Based on an international workshop held at Rutgers University, this article discusses problems and issues in the design, research, and implementation of distributed expert-based information systems (DEBIS). Information needs of end users are stressed, architectures for expert information retrieval systems are explored, and prototype models are…

At the policy level, the World Bank and other aid agencies evidence a practical orientation, emphasizing problems described as solvable by expertise and improved use of capital. In reality, tension exists between educational planning based on positivistic, technical rationality and political interaction grounded in situational considerations. (JHZ)

The International Program for Agricultural Knowledge Systems (INTERPAKS) research team is developing a descriptive and analytic framework to examine and assess agricultural technology systems. The first part of the framework is an inductive methodology that organizes data collection and orders data for comparison between countries. It requires and…