Proposes a conceptual framework for studying the information-seeking behavior of executives when they scan the business environment. Research in management theory and information science is reviewed, and the principal elements of the framework are discussed, including the environment, acquisition of information, environmental information use,…

A suit first filed by 6 publishers, then extended to a class-action suit involving 83 publishers, resulted in a ruling that photocopying whole articles from a scholarly journal without permission violated "fair use" because the copy was used to enhance archival files rather than enhance research directly. (MSE)

Reports on five experiments regarding the ability of children ranging from four to seven years of age to decide when they did not have enough information to select an unfamiliar named picture. Concludes that avoidance of the undecidable was the result of the children's difficulty in understanding undecidability. (GH)

There are many ways to collect information about college teaching. Many are quick, easy, and unintrusive, and are valuable supplements to the standard source of information, student ratings. A matrix of data needs and corresponding sources of course, instructor, and student information helps refine the information gathering process. (MSE)

Discussion of the strategic value of information technology in business activities focuses on the use of information and knowledge. Highlights include the role of information in value creation; information as a competitive factor; the company as a consumer of information; and methods necessary for the successful use of information. (eight…

Reviews research on data mining (DM) and knowledge discovery (KD). Discusses popular conceptions of information growth, the knowledge acquisition process, major elements of the DM process, and evaluation methods. Research on DM and KD is divided into two categories: analysis of numerical databases and analysis of non-numerical or textual…

Participants in an international agriculture extension workshop rated the following as critical subjects to study regarding farmers' use of the Internet: technical problems, user benefits, drawbacks, and accessibility. Ways to improve effective use in agriculture were identified. (SK)

In college and university fundraising, mergers and initial public offerings can create donor-deadlines windows of opportunity during which prospective donors can make tax-favored major gifts. Development officers need to monitor their prospects' holdings for these deadlines. Categories of donor prospects to consider and indicators to watch are…

Discusses a prototype training system for organizational decision makers to help with information flow and reduce information overload. The system embeds an interactive simulation within a computer-based instruction system to enable decision makers to develop and employ information-filtering criteria. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the nature of information measuring its distance from the perfect theory or from the right answer to the information seeking question that led to it. The measures here are provided by the Tichy-Hilpinen-Oddie-Niiniluoto-likeness measures introduced in the context of the philosophical problem of verisimilitude. (JAK)

Presents an abstract for a planned session on the need to coordinate user studies and information retrieval system design research. Topics include human-based research and system-based research; children's information use; usability and cartographic information systems; and ethnomethodology and system design. Panelists included: Nick Belkin, Dania…

Describes a study conducted at Rutgers University that examined the problem of the judgment of information quality and cognitive authority by observing users' searching behavior in the Web, and the effects of those judgments on selection behaviors. Discusses implications for Web design and suggests future research. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of Web search strategies focuses on a comparative study of textual and graphical summarization mechanisms applied to search engine results. Suggests that thumbnail images (graphical summaries) can increase efficiency in processing results, and that enhanced thumbnails (augmented with readable textual elements) had more consistent…

Investigates the combination of terms and document weighting functions in information retrieval. Describes weighting functions based on how information is used within documents and collections and uses them in two types of experiments: one based on combination of evidence for ad hoc retrieval, and one within a relevance feedback situation.…

Matching Needs and Services (MNS) is a practice tool intended to help people who work with vulnerable children use rigorously assembled information on needs as a guide to design, implement, and evaluate more-effective services. To do this, MNS focuses on needs but links them to outcomes and thresholds before dealing with the services to achieve…