Purpose: If collaboration and knowledge sharing lie at the core of providing added-value to either services or products can we improve this process? The purpose of this paper is to suggest that it can be improved and this lies in how we develop the systems that support collaboration and knowledge sharing. This can be achieved within the…

System design can be improved through the participation of the people who will eventually use the system, if they can be provided with the necessary skills. A framework for such an approach to system design is described.

Considered are aspects of effective dental automation, including integrating "islands of computing"; definition of a dental record; common nomenclature; an enabling architecture; capturing data at its source; computer-assisted software engineering; and system security. (DB)

This discussion of the utilization by computer designers and users of metaphors as organizing structures for dealing with the complexity of behavior of human/computer interfaces begins by identifying three types of metaphor that describe various aspects of human-computer interface design, i.e., activity, mode of interaction, and task domain. The…

MOST OF THE ADVANTAGES GAINED FROM USE OF A COMPUTER ARISE FROM CHANGES IN THE BASIC DESIGN OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEM, NOT FROM THE MACHINERY ITSELF. THE SYSTEMS APPROACH TO LEARNING, WHICH IS A CONCOMITANT OF COMPUTER ASSISTED INSTRUCTION, IS CHARACTERIZED BY BEHAVIORALLY DEFINED OBJECTIVES, DIAGNOSIS OF THE LEARNER'S STATUS BY MEANS OF…

This report describes the conceptual design of a regional information system, developed in support of the Denver Regional Council of Government's established comprehensive planning work program. It includes a discussion of system objectives, available data sources, recommended system content, software and system maintenance requirements,…

The aim of the project was to develop automated systems encompassing the functions of existing manual procedures, but only when the functions could also be surpassed sufficiently to justify the cost of automation. The housekeeping systems were to be viewed as a whole and appropriate interfaces provided between them so as to provide an integrated…

Interactive student instruction through computers in classrooms is becoming increasingly popular, and there is some reason to believe that the use of computers in the classroom is not a passing fad. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) furnishes many of the computer systems for interactive student instruction in different schools: some of these…

Describes the problems brought on by a lengthy strike that occurred during a major computerization effort by Britain's Department of Health and Social Security. Implications for personnel officers are presented. (CH)

Quality of work life is examined as it applies to a company's decision to implement automation changeover and whether or not employees are involved in design decisions. (CT)

Describes significant attributes of expert systems, contrasts them to conventional computer systems, and provides an overview of the R1 expert system used by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) to put together operational systems that meet customers' requirements. Document handling, particularly pictures and images in documents, is also briefly…

Problems, issues, and alternatives in designing individual, stand alone systems for servicing selected library operations, with emphasis on problems of integrating these with major automated systems, a new mode of operation called coupling, and strategies for dealing with large amounts of retrospective data. (Author/LS)

The Division of Computer Services at the University of Wyoming is a combined academic and administrative installation. Administrative systems are developed through a team approach, with representatives from the user office, the Institutional Data Management group, and the Division of Computer Services. (MLW)

This report describes the principal findings and recommendations of a 2-year Rand research project on machine-aided knowledge acquisition and discusses the transfer of expertise from humans to machines, as well as the functions of planning, debugging, knowledge refinement, and autonomous machine learning. The relative advantages of humans and…