Berkman Buzz: September 13, 2012

I'm very proud to be part of this OA awareness effort at GSU even though I had no part in the planning:

Georgia State University (GSU) Library recently launched a new campaign promoting open access (OA) to the campus research community. Librarians distributed 150 copies of Peter Suber’s new book Open Access from MIT Press to new faculty and campus administrators in a push to increase awareness about OA in general and provide practical information to GSU faculty about their “copy rights.”

.@nancybaym co-edited a special issue open access of Jrnl of Broadcasting & Elec. Media on Socially Mediated Publicness http://goo.gl/ir7N2
—Rey Junco (@reyjunco)

Just out of curiosity, I went to the Bureau of Study Counsel web page to see what guidance Harvard offers students about appropriate and inappropriate forms of collaboration. I recall, for example, that studying in groups is one of the things that students from less fancy schools had to be taught to do here--they are more likely to sit by themselves and stare at their notes and text books. Various studies, including Dick Light's very widely read Making the Most of College as I recall, cite group study as one of the keys to success. I knew a couple of students who always watched the videos of my lectures together rather than coming to class, because they found it better to stop and back up the videos and talk to each other about what I was saying than to listen to me lecture or interrupt me if they didn't understand what I was saying.

I'm writing a short series of posts on virtual school policy, and this series starts and culminates with a policy recommendation: states should give preference to virtual schools that make a commitment to Open Education policy and to sharing their curricula and other innovations with the world.

What’s the difference between this “second spoken arts record you can dance to” and its 1967 predecessor? For all its pop fizz, the latter dangles its propositions and prepo­sitions, but seems to leave the body stumbling, fumbling for itself on the dance floor. In its labors of reworking, The Electric Information Age Album honors its predecessor while seeking to further advance its claims.

But, first, a question: how do you like it so far?

IMLS Awards $250,000 to the DPLA for Digital Hubs Pilot Program http://hvrd.me/PfqW95
—Digital Public Library of America (@digpublib)

Arab netizens have condemned the cowardly attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, last night (Tuesday 11 September, 2012). Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens were killed when militants fired rockets at them as they were being driven to a safer location after protesters surrounded the consulate building.

News reports say protesters surrounded the Consulate, outraged over a film which ridiculed Prophet Mohammed, produced by an American-Israeli film maker. In Cairo, a similar protest was staged, where protesters scaled the US Embassy walls, tearing down the US flag, and replacing it with an Islamic banner.