Today I would like to highlight one of the State Library of Kansas recent purchases: SAGE Knowledge Political Handbook of the World. This handbook is an authoritative resource about the political organization of the modern world

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Online Education (2016)

Steven L. Danver (editor)

SAGE Publications, Inc.

Online education, for both professional advancement and informal gratification, has seen a huge growth in recent years. With the unusual COVID-19 event and the standard American school year starting this month, the fall of 2020 will certainly see more online education than ever before.

However, online education requires a set of skills and technologies additional to that of face-to-face education in a physical classroom. These topics have generally not been addressed much until now. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Online Education provides a detailed and comprehensive reference for those wishing to learn more about the specifics of online education, and includes over 350 entries. Among its subjects are:  

• Technology used in the online classroom
• The historical growth of online education
• Strategies of online education
• General best practices
• The various types of online education
• The current evolution of online education throughout the world

Entries are arranged alphabetically by topic, and cover everything from laws, theory, methods, and general history, to important personalities in the development of online education. Many diverse institutions associated with online education are also included, from corporations, to private colleges, to public universities, medical and religious institutions, and even government centers such as military graduate colleges.

For example, an excerpt from the subject entry on "Americans With Disabilities Act" tells us that the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) are among several of the federal laws that govern nondiscrimination and accessibility to higher education. The history of the law is described, with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 increasing access to public programs receiving federal funds, but that ADA in 1990 prohibited discrimination within both private and public institutions. The entry explains the requirements of the ADA and the ADAAA as well as how they apply to higher education, including online education. 

To access The SAGE Encyclopedia of Online Education, go to the Online Databases section of the State Library's website, and then to SAGE Knowledge. From here, go to the Reference Section and Encyclopedias under Content Type and then to the second page of results. 

Information about e-learning research could be very beneficial right now as school teachers, and college and university professors, gear up to create a new normal in education, due to COVID-19 changing the processes that had been used up until 2020.

Here’s a brief description of a handbook from SAGE Knowledge that addresses e-learning research. SAGE Knowledge can be access through the main Online Resources page of the State Library under Stats & Government. To view these books, paste the DOI found below into the SAGE Knowledge search bar.