Intellectual Property

VOYA - Jeff Mann

This series of six slim volumes chronicles areas of computer safety and ethics. Cyber Ethics discusses how students should conduct themselves online. Current issues such as cyber bullying, plagiarism, and downloading music are detailed. Specific terms such as flaming, griefers, crackers, hackers, and phishing are all defined. Brief examples of what to do and what not to do online are sprinkled throughout the book. Simple yet practical advice is included on how to deal with cyber ethics. Intellectual Property aims to explain the importance of what intellectual property is and describes the many common violations of intellectual property rights. Copyrights are explained and terms such as public domain, fair use, freeware, and shareware are briefly detailed. Particularly interesting to students will be the chapters "Using Intellectual Property Fairly" and "Misusing Intellectual Property." Both detail common student practices such as downloading music and why it is important to use information correctly. Although both volumes are less than fifty pages, they offer concise and easily understandable explanations of some complicated concepts. The series is easily accessible as it is written in the second person in an informal tone. Some specific examples and cases relating to actual students would have made the series even more readable and would have made more of an impact on young readers. Other books in the series include Cyber Literacy, The Dangers of Online Predators, Privacy and Hacking, and Viruses and Spam. The books are handsomely put together with simple graphics, color pictures, and large print. The series is simply written and geared for amiddle school or upper elementary audience. This collection of books would make a nice addition to libraries or classrooms looking for basic overviews of current computer topics. Reviewer: Jeff Mann

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8- Cyber Ethics contains choppy sentences and only skims the surface of some crucial topics, including bullying, online predators, and plagiarism. The other two volumes have a little more depth and would be useful for reports or assignments. With an open format and many full-color illustrations, the books are not unattractive, but they will have limited appeal to cyber-savvy kids who think they are experts on the Internet.-Marcia Kochel, Olson Middle School, Bloomington, MN