Elaborating on the complex nature of literacy from a social, epistemological, psychological, and pedagogical perspective, this book describes the group of people called the "scribal society." The book notes that scribes were (and still are) not simply people who can decode and encode written language, or "text"--scribes must…

This paper examines the institutional history of the United States government's efforts from 1946 to 1950 to gather, rationalize, and communicate to private industry, in the creation of the Office of Technical Services (OTS), the wealth of information that had been generated by scientists during the Second World War. Noting that U.S. information…

To determine whether program evaluation will be an important tool for policymaking and management in the Reagan Administration, it would be helpful to consider what the Reagan administration expected and received from evaluation in California during the period 1971-1974. In California, program evaluation activities were frequently implemented on a…

Ethical issues; institutional characteristics and organizational arrangements; and roles and skills of the researcher must be considered if the government is to apply social science research findings more widely for the public good. (Available from: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 433 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, single issue, $6.95.) (Author/GDC)

Describes documentation activities by the Air Documents Division, a precursor of the Defense Technical Information Center, involving captured German technical reports related to aeronautical science and technology following World War II. Document publication, acquisition, processing, dissemination, and utilization are discussed; and selection of…

The Rutherford B. Hayes Library opened in 1916, when the building in Fremont, Ohio was dedicated as the first presidential library and museum. The library's original purpose was to preserve the 12,000 volume personal library of President Hayes along with archival material from his careers in law, the military, and politics. This was a radical idea…

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 evolution of the California Assessment Program from its legislative origins in 1961 is discussed. The following topics are included: history; analysis and reporting of results; program impact; program assessment; and future changes in emphasis. (MH)

A series of 11 articles describes information technologies being used in the U.S. Congress, the impact of these technologies, and possible future developments. Included are a chronology of key actions affecting congressional information support and a list of readings in information technology and Congress. (CLB)