With the advent of the Internet, the tools for accessing information changed radically. For librarians, the mission has remained the same: manage library resources and give students the skills to find, organize, use, and share information, including Web site evaluation. Strategies for integrating technology with a love of reading are discussed. A…

This article describes an experimental system for administering multiple-choice math tests to students who are visually impaired or have other print disabilities. Using a new audio-tactile computer peripheral device called the Talking Tactile Tablet, a preliminary version of a self-voicing test was created for eight participants. (Contains…

Discusses the survival of the human race in the Third Millennium. Considers environmental issues; shifting from a focus on economic growth to human development; the rate of technological change; the e-sphere, which goes beyond a global village to a global brain; technology in education and in health care; and educational reform. (LRW)

Discusses the limited exposure many preservice teacher programs have regarding innovative uses for technology in the classroom. Describes the use of a WebCT-based virtual field trip to an elementary school, using constructivist theory as a framework, to help preservice teachers rethink traditional instruction. (Author/LRW)

To expand online learning opportunities for K-12 students and educators, the Colorado Department of Education established a task force that evaluated programs in 16 other states. Four principles were identified as necessary to promoting equity, rewarding individual achievement, assuring quality and consistency, and adapting to diverse needs:…

Shares four college professors' experiences using new media to change approaches to teaching and learning. In their classes, students conduct archival research on African American history in Web-based sites, then construct collaborative interpretations in PowerPoint; incorporate digital storytelling (within a Latina Life Stories class); construct…

Discusses questions to consider as chemistry libraries develop new information storage and retrieval systems. Addresses new integrated tools for data manipulation that will guarantee access to information; differential pricing and package plans and effects on libraries' budgeting; and the changing role of the librarian. (LRW)

New technology promises to ease the work load to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and set the stage for easier and more comprehensive data analysis and subsequent changes to instruction. A sidebar lists data resources. (MLF)

Focus among library consortia is shifting from integrated library systems to digital library projects, resource sharing, collective database licensing, multivendors, and document delivery. This article presents a draft of a strategic plan for Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries consortia; it includes discussion of CARL's mission, vision, and…

Explains an interdisciplinary framework for library information science, especially information retrieval, which considers sociocultural context of search terms in a way that the cognitivist information processing paradigm does not. Limitations of cognitivist information processing conceptions are discussed, as well as the possible effects of the…

The Public Library Association's 1995 survey reported that while public librarians overwhelmingly support intellectual freedom, not all of them are absolutists. Librarians do take community censorship requests seriously and engage in practical self-censorship. Other topics include censorship demographics, the role of the library board, and…

Elite private colleges and universities are providing more distance-learning continuing education opportunities but are focusing on specialized degree programs, professional school offerings, and courses that can be exported internationally to companies and institutions. They are also cultivating alumni as a market for courses that can be offered…

Discusses the introduction of different types of technology in education since the 18th century: print, photographs and illustrations, motion pictures, computers, computer-based learning, educational television programming, online courses, World Wide Web, and multimedia. Predicts that digital technologies will have an impact on 21st-century…

Reviews research on the effectiveness of hypertext/hypermedia-based learning and concludes that presenting subject matter from different perspectives, in multiple contexts, and in multiple codes does not automatically contribute to higher performance but may when instructional scaffolding is provided. The additional cognitive load may actually…

Challenges research and prevailing attitudes that maintain that computers improve teaching and academic achievement. Criticizes and questions research methodology, computer literacy education, the need for computer skills to make a competitive workforce, support from the business community resulting from technology programs, and Internet use. (LRW)