This paper identifies a paradigm shift that must take place in school networking. The ultimate goal is to retool the schools with a local technical infrastructure that gives teachers and students immediate access to communication systems and information resources, thereby supporting the implementation of advances in pedagogy and educational…

This first in a series of articles on organizing electronic network-based instructional interactions describes and compares macro-organizational elements, strategies, and tactics of three popular electronic networks: the FrEdMail Network, the National Geographic Kids' Network, and the AT&T Learning Network. (Contains five references.) (LRW)

Compares issues in the commercialization of public information through wide area networks in the United States and Europe. Policy and legal questions, the public's right to access information, government copyright issues, the potential for public-private-sector synergy, and the need to standardize formats and pricing are discussed. (Contains 45…

Presents a case study of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in a group discussion course at Marist College (New York). Highlights include advantages of CMC, including more interaction and increased learner control; efficient information access, including access to the Internet; and student attitudes toward CMC, including differences between…

Considers issues regarding the migration of a system of literature into electronic formats. Highlights include integrity in an information distribution system; digest technology; tracings that permit detection of copied digital objects; verifying sources; digital signature technology and cryptography; electronic publishing; and intellectual…

Discusses the actual and potential impact of local shared automated library systems on the development of a comprehensive nationwide bibliographic database (NBD). Shared local automated systems are described; four local shared automated system models are compared; and the current interface between local shared automated library systems and the NBD…

Success in exchanging data with other institutions depends on the purpose of the exchange, the complexity of the data involved, the effort required to participate, and the frequency with which responses are requested. Common sense, diplomacy, and selling the responding institution on the benefits of participating assure a successful exchange. (MLW)

Explores the qualities of bibliographic and object entities that contribute to the similarities and differences in the data describing them and the possibility of cooperation between indexers of art objects and indexers of bibliographic information. The discussion covers the role of authority control as the linking component between bibliographic…

Explores the underlying concepts involved in the design of art scholarly databases and describes three systems definition projects currently in progress. The discussion covers the revisions of MARC formats and authority controls used in bibliographic information networks that might support an art scholarly database. (eight references) (CLB)

Provides an overview of databases that include the best information about Latin America. Highlights include problems with using "Latin America" as a search concept; Latin American information on DIALOG; the dominance of TEXTLINE among the major newswires; comparisons between DIALOG and other online services; specialized Latin American…

The author gives an account of comparative education in Europe, using professional comparative education societies as the main unit of description. He states that the intellectual definition of European comparative education (focus on higher education and teacher education) is sharply different from that of American comparative education (focus on…

Compares the processes and costs of publishing a book in printed versus electronic format. Discussion includes distribution by disk versus network distribution; flow charts for the two production processes; and implications for publishers resulting from cost savings for electronic publishing.(LRW)

Describes ALEPH, the research library network in Israel, and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of its decentralized structure. Highlights include comparisons between RLIN and ALEPH; centralized versus decentralized networks; the format of ALEPH; authority control in ALEPH; and non-Roman scripts in both networks. (16 references) (LRW)

This discussion of the implementation of services related to the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) if Concordia University Libraries were to join CRL includes policies and procedures designed to assist Concordia in making effective use of CRL's services without sacrificing regular services or incurring large expenses in addition to the…

Prepared at the request of the Advisory Systems Committee of the Ontario Universities' Library Cooperative System, this report presents the results of study of the feasibility of a bilingual regional system for maps, or alternatively, the possibility of adapting the Guelph system to CARTESS. The report is presented in three sections: (1) a…