Prepared to inform and update Boston College faculty and administrative personnel on the impact of automation and resource sharing on the Boston College library system and the services it provides, this report contains sections on: OCLC and its interlibrary loan subsystem; the consortia in which the Boston College libraries participate; present…

There are several efforts today in the United States to explore and develop new educational applications for both the main frame computers and the microcomputers, especially in the development of instruction for the culturally disadvantaged and the handicapped. Recent developments for the visually impaired include using high speed…

A study was conducted on the use of the Guidance Information System (GIS), an on-line computer information retrieval system for occupational, two-year college, four-year college, and scholarship and financial aid information, in four detention/correctional facilities in New York. These were the Queens House of Detention for Men (QHDM), Brooklyn…

The objectives of this study were to examine the need and potential demand for computer-based information services in the University of Otago medical libraries, to evaluate the various databases of interest, and to recommend the best means of access to such services. Data were collected through user and library surveys, an extensive literature…

Various models that have been devised to evaluate the performance of information retrieval systems are reviewed. Such models fall into three categories: (1) evaluation from the viewpoint of the user, who is primarily concerned with how well the system responds to his query; (2) evaluation from the system operator's standpoint, which focuses on the…

Relatively few individuals have attempted to view the future of computers in education, and those who have done so often tend to focus too much upon present capabilities rather than thinking about the changes that new technology will introduce in the future. George Leonard's book "Education and Ecstasy" provides an interesting picture of…

The activities and projects of the National Library of Medicine are described. New and continuing programs in library services and operations, on-line computer retrieval services, grants for library assistance, audiovisual programs, and health communications research are included. International activities of the Library are outlined. Summary…

A study to test the effects of learner control of the sequencing of instructional tasks when using computer-assisted instruction (CAI) systems is described. Using a series of CAI modules to teach the COBOL programing language to military personnel, students were able to control various aspects of their learning environment. Among the research…

Over 1,250 users of 10 major on-line bibliographic information retrieval services were surveyed to assess the impact of such services on the library and information science community and its user community. The major topics considered in analyzing responses were: (1) respondent backgrounds; (2) methods of acquiring and promoting on-line services;…

A handbook is provided for library administrators who are planning to install commercially available on-line interactive search services. It includes guidelines for selecting and organizing the service, staffing, training and orientation, preparing the service sites, promotion and user education, finance, data collection, and service evaluation.…

The CHARGE computer terminal can provide graphics display for many applications in color, gray-level, 3-D, perspectives, and rapid updating. Perspective views can be generated from a three-dimensional coordinate system which changes to match actual physical descriptions. Image encoding and hardware design are described from a theoretical and…

In November of 1975, a committee was convened at Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory to examine the utility of computerized data base searching in the public library setting. Participants reviewed an on-going computer retrieval experiment (DIALIB) being conducted in four San Francisco Bay Area public libraries. Librarians reported that since…

In conjunction with the National Science Foundation (NSD), an on-going experiment is being conducted to test the feasibility of increasing public access to 16 major data bases by providing public libraries with on-line, interactive, retrieval capacity. During the period from January to March 1976, the major activities of the study were: (1) a…

This is a general descriptive and comparative report on alternative forms of library catalogs. The specific problems and factors associated with library catalogs are introduced briefly and then treated with respect to the following physical forms: card catalogs, book catalogs, microforms, and on-line catalogs. Whenever possible, examples of…

An on-line information system was designed and implemented in an elementary school using a time-sharing DEC-15 computer system to facilitate the management of individualized instruction. The system stores students' background information, test data, and instructional tasks. Teachers and researchers were able to retrieve desired data using either…