Presents a guide for school librarians to the terminology involving different types of Internet connections. Highlights include determining how the Internet will be used; organizations that offer free access; commercial online services; Internet access providers; dial-up versus dedicated connections; costs; and hardware and software…

Reports on the creation of a prototype, Web-based expert system that helps users better navigate library databases at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Discusses concerns that gave rise to the project. Summarizes previous work/research and common approaches in academic libraries today. Describes plans for testing the prototype,…

Describes a scheme to represent a user's interest categories in an environment like the Web, and an adaptive algorithm to learn the dynamics of the user's interests through positive and negative relevance feedback. Proposes a three-descriptor model to represent a user's interests. Empirical studies confirm the effectiveness of this scheme to…

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…

Framed by theoretical and empirical research on cognitive and intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs), this commentary explores two areas. The first focuses on lack of conceptual clarity of the proposed constructivist stance and its related constructs. The second deals with similarities between the proposed stance and existing approaches documented in…

Anchored instruction calls for the establishment of a macrocontext to "anchor" instruction within a realistic situation. Evidence is provided that video anchors encourage students to adopt certain contrived goals over their more naturalistic goals. Suggests that goals that enable the problem solver to detect the "raison d'etre"…

Outlines important issues to consider when analyzing navigation in hypertext. Identifies internal and external factors of learning and information seeking with hypertext, and presents a summary of related research. Addresses different criteria for analyzing navigation patterns and focuses on the shortcomings of present studies. (AEF)

Examines the vocabulary and communication constructs that are used by novices and domain experts to describe objects in an object identification task. Results suggest that indexing and retrieval systems should provide semantic level similarity mechanisms to allow for whole-object as well as part-wise visual analogy. The systems should also provide…

Discusses the design and implementation of Indiana University's course management enterprise system, Oncourse. The Oncourse project provides a technical framework for the dynamic creation of Web environments and Web-based supplementary functions for every course section offered in the university. (Author)

Provides an in-depth introduction to the various technologies that are bringing intelligent agents into the forefront of information technology, explaining how such agents work, the standards involved, and how agent-based applications can be developed. (Author/AEF)

Information about how learners navigate in a multimedia learning environment is necessary for evaluation. Verbalization of learners using the program Vi-Conte was used to create navigational patterns. Researchers found the type of navigation often related to specific learner variables. (Author/SM)

This study investigates the nature, manifestations, and behavior of successive searching by users in digital environments, and establishes criteria for use in the design of information-retrieval interfaces and systems supporting successive-searching behavior. Study includes two projects--one based at the University of North Texas, one at the…

School social workers often provide a wide range of services across school sites that fall outside the framework of a specific program. This article describes how a university-practitioner partnership developed and piloted a school social work management information system. Lessons learned and suggestions for replication and maintenance are made.…

Describes a usability study conducted with health sciences students at the University of Washington that explored interface issues in the GramStain Tutor, an educational software program on CD-ROM, particularly the navigation of the program and the use of embedded design features. (LRW)

Results from user studies support the importance of genre and task in interface design and effectiveness of filtering of electronic news. Preliminary results from a study on effectiveness of predicting interesting Web pages based on the content of previously visited pages suggest a great similarity between reading electronic news and browsing the…