Twitter (www.twitter.com) has become kind of a popular culture punch line. It's often used as a shorthand to represent how self-obsessed and self-involved the American culture has become, and while Twitter does lend itself to a kind of needless sharing, it also has some potentially useful features. Twitter is a microblogging service that allows…

Discusses the application of new generation, external broadband telecommunications networks to academic library reference services. Several of the prominent networks are described, a selected bibliography of 20 recent publications is provided, and addresses for obtaining further information are listed. (CLB)

Describes the Consortium for Lexical Research (CLR), a cooperative archive of electronic materials (e.g., software programs, research reports) for lexical research available through the Internet. Discussion covers CLR membership, archive administration, using the facility, types of materials stored, and documentation on materials. Samples of CLR…

Canadian universities now have the fastest research network backbone in the world, CA*Net 3, claiming it can transmit the contents of the Library of Congress in one second. In the United States, network officials feel that their competing Internet2 project supports more research into new network applications than the Canadian project. CA*Net 3…

Nearly three years after the beginning of the Internet2 project, designed to enhance research by building a superfast version of the Internet, few professors are finding it revolutionary. Most participating institutions have not upgraded local networks to take full advantage of the two interconnected high-speed networks used by the project.…

Technological advancement has changed the way the role of archives, especially electronic records, is viewed by archivists. Based on experiences at the Center for Electronic Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, this article discusses finding aids and reference tools, reference services and electronic records in archives,…

Describes ANLI (Adaptive Network Library Interface), an interface to an academic library's online catalog that links documents through interactions with users. Topics addressed include relation to neural networks; system design issues, including network management; the architecture of the ANLI; and the ANLI as a research tool. (Contains five…

The purpose of this article is to describe a capstone course in undergraduate student geographical research in which GIS and other geospatial tools were used to teach undergraduate students basic geographical principles. The course uses the "cooperative learning" pedagogical approach to address one of a number of client-supplied research projects,…

Developers of Internet 2, an improved computerized information system designed for research purposes, are seeking federal support, suggesting that the new network's benefits would extend well beyond the academic realm. The educators behind the system propose that the system will create not only better electronics, but also new network applications…

The unexpectedly rapid expansion of the Internet in Eastern and Central Europe is having a significant effect on institutions of higher education, still suffering from decades of isolation. The benefits include global access to information and cost-effective communications. A number of international efforts are under way to expand Internet access,…

Discusses electronic information resources related to former Soviet and east European studies that are available through academic communications networks such as BITNET. Descriptions and access information are provided for online library catalogs, databases, discussion groups, listservers, and electronic journals. Electronic mail links with former…

Guest columnist Paul D. Healey discusses World Wide Web as an Internet reference tool for librarians in adult reference services. Discussion highlights include an examination of Web uses in retrieving hypertext documents, a review of Web uses in law libraries, an analysis of quality control problems, and challenges faced by users. (JMV)

Discusses the National Research and Education Network (NREN) and explains its role in the information infrastructures of higher education and research. Stages in the growth of NREN from 1970 to 2015 are described, finances are discussed, prospects for management and users are considered, and suggestions for future growth, finances, and public…

As Abilene and other research networks designed to substantially enhance research capabilities join the Internet, network managers are concerned about unforeseen problems with the untested systems and their complex connections. (MSE)

The Global Schoolhouse, a K-12 Internet project, connects schools nationally and internationally and demonstrates how the Internet can be used as a tool for research and as a medium for interactive and collaborative learning. (Author/AEF)