This guide provides an introduction to the use of microcomputers with qualitative data. It is deliberately non-specific and rudimentary in order to be of maximum benefit to the widest possible audience of beginning microcomputer users who wish to analyze their data using software that is not specifically designed for qualitative data analysis. The…

Presents description of the Generalized Automatic Text Organization and Retrieval system (GATOR), a database system that indexes and retrieves information from machine-readable texts such as interviews and case histories. Qualitative and quantitative analyses are discussed, and integrating GATOR with standard statistical packages is described.…

Reports views of six professionals--a psychologist, an educator, an administrative assistant at a medical college, a chemist, and a labor lawyer--who conduct their own online searching. The uses of microcomputers and online databases, costs, time involved, information needs, and satisfaction with the accuracy of search results are discussed. (EJS)

Ten randomly-chosen U.S. American Library Association (ALA) accredited programs which grant the first professional degree in library and information science (LIS) were studied to determine to what degree, and in what manner, 15 information technologies (ITs) based on computers have been incorporated into the curricula. The method of study included…

This study of microcomputer use to access an online encyclopedia revealed attitudes of eighth-graders towards computer technology and videotex. Electronic searching is compared to searching with traditional library print materials for a science course, the role of computer printouts is discussed, and research methods including observation and…

The experience of novice users searching SilverPlatter's ERIC CD-ROM on the Macintosh was studied. Ten students from an introductory master's level course in library and information science were recruited as volunteer subjects. Subjects were asked to complete a search on the ERIC CD-ROM; and data were collected via observations, a think-aloud…