The Ever-Expanding University of Phoenix

The University of Phoenix "announced that the university's enrollment of degree-seeking students grew to 443,000 as of August 2009, up 22 percent from 362,000 in August 2008. The biggest growth in Phoenix's enrollments, by far, came among students seeking associate degrees, which rose by 37 percent, to 201,200 from 146,500 in 2008."

Software Helps Music Students Collaborate Online With Crystal Clarity

"Music schools have a tradition of bringing in famous musicians to hold master classes with a handful of students, but many of those visits have been cut this year because of tight budgets. Free software developed at the University of Southern California promises to make videoconferencing clear enough to hold such classes remotely over high-speed Internet connections."

Are College E-Mail Addresses on the Way Out?

"If the last four years are any indication, college-student e-mail addresses may soon be a thing of the past. So says a report issued by Educause, a nonprofit dedicated to the advancement of information technology in higher education. The "Core Data Service Fiscal Year 2008 Summary Report" took information from nearly 930 colleges and universities regarding their IT practices and environments."

School Chooses Kindle

"Library watchers say it could be the first school library, public or private, to forsake ink and paper in favor of e-books. It also represents the first time a school has placed its students' intellectual lives so fully into the hands of a few online publishers and makers of electronic devices. . .Reading David Copperfield in English class? A librarian will gladly download it onto one of 65 Kindle handheld electronic book readers from Amazon.com, which circulate like library books."

The Six "Wow" Features of Windows 7

"A career Web designer, Moreau was an unlikely choice to pull this off. 'I was told that was the point,' he says. In turn, he amassed his own band of architects, artists, and writers who could bring fresh perspectives to Windows 7. We asked Moreau and his team to tell the tales behind six buzzed-about Windows 7 features."

New-Tech E-Books Boosting Old-Book System: Libraries

"So we know that the effects of e-book publishing are likely to be widespread and possibly quite subtle, but here's one that may be a surprise: In the U.K. they're boosting Library membership figures, quite significantly."

Barnes and Noble's Shiny, Share-Friendly 'Nook'

". . .the launch of the Nook, an impressive-looking $260 device that will go head-to-head with Amazon.com's Kindle, currently the most successful product in a small but growing market for e-book readers."

.Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers

"Companies big and small monitor Twitter to find out what their customers like and what they want changed. Twitter does the same. It started two years ago as a bare-bones service, offering little more than the ability to post 140-character messages. Then, it outsourced its idea generation to its users. The company watches how people use the service and which ideas catch on. Then its engineers turn the ideas into new features."

Amazon App Allows Kindle Books on PCs

"Amazon will introduce a free software app next month that will allow Kindle users to read their e-books on their PCs. What's more, the app works for non-Kindle owners: Anyone with an Amazon account will be able to buy the books and download them to their Window-based computers, notes CNET."

TV Viewers Migrate to Web

"More and more Americans are watching television exclusively online and ditching their cable or satellite service. One-quarter of families have tuned in online, and 25% of those viewers have watched a full-length show on a computer—a 67% jump just since 2007."

Report: WHO to Announce Cell Phone, Brain Tumor Link

"A groundbreaking, $30 million study into cell phones has found a link between long term use and brain tumors."

Americans Willing to Scan Thumbprints, Eyes for Cybersecurity

"Mark_Cohnx-large Americans are willing to have their thumbprints and eyeballs scanned to keep cybercriminals from stealing their sensitive data, according to survey results released this week. Of the 583 respondents polled by tech consulting firm Unisys and Leiberman Research, 93% said they would be interested in using fingerprinting to secure their data; 58% said they would be willing to provide biometric data to merchants and financial institutions to verify their identity."

ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009

"The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2009 is a longitudinal extension of the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 studies. It is based on quantitative data from a spring 2009 survey of 30,616 freshmen and seniors at 103 four-year institutions and students at 12 two-year institutions; student focus groups that included input from 62 students at 4 institutions; and review of qualitative data from written responses to open-ended questions. In addition to studying student ownership, experience, behaviors, preferences, and skills with respect to information technologies, the 2009 study also includes a special focus on student ownership and use of Internet-capable handheld devices."

Study: US Gov't Cybersecurity Spending to Grow Significantly

"U.S. government spending on cybersecurity will grow at a compound rate of 8.1 percent a year between 2009 and 2014, outpacing general IT spending, according to the government analyst firm Input."

Heavy Duty Video Gamers Have Less Focus

"High-volume action video game players -- those who play about 40 hours a week -- had more difficulty keeping focused on longer tasks, U.S. researchers say."

A Virtual Clinic to Treat the Stresses of War

"Many veterans are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious problems, like post-traumatic stress disorder, but only one-third get medical help. One researcher has built a healing center for veterans in a virtual world, where she hopes they will be more comfortable seeking care."

