The Copyright Clearance Center, a nonprofit group that manages licenses for re-use of published material, has created a new feature for Blackboard courseware that will make it much easier for faculty members to obtain permission to use parts of published works in their courses. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

The Association of Internet Researchers, an interdisciplinary group focused on analyzing the social and economic impacts of computer networks, held its annual meeting in Chicago last week, drawing some 350 scholars from around the world. The theme of the meeting was “generations,� and one of the keynote speakers challenged the audience not to assume that the latest generation of students is made up of techno wizards.

The speaker, Sonia Livingstone, a professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, presented highlights from a 2004 survey of 1,500 children in Britain aged 9 to 19, which found relatively low levels of comfort with advanced computer activities, such as blogging. "Perhaps these so-called experts are not so expert," Ms. Livingstone said. "Perhaps we’ve hyped their expertise." Only 17 percent of the children surveyed said they had...

Officials at Western Michigan University are putting the institution’s Web site on trial, and they’re letting anyone who’s interested weigh in on the matter. As part of a general reassessment of its online operations, the university is holding a forum at which students, professors, and locals can offer their two cents about Western Michigan’s home page. (The Western Herald)

Cdigix, a downloading service that has marketed itself to colleges, appears to have drawn first blood in a battle to provide legal file-sharing capability to California’s public universities.

The company was one of four such services endorsed this summer by the University of California and California State University. Officials of the two systems left it up to individual campus administrators to decide whether they wanted to spend money to offer legal downloads. Three institutions—the Universities of California at Irvine, Riverside, and San Diego—have chosen to do so through Cdigix.

Other members of the university systems can still choose to go with Napster, Sony, or Mindawn, or to stay out of the song-swapping business.

The severity of the Gulf Coast hurricanes has taught colleges that they must gird their computer systems for disaster. Although many colleges have put some effort into such disaster planning, those plans are often inadequate. To be truly prepared, colleges should start with detailed disaster planning, follow up with purchasing necessary goods and services, and periodically test the plans with realistic exercises. And, say these experts, officials must not let their commitment flag as the sense of urgency fades. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

Students who make it through high school with a B average will receive quite a reward if they go to Indiana State University next year: They’ll get free laptop computers. Students who don’t make the grade, though, will get nothing out of the deal—besides, perhaps, a fairly understandable chip on their shoulders.

Campus officials say they instituted the giveaway to attract "high-achieving and high-ability students" to the university, and to prepare for 2007, when all freshmen will be required to come to campus with laptops. Some faculty and students protested the  laptop requirement, arguing that it would only increase the digital divide between well-to-do students and those who are struggling financially. (The Indianapolis Star)

Graduate students at Florida State University have designed software that could soon be used to snare cyberstalking suspects—if the stalkers’ victims don’t mind letting police officers look in on their computers. The program lets investigators view, record, and, if need be, control, e-mail and instant-message interactions on other machines. (Tallahassee Democrat)

New Yorker cartoons may not always get a belly laugh, but they often encapsulate social anxieties. To help explore attitudes about the Internet, Nancy Baym, an associate professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, analyzed New Yorker cartoons that involved computers and networks. With the help of a recently released CD-ROM published by the magazine that contains some 68,000 cartoons, she located 126 about the Internet and analyzed 51 of those that dealt with interpersonal communication. The cartoons depicted several common positive ideas and fears about computers and the information superhighway, she said.

According to some cartoons, the computer network promises new chances to form relationships, a freedom to explore one’s identity, and easy access to information and commerce. Others show that the Internet can lead to miscommunication, a risk of identity theft, and...

Stanley, a driverless robotic vehicle designed by a Stanford University team, took the checkered flag on Saturday in a race organized by the Defense Department, winning a $2-million prize. (The Chronicle, subscription required)

The anonymous plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s right to search patrons’ library records lost a skirmish on Friday, when the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency appeal that would have allowed the plaintiff to identify itself publicly. An appeals court will hear arguments in the case next month. (The Chronicle, subscription required)