This paper is concerned with providing automatically generated online explanations to the user of a user interface or "tool" about what the interface can and cannot do, and what parameters or options are available or required with a given command. The COUSIN interface system, developed at Carnegie-Mellon, supplies a cooperative…

A class project in a systems programing course at the University of Michigan sought to produce a system realistic enough to warrant production use, the underlying assumption being that the reality of the project would motivate students and provide them with valuable experience. Eighteen experienced students in the Computerized Registration…

By drawing an analogy to computer programming, it is apparent that end user training for online bibliographic search systems will increase, lead to vastly increased use of online search systems, increase the understanding of end users, and reduce the amount of time professionals spend on routine tasks. (CWM)

A course has been developed which provides an introduction to computer programing for community college students who have taken high school algebra. Instruction is presented by computer and a student reference manual is provided. The content resembles that of other introductory courses in computer programing, including topics on stored programs,…

Investigators developed an on-line, interactive programing system--the Teacher-Interactive Computer System (TICS)--to provide assistance to those who were not programers, but nevertheless wished to write interactive instructional programs. TICS had two components: an author system and a delivery system. Underlying assumptions were that…

Describes potential uses of microcomputers in library education and library automation based upon experiences with a four-user Altos ACS8000 microcomputer at the University of Chicago Graduate Library School. Word processing, training in online information retrieval using MIRABILIS (Microsystem for Interactive Bibliographic Searching), and…

Software design is still a craft; techniques are based on the way things have been done, not on basic theorems or design principles. Suggests that academic software design needs to be more like a science or technology and that a taxonomy of design solutions or classification method is required. Describes two case studies. (MLW)

Argues that a computer-based programming tutor for novice programmers needs to take into account not only the types and frequency of bugs found in the programs, but the intentions and knowledge state of the programmer. A first version of such a program was developed on the basis of the bug types found in a number of pencil-and-paper studies with…

A multi-language, time-sharing system (MTS-12) has been developed for the PDP-12, a Digital Equipment Corporation laboratory computer. This low-cost, core-resident system features program storage on LINC tape (3/4" magnetic tape on a 4" reel), access to the high-level interpreted FOCAL language, and a special variable storage in the user…

An attempt is made to provide a comprehensive guide to design of the dialogues between man and computer that take place at computer terminals. Particular topics include problems with conventional alphanumeric dialogues, dialogues with sound and graphics, pyschological characteristics of computer terminal users, problems of designing dialogues for…

An analysis of portions of the HumRRO (Human Resources Research Organization) developed computer-assisted instruction (CAI) course in COBOL programing, and a survey of representatives from Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) PLATO IV installations indicated a need for authoring aids that could be prepared and programed easily and quickly. The…

Developed from presentations given at a 3-day invitational meeting of 31 leading online catalog designers from both public and private sectors in North America, these papers provide information about online catalogs--their present form, their use, and the questions that need to be considered in their future refinement. All of the papers in this…

Increased student involvement with the computer at Delta State University, Mississippi, is considered. The university purchased a new computer, NCR Criterion, with six terminals and time-sharing BASIC. Two of these terminals are located in the Department of Physical Sciences, with the others located in the School of Business and in the University…

Over 6,100 references are contained in this bibliography of computer literature published from 1946 to 1963. The full title and all of the authors of every article published in 9 journals, 21 books, and over 100 proceedings are included. No articles from other sources are included. The books selected are those that have chapters by individual…

In this second volume of a two-volume bibliography of computer literature approximately 5,200 references from 1964 to 1967 are listed. The full title and the names of all the authors of articles published in 17 journals, 20 books, and 43 conference proceedings are given. In addition, references to all items that were reviewed in the Institute of…