This book is about the Computer Clubhouse--the idea and the place--that inspires youth to think about themselves as competent, creative, and critical learners. So much of the social life of young people has moved online and participation in the digital public has become an essential part of youth identities. The Computer Clubhouse makes an…

Discusses the role of intelligent agents in facilitating the seeking and retrieval of information in Web-based library environments. Highlights include an overview of agents; current applications in library domains; an agent-based model for libraries; the design of interface agents; and implications for library policy and digital collections.…

AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway--the world's first major FRBR implementation--was developed as a co-operative service involving eight universities and the National Library of Australia in 2000-2001. This paper traces the reasons for adopting the FRBR information model, implementation experiences, and user responses to the service. The paper…

Creating educational software generally requires a great deal of computer expertise, and as a result, educators lacking such knowledge have largely been excluded from the design process. Recently, researchers have been designing tools for automating some aspects of building instructional applications. These tools typically aim for generality,…

Describes Aran, a knowledge-based system designed to help users deal with problems related to Unix operation. Highlights include adaptation to the individual user; user modeling knowledge; stereotypes; content of the individual user model; instantiation, acquisition, and maintenance of the individual model; dynamic acquisition of objective and…

Discussion of information systems methodologies that can contribute to interface design for public access systems covers: the systems life cycle; advantages of adopting information systems methodologies; soft systems methodologies; task-oriented approaches to user interface design; holistic design, the Star model, and prototyping; the…

Presents a new technique for information access based on a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and conceptual structures as modeled in relational concept analysis. Describes a graphical interface that allows access of spatial, hierarchical, and linear data in a common manner; discusses its features and limits. (Author/AEF)

Creating archival descriptions in a digital environment and communicating across the Internet is not the same as traditional paper-based communication. As in other cultural domains, in archival description the medium influences the structure and content of information. The SIASFI Project and the Online Guide to the State Archives of Florence are…

More recent motivational research focuses on the identification of effective techniques for enhancing instructional design and meeting the needs of diverse student populations (Wlodkowski R. J., 1981). Learning-motivation researchers are applying some of the same theories and concepts found to be effective in industry to the development of…

The purpose of this experiment was to assess the effectiveness of a comprehensive model for the analysis of hypermap navigation patterns through a comparison of navigation patterns associated with a traditional linear interface versus a non-linear "hypermap" interface. Twenty-six general psychology university students studied material on bipolar…

This report discusses research commissioned by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in order to evaluate prototypes of digital public television programming. There were two phases of research, the first using exclusively linear demonstrations of interactive public television, and the second demonstrating computer simulations of three digital…

Describes tools for authoring all aspects of a knowledge-based tutor system: domain model, teaching strategies, student model, and learning environment. Discusses a number of design issues and design tradeoffs that are involved in building intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). (Author/CCM)

Describes the new service model of the Resource & Information Center at Harcourt, Inc., which was charged with developing and publicizing library services that would empower end-users. Includes tips for purchasing online databases, guidelines for developing content that will draw people into the company's intranet or Web site, and top 10…

Explains why metaphors are important design elements in multimedia learning environments. Describes a model developed for levels of metaphor mapping which is oriented toward a cognitive engineering approach for describing aspects of user interfaces. Shows the extent that the didactic dimensions of width and depth of metaphors be taken into account…

Explores the concepts of interaction and interactivity presented in different theoretical models in the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and information-seeking/searching behavior, and relates these to information retrieval (IR) research. Suggests that interaction in HCI is primarily concerned with establishing a user/system dialogue at…