Drawing from a design and development research approach, specifically model research, this study investigated the perspectives of higher education faculty and administrators regarding their experiences with a university-wide electronic portfolio implementation initiative. Participants in the study were fifty-two faculty and administrators at a…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how the authors gained a better understanding of the variety of library users' data needs, and how gradually some new data services were established based on current capabilities. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses a case study of the new data services at the John Cotton Dana Library, at…

Some years ago, bringing up peak oil--the concept that oil production will crest and then decline, leading to all sorts of trouble in society--might have made one seem like the kind of person who frequents Web sites that sell survival books and freeze-dried food. Today such discussion has pretty much hit the mainstream. Last month The Wall Street…

This paper presents methodology and findings from three product efficacy studies that verify the quality of life benefits resulting from prior research, development, and transfer activities. The paper then discusses key lessons learned with implications for product evaluation practice. The studies assessed the quality of three assistive technology…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to discuss the results of the Log Analysis of Internet Resources in the Arts and Humanities (LAIRAH) study. It aims to concentrate upon the use and importance of information resources, physical research centres and digital finding aids in scholarly research. Design/methodology/approach: Results are presented…

School improvement without will and moral purpose--without a genuine commitment to all students--is an empty exercise in compliance that, in the authors' experience, can do more harm than good. The authors have seen educators use data to "more accurately" track students, further widening the opportunity-to-learn gap. In response to achievement…

This study examined how 498 elementary and secondary educators use student response systems in their instruction. The teachers all completed an online questionnaire designed to learn about their goals for using response systems, the instructional strategies they employ when using the system, and the perceived effects of response systems.…

This review provides a summary of the main theoretical arguments and empirical results available in literature dynamics. Discusses studies of growth, diffusion of information, epidemic theory, and fast-growing literatures. Deals with methodological problems of publication counts, the time factor, and converging indicators, and discusses two…

Proposes a set of elements that can be taken to constitute the social context of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and digital information. This "digital information environment" can be useful in guiding research into the structure of the social context and its influences on ways in which people in different social and…

Introduction: Evidence-based medicine (EBM) integrates published clinical evidence with patient values and clinical expertise, the output of which is informed medical decision making. Key skills for evidence-based practice include acquisition and appraisal of clinical information. Faculty clinicians often lack expertise in these skills and are…

Interest in strengthening the impact and value of education research has been growing around the world. Here I outline a view of the nature of "impact" and point to instances where research has had a positive impact in education, but always within a larger social and political framework. A three element "model" of research impact is developed and…

Discusses a study of the relationship between contributions to scientific knowledge and the application of those contributions. Data collected from a U.S. Forest Service project indicate that the impact of research and development is greater when the knowledge-creation process is seen as a response to client needs rather than when researchers are…

Demonstrates the benefits and problems of using Web log analysis to extract information about the global information customer. The Web logs examined were those of "The Times" and "Sunday Times." Highlights include the measures and metrics; the data and its meaning; and analyses with potential (AEF)

Explores the implications of articulating the bridges that are built, usually implicitly, between metatheory and method, and between these and their ultimate interests, the doing of research; the purpose is to articulate the uses of methodology. Suggests that there is lacking a vocabulary for talking about methodology which attends to the…

Report on current state of research in academic and research librarianship in Federal Republic of Germany highlights projects concerning acquisition of books; work procedure investigations; personnel requirements; cost accounting; investigations of library use (user research, user education); public relations work; librarianship; and subject…