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Food for Thought August 2002

Note from Judy - Action Stories & Dictionary Winner
Complimentary Endorsement - CalamityJan.com
Did you Know - Me, Myself, or I?
Recommendations
Education
Grammar
Reference - General

NOTE FROM JUDY

1. Are You A Good Author of Action Stories? Do You Know Of One?

A good friend of mine, Bob McElwain--who's fantastic at marketing, and who is also someone I trust without qualification--has a terrific offer for authors of quality fast-paced action novels. Publish an eBook. Free.

If you qualify, there is no charge for publishing in electronic formats. And the author retains ALL rights to the book. "We'll make enough bucks in commissions on sales," Bob says. "We don't feel it's right to pick an author's pocket going in."

If you're interested, or know someone who is, click over to http://actiontales.com/authors It's a fascinating offer. And knowing Bob, he'll be able to sell your book like crazy, once the site is opened to the public.

Why this offer? Bob writes action stories, and finds the entire publishing/selling process for his books to be full of frustration. So he decided to go the eBook route. For himself, and for others. He's a former educator, and if you've been around the Internet, you know Bob often reaches out with a helping hand. Read more about this special person at: http://www.actiontales.com/about_us.html

2. July winner of a Merriam-Webster's Dictionary is subscriber Terence Kierans. He's a highly respected colleague of mine. Here's some information on Kierans:

Principal, Cyberspace Virtual Services, Western Australia We keep your project on the boil, while you sleep Tel: 61 8 9304 6983 Fax: 61 8 9304 3202 Mobile: 61 414 25 1091 www.virtualservices.com.au

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-- COMPLIMENTARY ENDORSEMENT --

Calamity Jan's Ghostowners Series

Some years ago my sister, Jan Crook Pierson, while raising three kids and doing a gazillion other things, found time to author five juvenile mysteries (The Carson Kids, Tyndale House Publishers, 1979-88). Years later, a new adventure lured Jan back into the fray. She began kicking up the dust and rubble in ghost towns of the western United States, and was so excited with her family's experiences that she returned to writing. When Jan walked into Bodie, a town once known as the wildest mining camp in California's history, she was hooked.

The words "Goodbye God, I'm going to Bodie," penned in a young girl's diary, became a California legend and the title for the first book in her GHOSTOWNER mystery series for middle grade readers. She also visited Nighthawk, Washington and Shaniko, Oregon. She's publishing this series as we speak. Many of you know that self-publishing is a challenging process, but for many authors, it's the only way.

Jan is also a Young Author presenter and enjoys visiting schools and encouraging young people to read and write. I'd love to have you to drop by the site I'm building for my spunky, colorful sister: http://www.calamityjan.com.

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DID YOU KNOW?

Me, Myself, or I?

Someone recently asked, "Is it proper to say: Please contact myself or Joe?"

Much better to say "Please contact me or Joe." Or "Please contact Joe or me." You only use "myself" when you've used "I" somewhere else in the sentence, e.g., "I went by myself."

http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/myself.html

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RECOMMENDATIONS

EDUCATION

AARDVARK'S ENGLISH FORUM
Resources for students and teachers of English (ESL/EFL): UK
http://www.englishforum.com/

ALL KINDS OF MINDS
A non-profit institute for the understanding of differences in learning. Primary goal is to educate teachers, parents, educational specialists, psychologists, pediatricians, and students about differences in learning, so that children who are struggling in school because of the way their brains are "wired" are no longer misunderstood. Affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
http://www.allkindsofminds.org/

THE ENGLISH JOB MAZE
International ESL/EFL job & information site for ESL/EFL teachers and employers around the world. Site contains an extensive ELT bookstore, with perhaps one of the largest collections of idioms for ESL teachers and students, anywhere on the internet.
http://www.englishjobmaze.com

FATHOM
Whether you're a student, a professional looking to advance your career, or a lifelong learner, Fathom offers online courses and other resources for online learning including free seminars, lectures, articles and reference from "...the world's most trusted sources of knowledge."
http://www.fathom.com/

LISTEN TO THE WALLS TALK
The goal of this project is to teach students basic geographic and research skills. A secondary, but possibly more important goal of this project is to record the history of houses and neighborhoods around the world.
http://www.millennium.scps.k12.fl.us/walls.html

PROJECT, PROBLEM, AND INQUIRY-BASED LEARNING
Project-based learning, problem-based learning, and inquiry- based learning all closely relate to the information processing approach. They all fit well with technology- rich learning environments where the focus is not on the hardware and software, but on the learning experience. In each case, technology is used to facilitate learning.
http://www.eduscapes.com/tap/topic43.htm

