This directory contains resource materials and listings of organizations, funding resources, and databases pertaining to cultural programs in rural American communities. A bibliography contains over 100 entries including books, newspaper articles, catalogs, case studies, audio visual materials, and journals covering rural programs and activities…

Information is provided on a practicum that addressed the lack of access to computer-aided instruction by elementary level students with learning disabilities, due to lack of diverse software, limited funding, and insufficient teacher training. The strategies to improve the amount of access time included: increasing the number of computer programs…

This guide provides a concise overview of current copyright law and its interpretations, particularly for classroom educators, librarians, school media specialists, and their constituents. Building on the question-and-answer format introduced in the first edition, the second edition adds commentary on critical developments of the last eight years,…

This report describes the progress of the Michigan Adult Literacy Initiative (MALI), adopted by the Michigan Board of Education in 1985, through 1990. It covers the collaborative accomplishments of a statewide team of literacy supporters that represents a comprehensive spectrum of public and private concerns. Part I is an introduction that…

The World Wide Web allows users to interact with a graphic interface to search information in a hypermedia and multimedia environment. Graphics serve as reference points on the World Wide Web for searching and retrieving information. This study analyzed the culturally constructed syntax patterns, or codes, embedded in the icons of library…

This paper discusses video and computer technologies for extended-campus programming (courses and programs at off-campus sites). The first section provides an overview of the distance education program at the University of Kentucky (UK), and highlights the improved access to graduate and professional programs, advances in technology, funding,…

This directory lists 227 journals in the National Agricultural Library's (NAL) collection that are related to social and economic aspects of rural development. The directory includes both United States and international journals. Each citation includes title, NAL call number, NAL holdings information, the International Standard Serial Number…

A study examined how Accelerated Reader Program (a computerized reading management program used in elementary education) affected attitudes toward reading and use of the media center. Fifth-grade students in three Lee County, Florida schools were surveyed. One school had no Accelerated Reader program in place; one school had a mandatory…

Enthusiasm for and a commitment to literature are the essential tools needed to successfully promote the enriching, challenging, and thought-provoking world of books. This paper focuses on the promotion of literature inside the classroom, inside the library, and in the wider community. Programs at Methodist Ladies' College (Australia), a boarding…

Information literacy is an set of acquired skills and strategies which encompass the abilities to recognize a need for information, to retrieve the required information, and to evaluate and utilize it effectively. Teaching students how to structure, acquire, analyze, and synthesize information must start much earlier than at the post-secondary…

This dialogue and bibliography describe the contributions of George Peabody to rebuilding the devastated educational systems in the former Confederate states after the Civil War. At great personal expense, Peabody established the Peabody Education Fund as the first multi-million dollar foundation with the expressed purpose of providing funds to…

This paper considers students' attitudes toward research and writing about research and discusses methods used to help students overcome their largely negative attitudes toward research. The paper first states that at Illinois State University in Normal, the course that follows freshman composition is one on academic discourse. The paper reports…

As part of a college-wide assessment effort, St. Petersburg Junior College (Florida) conducted a survey of enrolled students in October 1995 to determine their perceptions of the quality of the college's academic and student support services. Questionnaires were distributed to 6,197 students, asking them to rate 28 college services on a 5-point…

This digest provides a variety of sources for vocational education curricula, lesson plans, and other instructional materials. The section on networking includes listservs and World Wide Web sites that lead to curriculum resources and other valuable information. Access points to the ERIC database are listed, as are instructional materials labs and…

Recognizing the importance of providing parents and child care providers with current information on early childhood education, care, and support, this practicum project evaluated the design and implementation of a 10-week strategy to market a child care resource and referral agency resource room to child care providers and parents. Observations,…