Search Engines | Reference and Guides | Open Access and Encyclopedias
Associations and Organizations | Miscellaneous Sites of Interest

Search Engines

• Google | Bing | Ask | WorldCat | Ixquick | Metaeureka | Lycos | Yahoo | Microsoft | AOL | SearchBug
  These are some of the more common portal and search engine sites although the potential list is almost endless. The development of the Internet proceeds rapidly. No list of resources is ever complete, and even well-known sites change with disconcerting rapidity. One solution to this phenomenon is to use some of the better search engines to find materials of interest. The technology and the commercial competition among search engine providers and the portal sites that use them is intense, and these tools become better and better over time.
  
  For those doing research using the Internet, search engines are indispensable tools and often undiscriminating robots. Each search engine, using somewhat different techniques, finds every site that matches some criteria. In most cases the criteria presented to a search engine are simple: a key word or words. While many search engines can run sophisticated searches using Boolean logic and other search techniques, many users find that simple search procedures do almost as well as sophisticated ones, although they often lead to large result lists with anything from zero to tens of thousands or more sites. Browsing through many sites is not feasible, so many people do multiple searches, refining their search terms until they find what they need among the first 100 or so hits. However, because the system of classification used to capture relevant sites follows rules that do not always match the intent of users, almost every search comes up with a large number of irrelevant sites. Some search sites accept advertising and list paid sites before general sites (although usually they are clear about this process). Effective use of search engines takes some practice.
  
  The sites listed above include both pure search engines such as Google or Bing and portal sites such as MSN or Yahoo. The pure search engine simply searches for results defined by the criteria the user enters. Portal sites offer a wide range of services (news, sports, self-help, directories, advertisements), along with search engines. Often connected to ISP's or other business ventures, the purpose of a portal site is to drive traffic to the site and sell services and advertising viewed by visitors.
  
  The competition among portal sites and search engines is fierce, and most businesses now have portal sites of their own selling, advertising, and supporting their services and merchandise. Newspapers, towns, states, and many other organizations have portal sites to serve their customers and clients, and most of these too have search engines (some to search internal to the organization, some to search the entire Internet). Universities, journals, libraries, and academic associations (some mentioned below) all have their own portal sites.

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Reference and Guides

• MLA Style APA Style and Chicago Manual of Style. These sites from the MLA, the APA, and the Chicago Manual of Style provide authoritative guides to documenting quotations and sources for different disciplinary groups. They provide examples for referencing Internet sources used by students and scholars in their research, demonstrating the style or format best used to cite scholarly projects, reference databases, texts from books, articles in periodicals, and professional or personal sites. Because of the complexity and changing nature of the Internet, students and scholars need a standardized method for citing resources found online. The items here offer a variety of ways to do this to ensure proper attribution.
  


• Electronic Statistics Handbook. StatSoft Inc., provides this electronic textbook on the use of statistics in laboratory research, business, social sciences, data-mining, and engineering, among other fields. Its 24 sections deal with topics such as ANOVA/MANOVA, experimental design, process analysis, and survival/failure time analysis. There is also a detailed glossary and extensive bibliography. The book can also be purchased in print form.


• A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices and A Glossary of Literary Terms. Professor Robert Harris providef these sites in 2012-13. The material "contains definitions and examples of more than sixty traditional rhetorical devices, (including rhetorical tropes and rhetorical figures) all of which can still be useful today to improve the effectiveness, clarity, and enjoyment of your writing. Note: This book was written in 1980, with some changes since. The devices presented are not in alphabetical order."


• Association for Institutional Research: Web-Based IR Resources. "AIR provides resources, innovative practices, and professional development opportunities for AIR members and the higher education community, including professionals from institutional research, effectiveness, assessment, planning, and related fields.​"


• Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse on Higher Education. "ERIC - the Education Resources Information Center - is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC provides ready access to education literature to support the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research. ERIC provides unlimited access to more than 1.4 million bibliographic records of journal articles and other education-related materials, with hundreds of new records added multiple times per week. If available, links to full text are included."


