Yahoo will offer its online music service to Stanford University students free for a year in a deal paid for by an anonymous donor. The agreement marks the first time Yahoo has signed a music deal with a college or university. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

A group of information-technology specialists who supervise, study, and monitor college residential networks has released findings from a nationwide survey examining how the networks are used and maintained. At many of the networks, the survey found, security is a big concern. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

Google officials are on a press tour trying to clarify details of the company’s controversial library-scanning project. Jim Gerber, director of content partnerships at Google, and Nathan Tyler, a public relations manager, stopped by The Chronicle’s office today to present a PowerPoint presentation about their projects and to answer questions. They compared the vast, full-text index of millions of books that Google is building to a library card catalog—a finding tool to locate the right book rather than a library of its own. "It’s a more powerful version of the card catalog," said Mr. Gerber.

Many publishers have been critical of Google’s project, in which it will scan nearly every book at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s library, as well as thousands of books in four other major libraries. Critics say that the search company must get permission from the copyright holder of...

Officials at Virginia Commonwealth University will take new steps toward educating students about the potential dangers of using the Internet. A female VCU student was murdered in September, and police say that the student’s comments in a blog and pictures of her on a suspect’s Web site may play a role in the case. (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

St. Lawrence University has dropped a lawsuit over a Web site that the university said harassed students and faculty members, after the Web site stopped posting material to which the university objected. Proprietors of the site were never identified and were listed in court papers only as "John Doe One" through "John Doe Four." (News 10 Now)

Blackboard Inc. announced plans on Wednesday to buy its longtime course-management software rival, WebCT Inc., in a $180-million deal. With more than 3,700 clients, including colleges and universities, the new corporation would be the Goliath of its market. (The Chronicle, free link)

Acacia Research Corporation, which claims to own patents covering all online audio- and video-streaming technologies, has worked out a new license agreement in negotiations with college lawyers. But the lawyers said they were still deeply skeptical about the company’s patent claims. (The Chronicle, free link)

MTV, or "Music Television," as it was once known, has created a new online-only channel meant for college students. It is called mtvU Uber and will feature student-produced material, such as animation and short films, in addition to music videos. Cisco, a software company, will be providing 10 grants worth $25,000 each to students who will develop the content. (PhysOrg.com)

Students turn to the Web to find roommates, furniture, and dates. Now the University of Oregon hopes that they will go online to find a carpool. At Oregon, as at many other colleges, too many students are hunting for parking spaces on the campus. A company called AlterNetRides has sold the university an Internet service that allows students to hook up with rides instead. Participating institutions, including Oregon, pay an annual fee of $200 for the service. (Oregon Daily Emerald)

With some 625 wireless access points, Ball State University has been declared America’s "most unwired college campus" by Intel, in the company’s second annual rankings. Western Michigan University took second place, followed by the University of Akron, Dartmouth College, and Carnegie Mellon University. Seventy-four percent of the top 50 colleges on the list have every inch of their campuses covered by a wireless network, up from just 14 percent of campuses on last year’s list. Apparently the winners had more access points per student than other campuses, among other factors.