At the conference, which brought together many university representatives from the Pacific Rim, papers were presented yielding both individual problems, perspectives, and successes in computer networks and also group needs and development. In the first section of this report the status reports of networking in the Pacific Rim are summarized. Next…

A survey of selected educational institutions within the Pacific Rim was taken to determine the degree of interest and level of expertise available for an international experiment in computer networking. From the data collected from the Pacific Rim institutions, it appears that the conditions which promulgate computer network development are…

Organizational alternatives for a Pacific educational computer-communications network are studied through the examples provided by other networks. A survey of networks is provided with a discussion of the history and development of networks and the distinctions in network technology and applications. Nine specific networks are described. Libraries…

User access procedures to information systems have become of crucial importance with the advent of computer networks, which have opened new types of resources to a broad spectrum of users. This report surveys user access protocols of six representative systems: BASIC, GE MK II, INFONET, MEDLINE, NIC/ARPANET and SPIRES. Functional access…

The problem of quality service assurance in a computer networking environment is addressed. In the absence of any direct, well-defined, quantitative measure of service quality and reliability, error collection and analysis is the only basis for service quality control. Therefore, mechanisms are described which facilitate reporting of operational…

The technical features and operational status of interactive information systems, i.e. those providing a conversational usage mode to a non-programer through a data terminal device, are reviewed. The review is designed to aid information specialists in the state-of-the-art assessments preparatory to a detailed system selection procedure. It…

In 1982 a study was conducted to analyze educational software information currently available to Canadian educators and to develop a plan for effectively collecting, organizing, and disseminating courseware information in the future. The teachers, students, librarians, educational resource personnel, and administrators included in the study…

This project report describes the Utah Natural Resources and Land Use Information System, designed and implemented to establish a systematic process for the collection, organization and subsequent availability of land use planning sources and pertinent materials for use by citizens, planners and elected officials. It presents the general system…

Describes plans of 3-year experimental program organized jointly by two universities aiming to assess cost, efficiency, and subjective impact of an electronic journal system (uses computer to aid procedures whereby article is written, refereed, accepted, and published), and to explore and evaluate alternative forms of user communication. Sixteen…

The DIALIB Project was a 3-year experiment that investigated the potential of the public library as a "linking agent" between the public and the many machine-readable data bases currently accessible via the telephone using online terminals. The study investigated the following questions: (1) Is online search of use to the patrons of a…

This is the final report of the evaluation of the DIALIB project--an investigation of the public library as a linking agent to major scientific, educational, social, and environmental data bases. The report is presented in seven sections and four appendices as follows: Section I provides an introduction to the study and a brief summary of the…

Research and development work on the use of the SCHOLAR autotutorial, online system is described. Inference strategies used within the system are deductive, negative, and functional in character. A graphics package allows user to ask questions and give commands in English to control SCHOLAR's map display capability. The examples shown are for…

Improvements in the technology associated with the information sciences will have their primary potential impact on the distribution of costs, information flow level, information availability, and use among information channels. This improvement implied not only a capability to perform a given function, but a lower cost. For example, the trend…