The product of researchers' efforts to develop a computer processor which distinguishes between relevant and irrelevant information in the database, Spreading Activation Processor for Information Encoded in Network Structures (SAPIENS) exhibits (1) context sensitivity, (2) efficiency, (3) decreasing activation over time, (4) summation of…

With a view to improving information systems and services in Eastern, Central, and Southern Africa, this Information Systems Workshop was organized by the East and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI) with assistance from the Coordinating Centre for Regional Information Training (CRIT). The specific aims of the workshop were to acquaint…

This study was designed to be a state-of-the-art survey and investigation of intelligent "front end" design approaches and software for improving subject access and subject searching in today's large online bibliographic retrieval systems and online public access catalogs (OPACS). The report begins with an illustrated overview of…

This paper describes the organization, implementation, and outcomes of a joint effort between the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands and the Vermont State Department of Education's Database Project. In 1987, the Laboratory proposed a feasibility study to examine the means and costs of accessing…

This core thesaurus of terms suitable for indexing Australian educational literature was developed by the Australian Council for Educational Research by means of a systematic and thorough revision of the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors." Based on the actual terminology of education in Australia, this thesaurus includes: key words and…

Using as a backdrop Vannevar Bush's 1945 discussion of the "Memex," his proposed system for organizing and storing information, this paper considers the development of intelligent multimedia knowledge systems. Particular attention is focused on learner needs and intentions in information seeking, and the implications of these factors for…

This report responds to the need for North American libraries to provide computer support for multiple subject lists or controlled vocabularies as they automate separate catalogs using specialized thesauri for certain subject areas, materials, and audiences in addition to their main library catalogs. The focus of the report is the integration of…

Educators who write documents or journal articles want to have their writing read and cited. To achieve this today, educators need to produce writings that are easily accessible through computerized searching (online and on compact disk) in databases. The trend toward end-users doing their own computerized information retrieval has caused database…

Arguing that videodisc technology has major implications for the storage and retrieval of information and that it may meet learners' needs in ways never before possible, this paper highlights key points regarding the history and development of videodisc technology, explores its implications for education, and addresses current and future uses of…

A random-sample survey of 100 faculty members at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania was made to determine how online reference services and library automation affect the attitude of faculty toward several variables: (1) centralization or decentralization of online reference services; (2) willingness to learn to use and to pay for the…

Prepared for users of OCLC terminals at the Michigan State University library, this manual provides a brief description of the contents of the OCLC database, instructions for constructing search requests in OCLC, guidelines for interpreting OCLC search results, a key to "reading" the OCLC screen, an overview of typical terminal responses…

This training manual developed by the Public Access Subcommittee of the Reference Department of Meriam Library (California State University, Chico) provides instructions for using the library's online public catalog by means of a keyboard terminal. An introduction describes the Boolean searching capability of the online catalog and gives examples…

This long-term Records and Archives Administration Programme (RAMP) study is designed to assist archivists, records managers, and information specialists in identifying for current use and possible archival selection those transactional or case files that contain scientific and technical information (STI), particularly in those instances where…

A relational database management system, Query-by-Example, was installed on an IBM 4331 system and tested in 10 schools in the Angle Park School district over a 1-year period to determine whether this system would provide the schools with the means for effectively processing the information essential for running the individual schools and…

Intended for use by undergraduate students in a required course, Bibliography 101, at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, this manual is designed to teach the fundamentals of doing research in the library. A brief preface and a glossary of useful terms are followed by an introduction to library research which discusses strategies and…