Orchestrating collaborative learning in the classroom involves tasks such as forming learning groups with heterogeneous knowledge and making learners aware of the knowledge differences. However, gathering information on which the formation of appropriate groups and the creation of graphical knowledge representations can be based is very effortful…

It has been recognized that in order to drive Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) into mainstream use by the teaching community, it is essential to support teachers through the entire ITS process: Design, Development, Deployment, Reflection and Adaptation. Although research has been done on supporting teachers through design to deployment of ITSs,…

This report studies and classifies, according to distinct user-oriented features, the various computer-aided systems developed for storage and retrieval of information in a wide range of fields. Such features are described and evaluated to determine the nature of characteristics that have a strong bearing on the relative success of various query…

The work reported is part of a series of studies aimed at providing information and assistance to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) in planning the Biomedical Communications Network (BCN). The first part reviews the literature on systems relevant to BCN design, documents System Development Corporation's position with respect to certain…

Discussion of the use of information retrieval techniques for automatic generation of semantic hypertext links focuses on automatic text summarization. Topics include World Wide Web links, text segmentation, and evaluation of text summarization by comparing automatically generated abstracts with manually prepared abstracts. (Author/LRW)

Differences in judged relevance of Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) abstracts identified by two different information systems were investigated. A national semi-private educational service agency which utilizes mechanical searching of the research literature was one information system, while the other was a regional,…

A series of five batches of twenty searches were carried out in a three year span of the INSPEC data base by the 31 Company's Information Retrieval Service. The same queries were processed manually in the corresponding volumes of Science Abstracts and comparison of the output of each search method exposed reasons for the failures. Emphasis is laid…

Explores the qualities of bibliographic and object entities that contribute to the similarities and differences in the data describing them and the possibility of cooperation between indexers of art objects and indexers of bibliographic information. The discussion covers the role of authority control as the linking component between bibliographic…

Categorizes software packages for microcomputer database creation by their typical features and strengths, and discusses appropriate applications of each category. A directory of vendors for each type of software--text retrieval, file managers, database management, information storage and retrieval, integrated bibliographic systems, and library…

SOME MACHINE-PRODUCED INDEXES ARE COMPARED TO ASSIST IN DECIDING ON THE FORMAT FOR A PROPOSED INDEX. THE OBJECTIVES OF AN INDEX AND THE SEARCH PROCEDURE ARE ANALYZED, AND AN EXPLANATION AND A RELATIONSHIP IS GIVEN FOR KEY-WORDS-IN-TITLE AND KEY-REFERENCES OF THE SAME ARTICLE. BASED ON THE COMPARISON OF THE INDEXES, A 53- YEAR CUMULATIVE INDEX WAS…

Retrievability of titles of 152 periodicals were compared in a fixed-length algorithmic search (Library Computer System) and a keyword search (Washington Library Network) to determine which type of search algorithm is more successful with titles of varying lengths. Three references and a list of English language stopwords are appended. (EJS)

Conducted to gather information on the practical impact of implementing either the Washington Library Network (WLN) system or one of two versions of the DOBIS system in British Columbia Union Catalogue (BCUC) member libraries, this study addressed four questions: (1) the effect the introduction of the new system would have on workflows; (2)…

Objectives of this project were to develop and test a method for automatically processing the text of abstracts for a document retrieval system. The test corpus consisted of 768 abstracts from the metallurgical section of Chemical Abstracts (CA). The system, based on a subject indexing rational, had two components: (1) a stored dictionary of words…

Discusses factors that should be considered when comparing microcomputer software for small and medium-sized library catalogs and describes eight specific packages--BRS/Search Micros/Mini Version, Card Catalog, Golden Retriever, INMAGIC, TEQLIB, FINDER, SCIMATE, and STAR. (Author/MBR)

Compares LISA (Library and Information Science Abstracts) on SilverPlatter's CD-ROM with its replacement version, Bowker-Saur's LISA Plus. Features reviewed include entry to the databases; use of Boolean search facilities; indexes and browsing; displaying and printing records; subsidiary functions; on-screen help; and interfaces. (Contains eight…