In 1976, the Aspen Institute's Program on Communications and Society sponsored a series of Washington staff seminars on communications policy: "Policy Choices for the Information Age,""Government Telecommunications Research and Policy Development,""Problems of Regulating Specialized Telecommunications Common…

The article outlines four basic conflicts concerning occupational health and safety, discusses the nature and dimensions of health and safety problems, examines the generation of information and its diffusion, and deals briefly with some economic issues. (Author)

This paper discusses underlying assumptions of user studies and approaches to information systems design, and reviews key issues in the design of information systems in three major areas: (1) factors affecting information seeking and use; (2) formal and informal channels of information transfer; and (3) discipline oriented transfer patterns.…

A project was conducted at the University of Illinois (1) to test and refine the components of the dissemination system developed for program improvement efforts in the state; and (2) to provide technical assistance to funding agency staff, project staffs, and persons/networks/agencies that facilitate access to a product in the dissemination…

To bridge the communication gap between research and practice related to educational innovation and school improvement, the authors present a selective summary, prepared especially for innovation disseminators and educational practitioners, of the key ideas in the six essays in the book "Improving Schools: Using What We Know" (1981). The…

Research on the use of knowledge resources in school improvement efforts explores the ways in which new ideas, programs, practices, materials, and technologies become incorporated into the operations of the nation's elementary and secondary schools, and examines the changes these organizations undergo in the process. Attempts at disseminating…

University information systems are designed to make decisions easier and to provide good information for administrative tasks. Data do not by themselves produce better decisions, and more data can make agreement on issues more complicated. When collegial decisions are made, the precise impact of data and models is uncertain. When there is no…

The historical and contemporary involvement of the public library in non-traditional education is presented with the focus on adult basic education. Although most of the programs cited are in the United States, frequent references are made to international applications as described in United Nations reports and foreign case studies. Information…

This is the first in an annual series of studies on the circulation of media and the operation of educational media centers in United States Public Schools. The plan is to gather three types of data in each annual survey: (1) baseline data gathered each year, (2) an in-depth probe of a particular part of media programs, and (3) a compilation of…

Guidelines for evaluating the public relations activities of nonprofit organizations are presented. Evaluation methods frequently include one of three major forms: (1) comprehensive audit conducted by a new staff member or an outside consultant; (2) regularly scheduled administrative review; or (3) short-term review following every activity. The…

Evaluations occur within a political decision-making mileau, where multiple stakeholders are contending for limited funds. Given the subjective basis of empirical information, different conclusions or recommendations about a program may result from different ideological, theoretical, and disciplinary perspectives. The logic behind the…

To obtain user evaluations of the information analysis products (IAPs) produced by the Educational Resources Information Center Clearinghouse on Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation (ERIC/TM), subjects were randomly drawn from a 1976 list of the clearinghouse's IAP orders. The sample was stratified by the title requested and the following…

This report describes a four-day institute funded by the U.S. Office of Education to increase the utilization of government publications by extending the knowledge of academic reference librarians about them. Librarians from 25 universities attended the institute. Discussion of the use of government publications was divided into three broad…

An open system model is applied to assess individual experience of community life. It was predicted that the racial composition of the community and the involvement of individuals in the community would affect perceptions of community culture (community strengths, deficits, support, and satisfaction) and community processes (problem solving,…

This document contains results of a study conducted to explore what states were doing or had done in the development or utilization of occupational information. Of particular interest in this study was the identification of methods, approaches or projects which are related to the developing or utilizing of occupational information and which are…