Effective use of technology in areas that include admissions, record keeping, billing, compliance, athletic administration, and more hold untold potential to transform higher education by introducing significant efficiencies and dramatic cost reductions in serving students. How the institution organizes itself will to a large extent depend on how…

A wide variety of software tools is currently available to businesses when building e-commerce solutions. Businesses are in need of employees with the appropriate skills to support and implement their e-commerce solutions. Students transitioning from school into the workforce need a well-designed curriculum that can prepare them with the skills…

Electronic learning (e-learning) portals can be defined as websites that store and present materials for online learning, training, performance assessment, and certification. Few, if any, studies have investigated the factors that might contribute to the integration or implementation of e-learning portals in universities. With the development of…

At the end of 2007, SirsiDynix introduced the first version of Symphony, its new flagship Integrated Library System (ILS). This article begins with a look at the evolution of Symphony, user reactions to Symphony, and Symphony's design and functionality. The authors, along with a team of librarians from various functional areas, have completed…

The use of microcomputers in libraries is making online processing less expensive and more effective than traditional manual and batch processes. Procedures followed by the University of Maryland in selecting a computerized library information system from among several turnkey, online circulation systems are described. (MLW)

Offers suggestions for etiquette or rules of conduct when using electronic mail systems (EMS) based on experience utilizing EMS for intraorganizational communication in Carnegie-Mellon University Libraries. Transfer of information, democratization of workplace, antisocial abuse, access and learning, privacy, accounts, salutations and conclusions,…

Describes DIATOM, an online bibliographic retrieval system designed and implemented at Syracuse University to teach search strategy and the use of DIALOG to library science students. System features and database storage considerations are explained. (FM)

Effective management of movable equipment in a large institutional environment requires a readily accessible database containing accurate up-to-date information. The design and maintenance of an equipment database at the University of Illinois School of Chemical Sciences are discussed. (MLW)

Discusses microcomputer interfacing systems which accept full MARC record from bibliographic utility, reformat and transform it into local library computer system format; illustrates how the TPS-400 interface works; outlines criteria for interface selection; indicates installation decisions; and notes limitation problems and benefits. Four…

Presents an overview of the library's use of online systems in the areas of library user instruction, query analysis, and public access to library information. (FM)

Boston University's (Massachusetts) online requisition system allows authorized users in 130 campus departments to originate a variety of transactions, eliminating all manual processing of requisitions. The system is described, its two-year system development cycle is chronicled, and its impact and reception by users are discussed. (Author/MSE)

Describes Gopher, a distributed document delivery service for electronic publishing across a computer network that allows a user to access data using a client-server communications model. The use of Gopher in campuswide information systems is described, and its use in libraries with electronic journals and multimedia documents is discussed. (three…

States that the rapidly growing applications of computer and telecommunications technology to library services and information systems does not guarantee ready access to these services. Discusses the Council on Library Resources' concerns and its commitment to providing accessible and expansive information to the public. (GEA)

Provides small companies with limited resources some suggestions for undertaking a hypertext project. Describes how to create various forms of online documentation systems. (HB)

The National Academy of Sciences suggests models for biomedical research which include a biology-wide information system with computerized database accessible from a multitude of dimensions. Links could help discover whether toxic chemicals have effects similar to hormones. Commonalities from molecules to ecosystems might restructure available…