External and internal forces are driving institutions not only to create departments and positions that specialize in planning, quality improvement, and institutional research but also to link them within a systems context.

Most policymakers, charter school operators, and others immersed in the charter school movement since it began in the early 1990s have focused their attention primarily on charter schools, not on the public bodies that license these schools to operate. As the charter school movement has grown, there has been increasing recognition that effective…

In this study, the authors provide some details about a variety of entry-level skills that are vitally important to systems analysts. They gathered the data from information technology practitioners, who related their experiences with real-world systems development projects. Such empirical evidence may be useful to faculty as they decide which…

Tutors have only limited time to support the learning process. In this paper, we introduced a model that helps answer the questions of students. The model invoked the knowledge and skills of fellow students, who jointly formed an ad hoc, transient community. The paper situated the model within the context of a Learning Network, a self-organised,…

This background paper analyzes technologies for tomorrow's information superhighways. Advanced networks will first be used to support scientists in their work, but will soon be deployed more widely in business, entertainment, health care, and education. Significant progress has been made toward the development of gigabit network technology since…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on expanded roles for human resource development (HRD). "The Roles of Consultants in Gainsharing Firms: Empirical Results" (Eunsang Cho, Gary N. McLean) reports findings that consultants are moderately involved at the separation, preparation, evaluation, and design stages and have low…

In constructing a knowledge-based system, the knowledge engineer must convert rules of thumb provided by the domain expert and previously solved examples into a working system. Research in machine learning has produced algorithms that create rules for knowledge-based systems, but these algorithms require either many examples or a complete domain…

A framework is provided for considering whether current New York community college planning and control systems can be made more effective and efficient through the use of business-derived strategic planning and management control technology. After a report summary and section 1's introductory material, section 2 reviews current pressures on New…

A study was conducted to: (1) enrich the knowledge of collaboration among child and family services providers by identifying and describing effective early care and education collaborations; and (2) create an analytic framework for the study of critical issues affecting the ability of collaboration to improve the quality, comprehensiveness, and…

This digest describes proposed legislation for the implementation of the National Research and Education Network (NREN). Issues and implications for teachers, students, researchers, and librarians are suggested and the emergence of the electronic network as a general communication and research tool is described. Developments in electronic…

This report discusses an iterative methodology for logical database design (LDD). The methodology includes four phases: local information-flow modeling, global information-flow modeling, conceptual schema design, and external schema modeling. These phases are intended to make maximum use of available information and user expertise, including the…

Based in part on a list developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for use in Afghanistan, this document presents a comprehensive checklist of items of statistical and descriptive data required for planning a national communication system. It is noted that such a system provides the vital…

Designed to help explain library automation to the librarian or student, this handbook presents a case to be solved, i.e., the creation of a book acquisition system for a special library; the steps to be taken to solve the problem; and a users' manual for the system to be provided to the client. The handbook is divided into three major sections:…

A major factor in the amazing success of the microcomputer is its inherent ability to free the user from dependence on a large central computing facility with its attendant frustrations. Almost from the beginning, however, there has been pressure to integrate the micro with a more powerful host facility. There are both technical and political…