This article argues that accessibility and universality are essential to good Web design. A brief review of library science literature sets the issue of Web accessibility in context. The bulk of the article explains the design philosophies of progressive enhancement and responsive Web design, and summarizes recent updates to WCAG 2.0, HTML5, CSS…

Today, there is a real challenge to enable personalized access to information. Several systems have been proposed to address this challenge including Adaptive Hypermedia Systems (AHSs). However, the specification of adaptation strategies remains a difficult task for creators of such systems. In this paper, we consider the problem of the definition…

Learning objects (LOs) are digital or non-digital entities used for learning, education or training commonly stored in repositories searchable by their associated metadata. Unfortunately, based on the current standards, such metadata is often missing or incorrectly entered making search difficult or impossible. In this paper, we investigate…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine existing learning innovation systems and propose a systematic methodology of delivering educational innovations in the right amount, in the right place and at the right time. Design/methodology/approach: Higher education is not effectively incorporating new discoveries in cognitive science and human…

As part of the research carried out at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS), the Paper Authentication and Integrity Research (PAIR) project was launched. We began by investigating how one recent technology affected student learning outcomes. One aspect of this research was to study the…

This article is based on the premise that face-to-face training can be augmented with cloud-based technology tools, to potentially extend viable training supports as higher education staff and faculty implement new content/skills in their jobs and classrooms. There are significant benefits to harnessing cloud-based tools that can facilitate both…

Many current (online) help systems fail because users refuse to use them or, even if they do so, they do not perceive them as helpful. There is an obvious gap between the intentions of the help content authors and the achievement of objectives concerning the perceived usefulness by help users. Problems may be divided into psychological and…

Over the past several decades, millions of digital objects of significant scientific, economic, cultural, and historic value have been published and distributed to libraries and archives on removable media. Providing long-term access to these documents, media files, and software executables is an increasingly complex task because of dependencies…

There is as yet no viable long-term strategy to ensure that digital information will be readable in the future. Digital documents are vulnerable to loss via the decay and obsolescence of the media on which they are stored, and they become inaccessible and unreadable when the software needed to interpret them, or the hardware on which that software…

Most libraries don't have the resources to cross-platform and cross-version test all of their JavaScript coding. Many turn to WYSIWYG; however, WYSIWYG editors don't generally produce optimized coding. Web developers should: test their coding on at least one 3.0 browser, code by hand using tools to help speed that process up, and include a simple…

Describes the potential library uses of technology that link video cameras, video recorders, and microcomputers. The equipment is explained, including color video printers; costs are examined; and library uses are discussed, including the provision of access to material that cannot be photocopied, archival storage, and photo enhancement. (LRW)

Various methods for retrieving chemical structure information on the World Wide Web are discussed. Although graphical plug-in programs provide more search capabilities, users first have to obtain a copy of the programs. Tripos's WebSketch and ACD Interactive Lab adopt a different approach; using JAVA applets, users create and display a structure…

Provides an overview of CD-ROM and describes features of CD-Recordable (CD-R) technology, including disc capacity, data transfer rate, mastering, and multiple-write session. CD-R applications, application development costs, and staffing requirements are considered. (EA)

Discusses the use of integrated information systems in corporate settings and describes a conceptual model. Topics discussed include hardware and software, including standards; data incompatibility; problems of information access; senior management needs; organizational culture; training and personnel issues; and the impact of organizational…

Describes levels of Internet connectivity, physical connections, and connection speeds. Compares options for connecting to the Internet, including terminal accounts, dial-up terminal accounts, direct connections through a local area network, and direct connections using SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) or PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol). (eight…