RWM VOCATIONAL SCHOOL DATABASE
Database of Private Postsecondary Vocational Schools in all 50 states. It is organized first by State, then by Training Occupation. Included are private schools that offer Bachelor's and Master's Degrees, Online Degrees, and Technical and Management Degrees.
http://www.rwm.org/rwm/

SELF-STUDY ENGLISH VOCABULARY QUIZZES [ESL, EFL]
http://iteslj.org/quizzes/vocabulary.html

SOCIAL SCIENCE DATA ARCHIVES
http://www.sociosite.net

SOUND ISLAND
Website where students can learn to click and read and listen. Terrific for young people and anyone wanting to figure out how sound files work.
http://kbears.com/borrico/soundisland.html

TWELVE COMMANDMENTS FOR TEACHERS!
Columnist Linda Starr dreams of a short list of guiding principles that can help teachers keep their jobs -- and the overwhelming avalanche of state and national standards -- in perspective.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues183.shtml

VTC (VIRTUAL TRAINING COMPANY)
Over 25,000 tutorials. Access the whole VTC Library for $25.00 per month. Each CD takes the user from the basics to a highly competent skill level. All CDs cross platform and stand-alone, no application required.
http://www.vtc.com/

GRAMMAR

DAILY GRAMMAR
A great way to check grammar knowledge. Use the archives or sign up twice a year for daily e-mail lessons. Quizzes take four minutes
http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.html

PROFESSOR CHARLES DARLING'S GRAMMAR SITE
Outstanding to use as a quick reference for your grammar questions.
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm

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REFERENCE - GENERAL

ANEKI.COM
Country Information, Regional and World Rankings. Categories: Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Academic, and Miscellaneous.
http://www.aneki.com/

ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES
ARL is a nonprofit membership organization comprising the leading research libraries in North America. ARL programs and services promote equitable access to and effective use of recorded knowledge in support of teaching, research, scholarship, and community service.
http://www.arl.org/index.html

EXTREME SURVIVAL
Test Your Instincts Find out how you would score in an extreme survival situation. Against All Odds Take a look at your chance of surviving an extraordinary event.
http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/extremesurvival/extremesurvival.html

FAMOUS MOVIE STAR MARRIAGES
http://yoursay.imdb.com/Couples/

GABRIEL
Service of Europe's National Libraries represented in the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL). Information about all the National Libraries of Europe, their services and the online exhibitions they offer.
http://www.kb.nl/gabriel/

GAME SHOWS '75
Almost every game show that aired in 1975
http://www.curtalliaume.com/gameshow.html

GAMES KIDS PLAY
How about rules for playground games, verses for jump-rope rhymes, and much more???
http://www.gameskidsplay.net/

MEDICAL REFERENCE FOR NON-MEDICAL LIBRARIANS
By librarians at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
http://denison.uchsc.edu/outreach/medbib3.htm

OAIster
A Mellon-funded project of the University of Michigan Digital Library Production Services. Our goal is to create a wide-ranging collection of free, useful, previously difficult-to-access digital resources that are easily searchable by anyone.
http://oaister.umdl.umich.edu/index.html

OTHER CHANGE OF HOBBIT
For science fiction, fantasy, and related genres, this small bookstore in Berkeley helps find books or stories even when you don't know the author or title.
http://www.dnai.com/~ochobbit/lost.html

SEARCH-22: REFERENCE SEARCH ENGINES
Type your key words, then choose which of many online reference sources to search it in. Like Acronym Finder, Famous Quotes, Merriam Webster, Creative Proverbs, RhymeZone, Britannica, and Bartelby.
http://www.search-22.com/reference.html

JUDY'S SITES, FORUMS, AND E-ZINES:

Judy Vorfeld's Small Business Ezine, Communication Expressway, designed to help people improve office, technology, presentation, and writing skills.
http://www.ossweb.com/ezine.html

Basic Business Grammar. Judy gives basic grammar tips and helps busy people find good grammar resources. Brief bi-weekly e-zine.
http://wz.com/business/BasicBusinessGrammar.html

Hawaiian Food and Cuisine. Judy helps busy people find delicious Hawaiian recipes. Brief monthly e-zine.
http://wz.com/food/HawaiianFoodCuisine.html

Webgrammar - for students, educators, editors, writers, librarians, researchers, lovers of the English language, and Web developers.
http://www.webgrammar.com

FREE DICTIONARY! Webgrammar offers all site visitors the chance to win a free Webster's dictionary, monthly. Sign up!
http://tinyurl.com/n5z

Webgrammar's Food for Thought: Library of Congress, Washington DC
ISSN: 1530-034X

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