Never before has the link between a college education and postgraduate job prospects been more important. College graduates are employed more often and, on average, earn significantly more than those without college degrees. During recent years, as students have moved into a challenging job market, a college education has remained the most…

Too many educators avoid using data when making decisions because they believe it is too time-consuming to do so. The authors present five steps that make it easier to use data in making school decisions. The first step is to review school improvement plan to identify the most salient issues a school wants to improve. The second step is to…

Volunteers pose a special area of concern for child care centers. On one hand, they are indispensable as they donate countless hours of time, energy, and resources. On the other hand, there are challenges to coordinating the efforts of volunteering parents. The use of volunteers has incredible potential for benefit from the center, child, and…

Many exam programs have begun to include innovative item types in their operational assessments. While innovative item types appear to have great promise for expanding measurement, there can also be genuine challenges to their successful implementation. In this paper we present a set of four activities that can be beneficially incorporated into…

The author's focus for this column within the large universe of the public services literature is on articles which stress what is best for the user. That may mean finding out why faculty use or do not use the physical library, considering the elimination of the reference desk, beginning or enhancing a library's virtual reference services, or…

This article reports on the results of a project which used a social network site to support students on a year abroad and foster informal learning, particularly in the area of intercultural communication. The project employed a peer-mentoring structure to solve the problem of role conflict, in which users of these sites may feel some tension as…

Describes underlying technology of interactive videodiscs; significance of still-frame audio in videodisc design; instructional uses and effectiveness, particularly in mass training situations; main production stages (concept, preliminary plan, final plan, script, premastering, mastering); mastering process; costs; and guidelines for…

This paper provides a snapshot of developments in the electronic journal industry. The first section identifies issues affecting librarians and publishers, including: (1) issues of common concern to both publishers and librarians, e.g., lack of comparable data, lack of context, incomplete usage data, marketing, content provided, interface…

Although computer ownership is not 100 percent, progress has been made on closing the digital divide. However, defining the digital divide according to the haves and have-nots of computer ownership is only a starting point. Beyond computer ownership, colleges and universities should explore the "second-level digital divide," which can be…

Describes the implementation of an electronic mail system at the University of Calgary Libraries, and reports the results of a survey that examined user satisfaction with the system and usage patterns by library staff. Suggestions for the successful implementation of electronic mail systems are offered. (CLB)

Reports on development and operation of public library collection of video recordings, describes results of user survey conducted over 6-month period, and offers brief guidelines. Potential users, censorship and copyright, organization of collection, fees, damage and loss, funding, purchasing and promotion, formats, processing and cataloging,…

The use of games in corporate training began in the 1950s. In subsequent years the use of games has increased, while the look and feel of the games being used has evolved. Unfortunately, very little research regarding the effectiveness of games as a training tool has been conducted; and, the research conducted often yields conflicting results. The…

This notebook accompanies a videotape series produced by Project BEST (Basic Education Skills through Technology), a federally funded cooperative effort involving federal, state, and local governments and the private sector in planning and using information technologies to improve basic skills instruction. Intended for state and local personnel…

Two articles discuss the management of space in library facilities. The first focuses on three general aspects of space management: how to organize for space management; necessary data collection; and human factors. The second article focuses specifically on space requirements for library technical processes. (CLB)