It is critical that students learn how to retrieve useful information in hypermedia environments, a task that is often especially difficult when it comes to image retrieval, as little text feedback is given that allows them to reformulate keywords they need to use. This situation may make students feel disorientated while attempting image…

This paper presents a comparative evaluation of Google Scholar and 11 other bibliographic databases (Academic Search Elite, AgeLine, ArticleFirst, EconLit, GEOBASE, MEDLINE, PAIS International, POPLINE, Social Sciences Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index, and SocINDEX), focusing on search performance within the multidisciplinary field of…

The use of bibliographic management software and its internal search interfaces is now pervasive among researchers. This study compares the results between searches conducted in academic databases' search interfaces versus the EndNote search interface. The results show mixed search reliability, depending on the database and type of search…

In this article, the authors compared the MLA International Bibliography database (MLAIB) across five vendor platforms to determine how and why seemingly comparable searches produced varying results. A number of tests were conducted using a variety of fields, terms, and parameters, and examples of results are provided. The authors' findings are…

This study investigates the relationships between the use of a zoom tool, the terms they supply to describe the image, and the type of image being viewed. Participants were assigned to two groups, one with access to the tool and one without, and were asked to supply terms to describe forty images, divided into four categories: landscape, portrait,…

Introduction: This article reports on the adequacy and specific characteristics of 5th grade students' use of Web literacy skills and strategies after completing a programme in which these skills and strategies were the focus of attention. Method: Data were collected from twenty-one student pairs' Web use during six assignments, and recorded with…

Presents guidelines for selecting World Wide Web search engines. Real-life questions were used to test six search engines. Queries sought company information, product reviews, medical information, foreign information, technical reports, and current events. Compares performance and features of AltaVista, Excite, HotBot, Infoseek, Lycos, and Open…

Four English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) dictionaries available in electronic form are compared and evaluated, focusing on content and organization, utility for students unused to the computer, inclusion of supplementary language corpora and other reference materials, multimedia capacities, and search options. (MSE)

This evaluation of the DIALOG Medical Connection, a new user-friendly system that provides access to several online health sciences databases, describes searching, changing databases, documentation, online help, access, costs, and training, and compares the features of this system with those of other systems that are currently available. Three…

The last installment in a three part series compares commands and features for accessing and manipulating the results obtained from the DIALOG and QUESTEL information systems. Highlights include enhancements to syntax and defaults, options for output arrangement and retrieval, reformatting of selected data, memory, unique features, and examples.…

Second article in a three-part series focuses on enhancements of search commands and features in the DIALOG and QUESTEL information systems. Highlights include system responses and capacities (aids to searching); search commands and features (proximity searching, field specification, limits); concatenating complex requests; and saving search…

Explains Web search agents as tools that apply intelligent agent software technology for the purpose of automating, improving, and speeding up online search operations. Topics include intelligent desktop agents; search agent marketplace; comparing Web search agents; subjective evaluations; and use by researchers. (LRW)

Report #27 in this series discussed the 'wiki' method of online information-sharing, and its educational uses. A wiki is browser-based collaborative writing environment, in which a community may amass and exchange information on a particular topic, and to which anyone may contribute without having Web programming skills. In the current study,…

First of a three-part series provides an overview of pre-enhancement DIALOG and QUESTEL information systems including their histories, databases, query languages, and services. Description of implementation of DIALOG Version 2 and QUESTEL PLUS and a general comparison of system features provide a preview of specific comparisons in part 2. (EJS)

Identifies five design requirements for electronic encyclopedias, based on the content and structure of printed encyclopedias and the uses that people make of them. Three existing hypertext programs (Owl International's Guide, HyperCard, and HyperTIES) are compared in terms of their ability to satisfy these design requirements. (CLB)