Describes prototype system that provides retrieval from hierarchically structured full-text databases such as legal statutes and regulations and engineering standards. Enhanced retrieval is provided through integration of three different access techniques dependent on inherent hierarchical text structure: menu, Boolean combination of keywords,…

This first edition of the New Media Consortium's (NMC) annual "Horizon Report" details findings of the Horizon Project, a research-oriented effort that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression within higher education. Drawing on an ongoing series of interviews…

The SAGRES system is an educational environment built on the Web that facilitates the organization of visits to museums, presenting museum information bases in a way adapted to the user's characteristics (capacities and preferences). The system determines the group of links appropriate to the user(s) and shows them in a resultant HTML page. In…

Data from the first national study of technological change show that proportionately more women than men operate machines, are more exposed to machines that have alienating effects, and suffer more from the negative effects of technological change. (Author/SSH)

Reviews the questions and issues which must be addressed as libraries enter an age in which the development of online catalogs for library users is becoming more feasible. Viability of online catalogs, current activities in catalog development, variables involved in catalog design, and the potential of online systems are discussed. (JL)

Discusses future of online information retrieval systems in terms of types of computer hardware expected (noting size, memory, cost, microcomputers, peripherals); software expected; "user friendly" interfaces designed to enable users to search without special training; and new approaches to subject analysis and online searching.…

Describes interactive video teaching system (CAVIS) which mixes videocassette pictures, text, and videotex diagrams and presents via single television screen with sound. The development of CAVIS, related research, teacher-learner interaction, how CAVIS works, creating courseware, equipment compatibility, and evaluating trainee and courseware…

Discusses current issues in the design of information systems, noting contributions from three professions--computer science, human factors engineering, and information science. The eclectic nature of human factors engineering and the difficulty of drawing together studies with human engineering or software psychological components from diverse…

Under a National Science Foundation CAUSE grant, the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Florida, Tampa, is developing an interactive microcomputer/minicomputer/video disk learning system for engineering and science students. Journal availability: Educational Computer, P.O. Box 535, Cupertino, CA 95015.…

The Total Medical Record (TMR) system is an integrated computer record that associates medical and administrative data in a single system. TMR provides a framework for effective medical care and efficient business management. (JN)

An authoring system obviates the need for programing in the development of computer-assisted instructional materials. Options for a variety of educational strategies are preprogramed, allowing the developer to concentrate on curricular concerns rather than software considerations. (RJG)

Good human-computer interfaces are essential in multimedia. Discusses methods of organizing information: non-linear versus linear, interactive, meaningful choices, and chunking; principles of interface design: knowing the users and offering options that are distinct, non-ambiguous, from user point of view, and in user terms; and interface…

Analyzes influences shaping human-computer interaction (HCI) in higher education, from two sources: internal (faculty, students, administrative units) and external (business/industry, government agencies, professional bodies). Examines nature and interrelationships of HCI components (research, education, professional training). Proposes a…

This study tested the efficiency of two different body sites (the head and the left hand) for operation of a computer adaptive switch by an adolescent with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Data were collected during an assessment phase and a motor training phase. Results after analysis of the collected data were contradictory and inconclusive.…

Compares two authoring tools that were developed to enable users without programing experience to create and modify software. HyperCard, designed for Macintosh microcomputers, and ToolBook, for microcomputers that run on MS-DOS, are compared in the areas of programing languages, graphics and printing capabilities, user interface, system…