A recently developed and implemented system to evaluate dental school administrators is described. Issues of concern include misuse of information for personnel decisions, confidentiality, accuracy of evaluations, support of top administrators, perceptions of the program, reflection of local needs and circumstances, and planned flexibility. (MSE)

Suggests how data from the Ginzberg-Yohalem Survey of Educated Women might be analyzed to address the Ginzberg-Yohalem Survey of (1) person-situation interaction; (2) attitudes and behavior; (3) attribution theory; (4) helping behavior; and (5) social motivation. (Author/GC)

Investigated participants' assessments of the anticipated effectiveness of their judgmental decisions in several studies. Found that their estimates were poorly and inconsistently related to objective measures of effectiveness. This result raises a need for improved approaches to assessing judgmental decisions and identifying participants who make…

Two issues in the Holtzman Project bear examination and reconsideration: (1) the recommendation for the use of field experiments as an exclusive "authorized" evaluation design, and (2) the focus on the needs of the federal client, and the apparent lack of concern for clients at the state and local levels. (GC)

Examined mass media coverage of research conducted in 1975 by James S. Coleman and others, which suggested that court ordered busing caused increased White flight, thus promoting greater residential segregation. Found that the White flight thesis was reported as a scientifically documented fact, despite the unavailability of published evidence and…

Flexner's report on the procedures, agents, and effects of medical school accreditation emphasizes common sense and unstructured observation, rather than objective social science. Flexner would probably declare that lay people, rather than the National Education Association or the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, should…

Provides a description of communication in legislative hearings. Categorizes members' comments by type, purpose, valence, time focus, problem/solution orientation, audience, and topic. Indicates that the most important function of the hearings appears to be marshalling evidence for later debate. (JMF)

This survey and analysis of the literature emanating from less developed countries (LDCs) and international agencies focuses on their perceptions of the needs of LDCs for scientific and technical information for social and economic development. Constituencies represented include both users and purveyors of information, and planners and…

Discusses censorship, the Internet, and school librarians. Topics include the Communications Decency Act; the American Library Association's stand against censorship; the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; free flow of information versus responsible usage; the Internet's lack of government control; and school librarians as protectors of…

Describes how decision makers utilize information, and synthesizes models of organizational information and communication between science and government. Usage is affected by interrelationships of several variables: decision makers' environments; organizational and individual characteristics; and character of the information. Variations in usage…

Describes how reference-based instruction can be incorporated into an instructional system design. Provides specific examples of learning objectives and student exercises. Defines reference-based instruction and outlines its benefits. Lists guidelines for how to structure usability tests for Help systems. Advises how technical communicators can…

Reports the results of a survey designed by the Council of Chief State School Officers that provides an overview of geography instruction in U.S. public schools. Suggests that the high response rate indicates strong interest in geography instruction. Finds a great need for state and district level workshop training. (KO)

Although the goal of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is to make government more open and accountable, a number of unintended effects have resulted. Amendments are proposed to prevent the use of the FOIA by criminals and foreign agents and to place the cost of administering the law on the user. (FMW)

College students were trained to do online searching in a mandatory research paper course. Bibliographies from student papers, search transcripts, questionnaires administered to students, the library's serials holdings, and interviews with instructors and librarians provided data for analyses of students' database and library searches and the…

Discusses how one-on-one interaction between teacher-librarians and students can turn library research projects into positive experiences in which students use a process of constructing knowledge for themselves rather than reproducing knowledge they find in information sources. A model of thinking during information use is presented. (Author/LRW)