Describes study that was conducted with 62 subjects who varied in age, educational background, and computer experience, to determine user preferences for fonts on a Macintosh microcomputer screen display. Topics discussed include the forced choice comparison mode used, a HyperCard stack designed for the study, and a Thurstone scale derived from…

Compares three letter libraries designed for IBM-style personal computers. Finds the quality of the three approximately equal, but rates sample letters as generally poor. (MS)

This study compared the typing efficiency of four young children (5 to 6 years of age) who were novice typists on the Dvork and QWERTY keyboards. A copying program on an Apple IIc microcomputer functioned as the training instrument. Although the children did not acquire proficient touch typing skills, they did type accurate responses faster, keep…

Summarizes responses from an international survey of automated library system vendors who offer integrated, multi-user, multi-function systems running on mainframes, minis, and micros using multi-user operating systems. Companies were questioned about their computer systems, products, customers, staff, and sales figures. A comparative analysis of…

Compared the ease and efficiency of the Qwerty and Dvorak keyboards by analyzing five popular lists on high frequency words to determine differences in fingering for the keyboards. Found that more high frequency words and more characters are typed on the Dvorak keyboard home row, and therefore children should be taught to use the Dvorak rather…

A 3-year project was undertaken to develop, implement, and evaluate a program to reduce computerphobic reactions among postsecondary education students. The Model Computerphobia Reduction Program was designed to screen potential computerphobic students in their computer courses at the beginning of a semester and invite them to participate in brief…

The primary purpose of this study was to compare, from a social/cognitive perspective, computer free play with more traditional preschool free play. Secondary objectives were to find out whether there were gender differences in the duration and type of computer play and whether receptive language differences or sociometric status affected the use…

Describes the general methodology of time and motion studies and reports the results of a study which used this methodology to compare digitization of images in a microcomputer environment with storage of images on microforms. (CLB)

Discussion of graph-drawing algorithms compares and evaluates five algorithms for generated automatic graphic display of sentence dependency structures that have been implemented in the TEXTNET text structure management system. Evaluation criteria are discussed, and a test of the algorithms with a database of newspaper articles is described. (16…

Learner preferences for varying screen density levels were examined using multiple screen designs (high external validity) and single screen designs (high internal validity). Subjects were 23 graduate and 23 undergraduate student volunteers. When viewing multiple screens for each design in Study I, they indicated the highest preference for medium…

This report discusses the results of a survey sent out to principals to obtain a definitive count of the number of microcomputers and the manufacturer's brand of computer used for instruction in the Cincinnati Public Schools. For the first part of the study, the average number of microcomputers per school at each school level (elementary,…

Discusses the special characteristics of personal file management software and compares four microcomputer software packages: Notebook II with Bibliography and Convert, Pro-Cite with Biblio-Links, askSam, and Reference Manager. Each package is evaluated in terms of the user interface, file maintenance, retrieval capabilities, output, and…

Differences between letters of four adolescent mildly mentally handicapped (MMH) students written by hand and those composed on a microcomputer using a word processor were examined in terms of amount of time a subject spent completing a letter, the length of a completed letter, the number of words written per unit of time needed to complete a…

Describes a study that examined the similarities and differences in computer related attitudes between sixth grade boys and girls of different mathematics achievement levels. Students' responses to questions about self-confidence in their computer abilities, the utility of computers, and general attitudes toward computers are reported and…

Describes a study which investigated pupil attitudes toward microcomputers to determine gender differences, differences between elementary and secondary school-age pupils, and differences in microcomputer owners and non-owners. Results reveal a difference in attitudes between owners and non-owners but very little attitude differences between the…