This report, which is the second annual report on charter schools in California by the University of Southern California's (USC's) Center on Educational Governance, offers a unique view of charter school performance. Using both financial and academic data submitted by school districts to the state of California, this report looks well beyond test…

This report describes an experimental system for remote direct access to files of computer-stored information which has been indexed by the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC). The data base for the experiment consisted of references from a single issue of Nuclear Science Abstracts. The Special Subject Edition of UDC for Nuclear Science and…

This paper discusses visual communication theory. After an examination of the literature, this study built a more extensive bibliography of visual communication in general--theory, research, teaching--as well as a taxonomy that was better grounded. A 95-page bibliography was developed for works from a number of scholarly journals dealing with…

This report is the fifth in a series that constitutes a comprehensive evaluation of the public library statistics program carried out annually by the Federal State Cooperative System for Public Library Data (FSCS). The evaluation aims to revise and promote the FSCS classification structure that divides library organizations into municipal, school…

Natural systems are self-organizing and stratify according to the angular articulation of their movements. In particular, movement is relative to the levels that define its behavior space. As natural phenomenon, text production is self-referential, In generating information, the intention of the producer of a text becomes specified. Specifying of…

When analyzing open-ended or categorical questions, many times responses are cross-classified by other categorical variables. The resulting contingency tables are then analyzed using the chi square test of independence. This procedure leads to multiple significance tests and provides no method to assess higher order interactions. Loglinear…

Methodological issues of using a class of neural networks called Mixture Density Networks (MDN) for discriminant analysis are discussed. MDN models have the advantage of having a rigorous probabilistic interpretation, and they have proven to be a viable alternative as a classification procedure in discrete domains. Both classification and…

The purpose of this "primer" for the general public is to describe the general characteristics of wetlands and how wetland alteration adversely affects the well-being of humans. Particular emphasis is placed on wetlands in New York State and the northeast. Topics discussed include wetland values, destruction of wetlands, the costs of…

The revision of the psychiatric profession's diagnostic taxonomy, the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual," also known as "DSM III," is underway. The process will result in the publication of "DSM-IV." Those involved in the revision seek both to make as few changes as possible and to satisfy an entire field. The…

It is suggested that a dictionary of English lexical phrases would be a valuable resource for learners of English as a Second Language. This form of collocation differs from ordinary collocations or idioms in that it is associated with particular discourse functions. In addition, most lexical phrases are in a form that allows interchangeable…

As most librarians have probably realized by the paucity of articles in the library literature concerning the "Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Second Edition, 1988 Revision" (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), no revolutionary changes have been introduced in the 1988 revision in direct contrast to the situation with the…

The primary thesis of this paper is that James J. Gibson and Kurt Lewin and their followers subscribe to the central ecological notions of interdependence of organisms and their environments. An attempt is made to show the connections between Gibson's conceptualization of affordance, and the related Lewinian notion of psychological ecology.…

Either linear or quadratic rules may be used to derive classification equations in discriminant analysis for the purpose of predicting group membership. Generally, the decision about which rule to use is governed by the degree to which the separate group covariance matrices are unequal. An example is presented that supports the superior internal…

An analysis of pronouns in Zapotec languages looks at their behavior across the language family, noting where the languages are alike or different. Seven regional Zapotec variations are used for illustration, including: Isthmus; Yatzachi; Yalalag; Texmelucan; Atepec; Guelavia; and Xanaguia. A major conclusion is that the traditional division of…

An evaluation tool, the Evaluation Center Cube (ECC), is presented as a vehicle for establishing an analytic framework and uniting evaluation strategies. The ECC was developed in response to the Kellogg Foundation's need to categorize community-initiated funding proposals. As a classification tool, it facilitates proposal analysis and is…