This literature review, covering materials between 1996 and 1998, focuses on the development and application of metadata standards used by the library and information science communities to describe, retrieve, and manage information in the digital environment. Discusses MARC as metadata; SGML-based metadata; and the Dublin Core element set.…

Describes a study that analyzed 14 electronic lists or newsgroups in library and information science to find out which topics of discussion are dominant and which functions are performed by the messages posted. It also introduced students to this type of professional communication and to content analysis as a research method. Contains 51…

Describes a webometric analysis of linkages to library and information science (LIS) department Web sites in United Kingdom universities. Concludes that situation data are not well suited to evaluation of LIS departments and that departments can boost Web site visibility by hosting a wide range of materials. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of information and information retrieval focuses on the connection between a calculus defined on channels and information retrieval, and proposes a model of an information retrieval system based on this calculus. Topics include conditionality, situation theory, the flow of information, channel theory, and four principles for an…

Doctoral candidates, selected from those competing for the ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) and UMI (University Microfilms International) doctoral awards, were invited to informally discuss their current research and future research plans with established researchers in information science. (Author/LRW)

Reviews the history of "Information Science Abstracts" (ISA)--the oldest abstracting and indexing publication covering the field of information science-as well as the history of attempts to define "information science." Derives a new working definition of the term for ISA and a subject mapping of the field from both this review…

Reports on findings regarding authors' use of theory in 1,160 articles that appeared in six information science (IS) journals from 1993-1998. Findings indicate that theory was discussed in 34.1% of the articles. The majority of these theories were from the social sciences (45.4%), followed by IS (29.9%), the sciences (19.3%), and humanities…

Information retrieval (IR) is driven by a process that decides whether a document is about a query. The purpose of this article is to consider "aboutness" from a fundamental, neutral perspective, to shed light on the nature of aboutness by formalizing properties describing it, and to define a set of reasonable properties of aboutness,…

Discusses the problems, methods, and domains that help define social informatics and considers how it relates to information science. Topics include the relationship between uses of information and communication technologies (ICT) and organizational effects; the role of the social context; methodological pluralism; and trends in social informatics…

Traditional themes of information science must be expanded to accommodate systematic understandings of ways to design effective documentary systems and anticipate their social consequences. The field of social informatics offers important concepts, theories, and methods that give this kind of inquiry a sound scientific basis. Social informatics…

There are described methods used to minimize data files dimension. There are defined indicators for measuring size of files and databases. The storage optimization process is based on selecting from a multitude of data storage models the one that satisfies the propose problem objective, maximization or minimization of the optimum criterion that is…

Islam is an important topic in human and regional geography instruction, and major textbooks include maps showing Islam's core and rapid expansion diffusion, along with the number of pilgrims to Mecca from different countries. Determining the qibla, the sacred direction for daily prayer, and the distance to Mecca are additional topics that link…

We describe two bioinformatics exercises intended for use in a computer laboratory setting in an upper-level undergraduate biochemistry course. To introduce students to bioinformatics, the exercises incorporate several commonly used bioinformatics tools, including BLAST, that are freely available online. The exercises build upon the students'…

The implementation of Geographic Information Science (GIScience) applications and discussion of GIScience-related themes are useful for teaching fundamental geographic and technological concepts. As one of the newest geographic information tools available on the World Wide Web, Google Earth has considerable potential to enhance methods for…

Presents abstracts of 15 special interest group (SIG) sessions. Topics include navigation and information utilization in the Internet, natural language processing, automatic indexing, image indexing, classification, users' models of database searching, online public access catalogs, education for information professions, information services,…