A master's comprehensive University is planning a learning commons to support undergraduate learning. The planning process included a literature review, site visits to commons, consultations with experts in the field, discussions with campus specialists, and surveys of patrons. The literature reports two primary forms of data gathering for…

Article described the work of the International Bureau of Education, which provides information and documents on education on the international level by working in close cooperation with UNESCO, and that of the International Educational Reporting Service, which provides information on innovations to educational decision-makers and practitioners.…

Several museum information processing systems are discussed in relation to their underlying assumptions regarding museum information and networking needs that have resulted in inadequate service to some kinds of museums, particularly historical museums. Rather than any of these systems, a modular approach is proposed that would allow each museum…

Information overproduction and the lack of an adequate system for its storage and retrieval have frustrated integrative efforts and hindered orderly progress in the area of psychological testing. Describes a prototype repository system to handle and service the mass of information produced. (Authors)

Discusses a reliability theoretic construct focusing on information produced to satisfy specified purposes or achieve preconceived objectives. When measures of system reliability and sensitivity analyses are performed, the result is a closer congruence between the objectives of the data producer and user requirements. (Author/MBR)

The Library of Educational Documentation in Florence, Italy began work in 1980 on the establishment of an educational documentation system for Italy. Recognition of its role in this regard was accorded by the Regional Institutes for Educational Research, Innovation and Teacher Training (IRRSAE) and by the European Centre for Education (CEDE) in…

This paper addresses some of the problems of data access and exchange by discussing what an educational research institution should do about data archiving and data facilities. The work undertaken at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education is described. Generally, efforts in the past have been given to computerization of bibliographic…

Proposes a 'communication bill of rights' focusing on the right to access, the rights of redress and the right for public accountability of organizations. (MH)

Information systems for the sciences and professions should differ from those of traditional libraries because their purpose is to disseminate information, not to archive it, and their holdings should reflect user needs, not the size of the knowledge base. Various information system models may be identified, such as the discipline-oriented, the…

Discusses the need of developing countries to set up local databases and exchange information; outlines Unesco General Information Programme's role in this context; describes a specific Unesco program to help member states acquire and use microcomputer software; reviews criteria for software selection; and describes the program's implementation…

The rapidly expanding use of teleprocessing, which is taken to mean automated data processing (ADP) which makes direct use of data transmission via switched or long distance non-switched telecommunications facilities, has highlighted the urgent need for the development of standards for data communications and the computer-communications interface.…

This collection of technical studies concerning the European Documentation and Information System for Education (EUDISED) presents the problems of educational information, documentation, and dissemination in Europe. In the first report, transmitter-receiver relationships and the understanding of each other's roles and needs are discussed. The…

Counseling center efforts to establish and maintain relevant effectiveness in the services they offer, must be based on valid and reliable feedback from critical sources. Record keeping and data collection are the procedures by which this feedback can be acquired if they are designed to answer questions and do not become ends in themselves. A…

Special problems in the handling of biological information arise from the diversity of biological subject matter and the complexity of biological approaches towards phenomena of the living world. This state-of-the-art report on communications of information in the biological sciences provides information on: (1) users of biological information,…

The first two parts of the report describe some attributes of the information process and of various information handling systems. Recommendations to the technical community include: (1) The technical community must recognize that handling of technical information is a worthy and integral part of science; (2) The individual author must accept more…