UC Berkeley has seen a 65% jump since 15Jul97 in enrollments for its 43 online extension courses. Almost half of the students are from outside California, some from outside the US. The courses are on AOL, but will soon be available on the Internet. or , (510) 642-4111. [Educom Update, 01Dec97.]

Western Governors University is offering its first online classes, after two years of planning. The first two degrees offered are a general associate's degree and one in semiconductor manufacturing technology. Accreditation is still being negotiated. [Chronicle of Higher Ed. EduP.]

The Southern Regional Education Board (Atlanta) will deliver for-credit courses from 50 Southern universities via the Internet. The service should grow to 1,500 courses. [AP, 08Dec97. EduP.]

Colorado State University's library was flooded with 21M pounds of water three months ago, damaging 425,750 books. Fortunately, the library had already implemented many "virtual" services. Faculty can still get electronic access to databases and other reference materials. [Educom Update, 15Nov97.]

The Hitachi Foundation is inviting $25K-$100K proposals to evaluate or advance the role of technology in teaching and learning. Letters of intent are due 06Jan98; proposals by 10Mar98. Information Technology Initiative at Hitachi Foundation, 1509 22nd St. NW, Washington, DC 20037-1073; (202) 457-0588. [Educom Update, 01Dec97.]

Oracle will offer $50M software, technical support, and curricular materials to 50 colleges and universities. , , 1-800-633-0584 x8730. [FEDIX, 30Nov97.]

Gifts In Kind International offers Lotus software to nonprofit organizations. Three copies of any product per organization, per calendar year. GIKI, Attn: Software, 700 North Fairfax Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 549-1481. [FEDIX, 30Nov97.]

Alex Aiken has a Measure of Software Similarity program that looks for similarities in students' code to identify plagiarism. . [, comp.edu, 26Aug97.] (This is a free Internet service, as described in our CRS 7.29.)