• The Library of Congress. "The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office."
  This site also includes links to the catalogs and other search tools for using the Library of Congress' immense resources.


• National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics . "The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), formerly the Division of Science Resources Statistics, was established within the National Science Foundation by Section 505 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (246 KB). The name signals the central role of NCSES in the collection, interpretation, analysis, and dissemination of objective data on the science and engineering enterprise."


• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. "An international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community."


• College and University Rankings. "The listing of items on our site’s pages in no way constitutes an endorsement of a ranking service by the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library or by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The purpose of our site is only to draw together and provide context to various ranking services."


• Oxford English Dictionary Online. "Discover the story of English. More than 600,000 words, over a thousand years. Welcome to OED Online. If you or your library subscribes, dive straight in to the riches of the English language. If not, click on the images below to learn more about the OED, see What's new, or take a look at Aspects of English, our language feature section." Note: UMass Amherst libraries have a subscription to the OED that makes this service available to students and faculty.


• Education Review. "Welcome to the EdRev site! education review (ISSN: 1094-5296) publishes reviews of recent books in education, covering the entire range of education scholarship and practice. On this site you will find the latest reviews and the books available for review."


• The Condition of Education. "This website has the key indicators of the condition of education in the United States. These indicators summarize important developments and trends using the latest statistics and are updated as data become available. A Congressionally mandated annual report on these indicators is provided to the White House and Congress each year. In addition, this website has Spotlights on issues of current policy interest. These Spotlights take a more in-depth look at the issues through text, graphics and short videos "


• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "The Encyclopaedia Britannica name has been synonymous with reliable and trustworthy information for generations. Founded in 1768, in Edinburgh, Scotland, it began with the encyclopedia of that name, created by two entrepreneurs and an editor. Over the years its reputation grew as the greatest minds of each generation contributed work to subsequent editions. The size of the Britannica grew as well, from the 3-volume 1st edition to the 32-volume 15th. In the 20th century the company expanded into new areas and new products, such as language instruction, educational media, the classics, and reference works in a host of different languages. In 1981 Britannica published its first digital encyclopedia—probably the first digital encyclopedia—and thus began a journey toward becoming an almost totally digital company. Today the Britannica.com Web site and many others published by EB and its divisions serve tens of millions of people around the world. They are updated daily." This is a subscription service.


• United Nations Global Statistics. "The United Nations Statistical Commission, established in 1947, is the highest body of the global statistical system. It brings together the Chief Statisticians from member states from around the world. It is the highest decision making body for international statistical activities especially the setting of statistical standards, the development of concepts and methods and their implementation at the national and international level. The Statistical Commission oversees the work of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and is a Functional Commission of the UN Economic and Social Council."


• Wordsmyth. This is "...a dictionary that has several important and distinctive qualities. Chief among the distinctive features are (1) clarity, simplicity, and precision of style resulting in definitions that are more accessible than those of American college dictionaries; and (2) the integration of dictionary and thesaurus data, so that only one entry is required instead of both dictionary and thesaurus entries. Succinctly stated: The Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (WDT) is the only Dictionary with a complete, integrated thesaurus. Synonyms are keyed to dictionary definitions. No dictionaries (online or in print) offer synonyms keyed to each of the definitions in a dictionary entry. This level of precision is unmatched in any other thesaurus. It is also the only thesaurus with a complete, integrated dictionary. Clarity, simplicity, and precision of style, result in definitions that are more accessible than those of American college dictionaries. The definitions are ordered by frequency of use, so the first definition is most frequently the one the user is seeking. The WDT has more examples than other, comparable dictionaries. The WDT is the only thesaurus to systematically distinguish exact synonyms and near synonyms."


• Every file format in the world -- whatis. "This is a resource for looking up file extension names or suffixes. By browsing alphabetically, you will be able to find the format you are looking for and learn what program it is associated with. In general, if you have the program that uses that file extension, that program can be used to open or otherwise use the file."


