Software continues to affect a major part of our daily lives, including the way we use our phones, home appliances, medical devices, and cars. The pervasiveness of software has led to a growing demand for software developers over the next decade. To ensure the high quality of software developed in industry, students being trained in software…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present an overview of the two open source (OS) integrated library systems (ILS)--Koha and ABCD (ISIS family), to compare their "next-generation library catalog" functionalities, and to give comparison of other important features available through ILS modules. Design/methodology/approach: Two open source…

Although distance language education has been widely adopted in university learning, very few researchers to date have looked at off-screen behaviors of second/foreign language learners in their physical environments while they engage in synchronous (real-time) online courses. This study examined one focal student's off-screen behaviors while…

Although there is a proliferation of information available on the Web, and law professors, students, and other users have a variety of channels to locate information and complete their research activities, the law library catalog still remains an important source for offering users access to information that has been evaluated and cataloged by…

Reports on a survey which assessed automated authority control capabilities of 18 vendors' automated library systems, software, or services. Graphs rank vendors according to overall score, authority record source, format/storage of authority records, database dynamics, matching/linking authority and bibliographic records, syndetic structure,…

Availability analysis was used to evaluate an online catalog in a small university library. Problems found likely to interfere with patron success with the catalog included: (1) incomplete location information; (2) incomplete holdings information; (3) misinterpretation by the search program of special characters; and (4) inadequate access points…

Discusses topics related to use of search trees to enhance subject searching in online catalogs: subject searching in existing systems; search trees defined; highlights of a study of subject queries; normalized subject headings; the exact approach to subject searching; one-word queries; multiword queries; queries failing to produce retrievals; and…

Examines the potential application of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Z39.50 library networking protocol as a client/server environment for a scholar's workstation. Computer networking models are described, and linking the workstation to an online public access catalog (OPAC) is…

Presents the results of a survey of 18 vendors of PC- and Mac-based multifunction library systems that include either circulation or patron access catalogs. Highlights include software alone or turnkey systems, operating systems, programming language, sales, profitability, and support staff. (LRW)

Online public access catalogs from 67 libraries using NOTIS software were searched using Internet connections to determine the positional operators selected as the default keyword operator on each catalog. Results indicate the lack of a processing standard for keyword searches. Five tables provide information. (Author/AEF)

Discusses features of online public access catalogs: (1) demonstration of relationships between records; (2) provision of entry vocabularies; (3) arrangement of multiple entries on the screen; (4) provision of access points; (5) display of single records; and (6) division of catalogs into separate files or indexes. User studies and other research…

Reports the design, methodology, and results of a research project which examined the effectiveness of bibliographic displays produced by online catalogs. A means of testing displays against several hundred thousand records at a reasonable cost and using that to test several display possibilities is described. (CLB)

Microcomputer applications in the learning resources center and the classroom are discussed in 10 articles. Some of the topics discussed include library automation, the selection of computers for classroom use, the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction, a review of computer software programs that feature dinosaur graphics, and computer…

This report examines and evaluates the application of prototyping methodology in the design of a microcomputer-based online library catalog. The methodology for carrying out the research involves a five-part examination of the problem on both the theoretical and applied levels, each of which is discussed in a separate section as follows: (1) a…

Presents results of an evaluation of C.D. Cat, a CD-ROM union catalog developed by the Associated College Libraries of Central Pennsylvania consortium. Outcomes are reported in the areas of bibliographic quality, user evaluation, public relations strategies, bibliographic instruction, and guidelines for continuing operations. Recommendations are…