OLDaily
By Stephen Downes
September 24, 2003

Compatibility of Weblogs and ISSN
This article, written for ISSN registrars, offers a fascinating glimpse into the issues faced by librarians with respect to understanding - and reacting to - the weblog phenomenon. ISSN is, of course, the unique number assigned to a serial publication. Weblogs are classically serial publications, and therefore, should be registered. But traditional authorities view weblogs with scepticism. I have tried to register OLDaily with an ISSN, but have had no success. But given especially that OLDaily is my primary point of publication (and that its archives, though complete, may be lost to the library community) this failure to register my weblog's existence is a bit of a concern to me. If you work in libraries or serial registration, please read this article. By Joe Clark, September 24, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Blended Learning: What Works?
Via e-Learning Guru, this white paper on blended learning. After a couple of plugs for the delivery mode (it "...is really the natural evolution of e-learning into an integrated program of multiple media types...") the paper outlines the blended learning process in four easy stages. Some good (and necessary) discussion of deployment ("The single biggest issue we found which companies spent time and money on is the marketing, launch, and deployment process"). MS-Word document. By Bersin & Associates, e-Learning Guru, September 24, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Online Learning 03 Monday
Jay Cross is blogging Online Learining 03 in Los Angeles. Today's installment includes a summary of a talk by RIchard Saul Wurman, a survey of mobile learning technology, and a number of photos. I don't know why people say "Cool is dead." Cool is not dead. Cool is where opportunity lies - though to be sure the terrain is not for everyone. Finally: lookls like I made the right call when giving this one a pass: "In 2001, vendors had contracted for 80,000 ft2 of space 9/11 cancelled travel plans and only 40,000 ft2 showed up. This year? About 12,500 sq ft2 total." Jay also blogged last weekend's VNU Supplier Simmit. By Jay Cross, Internet Time Blog, September 22, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

MySmartChannels
Interesting RSS hosting service that allows you to create RSS feeds (and to allow you to require password assess for private RSS feeds) and subscribe to hosted RSS feeds. There's a lot here; you have to create an account and look around to explore. Some of the tech is irksome: the site doesn't display properly on the Firebird browser, the password constraints mean that I will forget my password, and it's constantly opening new windows. But there is some interesting stuff for those who dig, including SOAP access and a nifty way of converting a channel into a Microsoft Smart Tag. Too bad they'll have to change their branding; I can't imagine that the creators of Myst (the famous computer game) will allow them to continue the the MyST wordmark. By Various Authors, September, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Global Education
EdNA launches Global Education, designed to "provide students with conceptual knowledge and skills, and helps to develop positive attitudes and values and a willingness to participate actively in shaping the future. Stage 1 of the Global Education site development focuses on a selection of important global issues including water, environment, governance, and health; and on the Pacific, South and South East Asia regions." By Various Authors, September 24, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

Open Letter on Software Patents from Linux developers
The European debate on software patents is back in the headlines again. In this item, Linus Torvalds (the inventor of Linux) and Alan Cox urge European parliamentarians to resist the urge to create software patents. By Linus Torvalds and Alan Cox, EFF, September 21, 2003 [Refer][Research][Reflect]

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