• Alex Catalog of Electronic Texts. "This is a collection of public domain and open access documents with a focus on American and English literature as well as Western philosophy. Its purpose is to help facilitate a person's liberal arts education."

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Open Access and Encylopedias

Open access or open source refer to the process of putting intellectual property into the public domain for anyone to use without cost. In some forms of open source, the user is authorized to modify or reuse this intellectual property. Two major types of open source intellectual property are of particular interest to colleges and universities.

Computer programs used to operate networks and computer operating systems, for example, are one type of open source software. These works of intellectual property generally have the characteristic that they are the work of many people and that the work involved is owned by none of them. Instead, they put their work into the public domain. Others may take these programs and modify them and reissue them. However, while this sounds like a free for all, the process of managing open source software is quite complex with various levels of control and protection for the material, even if available without cost.

Sometimes, material can be used and reused as long as the revised version includes the origin or authorship of the original. Other material is made available for use and reuse freely, but without any changes permitted. Certain programs and other intellectual property are put into the public domain without charge for non-commercial uses, but the originator or creator retains ownership and control of the property and prohibits reuse without permission or payment.

One element of the open source model is that the internal workings of computer programs must be made visible to all who want to see how they work. The alternative model of proprietary software keeps the inner workings of the program invisible to the user.

A significant example of this class of property is the Linux operating system for personal computers and servers. It exists in many variants, and evolves with the work of many many individuals. While there is a structure for the control and management of authorized versions of this operating system, others may create unauthorized versions for particular purposes as well. The Linux community and many corporate sponsors have developed an endless array of computer programs to run on variants of the Linux operating system.

Other products, such as journal articles, books, and other intellectual property may be put into the public domain for free non-commercial use, called open access, but the author or publisher retains the copyright and users cannot change or reuse the material without explicit permission from the copyright holder.

Academics struggle with these new forms of intellectual property. The key issue for many is the problem of authority. Who determines and certifies the accuracy of the material put into the public domain? In traditional proprietary academic publishing, the publisher takes responsibility for the review of material submitted for publication using an elaborate peer review process to determine whether academic material is authoritative and publishable. However, this gatekeeper function, sustained by the revenue from the high prices of expensively produced printed media, functions much less effectively in a world where publication is almost free online and anyone can bypass the peer-review validation process. In this new world, it is not always possible to rely on the imprimatur of a high quality publication house to determine which electronic materials are authoritative and which are not. Online, everything appears equal, from the spurious rant to the carefully researched paper. The reader must evaluate the authority level of any particular electronic publication posted without peer review.

A special case that illustrates these issues involves encyclopedias. Often seen as the ultimate example of authoritative information, the traditional encyclopedia seeks out the best scholars to write about their specialties. The sum of all this authoritative commentary is a comprehensive reference work that identifies the state of knowledge on a wide variety of subjects. The original Encyclopedia Britannica is one of the classic examples of this genre.

However, with the emergence of Wikipedia, this notion of authoritative authorship came under a double challenge. Traditional print encyclopedias present themselves as having identified the essential and important topics requiring authoritative presentation. Although perhaps less explicitly stated, the need for defining essential and important came primarily from the physical limitations of printed space, even for such a multivolume work as the Britannica. The traditional reference works also aligned their value with the quality of the experts identified to produce the entries. The encyclopedia did not provide new knowledge, it codified the authoritative version of current knowedge and identified the significant elements of human knowledge through the process of selecting topics for inclusion.

Wikipedia violated both of these norms: authority and selectivity. Under the Wikipedia framework, anyone could provide an entry on any subject, and expertise or validation of expertise was not a requirement, although the user community has a mechanism to challenge and revise Wikipedia entries and Wikipedia also seeks to ensure that entries have reference documentation. However, the user community participates in this activity without attribution. Using the open source model of constant review and iterative corrections, and additions, defective or incomplete entries would in theory be revised and improved until they approached the authority and accuracy of the traditional reference books. In addition, because the internet is almost an infinite resource, Wikipedia placed no limit on the topics or subjects included in the reference work. Thus the selectivity by authority characteristic of the printed encyclopedia also disappeared.

