To explore whether there is a recognizable point (a terminology-setting event, e.g., a scholarly conference, a special issue of a journal, or a particularly influential journal article) in the development of a new branch of knowledge that serves to codify a vocabulary for the researchers of that field, electronic and manual searches were conducted…

The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system provides information to education writers for newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. ERIC can be used to find the names of reliable sources in a given field, as well as background information for an in-depth article or broadcast. The ERIC collection of documents on microfiche is…

This international collection of papers on the role of technical information in the engineering profession contains 18 discussions on the following: activities of the Committee on Engineering Information (CEI) of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO); engineering information in the framework of UNESCO/UNISIST; industrial and…

Describes a student magazine publishing project in which the participating junior high school students accessed the information utility, CompuServe, to gather current and accurate background information for their magazine articles. Student use of CompuServe is described, and the value and costs of using CompuServe are discussed. (MBR)

Describes how reference-based instruction can be incorporated into an instructional system design. Provides specific examples of learning objectives and student exercises. Defines reference-based instruction and outlines its benefits. Lists guidelines for how to structure usability tests for Help systems. Advises how technical communicators can…

Examines influences on the use of electronic information resources, including the Internet. Highlights include information quality and accessibility; the Technology Assessment Model; the Fitness for Purpose model; the Theory of Planned Behavior; and a study in Australia that compared the ability of these models to explain electronic information…

Describes a study that investigated the information needs of rural health workers in Hawaii and their current means of information access. Highlights include ranking of information needs, ranked sources of information, hardware ownership, use of electronic sources, use of document delivery services, and perceived barriers to information use.…

Reviews past trends regarding electronic resources and publishing on the Internet, analyzes critical issues involving electronic resources, and makes predictions for the years 2000 through 2005. Examines important developments on a year-to-year basis from 1991 through 1998-99. Identifies archiving, usage, utility, and copyright as key issues,…

Reports on a study of the information sources used in environmental scanning by chief executives of the Canadian telecommunications industry that investigated the relationship between perceived source quality and source use and the chief executives' perception and use of the company library and electronic information sources. (Contains 23…

The Vocational Education Data System (VEDS) data base was created as a result of the Vocational Education Amendments of 1976. VEDS statistics were to be collected in the form of state-aggregate data (that is, state-level data is submitted by each state, based upon records and data collected by the state for this and other purposes); and VEDS data,…

This book contains 11 papers examining career planning and job searching in the information age. The following papers are included: "The Librarian's Role in the Job Search of the Future: Issues and Ethics in the Electronic Environment" (Elizabeth A. Lorenzen); "The Internet as Career, Job, and Employment Resource: Transition, Assimilation,…

The rate of new technology-driven innovations for information delivery has accelerated over the past three decades. New information delivery formats in the 1950s and 1960s included microforms and, in response to demands from librarians, indexing and abstracting services began to make their publications available on this medium. Electronic…

The library of McDonald and Company Securities is important to the success of the business and its employees. This study assesses the needs and expectations of the library users, and analyzes how well the current library services are meeting those needs and expectations. A questionnaire was distributed to a large random sample of the firm's…

In compiling the final report of Wisconsin's ERIC on-line Information Retrieval Demonstration and Research Project, an extensive review of research on information science, user needs and perceptions, and information use and saturation was seen as a vital first step. Such knowledge might help explain the successes and failures of the Project, which…