Twitter Becomes Mutual Friend of Google, Microsoft

"Twitter Inc. is selling the rights to mine its communications hotbed to both Internet search leader Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in dueling deals that underscore the growing importance of being able to show what's on people's minds at any given moment."

Twitter Users Getting Younger

"Consider. . .that the median age of a Facebook user is now 33, despite the social-networking site's roots as a college hangout, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The median age for Twitter is 31. And while Facebook's audience is aging, Twitterers are getting younger. Internet tracker comScore Inc. found that 18- to 24-year-olds made up 18 percent of unique visitors to Twitter in September, compared with 11 percent a year earlier. Meanwhile, kids ages 12 to 17 accounted for 12 percent of Twitter visitors last month, about double the proportion of a year earlier."

UCLA Study: The Internet Is Altering Our Brains

"Adults with little Internet experience show changes in their brain activity after just one week online, a new study finds."

Fake Security Software in Millions of Computers: Symantec

"Tens of millions of U.S. computers are loaded with scam security software that their owners may have paid for but which only makes the machines more vulnerable, according to a new Symantec report on cybercrime."

Barnes & Noble Expected to Unveil E-Reader

"Barnes & Noble Inc. is expected to unveil an electronic-book reader to compete with Amazon.com's Kindle in the still-small arena where some see book-selling's future playing out. The New York Times reported that the reader, to be announced Tuesday in New York, will be called the "Nook" and sell for $259."

Facebook, Twitter Users Beware: Crooks are a Mouse Click Away

"If you're on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site, you could be the next victim. That's because more cyberthieves are targeting increasingly popular social networking sites that provide a gold mine of personal information, according to the FBI. Since 2006, nearly 3,200 account hijacking cases have been reported to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center and the Bureau of Justice Assistance."

How Skype Is Changing the Job Interview

"Get ready for a closeup: your next job interview might be on webcam. Looking to save time and money, companies are turning to video-chat software as a cheap, low-hassle way to vet job candidates. That means a growing number of people looking for work are meeting their prospective new bosses not at the office but in the comfort of their own home."

Internet Archive's BookServer could 'dominate' Amazon

"An initiative in the works from the nonprofit Internet Archive to centralize the electronic distribution of commercially viable books could upend the publishing industry and declaw Amazon.com, an industry analyst said. On Monday, the Internet Archive, which among other things has been working for some time to digitize countless numbers of public domain texts, showed the first public look at its BookServer project, an initiative its dubs, 'The future of books.'"

Web Surfing Can Help Slow Dementia

"Surfing the Internet can slow or even reverse the mental decay that leads to dementia, according to a new study. UCLA researchers scanned the brains of 24 men and women aged 55 to 78 and discovered that surfing the web was more stimulating than reading, with the effects lasting long after they’d logged off."

New York Times to Cut 100 Newsroom Jobs

"The New York Times plans to cut 100 newsroom jobs by the end of the year through buyouts and might resort to layoffs as it reels from the advertising revenue drop that is imperiling U.S. newspapers."

Welcome to the University of iTunes

"Hundreds of universities, and a growing number of business schools, are making recordings of lectures, seminars and conferences available to the general public via Web sites such as iTunes and YouTube."

A Year Later, a Texas University Says Giving Students iPhones Is an Academic Success

"Abilene Christian University says handing out iPhones to its entire first-year class in 2008 has improved interaction between students and faculty members. That students use the devices so much for academic purposes, the university says, proves that the move was not just a way to get the Texas institution noticed—though it certainly doesn't mind grabbing headlines. In a report as shiny and user-friendly as the iPhone itself, the university provides page after page of evidence that it says demonstrates that the iPhone program works."

After Vista, Windows 7 is a Giant Leap for Microsoft

"What you'll notice is that Windows 7 is snappier than its predecessor, more polished, and simpler to navigate. Screens are less cluttered. It has better search. . ."

The Future of College May be Virtual

"Bricks-and-mortar universities should prepare for a jolt as high (and still rising) costs push students online."

College Technology 'Catching up' with Students

"Today's college classrooms are high-tech marvels, with overhead projectors and grease pencils replaced by document cameras, handheld clickers and interactive white boards. 'A lot of this is us catching up with the students and what they're bringing to us,' says Michael Reuter, 42, director of technology operations at Central Michigan."

A New Competitor to OCLC for Bibliographic Services

"Will budget-conscious libraries embrace a lower-cost alternative for their bibliographic services?"

A Library to Last Forever

An article by Sergey Brin, co-founder and technology president of Google. He argues for the value of the Google Book Search.