While much controversy swirls around the quality of Wikipedia articles, the user community has embraced this structure with great enthusiasm, much to the consternation of more authority-minded academics. Over time, the free form approach to information and accuracy that characterized the early days of Wikipedia has given way to a more authority based approach with various forms of review and validation. Nonetheless, being free, open, and infinitely expandable has made this reference work a major challenge to the authoritative, expensive, closed, and limited reference works such as the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Other, Wiki type reference works have emerged as well, again challenging specialized printed reference works. In the initiatives described below some of the issues discussed here are clearly evident in their organization, sponsorship, and editorial policies.

• Scholarpedia. "Scholarpedia is a peer-reviewed open-access encyclopedia written and maintained by scholarly experts from around the world. Scholarpedia is inspired by Wikipedia and aims to complement it by providing in-depth scholarly treatment of topics within the fields of mathematics and sciences including physical, biological, behavioral, and social sciences. Scholarpedia and Wikipedia are alike in many respects: both allow anyone to propose revisions to almost any article both are "wikis" and use the familiar MediaWiki software designed for Wikipedia both allow considerable freedom within each article's "Talk" pages both are committed to the goal of making the world's knowledge freely available to all Nonetheless, Scholarpedia is best understood by how it is unlike most wikis, differences arising from Scholarpedia's academic origins, goals, and audience. The most significant is Scholarpedia's process of peer-reviewed publication: all articles in Scholarpedia are either in the process of being written by a team of authors, or have already been published and are subject to expert curation. "


• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. "Welcome to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), which as of March 2018, has nearly 1600 entries online. From its inception, the SEP was designed so that each entry is maintained and kept up-to-date by an expert or group of experts in the field. All entries and substantive updates are refereed by the members of a distinguished Editorial Board before they are made public. Consequently, our dynamic reference work maintains academic standards while evolving and adapting in response to new research. You can cite fixed editions that are created on a quarterly basis and stored in our Archives (every entry contains a link to its complete archival history, identifying the fixed edition the reader should cite). The Table of Contents lists entries that are published or assigned. The Projected Table of Contents also lists entries which are currently unassigned but nevertheless projected."


• Encyclopedia Virginia. "Encyclopedia Virginia (EV) is an authoritative and user-friendly resource on the history and culture of Virginia. A project of Virginia Humanities in partnership with the Library of Virginia, EV publishes topical and biographical entries written by scholars, edited to be accessible to a general audience, and vigorously fact checked. Entries are accompanied by primary documents and media objects, including images, audio and visual clips, and links to Google Street View tours of historic sites. Content creation is a work in progress, with new entries published regularly."


• Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. "The on-line edition of the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture is a joint project of the Tennessee Historical Society and the University of Tennessee Press. This fully searchable version of the print edition, originally published in 1998, contains over 1,500 entries. The online version has updates to existing entries, new entries, more than five hundred additional images, plus audio and video files."


• The New Georgia Encyclopedia. "Welcome to the redesigned site of the New Georgia Encyclopedia! More than two years' worth of researching, planning, designing, and legwork have gone into producing the next generation of the NGE. The technology and design upgrade ensures that the encyclopedia's 2,200-plus articles and 6,000-plus images remain available and accessible to our many users. Originally launched in 2004 and redesigned in 2013, the NGE is the first state encyclopedia to be conceived and designed exclusively for publication online. This authoritative resource contains original content and helps users understand the rich history and diverse culture of Georgia's still-unfolding story."


• Citizendium. "Welcome to Citizendium, a wiki for providing free knowledge where authors use their real, verified names. We welcome anyone who wants to share their knowledge by writing and improving articles on virtually any subject. Expert authors can be recognized with a special role, but membership is open to all."


• UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. "The UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology is an international cooperative project to provide high quality peer reviewed information on ancient Egypt. It is a resource in development and will grow steadily."

