The Common Core State Standards' emphasis on informational text arose in part from research suggesting that employers and college instructors found students weak at comprehending technical manuals, scientific and historical journals, and other texts pivotal to work in those arenas. The common core's vision of informational text includes literary…

"Research Library Issues" ("RLI") is a bimonthly report from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). This issue includes the following articles: (1) ARL Encourages Members to Refrain from Signing Nondisclosure or…

Plants that bear less familiar names such as switch grass, "Miscanthus," and kenaf, are not much to look at, having weathered Iowa's winter snows. But Iowa State researchers see these crops as seeds of change in alternative fuels. Rows of experimental crops line the test plots at Iowa State University's research farm. Although corn is…

Student response systems, commonly referred to as "clickers," have become an important learning tool in higher education. With a growing number of faculty using the technology to promote active learning, student engagement, and assessment, most campuses have seen increasing clicker use. And with faculty bombarded by multiple,…

Northwest Iowa Power Co-op, Northwest Iowa Telephone, and MCI formed Pioneer Holdings to bring the latest telecommunications services to residents, schools, and businesses in rural Iowa. A half-dozen towns and co-ops have joined Pioneer, which gives customers access to all telecom services offered by MCI, as well as technical, regulatory, and…

By hiring illegal Mexican workers for dangerous jobs, an Iowa meat packing plant keeps wages low and profits high. The host community blames the immigrants for increased crime and has built three new schools to accommodate swelling enrollments of immigrant children with limited English proficiency. The company denies evidence that it knowingly…