Links for April 26, 2007
Posted by Jacque on April 26th, 2007
Justice Dept. Is Asked to Investigate Reading Plan
The New York Times reports that inspector general John P. Higgins testified about his request to investigate Reading First at Congress’s opening hearing on the program. Reading First awards grants to states to buy teaching materials and for training through the Bush administration’s $6 billion program to teach poor children to read by third grade.
Mr. Higgins has issued a half-dozen reports finding conflicts of interest, cronyism and bias in how federal officials and private consultants operated the program and awarded the grants. The data showed that most of these states used a once obscure assessment which the inspector general’s report suggested had been unfairly promoted through Reading First. See the article for more details.
Broadband communications growth elsewhere outstripping U.S.
An Information Week article says, “The United States continues to lose ground when the number of people with broadband communications connections here is compared to other countries.” U.S. broadband penetration among worldwide industrialized nations dropped from 12th to 15th place, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
“We are failing to bring the benefits of broadband to all our citizens, and the consequences will resonate for generations,” said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press, a national lobbying group whose goals are to reform the media and universal access to communications.
Hallmarks of Web 2.0
An ALA TechSource blog post details a presentation by Lee Rainie on the hallmarks of Web 2.0 at the 2007 Computers in Libraries Conference. Rainie works for the Pew Internet and American Life Project that just released “Teens, Privacy and Online Social Networks: How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace”
According to Rainie, there are six hallmarks of Web 2.0:
1. The Internet has become the computer.
2. Tens of millions of Americans, especially the young, are creating and sharing content online.
3. Even more Internet users are accessing content created by others.
4. Many are sharing what they know and what they feel online.
5. People are commenting and sharing their knowledge and content online.
6. Americans are customizing their content and online experience, thanks to Web 2.0.
Promoting Internet safety
American Libraries Online reports that social networking website MySpace has joined with the Illinois Library Association in a campaign to inform children, teens, and parents about online safety. The article includes a link to ILA’s Internet Safety page.
[via American Libraries Direct]