Although there are significant intellectual and academic issues surrounding open access, many of the concerns are really about money. Who pays for the material, who owns the material, and how does the academic community of users support the production of intellectual property?

These questions do not lend themselves to easy answers. Before the Internet, the structure of support for intellectual property, while complex, appeared relatively well understood and stable. This financial structure relied on academic institutions with their libraries and faculty, government grants, foundation support, commercial and university presses, and academic associations with their scholarly journals. These institutions provided a method to pay for the production of academic intellectual property, but they also subsidized the editorial process of reviewing for quality and accuracy and a system for putting authoritative material into circulation through books, articles, journals, and other primarily print media sold to various audiences.

The Internet destabilized this system, and the growing financial challenges faced by many of the institutions providing financial support contributed to the rapid partial undermining of these arrangements. Libraries, struggling to pay for expensive subscriptions to scholarly journals, faculty dissatisfied with the slow pace of publication and often the need to pay for publication in some scientific journals, and others critical of the gatekeeper functions performed by journals and book publishers all contributed to a strong interest in exploring alternative publication methods using the open access model.

This set of circumstances has begun a change in the publication process for academics, and while the consequences are not yet entirely clear, we are surely likely to have a modified model in the future. However constructed, the costs of research, publication, and review must be paid. In the open access model, the payment is made by institutions that employ the people who do the work of preparing intellectual products or the task of putting them in a form that is accessible online. Other institutions pay for the hardware and software that provides Internet access, and users pay for the equipment that permits them to read the materials. Peer review and gatekeeping will not disappear, as the academy requires a method for expert review and determination of accuracy and reliability, but they may not be as formally tied to the mechanics of publication as they are at present.

In any event, the distribution of scholarly work and the process of academic review associated with publication are sure to change more before a new structure stabilizes. In large part this is also a function of the immature nature of the Internet which has yet to develop a clear method for recovering the cost of production from the users of the products it distributes.

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Associations and Organizations

• American Association of University Professors. "The AAUP is a nonprofit membership association of faculty and other academic professionals. Headquartered in Washington, DC, we have members and chapters based at colleges and universities across the country. Since our foundation in 1915, the AAUP has helped to shape American higher education by developing the standards and procedures that maintain quality in education and academic freedom in this country's colleges and universities. We define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, advance the rights of academics, particularly as those rights pertain to academic freedom and shared governance, and promote the interests of higher education teaching and research.
  The AAUP has two sister organizations:
  The AAUP-CBC is a labor union; its members are those chapters of the AAUP that engage in collective bargaining. The AAUP-CBC promotes organizing among tenure-line and contingent faculty, academic professionals, and graduate employees and provides support to member chapters as they work to protect shared governance and academic freedom, to uphold professional standards and values,
  The AAUP Foundation is a public charity; it funds, through its grant making process, the charitable and educational purposes of the AAUP, including support for academic freedom and quality higher education."


• American Association of Community Colleges. "n service since 1920, the American Association of Community Colleges has aptly been called the “voice of America’s community colleges.” The association represents and advocates for nearly 1,200 associate-degree granting institutions enrolling more than 12 million students—almost half of all U.S. undergraduates."


• Educause. "EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information technology."


• American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). "AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) connects educators, students, and business to achieve a common goal: to create the next generation of great leaders. Synonymous with the highest standards of excellence since 1916, AACSB provides quality assurance, business education intelligence, and professional development services to over 1,600 member organizations and more than 800 accredited business schools worldwide."


• AACSB--The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. "The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business is a global, nonprofit membership organization of educational institutions, businesses, and other entities devoted to the advancement of management education. Established in 1916, AACSB International provides its members with a variety of products and services to assist them with the continuous improvement of their business programs and schools."


• American Association for the Advancement of Science. "The world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its Science family of journals, AAAS has individual members in more than 91 countries around the globe. Membership is open to anyone who shares our goals and belief that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics can help solve many of the challenges the world faces today."


