Scholars in many academic areas, including librarians, devote a significant amount of thought to critical thinking. Surveying views of its use and possibility, the author considers some key librarians' thoughts on critical thinking. In conclusion, the inability to define critical thinking means that librarians need to emphasize control of…

An exercise is organized to reinforce the fundamental rules of coordination chemistry through a biological study of metalloproteins. The work, which is divided into four well-defined activities, involves a major application of computer databases to address chemical problems.

From 1992 to 1995 the IFLA Study Group on Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR) developed an entity relationship model as a generalised view of the bibliographic universe, intended to be independent of any cataloguing code or implementation. The FRBR report itself includes a description of the conceptual model (the entities,…

Using the material of others without permission or attribution has always tempted students, but the internet has fed the flames by making an unlimited amount of content easily available for copying. While there are various approaches that instructors can take to combat illegal copying, studies show that when students are aware that…

Through the decades, the kinds of materials found in libraries have grown and changed, adapting to the needs of library users as well as economic, social, and even environmental factors. Similarly, the presentation format for cataloging content has changed. Another change is about to emerge in cataloging, and its name is FRBR (Functional…

This paper examines the problems involved in subject retrieval from full-text databases of secondary materials in the humanities. Ten such databases were studied and their search functionality evaluated, focusing on factors such as Boolean operators, document surrogates, limiting by subject area, proximity operators, phrase searching, wildcards,…

This document is a dictionary of essential vocabulary, signs, and illustrations of workplace activities to be used to train deaf or hearing-impaired adults. It contains more than 500 entries with workplace-relevant vocabulary, each including an illustration of the signed word or phrase in American Sign Language, a description of how to make the…

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a seminar on planning and policy analysis is offered for doctoral students who wish to conduct planning and forecasting studies for their doctoral dissertations or who simply wish to learn such techniques. One of the major projects of the seminar is the development of an environmental scanning…

This report addresses the technical and legal issues attendant to the implementation of a comprehensive student information system in California. It documents the legislative origins of the study and the conditions of state-level information systems within California and other states. It then describes the legal issues arising from the collection,…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Two Omnibus Bills and a Partridge in a Pear Tree?: Final Vote on Education Appropriations Bill Could Come Before…

This 15-minute videotape introduces viewers to ERIC and emphasizes ERIC's connection to the electronic information highway. Topics covered include (1) the basic structure of the ERIC system, including the 16 subject-specialized clearinghouses; (2) benefits offered, including publications, the ERIC database, information quality, and the ERIC…

The 15 lessons in this step-by-step guide for grades 4-8 are intended to promote the development of thinking skills through the use of databases. These lesson plans, which include specific instructions for using Microsoft Works, constitute a complete unit on the states of the United States. A disk containing 16 files for use with the lessons is…

While functions and relations are important concepts in the teaching of mathematics, research suggests that many students lack an understanding and appreciation of these concepts. The present paper discusses an approach for teaching functions and relations that draws on the use of illustrations from database management. This approach has the…

In an effort to improve the ways in which words are learned, the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation (JOCRF) is attempting to determine the difficulty level of all non-technical words in the English language. This item banking project entails: (1) identifying words that should be calibrated; (2) writing a test item for each word; (3) testing the…

This document addresses the recommendation contained in the 1989 California Strategic Plan for Adult Education for an integrated adult education data system. The recommendation proposes collecting and organizing community adult education information into groups of data on: program services, program delivery, learner characteristics, and learning…