Describes an information retrieval, visualization, and manipulation model which offers the user multiple ways to exploit the retrieval set, based on weighted query terms, via an interactive interface. Outlines the mathematical model and describes an information retrieval application built on the model to search structured and full-text files.…

Reviews automated-systems activities in libraries during the past year and profiles major vendors. Topics include new partnership arrangements driven by competition; library-systems revenues; Y2K issues; Windows-based interfaces; consulting; outsourcing; development trends; global system sales; and sales by type of library. (LRW)

Discusses the use of interface metaphors in computer system design. Describes empirical research that shows users can experience cognitive dissonance with metaphors and suggests that the concept of a logical analogue rather than that of a metaphor should guide system designers. (Contains 66 references.) (LRW)

Examines how electronic documents, particularly electronic journals, could be enhanced to make them more valuable to end-users. Describes the development of PROPIE (Proposed Information Environment) that demonstrated the potential to support various interaction needs and discusses the results of an empirical evaluation of PROPIE. (Author/LRW)

Discusses usability as an interface design concept to improve information retrieval on the World Wide Web. Highlights include criteria for a usable Web site; usability testing; usability resources on the Web; and a sidebar that gives an example of usability testing by Hewlett-Packard. (LRW)

Considers some of the most fundamental problems in music information retrieval, challenging the common assumption that searching on pitch alone is likely to be satisfactory for all purposes. Discusses special issues related to polyphonic music, user-interface issues, and the notion of relevance for music information retrieval. (Contains 52…

Small computers are emerging as important components of the contemporary computing scene. Their operating systems vary from specialized software for an embedded system to the same style of OS used on a generic desktop or server computer. This article describes a course in which systems are classified by their hardware capability and the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce some new functions achieved in a web-based multimedia courseware, which is developed by Flash software and used by part-time graduate students. Design/methodology/approach: The courseware uses Adobe Flash CS3 as its development software, which supports Actionscript language, FMS and FLV technology…

Program animation systems have not been as widely adopted by computer science educators as we might expect from the firm belief that they can help in enhancing computer science education. One of the most notable obstacles to their adoption is the considerable effort that the production of program animations represents for the instructor. We…

As certain areas of practice in higher education shift online, the work of learners and teachers increasingly takes place within the domain of the image. The "digital turn" we are experiencing, both in higher education and in the wider culture, accompanies an "iconic turn" in which the logic of the image as it emerges on our screens has a growing…

Describes a user interface that provides global visualizations of large document sets to help users formulate the query that corresponds to their information needs. Highlights include concept hierarchies that users can browse to specify and refine information needs; knowledge discovery in databases and texts; and multidimensional modeling.…

Explains the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) protocol as a set of rules for passing information from a Web server to an external program such as a database search engine. Topics include advantages over traditional client/server solutions, limitations, sample library applications, and sources of information from the Internet. (LRW)

Discusses digital libraries, interoperability, and interfaces to access them, and proposes one universal protocol for communication for simple archives based on the hypertext transfer protocol (http). Describes the creation of a special class of digital objects called buckets, archives based on a NASA collection, and a set of digital library…

Presents "Islands," an interactive graphical interface for construction, modification, and management of queries during a search session on a bibliographic database. Discusses motivation and bibliographic search semantics and compares the Islands interface to the Dialog interface. (Author/LRW)

Describes the implementation of FromTo-CLIR, a Web-based natural-language interface for cross-language information retrieval that was tested with Korean and Japanese. Proposes a method that uses a semantic category tree and collocation to resolve the ambiguity of query translation. (Author/LRW)