This is the first of a four-part study, funded by the National Institute of Education for the purpose of examining the function of informal social networks in school community relations in Pontiac, Michigan, from 1971 to 1981. This volume of the report (1) discusses the theoretical foundations of the study; (2) defends the validity of network…

Describes experiences of an alliance of child and youth treatment agencies whose members converted to computer-based networking modalities. A developmental analysis of individual users and telecommunications networks is offered. Side effects, barriers, and unexpected advantages are delineated. (BB)

Focuses on communication via electronic networks as a unique form of discourse that exists on a continuum between context-dependent interaction of oral conversation and the abstracted composition of written text. Reviews research in related fields of psychology, composition theory, computer and information sciences. Suggests directions for further…

Examines patterns of institutional organization and communication in education in France and Germany. The science of education is autonomous and philosophically oriented in Germany but is intertwined with sociology, psychology, and other social sciences and is positivistic in nature in France. Overlap between the cognitive textures of the French…

This study explored relations between social network characteristics in an online graduate class and two learning outcomes: affective and cognitive learning. The social network analysis data were compiled by entering the number of one-to-one postings sent by each student to each other student in a course web site discussion space into a specially…

This article describes results of a study investigating the potential of using social network analysis to evaluate programs that aim at improving schools by fostering greater collaboration between teachers. The goal of this method is to use data about teacher collaboration within schools to map the distribution of expertise and resources needed to…

A quantitative study of a university chat reference service (online synchronous) addresses the following research questions: (1) What types of questions are being asked? (2) Who is asking the questions of the service? and (3) Did the customers get correct answers to their questions? All the transcripts (351) from January through August 2002 were…

Utilizing a biographical approach and network analysis, this article examines one South Australian woman's life of public and Methodist social welfare service in the post-suffrage era. It is argued that although Kate Cocks (1875-1954) viewed her welfare work as "a God-given mission", as "practical Christian service", personal…

This book describes how talk is used to build social organization within face-to-face interaction among a group of urban black children, an analysis providing the opportunity to study language, culture, and social organization from an integrated perspective. Children from a southwest Philadelphia neighborhood were tape-recorded during peer-group…

The eighth volume of a 10-volume report, this document focuses exclusively on the National Diffusion Network, examining how the program functions as a service delivery system. The central organizational aspects and practices of the National Diffusion Network are explored within the context of its transformation from a set of independent…

Based on the belief that preadolescence is a highly stressful time of development and a period when people need support from peers to cope with stress, a network analysis was used to examine the social support networks of preadolescents and the behavior of central network members. Subjects, 24 sixth-grade children, completed specially constructed…

This paper examines the pattern of diffusion in the academic literatures of the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities based on citations. An examination of the citations of articles in the Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index from a given year to the year in which the cited…

Advice on developing a consulting practice is offered to academicians who are interested in initiating part-time consulting work while maintaining a primary focus on teaching. Steps in this process are assessing one's marketability, contacting the agency, developing a project work plan, and completing the work. Marketable skills include:…

This summary, the last of a four-part study of social networks in Pontiac, Michigan, presents highlights from the three previous volumes and advocates the use of network research for understanding the dissemination process in educational innovation. Based on the conclusion that social networks provide a metaphor for understanding complex social…

Describes the Linked Systems Protocol, a draft national standard for bibliographic information retrieval aimed at developing an extended protocol for the movement of bibliographic information from one system to another, and its implications for library automation, the individual librarian, and the library user. (CLB)