"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

Development and implementation of a shared distributed computing architecture at the University of Alberta (Canada) are described. Aspects discussed include design of the architecture, users' views of the electronic environment, technical and managerial challenges, and the campuswide human infrastructures needed to manage such an integrated…

Effective college information-technology (IT) planning must be integrated into institutional planning, mission, and goals. Topics discussed include key constructs for ensuring that the acquisition and implementation of IT furthers the institution's strategic plan, an inclusive governance structure and facility planning approach, funding…

Summarizes the responses of research library directors to the Library of Congress' Network Advisory Committee statement, which stresses an egalitarian network environment. The special role of research libraries and the effect on their participation in local area and multitype networks are discussed. (6 references) (CLB)

Information-technology planning at higher-education institutions should be derived from academic planning at the institutional, school, and department levels, and must respond to associated issues of leadership, sustainable funding, productivity, and faculty motivation. The academic information-technology-planning process at the University of…

Describes the development of library and bibliographic information networks, differences between the functions of archives and libraries, and the challenge to create information networks which encompass both library and archival materials. (CLB)

Analysis of information technology's role in higher education looks at pressures to use technology, the slow pace of adoption, current directions in technological advancement, and its impact on institutional policy and resource requirements. Its impact on teaching and learning without a new paradigm for instruction is seen as limited. (MSE)

Technology is a tool that can support good teaching and well-managed schools. To assure taxpayers and parents that investments in educational technology are worthwhile, schools can emphasize access, focus on teaching, link it to reform, encourage research, and plan for the future. Lists Web sites for finding information about the effectiveness of…

Members of diverse information professions and disciplines have historically had different missions, methods, and areas of responsibility. However, the new technical knowledge common among them is fertile ground for collaboration through information technology. Successful collaborations are based on identification of a common goal, recognition of…

Offers advice to administrators and faculty in small colleges on planning, building, and managing campus computer networks. Also included are observations about the network as a strategic asset, funding and staffing issues, and planning for unexpected results. (Author/MSE)

Describes the characteristics of and relationship between academic libraries and campus computing centers, and presents reasons to support the argument that the two organizations will continue to have distinct, though closely related, identities. Several issues that universities will have to address to formulate a campus-wide information policy…

Describes how the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (Pennsylvania), a regional consortium of six private colleges and universities, in experimenting with video conferencing and other online forms of technology-based collaboration, developed into the 101-member Community of Agile Partners in Education. This organization, by being…

Examines the increasing information value of government documents as resource materials, the effects of information technology on access to government documents, and the resulting need for cooperation among archivists and librarians in selection and administration of these materials. (CLB)

Argues that, with technology costs and revenue opportunities changing rapidly, colleges' future financial strategies concerning technology will have to be more agile and adaptable than ever. Presents financial models from 20 independent colleges and universities, and discusses how they have been used to define a financial strategy for technology…

College and university libraries can work together to enhance library access and share resources, but there are problems inherent in such alliances. Existing library consortia illustrate some important considerations in forging a new library consortium, including complexity of organizational processes, funding issues, technology for sharing both…