The concept of relevance remains central to library and information studies work. Five Women's Studies faculty members were interviewed concerning their immediate reactions to different resources provided in direct response to real, on-going information needs. Criteria identified by this approach went beyond topicality, currency, and other basic…

Presents findings from four studies of the prevalence of multitasking information seeking and searching by Web (via the Excite search engine), information retrieval system (mediated online database searching), and academic library users. Highlights include human information coordinating behavior (HICB); and implications for models of information…

Argues that librarians should actively accept their responsibility to ensure and provide useful content to the general Internet public. Discusses change brought on by electric commerce and the need for librarians to fill traditional roles, as well as new roles in providing and encouraging Web usage by the public. (AEF)

Reports on the follow-up study of a two-part project designed to study the decision-making process underlying how academic researchers select documents retrieved from online databases, consult or read, and cite documents during a research project. Findings indicated that all but one of the criteria reoccur in connection with reading and citing…

An example of semantic pattern analysis, based on keywords selected from documents grouped by bibliographical coupling, is used to demonstrate the methodological aspects of knowledge discovery in bibliographic databases. Frequency distribution patterns suggest the existence of a common intellectual base with a wide range of specialties and…

Examines the impact of Internet information resources on the development and adaptation of research strategies based on a study of federal alcohol control policy. Considers how Internet access affects utilization of information services within an organization, and describes measures of utilization and effectiveness for assessing the impact of…

Presents findings from surveys of 226 7th- to 10th-graders who spent the 1998 summer at Duke University. Results are discussed as answers to questions: What do students really do online? How much do they use the Web? How do they find things? How do they judge sites? What do students want from librarians? (AEF)

Discusses how school library media specialists can build partnerships with principals: provide leadership and support to classroom teachers, be technology savvy, model information retrieval and technology use, collaborate in curriculum planning, develop a vision for technology in the school, participate in staff development, make clear the role of…

It is no longer effective to provide information literacy instruction that is thought to be "good for" college students, but rather, instruction must focus on the learning styles and preferences of the target population. This case study reports a series of hands-on/minds-on information literacy activities that dissolve student's misconception that…

The challenge of the semantic web is the provision of distributed information with well-defined meaning, understandable for different parties. Particularly, applications should be able to provide individually optimized access to information by taking the individual needs and requirements of the users into account. In this paper we propose a…

In this paper, a framework for the teaching of undergraduate information literacy is proposed. This framework has been developed as a major outcome of the author's PhD research into information literacy issues in general, and an aspect of literacy--information retrieval--in particular. Literature from two disciplines was reviewed as background to…

Introduction: We analyse how academic status and discipline influence the major search methods used by university academic staff for obtaining electronic articles for teaching, research and keeping up to date in their field. Method: The data consist of a nationwide Web-survey of the end-users of FinELib, The Finnish National Electronic Library.…

This study reports the analysis of the entire content (approximately 135 lessons) of 27 web-based units created by pre-school through 12th grade public school teachers. The investigation was conducted to assess the extent to which participant teachers integrated computer and Internet technologies into the web-based units as tools to foster…

Library instruction about reference materials, databases, and quality web sites never goes out of fashion for students, faculty, or staff. An annual professional development program on the Colorado State University campus offers an opportunity to provide specialized library instruction to targeted faculty and staff members. For two consecutive…

The Commission on Preservation and Access was established to foster and support collaboration among libraries and allied organizations in order to ensure the preservation of the published and documentary record in all formats and to provide enhanced access to scholarly information. The Commission's newsletter keeps preservation and access…