Innovative training technologies are increasing, but many professional/technical staff do not attend. The corporate classroom of the future is the workplace, and computer networks will be the major source of information and training. Teaching people how to learn and improving information retrieval systems are the greatest challenges. (SK)

An online library catalog was used to evaluate an interactive query expansion facility based on relevance feedback for the Okapi, probabilistic, term weighting, retrieval system. A graphical user interface allowed searchers to select candidate terms extracted from relevant retrieved items to reformulate queries. Results suggested that the…

Describes several projects that integrate the Internet and specific Internet resources into undergraduate teaching and learning. Problems are discussed, including trying to retrieve specific and useful information, questions of reliability and accuracy of information, the need to become more user friendly, and demands on libraries for training and…

Describes five steps to help students create multimedia presentations: (1) locate, access, and analyze information; (2) design the presentation using hypermedia software; (3) organize the information and compose the text; (4) select and integrate multimedia; and (5) revise and practice. (LRW)

Describes the nature of intellectual access to digitized art images using qualitative methodologies based on a study at the University of Central Florida. Queries of art historians are analyzed and compared to retrieval parameters and image characteristics, and implications for database design are suggested. (Author/LRW)

Describes an experiment that was designed to compare three different map displays used as a visual display for information retrieval by either a self-organizing algorithm or human subjects. Results indicate that the organization and visual appearance of map displays had a significant effect on subjects' searching and browsing on the map displays.…

Describes how to use e-mail, file transfer protocol, and gophers in the conduct of educational research. Special attention is paid to the lists and to the gopher of the American Educational Research Association. Educational researchers are using the Internet in a variety of ways. (SLD)

Discusses the 1995 OCLC/NCSA Metadata Workshop that met to define a standard set of data elements for describing network-accessible information resources. These document data elements had to be simple enough for authors and publishers to use, to facilitate discovery and retrieval, and to be useful as a basis for descriptive cataloging. (JKP)

A review of literature from 1983 to 1992 suggests that a more complete understanding is now possible of the information needs, uses, and information-seeking behavior of the humanities scholar. A current portrait of humanities scholars suggests that this client group is more diverse than previously assumed. (Author/JKP)

Examines context as a factor in personal information management systems to suggest how it may influence classification decisions and ultimately retrieval. A study of seven managers is described that explored the factors that influence the way individuals manage electronic documents, and results are compared with an earlier study of physical…

Discusses suffix stripping algorithms used in information retrieval to cluster words derived from a common root under the same stem, and proposes a suffixing algorithm for French which uses grammatical categories to enhance the stemming process. An evaluation of the algorithm is discussed, and an analysis of errors is described. (17 references)…

Describes a study of the MEDLINE and SCISEARCH databases conducted in health sciences libraries that investigated the efficacy of searching by terms and by citations. Recall and precision are examined, relevance odds and search modes are discussed, and overlap retrieval from the two databases is studied. (26 references) (LRW)

Describes Archie, an online catalog of electronic holdings of anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol) archive sites on the Internet. Accessing Archie through e-mail and using it in a telnet session are discussed. The Internet Gopher and Whatis, which can be used with Archie, are also explained, and search examples are included. (four references)…

Discussion of problems with retrieval of records in library online public access catalogs (OPACs) focuses on an ongoing research project at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) that has been trying to improve subject retrieval vocabulary control using natural and thesaural language and on the design of a good graphical user interface.…

Describes the development and implementation of a full-text image retrieval system at the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. The conversion of card formats to a microcomputer-based system using HyperCard is described; the online system architecture is explained; and future plans are discussed, including conversion to digital images. (LRW)