• American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). "AASCU is a Washington-based higher education association of nearly 420 public colleges, universities and systems whose members share a learning and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions' economic progress and cultural development."


• American College Personnel Association (ACPA). "The mission of the Association is to support and foster college student learning through the generation and dissemination of knowledge, which informs policies, practices, and programs, for student affairs and student services professionals and the higher and tertiary education community. ACPA leads the student affairs profession and the higher education community in providing outreach, advocacy, research, and professional development to foster college student learning."


• American Council on Education (ACE). "ACE is the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities. We represent nearly 1,800 college and university presidents and the executives at related associations, and are the only major higher education association to represent all types of U.S. accredited, degree-granting institutions: two-year and four-year, public and private. Our strength lies in our loyal and diverse base of member institutions, 75 percent of which have been with ACE for over 10 years. That loyalty stands as a testament to the value derived from membership. We convene representatives from all sectors to collectively tackle the toughest higher education challenges, with a focus on improving access and preparing every student to succeed.​​​​​​​ ACE is consistently at the center of federal policy debates in areas critical to higher education. Because of our role as a convener of higher education associations and agencies, the higher education community is able to speak with one clear voice on vital issues affecting institutions and students."


• American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). "ACLS, a private, nonprofit federation of 75 national scholarly organizations, is the preeminent representative of American scholarship in the humanities and related social sciences. Advancing scholarship by awarding fellowships and strengthening relations among learned societies are central to our work. Other activities include support for scholarly conferences, reference works, and scholarly communication innovations. "


• Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). "AAC&U is the leading national association dedicated to advancing the vitality and public standing of liberal education by making quality and equity the foundations for excellence in undergraduate education in service to democracy. Its members are committed to extending the advantages of a liberal education to all students, regardless of academic specialization or intended career. Founded in 1915, AAC&U now comprises 1,400 member institutions—including accredited public and private colleges, community colleges, research universities, and comprehensive universities of every type and size. "


• Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). "Founded in 1876 and based in Washington, D.C., the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) is a not-for-profit association dedicated to transforming health care through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, and groundbreaking medical research. Its members are all 151 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC serves the leaders of America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and their more than 173,000 full-time faculty members, 89,000 medical students, 129,000 resident physicians, and more than 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences."


• Association of American Universities (AAU). "Founded in 1900, the Association of American Universities comprises 62 distinguished institutions in the United States and Canada that continually advance society through education, research, and discovery. Our U.S. member universities earn the majority of competitively awarded federal funding for academic research, are improving human life and wellbeing through research, and are educating tomorrow’s visionary leaders and global citizens. AAU members collectively help shape policy for higher education, science, and innovation; promote best practices in undergraduate and graduate education; and strengthen the contributions of research universities to society."


• Association of American University Presses (AAUP). "AUPresses advances the essential role of a global community of publishers whose mission is to ensure academic excellence and cultivate knowledge. The Association envisions a world that values the many ways that scholarship enriches societies, institutions, and individuals. Together, we are a community of publishing professionals and institutions committed to the highest caliber of research-based scholarship. Together, we advocate for the fundamental role of scholarly publishing in achieving academic excellence and in cultivating and disseminating knowledge."


• Association of International Educators (NAFSA). "NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world's largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange, working to advance policies and practices that ensure a more interconnected, peaceful world today and for generations to come."


• Association for Institutional Research (AIR)."The Association for Institutional Research (AIR) supports higher education professionals in the collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication of data, and the strategic use of information for effective decision making and planning. AIR provides resources, innovative practices, and professional development opportunities for AIR members and the higher education community, including professionals from institutional research, effectiveness, assessment, planning, and related fields.​"


• Association of Research Libraries. "The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 125 research libraries at comprehensive, research institutions in Canada and the US that share similar research missions, aspirations, and achievements. The Association’s importance and distinction are born from the ARL membership and the nature of the institutions represented. ARL member libraries make up a large portion of the academic and research library marketplace, spending more than $1.4 billion every year on information resources and actively engaging in the development of new models of scholarly communications."


