edu D E P A R T M E N T S 43 NEWS FROM ERI C Recompetition for the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system's 1 6 Clearinghouses took place in the spring of 1 998, and new five-year contracts will be awarded for each Clearinghouse in January 1 999. The ERIC Clearinghouses are responsible for acquir ing , processing , synthesiz ing , and disseminating information about a particular aspect of a subject area of education. Each Clearinghouse is assigned a well-defined and unique scope of coverage. Clearinghouses perform tasks in six basic areas: database development; products; user services; outreach and training; system improvements and special projects; and management . As p art of the recompet i t ion effort , Clearinghouses were asked to reflect on trends and issues in their respective scope areas. Here are some of the trends in the Library and Information Science and Educational Technology scope areas. Trends and Issues in Library and Information Science and Educational Technology The ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Tech nology (ERIC/IT) makes a special effort to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and issues in its scope areas. in 1 996, for example, Associate Director Donald P. Ely, conducted a content analytic study in the field of educational technology. The study was publishe · as an ERIC Clearinghouse monograph , Trends in Educational Technology 1 995 (Ely) and summarized in an ERIC Digest. The work was based on a systematic analysis of content coverage in leading professional journals; papers given at annual conventions of professional associations; dissertations from major universities that had a high level of doctoral productivity; and documents entered into the ERIC database. The analysis was complemented by an examination of supplementary documents to confirm the trends indicated in the content analysis. Some of the key trends include: • Computers are pervasive in schools and higher education institutions. Virtually every student in a formal education setting has access to a computer. • Networking is one of the fastest growing applications of technology in education. • Educational technology is increasingly available in homes and community settings. • New delivery systems for educational technology applications have grown in geometric proportions. There is a new insistence that teachers become technologically literate. • Educational technology is perceived as a major vehicle in the movement toward educational reform. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology is fortunate to have access to data related to instructional and information technology through a related project-AskLN (Ask the Learning Network), funded by AT&T. The most frequently asked AskLN question areas relate to: • Money: Where can schools get funding for computers, software and Internet access? Educators are concerned about financing technology-from those just beginning at small rural schools to teachers and library media specialists involved in sophisticated, collaborative classroom projects. • Staff Development: How can schools get staff up to speed with educational technology? There are requests for specific training materials and also more conceptual questions asking about computer literacy. • Integration: How can teachers integrate technology in the classroom? These questions come from individual teachers and are specific to grade level, academic subject or lesson topic. • Network Maintenance: How can we solve this specific problem? These questions are the "techie" problems that include getting computers to work with networks, Internet connections, and network software. • Internet Resources: Where do we go on the Internet for specific resources? This category includes requests for lesson plan sites, information on specific topics (whales, planets), skills (keyboarding, searching), and classroom management (scheduling computers). • Web Technology : How can schools create or improve websites? Questions come from beginners to experts, for both classroom, school and district level website development. • Purchasing Choices: What hardware and software should schools buy? What about CD-ROMs, software comparisons or reviews, computer upgrades, scanners, digital cameras, laptops, Internet providers, etc. • Classroom vs. lab: Which strategy is best for our school? Schools are still struggling with questions concerning the distribution and allocation of computing resources among labs, l ibrary media facilities, and classrooms. • Laptop s : Should schools h ave students use l aptop computers? What about related issues of maintenance? • Digital Cameras & Video-conferencing : What are the options, costs, capabilities, and applications for learning and teaching? EDUCATION LIBRARIES VOL. 22, No. 1 / 2 44 D E P A R T M E N T S The Clearinghouse must be responsive in services and resources to accommodate the concern of all audiences regarding the use and impact of computing and network technologies on all aspects of learning and teaching. Looking across the scope areas of the ERIC/IT Clearinghouse, the shared concerns of both library and information science and instructional technology that will frame the work of the Clearinghouse over the next few years include: · Distance delivery on educational and information delivery. The promise of connecting schools and libraries to the Internet lies both in greater access to information resources and an increase in distance delivery of curriculum. Distance learning, teaching, and teleconferencing are seen as major strategic growth areas in higher education, adult education, and continuing professional education for those in the field. Similarly, distance training, training-on-demand, and various forms of teleconferencing and telecommuting are becoming essential elements of success in business. In libraries, reference services are being freed from desks, and offered to an entire community regardless of distance and time. · Development of metrics in an information environment. With the emergence of the virtual library and the school without walls, there is a growing concern about measuring the impacts of "virtualizing" services. As the nation responds to the President and Secretary's priorities and connects a growing number of schools and libraries to the Internet, there is also a growing call to prove effectiveness, and demonstrate impacts of wiring these organizations. Evaluation is central to realizing and maintaining true change in networking education and information services. Professional roles and responsibilities of educators and librarians in a technologically enhanced learning environment. The large volume of i nformation available to today 's classrooms and libraries i s driving the two communities closer together. In many ways, these two communities are starting to encounter the issues of the other. Librarians are being faced with an obligation to provide context to users, not just a list of possible resources. Teachers, on the other hand, are learning to use multiple sources of information in the classroom - far beyond an approved text. Librarians in public, special, academic and school settings are being given a greater charge for training and instructional development. Teachers, professors and researchers are being called upon to manage information better and add structure to their content areas. EDUCATION L I B RARI ES VOL. 22, No. 1 / 2 · Convergence of information delivery technologies and resources. The days of having "the" information resource are over. The days of being the center of anything on the Internet are over. No organization, no matter how large, can provide all the information on any given topic. In the recent past, this realization has lead libraries to call for increased budgets to acquire more resources. It has driven researchers and students to do more work on the subject of learning and the use of a wider variety of information resources. However, these solutions are not scalable. Libraries will run out of money, and researchers will run out of time. The solution is in integrating information resources and services together. · A growing emphasis on information, technology, and network literacy. The convergence discussed above is best demonstrated in the rise in importance information and technology literacy. The three R's of "reading," "writing," and "arithmatic" have been joined by routers, relays, and response time. In an education environment of overload, the first grader, undergraduate, and life long learner alike must know how to find information in the noise of the Internet. Library and information science skills are essential in the classroom of tomorrow-and today. Mathematicians must be aware of massively parallel processing; English teachers must be aware of hyperfiction; and art teachers must be aware of image compression. These trends are not exhaustive, but form a framework from which to understand the scope area and priorities of the ERIC/IT Clearinghouse. These trends will change, and new concerns will emerge. As the fields of library and information science and educational technology change, so too must the ERIC/IT Clearinghouse's view of those fields. News from ERIC is prepared by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology 4- 1 94 Center for Science and Technology Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13244-4 1 00. Phone: (800) 464- 9 1 07 ; (3 1 5 ) 443-3640; E-mail : eric@ericir.syr.edu