Internet Access Now a Legal Right in Finland

"In Finland, broadband access isn’t a privilege, it’s a right. The Ministry of Transport and Communications has pushed through a law requiring telecom companies to offer speeds of at least 1 megabit per second to all of the country’s 5.3 million citizens."

Open Access to Research Is Inevitable, Libraries Are Told

"Public access to research is 'inevitable,' but it will be a slog to get to it. That was the takeaway message of a panel on the role libraries can play in supporting current and future public-access moves. The panel was part of the program at the membership meeting of the Association of Research Libraries, held here yesterday and today."

U.S. Broadband Study Says "Open Access" Fosters Competition

"Open access policies have helped other leading industrialized nations develop more competitive broadband markets by lowering entry barriers, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. The study, commissioned by the FCC, examines global broadband plans and practices and comes as the agency is devising a plan aimed at increasing broadband usage in rural and urban areas of the United States."

Google Unveils New e-Book Service

"Google is launching a new service for booksellers next year called Google Editions, which will let readers buy books and read them anywhere on gadgets ranging from cell phones to possibly e-book devices."

100 Ways to Use Twitter In Your Library

"Twitter is a free social networking and communication tool that lets you send short messages of up to 140 characters to your group of friends via the Twitter website, SMS, other Twitter clients, email, or IM. . .Here are 100 tips that can help you effectively use Twitter in your libraries."

Libraries of the Future

"The university library of the future will be sparsely staffed, highly decentralized, and have a physical plant consisting of little more than special collections and study areas. That's what Daniel Greenstein, vice provost for academic planning and programs at the University of California System, told a room full of university librarians Wednesday at Baruch College of City University of New York, where the higher education technology group Ithika held a meeting to discuss 'sustainable scholarship.'"

After Losing Users in Catalogs, Libraries Find Better Search Software

"In the open-source world, at least 10 academic libraries have turned to VuFind, which originated at Villanova. Virginia's Blacklight, with Stanford University as a development partner, is in a beta phase. And Rochester's eXtensible Catalog, or XC, backed by $1.2-million from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will be rolled out in the spring. The shift from commercial products to open-source ones is about more than money, though. Bess Sadler, chief architect of the online library environment at the University of Virginia, sees the open-source Blacklight project as a "shift of power," as she wrote recently in the journal Library Hi Tech."

Click by Click, Libraries and Readers Wade Into Digital Lending

"About 5,400 public libraries now offer e-books, as well as digitally downloadable audio books. The collections are still tiny compared with print troves. The New York Public Library, for example, has about 18,300 e-book titles, compared with 860,500 in circulating print titles, and purchases of digital books represent less than 1 percent of the library’s overall acquisition budget. But circulation is expanding quickly. The number of checkouts has grown to more than 1 million so far this year from 607,275 in all of 2007, according to OverDrive, a large provider of e-books to public libraries. NetLibrary, another provider of e-books to about 5,000 public libraries and a division of OCLC, a nonprofit library service organization, has seen circulation of e-books and digital audio books rise 21 percent over the past year."

Could Google Wave Replace Course-Management Systems?

"Google argues that its new Google Wave system could replace e-mail by blending instant messaging, wikis, and image and document sharing into one seamless communication interface. But some college professors and administrators are more excited about Wave's potential to be a course-management-system killer."

Microsoft's Free Antivirus Software Actually Works!

"AV-Test.org ran it through a bevy of tests and found the freebie performed admirably. In its first outing, it nabbed all 3,700 viruses, Trojans, and worms that testers threw at it. Then they loosed it on a computer already infected with 545,344 malware samples, and it scrubbed 98.4% of them. It’s relatively efficient, too."

The Boom in New E-Readers

"Amazon is about to be attacked by a squadron of would-be Kindle killers being brought to market by some of the biggest names in consumer electronics and publishing. To complicate the increasingly competitive landscape even further, Apple and, according to rumor, Microsoft are working on tablet computers that could prove to be handy e-readers but with more functions and features, such as video display capability and full web browsers."

College Technology 'Catching up' with Students

"Today's college classrooms are high-tech marvels, with overhead projectors and grease pencils replaced by document cameras, handheld clickers and interactive white boards."

The Online Competition to Save Newspapers

"When beleaguered executives from top newspaper companies met at a Chicago airport hotel in late May, they decided they needed a savior — that is, a tech company to help them figure out ways to make money online. Letters inviting solutions went out to 10 companies, and in July the responses discreetly rolled in."

Amazon's Kindle e-Reader to go International

"Amazon said it would begin selling an international version of its popular e-reader that will work in more than 100 countries on October 19."

Innovations in Online Translation Services

Facebook and Google have "released a number of updates to their translation services in recent weeks."

PBS and NPR Add to Trove of Free Online Lectures

"PBS and NPR are now posting taped interviews and videos of lectures by academics, adding to the growing number of free lectures online."