Newly arrived in Trondheim as NTNU student?

Introductory Course for Foreign students

Augustana library got a prize!

While Augustana library gets a prize on its work, our own library sends bad news about the future..http://www.facebook.com/pages/Trondheim-Norway/Universitetsbiblioteket-i-Trondheim/72596709266?v=box_3
Whose game is this really....Who decides...
Where will libraries stand in the future?

I believe as an archaeologist that libraries will still be the place to enjoy a book to find knowledge, concentrate in reading, looking for other books, touching the physical objects. digitalisation is a good means of getting to know where things are, where to find them, but the actual object will always provide us with a direct and rich experience.

If knowledge here is defined as retaining information and using it properly in relevant context. At a university environment this transition of acquiring knowledge and producing a scholarly work is the outcome of utilizing theories in correct circumstances, transferring meaning from one discipline to another without distorting it. Individual or group research projects in collecting information from archives or literature, requires analysis skills and interpretation abilities. Any research production should be able to recognize patterns and connections emerging from the information and thus generate knowledge by understanding which kinds of patterns and connections are scientifically valid, empirically preferable and important. Retrieval and use of electronic information adds another stress factor to researchers. The value of digital information is a discussion that is very new and universities have a long way to go before they are able to gain an authoritative insight to the change that brings on academic work. University students achieve thus training to critically retain information from the Internet and be taught in order to be able to validate their sources.

Which strategy should universities choose in order to be able to not be outdated by the industry that is gradually evolving around digital publication channels?

Alexandra Angeletaki, Trondheim, NTNU

Read about:Recognition of Augustana's IL Program,2010
 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Instruction Section (IS) Innovation Award

Nancy Goebel, head librarian, and Dylan Anderson, Web applications specialist, at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus have been selected to receive the 2010 Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Instruction Section (IS) Innovation Award for developing WASSAIL, an information literacy assessment project.

"The Instruction Section Awards committee chose the WASSAIL information literacy assessment project for the ACRL Instruction Section Innovation Award because of the creators' forward-thinking approach to assessing student learning locally and sharing methods universally," said award committee Co-Chair Emily Rogers, assistant professor and reference librarian for instruction at Valdosta State University. "Using this software, librarians can systematically track, store and analyze assessment data to measure and improve student learning. Furthermore, in a truly collaborative spirit, the project planners expanded WASSAIL's utility by making it open source and therefore available for local adaptation by any library. In its purpose, content and potential for widespread use, WASSAIL is truly an innovative contribution to information literacy and instruction librarianship."

read more

Faculty focus

CALL FOR ARTICLES

Effective Strategies in Teaching, Learning, and Leading
Faculty Focus is seeking submissions. Articles should relate to one or more of the topic categories found in the right hand column of our homepage, and be approximately 300-500 words in length. Tips, strategies, and best practices are especially welcome.
In other words, while we’re interested in why a technique works, we’re even more interested in how it works, and how others can implement your strategies in their classroom.
For more information on our submission guidelines, go here.
Please send your submission to Mary Bart (mary.bart@magnapubs.com).
Have you got anything else in mind? Say it now!

Celebrating 250 years of Science in Trondheim.

Upcoming

Principia Matematica: Tomorrow night at the Gala celebration of The Royal Norwegian Society of Science and Letters, 250 years of Science will be celebrated.Newtons book will be presented as one of a kind.

Read its story:How did this book ended up in Trondheim is interesting in itself since it was printed at 1685 in in only 250 copies and was quickly sold out. Library's edition of the Principe Mathematica is probably the very own of Bishop Gunnerus.

Before the bishop came to Trondheim and founded the Trondhjemske Company, later called the Royal Norwegian Society affirmation, he sojourned in Halle in the period 1742-1744 and for a longer period then in 1744-1758, in Jena, and one can speculate whether it was under this period in Halle and Jena that he bought this book. When Gunnerus died in 1773 leaving behind him a large debt, his large private library was therefore sold. In the auction catalog it says Gerhard Schøning bought Newton's Principia Mathematica.
The book is considered to be a foundation scholarly work for the next century developments in physics and astronomy, and there are hardly any other work in physics, which are similar to that in importance. The work describes the theory that later became known as Newton's laws of motion, which laid the groundwork for classical mechanics and also Newton's universal gravitation theory.




