Uses a confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) model as a paradigmatic basis for the comparison of three widely used structural equation modeling computer programs: (1) AMOS 4.0; (2) EQS 6; and (3) LISREL 8. Comparisons focus on aspects of programs that bear on the specification and testing of CFA models and the treatment of incomplete, nonnormally…

Offers suggestions on the selection of office equipment and support systems for schools, including multifunctional products that incorporate equipment and applications to better coordinate office technology and control costs. (EV)

Explores how one private liberal arts university fulfilled its commitment to extend computing power to every student, faculty member, and staff person. Stresses the importance of planning for hardware and software standardization and creating a broad range of support mechanisms. (GR)

A chart of 40 alumni-development database systems provides information on vendor/Web site, address, contact/phone, software name, price range, minimum suggested workstation/suggested server, standard reports/reporting tools, minimum/maximum record capacity, and number of installed sites/client type. (DB)

Describes verbal protocols as a useful tool for evaluating computer hardware and software, especially if informed by activity theory. Such protocols cannot, however, stand alone in a thorough evaluation design. (Author/SLD)

E-commerce is coming slowly to education, but some curious school purchasing officials are clicking on vendors' web sites. Pioneering districts include the Chicago, Detroit, and El Dorado (California) public schools. Vendors include Boise Cascade and Office Depot. Some vendors are joining institutional exchanges like Commerce One or marketing…

Discusses visualization of legal information using a tool for temporal information called "LifeLines." Explores ways "LifeLines" could aid in viewing the links between original case and direct and indirect case histories. Uses the case of Apple Computer, Inc. versus Microsoft Corporation and Hewlett Packard Company to…

Reviews the most recent version of the BILOG computer program, which estimates item and trait level parameters for the one-, two-, and three-parameter logistic unidimensional Item Response Models for dichotomously scored data. Finds this version useful. (SLD)

Discusses Web sites and Weblogs (or blogs) created by librarians as informal, interactive zines. Considers Web publishing software which makes it easier to start, motivation for self-publishing, and differences from trade publications; and provides a list of librarian blogs and zines. (LRW)

Describes a Windows program for checking the suitability of unidimensional logistic item response models for binary and ordered polytomous responses with respect to a given set of data. The program is based on predicting the observed test score distributions from the item characteristic curves. (SLD)

Suggests the use of intelligent agents for the personalized filtering of WWW (World Wide Web) pages and describes the development of a system to satisfy the user's need for information while reducing the amount of information the user has to deal with through relevance feedback. (Author/LRW)

Reviews the state of research in text mining, focusing on newer developments. The intent is to describe the disparate investigations currently included under the term text mining and provide a cohesive structure for these efforts. A summary of research identifies key organizations responsible for pushing the development of text mining. A section…

Computer science students need to learn how to write high-quality software. An important methodology for achieving quality is design-by-contract, in which code is developed together with its specification, which is given as class invariants and method pre- and postconditions. This paper describes practical experience in teaching design-by-contract…

A lot of literature from the past few years has discussed the importance of bridging the digital divide that exists between those with Internet access and those without. Public libraries have often declared themselves to be that bridge. This article looks at how Indiana's public libraries allow the citizens they serve access to the Internet. With…

In this article, the author suggests solutions to unleash student creativity. The article focuses on the author's idea for electronic portfolios, Web-based collections of a student's work. To put her idea into practice, the author created an electronic portfolio project that spanned five 90-minute class sessions (about one session every week or…