• Review of Higher Education, the Journal of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). "The Review of Higher Education provides a forum for discussion of varied issues affecting higher education. The journal advances the study of college- and university-related topics through peer-reviewed articles, essays, reviews and research findings, and by emphasizing systematic inquiry--both quantitative and qualitative--and practical implications. Considered one of the leading research journals in the field, The Review keeps scholars, academic leaders, and public policymakers abreast of critical issues facing higher education today. The Review of Higher Education is the official journal of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)."


• Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. "The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching aims to build a field around the use of improvement science and networked improvement communities to solve longstanding inequities in educational outcomes."


• Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). "The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a membership association serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work on their behalf in alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and allied areas. CASE helps its members build stronger relationships with their alumni and donors, raise funds for campus projects, produce recruitment materials, market their institutions to prospective students, diversify the profession, and foster public support of education."


• Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). "A national advocate and institutional voice for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation, CHEA is an association of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes 60 institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations."


• The Institute for Higher Education Policy. "The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization committed to promoting access to and success in higher education for all students. Based in Washington, D.C., IHEP develops innovative policy- and practice-oriented research to guide policymakers and education leaders who develop high-impact policies that will address our nation’s most pressing education challenges. For more than 20 years, IHEP has been a leading voice championing college access and success. Our staff includes some of the most respected professionals in the fields of public policy and research. IHEP is committed to equality of opportunity for all and helps low-income, minority, and other historically underrepresented populations gain access to and achieve success in higher education."


• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). "The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes."


• National Academies. "The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide expert advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and the world. Our work helps shape sound policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of science, engineering, and medicine."


• National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). "The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) is a membership organization representing more than 1,900 colleges and universities across the country. NACUBO specifically represents chief business and financial officers through advocacy efforts, community service, and professional development activities. The association's mission is to advance the economic viability, business practices and support for higher education institutions in fulfillment of their missions."


• National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS). "Founded in 1969 as the National Association of College Auxiliary Services, NACAS is a professional trade association that supports the non-academic segment of higher education responsible for generating business through a diverse array of campus services that students need and value – such as food services, bookstores, housing, and transportation. As the leading organization supporting all campus services, NACAS is the community-of-choice for strategic leaders who advance campus environments to improve the quality of life for students."


• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). "The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) is a research, policy, and advocacy organization dedicated to strengthening and advancing the work of public universities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. With a membership of 237 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations, APLU's agenda is built on the three pillars of increasing degree completion and academic success, advancing scientific research, and expanding engagement. The association's work is furthered by an active and effective advocacy arm that works with Congress and the administration as well as the media to advance federal policies that strengthen public universities and benefit the students they serve."


• National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). "We are the leading association for the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession. Our work provides high-quality professional development, advocacy, and research for 15,000 members in all 50 states, 25 countries, and 8 U.S. territories."


• National Council of University Research Administrators (NACURA). "NCURA serves its members and advances the field of research administration through education and professional development programs, the sharing of knowledge and experience, and by fostering a professional, collegial, and respected community."


• Association of University Technology Managers. "AUTM is the nonprofit leader in efforts to educate, promote and inspire professionals, throughout their careers, to support the development of academic research that changes the world. AUTM’s community is comprised of more than 3,200 members who work in more than 800 universities, research centers, hospitals, businesses and government organizations around the globe. The core purpose of AUTM is to support and advance academic technology transfer globally."


• National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). "Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the NEA supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America."


• The National Science Foundation. "The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." NSF is vital because we support basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future. This type of support:Is a primary driver of the U.S. economy. Enhances the nation's security. Advances knowledge to sustain global leadership. With an annual budget of $7.5 billion (FY 2017), we are the funding source for approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing."


• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada--SSHRC. "The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) is the federal research funding agency that promotes and supports postsecondary-based research and research training in the humanities and social sciences. By focusing on developing Talent, generating Insights and forging Connections across campuses and communities, SSHRC strategically supports world-leading initiatives that reflect a commitment to ensuring a better future for Canada and the world. Created by an act of Canada’s Parliament in 1977, SSHRC reports to Parliament through the Minister of Science."


• Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). "The Southern Regional Education Board works with states to improve public education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education. We help policymakers make informed decisions by providing independent, accurate data and recommendations. We help educators strengthen student learning with professional development, proven practices and curricula. And we help policymakers, institutions and educators share scarce resources to accomplish more together than they could alone. SREB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Atlanta. Our 16 member states are Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Our work is funded by member appropriations, as well as by contracts and grants from foundations and from local, state and federal agencies. "

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Miscellaneous Sites of Interest

• National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). "The National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES), formerly the Division of Science Resources Statistics, was established within the National Science Foundation by Section 505 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. The name signals the central role of NCSES in the collection, interpretation, analysis, and dissemination of objective data on the science and engineering enterprise.Our Mission. Data collections related to U.S. competitiveness and STEM education are part of these new responsibilities. NCSES is responsible for statistical data on the following: Research and Development, The science and engineering workforce, U.S. competitiveness in science, engineering, technology, and R&D, andj The condition and progress of STEM education in the United Stateso its work, Education and training of researchers in the use of large-scale nationally representative data sets "


• The Center for Measuring University Performance. "The Center for Measuring University Performance (MUP) is a research enterprise focused on the competitive national context for major research universities. The MUP work relies heavily on the initiative and insight of its advisory board and draws on the insight and recommendations of many colleagues throughout the country who contribute data, information, and perspective. Since mid-2018, The Center is sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Florida."


• Inside Higher Ed. "Inside Higher Ed is the leading digital media company serving the higher education space. Born digital in the 21st Century at the height of the Internet revolution, our publication has become the trusted, go-to source of online news, thought leadership, and opinion over the last decade. Our mission is to serve the entire higher education ecosystem - individuals, institutions, corporations, and nonprofits - with the best editorial and marketing solutions in our space. As a truly mission-driven organization, we are proud to have earned the trust and loyalty of our readers by speaking as a fiercely independent voice on the pressing issues of the day." Free access.


• The Chronicle of Higher Education. "The Chronicle of Higher Education is the No. 1 source of news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty members and administrators. Based in Washington, D.C., The Chronicle has more than 70 writers, editors, and international correspondents." This is a subscription publication.


• Education Statistics Quarterly. "The Quarterly offers a comprehensive overview of work done across all of NCES. Each issue includes short publications and summaries covering all NCES publications and data products released in a given time period as well as notices about training and funding opportunities. In addition, each issue includes a featured topic with invited commentary, and a note on the topic from NCES.."


• All Universities around the World. Lists universities by region and by country.


• HathiTrust. "HathiTrust is a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural record is preserved and accessible long into the future. The mission of HathiTrust is to contribute to research, scholarship, and the common good by collaboratively collecting, organizing, preserving, communicating, and sharing the record of human knowledge. There are more than 120 partners in HathiTrust, and membership is open to institutions worldwide."


• EdX. "Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, edX is an online learning destination and MOOC provider, offering high-quality courses from the world’s best universities and institutions to learners everywhere. With more than 130 global partners, we are proud to count the world’s leading universities, nonprofits, and institutions as our members. EdX university members top the QS World University Rankings® with our founders receiving the top honors, and edX partner institutions ranking highly on the full list."


• Coursera. "Coursera provides universal access to the world’s best education, partnering with top universities and organizations to offer courses online."


• ITHAKA. "ITHAKA is a not-for-profit organization that works with the global higher education community to advance and preserve knowledge and to improve teaching and learning through the use of digital technologies. In two decades, we have launched three of the most transformative and widely used services in higher education: JSTOR, Portico, and Ithaka S+R – and recently our strategic alliance with Artstor has allowed us to further enhance our mission by facilitating access to its services for researchers, teachers, and students worldwide"

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