Zoom into the book here

Today at 11 o'clock the students of archaeology will be confronted with the new media in reading. Their books are scanned and downloaded to an e-reader for them to try and use them through the whole semester as a tool for preparing themselves to the exams. The University library of Trondheim and Tapir academic editions are working together on that project and archaeology students at NTNU in Norway will be the first ones to try such a service from the library. The project started in September 2009 and is trying to collect data on the attitude of the students today in using e-books and e-journals in their curriculum. By the end of the semester a report will be produced and published. Read more about it here

Alexandra Angeletaki
Lars Danielsen

Newspaper: Universitas from Oslo says:

From study hall to sofa corner

As of now, students at the University of Oslo can download 150 000 e-books sitting in their own living rooms. The University of Oslo Library is going electronic.

2010-01-20 På norsk

– What´s new is that we have now got electronic literature that won´t demand special technology to be read, says Live Rasmussen, main librarian at the University of Oslo Library (UB).
Electronic literature has previously been shamed by limitations when it comes to printing, access and application. The new documents are free and available from every computer connected to the university´s network, and there are no limitations when it comes to printing.

– Opportunity and threat

According to sales- and marketing director in Akademika Pål Løwe, the e-books represent both a market opportunity and a market threat.
– Initially, this is not something new. Libraries have pretty much always offered books free of charge, and booksellers haven´t gone under because of that, says Løwe.
Main librarian Rasmussen thinks electronic non-fiction will take over for the one printed on paper, within certain fields.
– At MatNat (The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences), much of the non-fiction will probably be electronic in five to ten years. When it comes to law and the humanities, however, I think it will take many more years, she says.

More and more e-curriculum

Student of Political Science Therese Bosrup Karlsen says that she has earlier had one e-book with a limit on printing on her curriculum. – I ended up not reading it, she says.
Karlsen and other students at the university that Universitas have spoken to, can say that more and more texts on the curriculum are made available electronically. They think this is positive, seeing that it is cheaper than buying texts and books printed on paper. The students can also imagine purchasing e-book devices, if the technology improves.

– It will have to work a bit faster, and also be easier to use, says law student Yngve Opsvik.
– I want to wait until the market stabilizes, and they agree on a format that works, says Tobias V. Langhoff, student at the Department of informatics at MatNat.

Electronic pilot project

At the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, the pilot project «E-pensum» is starting these days. This means that six students in two different subjects will be given e-book devices containing all of their curriculum. At this point, there are possible plans for a similar project at the University of Oslo next autumn semester.
– If the plans are realized, we want to do them in a slightly larger scale, says Rasmussen.
Whether the plans are realized or not will be decided in the beginning of February.

In the library at BI Norwegian School of Management there are just below 100 titles available electronically, and non-fictional curriculum is one of the most important areas of commitment. Most of the most important titles, however, is not available as e-books yet. BI also fails to get rid of the user limitations that come with the e-books.
– It is possible to print the pages, but there are certain regulations that make the process a bit complicated, so printing is not something we do, says Kristin Danielsen, librarian at BI.

These limitations are, according to Danielsen, made by the publishers, and are beyond the libraries´ control.

Øyvind Bosnes Engen • Ketil Blom (foto) • Translated by Ingrid Flognfeldt Brubaker

Learn how use Camtasia screen capture to improve learning outcomes

Supplement Classroom Learning with Screen Capture Software

New technologies are changing the old teaching paradigm, making it possible to extend the learning process beyond the four walls of the traditional college classroom, and we’re not just talking about online or hybrid courses. When more out-of-classroom learning takes place, instructors can devote face-to-face class time to more productive, higher order learning activities.

Audio Online Seminar • Thursday, January 21, 2010 • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM CST • $259 Register today and save! (Price increases to $284 after 1/14/10)

College students are still learning when class is over. Are you still teaching?

With the right technology in place, you can be. In fact, it is now so easy to translate course content into audio-video online material that faculty find they are able to give students the support they need while reclaiming valuable class time.

Now is the perfect time for faculty members to learn how to use the latest technological advances in–and beyond–the classroom. Whether it’s podcasts, vodcasts, or more, incorporating the newest instructional technologies in existing courses is essential for higher education institutions that wish to remain relevant and effective.

In Supplement Classroom Learning with Screen Capture Software, Dave Yearwood, Ph.D. , associate professor and chair of the technology department at the University of North Dakota, will provide targeted training in using the most innovative technologies to revitalize college and university courses.

learn more here