This broad overview of distance education includes a review of definitions; a nonevaluative look at several distance education programs, both national and international; a discussion of the various modes used to deliver distance education; a description of distance education students; and comments and conclusions. (Author/CLB)

Describes predicted trends in telecommunications, including integrated service digital networks and fast packet switching networks. The possible effects on the worldwide exchange of scientific information, the need for international standards, and preliminary planning activities are discussed. (CLB)

This document is an interpretive synthesis of the discussion at a conference sponsored by the Aspen Institute that sought to develop new ways to understand how the Internet is changing the powers of the nation-state, the conduct of international relations, and the definitions of nation security. This report examines how the Internet and other…

Discusses six principles of visual perception and their cognitive implications for interactive screen design: clear perception determines continuity and flow of information; perceptual grouping establishes screen sequencing; placement of information aids recall; distinctiveness increases retention and retrieval; consistency in the perception of…

Examines the information practices and strategies used by interdisciplinary scientists in research libraries. Highlights include gathering and disseminating knowledge outside their core knowledge domains through personal networks, conferences, and the literature; intermediaries who help transfer knowledge and information from unfamiliar subject…

Compares the information content in descriptions made by sixth grade students based on messages of text and picture, written and verbal, or written language alone. The semantic framework analyzes the importance of words and ideas in text and relationships between them. Found the written language to be more open to interpretation than verbal and…

Models for college and university Interinstitutional data sharing are redefined by examining the organization and activities of existing data-sharing groups across 11 dimensions: data-sharing purpose; nature of data-sharing structures; definer of process; calendar; scope of surveys; participant characteristics; source of data-sharing initiative;…

Traces the evolution of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) from its genesis in 1978 and provides an overview of the various categories of standards, international standards organizations, the scope of standards, and the notations used to designate both the standards groups and the actual standards. (SD)

Discusses dependency theory in comparative education studies. Examines U.S. educational transfer to China during the Republican period as it functioned through the public health delivery model of the Dingxian Experiment. Notes that resistance to dependency in this case could serve as a model for avoiding the technological misfitting of programs.…

Argues that the injection of foreign ownership into the debate over the privatization of federal agencies has deflected attention from the critical domestic concerns of economic efficiency and operational optimization. The need for the promotion of international exchange of information within the context of a national information policy is…

Discussion of bibliometric analysis of interdisciplinary research in emerging fields focuses on a study of neural networks research that examined citation analyses, publishing patterns and subject terms, and journal subject classification. Roles that journals can play in interdisciplinary information transfer are considered. (Contains 42…

Discusses the role of publishers in terms of access to electronic information and copyrights. Highlights include the evolution of copyrights, new economic models and methods of transaction for the transfer of information, editorial guidance and quality control, and future roles in the information industry. (AEF)

Discusses issues related to several models of knowledge transfer and utilization (KTU) from two points of view: that models contain nonspecific treatment characteristics that should be accounted for in their use; and that models provide quantitative and qualitative frameworks that may be ready for quantitative consideration. A nonspecific KTU…

Explores problems in information sharing; discusses the concept of metadata; illustrates its use on the World Wide Web, as well as other related approaches; and presents an approach to information sharing that uses a semantic modeling language (referent model language) as the basis for expressing semantics of information and designing metadata…

Describes the North Suburban Library System (Chicago) experience of becoming a Learning Organization which involves issues relating to management, decision making, knowledge transfer, and empowerment at all staff levels. Discusses teamwork, collaborative efforts, communication, information sharing, annual planning, and staff development and…