Discusses the growing trend of federal agencies permitting online public access to their computers. Highlights include examples of public access programs, differences in agencies' stands on dissemination of information, agency computer networks and databases that are the basis for the National Research and Education Network, and security…

Defines portability of educational software; examines research regarding the portability of educational materials; considers barriers to portability; describes a research project conducted at the University of Twente (Netherlands) concerning the portability of computer-related educational resources, including networked learning environments; and…

Describes fiber optic technology, explains its use in education and commercial settings, and recommends regulations and legislation that will speed its use to create broadband information networks. Topics discussed include distance learning; interactive video; costs; and the roles of policy makers, lawmakers, public advocacy groups, and consumers.…

Discusses the need for library cooperation with other libraries and with outside organizations, to cope with technological change. Highlights include national bibliographic utilities and regional library networks; relationships among librarians, scholars, and computing professionals; alliances with the commercial sector; the Coalition for…

Describes a study commissioned by the Office of Technology Assessment that was conducted to identify innovative information technology applications, management practices, and policies to help integrate the electronic delivery of federal government services. Highlights include the information infrastructure, existing federal information policy,…

Reports on a comparative investigation of WAIS, a networking and finding aid used on the Internet, and a Boolean-based retrieval system. The terms and limitations of the study are described, and the comparative recall and precision rates are given. The problems and potential of WAIS and other highly interactive search systems are presented.…

Describes a pilot study to help develop instruments appropriate for a full-scale assessment of the Blacksburg, Virginia, community network. A brief overview of the methods employed in the pilot evaluation is given. The results of focus group interviews, lessons learned, and future plans are presented. The 17-item focus group questionnaire is…

Surveys the politics and economics of networking and presents four general leadership strategies for making progress in the climate of change surrounding the developing National Information Infrastructure: (1) building the organizational information infrastructure; (2) emphasizing exploration and discovery; (3) cultivating relationships and…

Discusses the use of microcomputers in creating national information systems in less developed countries; considers the structure and constraints of national systems; discusses bibliographic formats; and describes BABINAT, a reference format for national bibliographic databases that was developed in France for use in less developed countries. (20…

Describes the Bangkok Project, a successful application of electronic mail and computer conferencing networks to support professional development in the field of distance education. The development of the computer conference to supplement a face-to-face conference in Bangkok is explained, and conference format and nature of interactions are…

The Internet has become the standard for public computer networks. The information highway abounds with collaborative K-12 projects to facilitate worldwide sharing of student work. This article describes educational applications and services, including e-mail, mailing lists, bulletin boards, and curriculum projects; explains terms and usage…

Presents a brief historical background for computer-assisted instruction and distance learning in the United States and the United Kingdom (UK). Focuses on the National Grid of Learning (NGL), an experiment in the UK to connect all learning institutions electronically. (AEF)

Discusses the development of strategies for providing access to and services for U.S. federal government information in higher education using the global information infrastructure, from the perspective of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI). Discusses the preservation of electronic information and networked information discovery and…

Draws on results of a four-year effort to establish a campus-wide, computer-supported writing environment to suggest that computer networks and specifically designed instructional software can provide the basis for network-supported, writing-center-based writing-across-the-curriculum programs. Discusses development of network communication tools…

Discussion of assigning identifiers to books and bibliographic citations focuses on identifiers in the networked information environment, including URLs (Uniform Resource Locators); URNs (Uniform Resource Names); the OCLC Persistent URL (PURL); the SICI (Serial Item and Contribution Identifier) code; and the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). (LRW)