Careful planning is required for teachers to take full advantage of the cross-cultural learning opportunities afforded by electronic networks and telecommunications. Networking with more than one classroom and using a well-defined group project integral to other classroom activities are recommended. (EA)

Discussion of the evolution of a postindustrial, knowledge-based society addresses the importance of intellectual power and information technology as strategic resources, communications technology, development of the National Research and Education Network (NREN), the need for creative software applications, implications of advanced information…

Discusses U.S. science and technical information (STI) policy since the 1960s and the recent move toward a diffusion-oriented STI policy. Highlights include reasons why STI is important to national competitiveness, the National Research and Education Network as an information infrastructure, and creation of a committee to coordinate STI policy…

Describes the development of the WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) protocol, a system that allows users access to personal, corporate, and commercial electronic information from one interface. The availability of WAIS on the Internet and the reactions of users are addressed. Several problems are considered, including funding, hardware…

Discusses the relationship between the normative structure of science and the use of electronic networks by researchers. Literature on social and technical norms in science is reviewed, and empirical data gathered in an earlier study of researchers and managers through focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, and surveys are reanalyzed. (65…

Characterizes information retrieval systems in a network environment from a user's perspective along two axes: query and presentation. Several examples of early, current, and developing information retrieval systems are considered within this framework, and Daltext, a prototype system to support research on text-based retrieval systems, is…

Noting that standards are needed to enable libraries using different processors and different operating systems to connect their computers and share services in meaningful ways, this article examines the content and status of ANSI Z39.50: Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol Specification for Library Applications and related work.…

Discusses the possible futures of telecommunications and interactive television and describes the Internet and services now available through it. Topics addressed include access to the Internet; resources available; access costs; user-friendly graphical interfaces; the digital video channel, used for videoconferencing and experimental projects;…

Examines the relationship between a society's communication technology and Marshall McLuhan's concerns for human cognition, and between the technology and the ways that humans organize their societies. It is suggested that appropriate development of global electronic networks could have a positive effect on individual and organizational abilities…

Describes the use and applications of the communications program Telenet for remote log-in, a basic interactive resource sharing service that enables users to connect to any machine on the Internet and conduct a session. The Virtual Terminal--the central component of Telenet--is also described, as well as problems with terminals, services…

Describes the Edison Project, a plan to integrate technology into schools and school systems that will support communication, collaboration, research, text and multimedia authoring and publishing, resource access and management, assessment, and administration and management services. Computer networks that link schools and external sources are…

Describes support delivered by Harvard University's Beginning Teacher Computer Network which helps beginning teachers in disparate geographic locations. Data from mail surveys, computer message counts, and follow-up interviews indicate the network was most effective in providing moral support and least effective in providing technical support of…

Describes the Canadian Database Promotion Initiative (CDPI), which was created to develop projects that link telecommunications with information technologies for a variety of business and educational organizations. Topics discussed include computer-mediated communications; networks for businesses, research organizations, and universities; and the…

Traditional methods of authority present in a print environment are lacking on the Internet, and, even when occasionally present, are of questionable veracity. A formal model and evaluative criteria are suggested and explained to provide a means for accurately ascribing cognitive authority in a networked environment; the model is unique in its…

Discusses the history and current uses of the JACC (Journalism Association of Community Colleges) NEWS Internet-based mailing list. Describes the service's origins as a dial-up bulletin board, its functioning as an Internet newsgroup, its future, and a related community college wire service. (MAB)