Key Issues for Educational/Learning Resource Sharing Networks : Standardization, Globalization and Localization in the ICT Environments(Session 3: International Collaboration in Content Development and Distribution,E-learning beyond Cultural and Linguistic Barriers : Co-existence and Collaboration(NIME 2002 INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM))

The Internet has provided us with an expanded access to a variety of ever increasing information resources all over the world. Due to the unstructured nature of Internet resources and limited functionalities of existing search engines, however, we often experience difficulty in locating high quality targeted information required for specific purposes. Digital educational materials are no exception. Several national and international consortia were established to facilitate a better access to high quality educational materials. They are developing and integrating standard cataloging and indexing schemes such as LOM (Learning Materials Metadata) and Dublin Core Metadata Profile, while incorporating XML (extensible Markup Language) and Unicode to overcome language problems. The goals and objectives of higher education reflect cultural values and social contexts. Advances in information and communication technology (ICTs) bring about a fundamental paradigm shift in the perspectives of higher education from provider-based to learner-based. The new paradigm seems to emphasize the values and perspectives of learners rather than those of educators. The resource sharing of educational materials in higher education in the new ICT environment should respond to the paradigm shift. The key features or two existing global resource-sharing endeavors in the educational domain, the GEM Consortium and the ARIADNE Foundation, are described and compared. The important issues in establishing and maintaining global resource-sharing networks in the educational domain will be discussed. They are: (1) goals and objectives, (2) standardization in format, language representation, metadata scheme, and semantics, (3) level of granularity, (4) copyright management, (5) quality control of metadata and educational materials, (6) vocabulary control, and (7) attitude toward cultural, gender, and racial biases

Digital Information Services Sponsored by the U.S. National Library of Education : ERIC・AskERIC・GEM(<Special Issue>Technology-based Learning Networks and Communities of Practice)

The development of high-quality digital information networks is indispensable for global sharing of digital educational materials in supporting ICT-based learning in Japan. The trend is toward implementation of the global metadata standard in sharing high-quality educational materials worldwide. This article introduces three information services sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education including (1) the ERIC database developed to facilitate international sharing of research outputs in the domain of education, supported by a distributed network of the ERIC system, (2) the AskERIC Question-Answering Service provided on the Internet to respond a variety of educational questions, supported by the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD), and (3) Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) established to provide a one-stop shopping site for educational materials distributed on the Internet, with its supportive network of GEM consortium. Metadata standards developed by these three information services are described. Finally, the role of government in educational information resource sharing is discussed, using the three information services as a model

GlobaLIS : an effort to describe trends in Japanese LIS education for global collaboration / Makiko Miwa, Yumiko Kasai and Shizuko Miyahara

The GlobaLIS Project takes an initiative in attaining the globalization of Japanese library and information science (LIS) professional education by defining the requirements for internationally transparent and harmonized educational programs for LIS professionals. We ask three research questions in a stepwise manner: (1) What are the basic requirements for globalizing Japanese LIS professional education? (2) What kinds of efforts are required for us to attain a global collaboration between Asia and the Pacific in quality assurance of LIS education? (3) How can we attain global collaboration in the development of a common curriculum framework for LIS education in Asia and the Pacific using school librarian training as an instantiation? At the initial stage of the GlobaLIS project, we reviewed the literature and interviewed people involved in regional and global collaboration for quality assurance and mutual accreditation of LIS educational programs, to identify the recent trends. For the first research question, we identified three requirements: (1) establishment of an office responsible for preparing and administering mutual accreditation of LIS programs with overseas counterparts,(2) implementation of the LIS examination as a means of establishing an outcome-based assessment of LIS education, and(3) establishment of graduate level LIS education programs to be mutually exchangeable with overseas counterparts. For the second research question, we tentatively identified three areas requiring effort: (1) improvement of international transparency of the Japanese LIS professional system,(2) comparison of the LIS curriculum contents with those of overseas counterparts, and(3) stimulation of interest in global trends in LIS education among Japanese LIS educators. For the third research question, we have begun preparation for the collaborative curriculum development of school library professionals planned for 2013. Keywords: Library and Information Science (LIS) education; Global collaboration; Mutual accreditation; Common curriculum development; School library professionals; Comparative librarianshi

Library and Information Science Examination: A Report on Provisional Implementation in Japan / Hiroya Takeuchi, Akira Nemoto, Makiko Miwa... [et.al] al.

This paper aims to describe the details of the challenging Library and Information Science (LIS) examinations, which the Japan Society of Library and Information Science (JSLIS) has conducted annually on a trial basis since 2007, and discuss some of observations. For such purposes, its objective, coverage of subject areas, examination style and reporting of results to students are described. We also discuss our experiences and observations of the provisional implementation of the LIS examination over the past four years. The results of the examination indicated that senior students achieved higher scores than junior students in general, and that the students from university LIS faculties achieved generally higher scores than did those from the Shisho certificate courses, which cover a more limited subject area of LIS than LIS specialty programs. These results suggest that the examination is a good measure of student proficiency, which reflects the quality of the educational programs. The problems to be solved before full-scale implementation can be summarized as follows: 1) the lack of standard textbooks covering the scope of the examination; 2) the low economic base for an annual examination; 3) lack of awareness of the need for this examination in standardizing the curricula for LIS education; and 4) the lack of a mechanism to implement the examination nationwide to facilitate participation by students living far from examination venues

Assessing seizure liability in vitro with voltage-sensitive dye imaging in mouse hippocampal slices

Non-clinical toxicology is a major cause of drug candidate attrition during development. In particular, drug-induced seizures are the most common finding in central nervous system (CNS) toxicity. Current safety pharmacology tests for assessing CNS functions are often inadequate in detecting seizure-inducing compounds early in drug development, leading to significant delays. This paper presents an in vitro seizure liability assay using voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) imaging techniques in hippocampal brain slices, offering a powerful alternative to traditional electrophysiological methods. Hippocampal slices were isolated from mice, and VSD optical responses evoked by stimulating the Schaffer collateral pathway were recorded and analyzed in the stratum radiatum (SR) and stratum pyramidale (SP). VSDs allow for the comprehensive visualization of neuronal action potentials and postsynaptic potentials on a millisecond timescale. By employing this approach, we investigated the in vitro drug-induced seizure liability of representative pro-convulsant compounds. Picrotoxin (PiTX; 1–100 μM), gabazine (GZ; 0.1–10 μM), and 4-aminopyridine (4AP; 10–100 μM) exhibited seizure-like responses in the hippocampus, but pilocarpine hydrochloride (Pilo; 10–100 μM) did not. Our findings demonstrate the potential of VSD-based assays in identifying seizurogenic compounds during early drug discovery, thereby reducing delays in drug development and providing insights into the mechanisms underlying seizure induction and the associated risks of pro-convulsant compounds

SURVEY ON FACULTY OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE EDUCATION IN JAPAN

As a part of LIPER research, a questionnaire survey was performed on Library & Information Science instructors in Japanese universities. In quantitative terms, this research revealed the characteristics and teaching goals of LIS instructors, the similarities of librarian certification courses, and the overlap with instructors of those courses. Also, an analysis of freeform question responses about LIS education revealed the instructor’s varied thoughts on LIS education and also revealed awareness of problems related to profession and curriculum issues and education goals.3rd-6th April, 2006 at Nanyang Technological University, Singapor