This second in a two-part series on Data Research Associates, a vendor for turnkey automatic library systems, focuses on hardware and software. Highlights include the requirement for VAX hardware; software modules that relate to MARC records; the Library System menu structure; training opportunities; user comments; and future directions. (LRW)

Discusses the evolution of multimedia technology and gives examples of the use of multimedia for business training, desktop publishing, and possible home market use. Equipment needs are described; data compression techniques are explained; the use of CD-ROM is discussed; and interactive multimedia possibilities are considered. (LRW)

Surveyed 45 Japanese corporations to determine common training methods and use of systematic design and development processes. Results indicate that overall there was more internal classroom training than on-the-job training and that only two of the companies had a formal, systematic approach to instruction design and development. (JMV)

This study found that categorization strategy training resulted in increased performance on unidimensional, bidimensional, and tridimensional sorting tasks by 4 males (ages 12-16) with autism. Three subjects also showed improvements on generalization probes and maintenance of performance. (Author/JDD)

The clinical effectiveness of one module of IBM's SpeechViewer system on the speech performance of four profoundly hearing-impaired children was compared with that of four similar children who received traditional speech training. Results indicated no statistically significant differences between the subject groups before and after training,…

Canadian and American lifeguards completed a questionnaire about how they actually watched the water, investigating their observational techniques. About 85% of the lifeguards felt they needed systematic scanning strategies. Lifeguards showed a lack of attention to hazardous areas and high-risk guests. Effective systematic scanning strategies are…

Reviews the rationale for the use of simulation and game exercises as part of counselor education programs. Counselor competencies in the areas of knowledge, skills, and self-awareness are discussed; and the use of experience-based learning activities is explained, including the debriefing stage. (Contains three references.) (LRW)

Presents viewpoints on several information retrieval user studies, and contains opinions regarding user characteristics; user training; expression of need or query formulation; conduct of a search; use of language; analysis of retrieved information; and satisfaction with outcome. Recommendations for future studies include classification of users;…

The effectiveness of training procedures which used visual-visual arbitrary matching, blocked-trial matching-to-sample, and successive discrimination training to teach visual-visual discrimination of two-dimensional forms was evaluated with two men having severe mental retardation. Results indicated that the procedures did establish conditional…

Describes the first phase of an Internet overview training program presented to academic staff at the University of Sydney (Australia). The use of locally created Hypertext Markup Language documents is explained, and an evaluation of the program indicated the success of using World Wide Web browsers as an aid in training. (Author/LRW)

This article describes a training design to help counselor trainees perceive the positive and negative messages in a client's internal dialog. Twenty graduate counselors-in-training produced 2 10-minute interviews with simultaneous feedback from an anticounselor (gives explicit negative messages) and a procounselor (gives explicit positive…

Describes a program being tested by the Royal Saudi Naval Forces in Saudi Arabia, in which speech recognition technology has been combined with multimedia scenarios that simulate real-life situations to teach English as a second language. Highlights include training needs, interactive design, computer-based training system specifications, and…

Seven children (ages 4 to 7) with autism were taught to engage in symbolic play using Pivotal Response Training. Children with autism rarely exhibited symbolic play before training, but after training they learned to perform complex and creative symbolic play at levels similar to that of language-matched controls. Interaction skills also improved…

This study assessed effects of teaching sociodramatic play skills to three children (ages five to nine) with autism. Positive changes were observed in play, language, and social skills. These changes generalized across toys and settings, although little generalization to other play partners occurred. (Author/DB)

Examines teletraining as a cost-effective, high quality alternative in distance education. Teletraining methods include: audio-only, audio-graphic, computer-conferencing, one-way video broadcast, one- or two-way video with audio interaction, and desktop videoconferencing. (AEF)