Discussion of efficient communication in research and development focuses on the use and nonuse of relevant information. Highlights include information overload and efficiency; nonuse of relevant information as policy; two kinds of overload; and implications for information science. (33 references) (LRW)

Identifies a set of objects that is genuinely indigenous to management information systems and constructs a simple model based on them. The model's four basic entities, which define the scope of information theory, are data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. (Contains 46 references.) (KRN)

Describes the role of the United Nations University (UNU) in promoting the effective use of new information technologies in support of science and technology for development. The UNU Information and Decision Systems (INDES) project examines the constraints preventing developing nations from using advances in informatics and from integrating their…

Proposes a new learning algorithm to improve the retrieval effectiveness of the search system used in the hypertext environment using an extended Boolean model with links to improve the ranking of retrieved items. Highlights include the basic retrieval scheme, the learning scheme, and a review of basic probabilistic retrieval models. (Contains 32…

Examines problems and issues in browsing behavior; summarizes various notions of browsing from six disciplines, including library and information science; suggests a multidimensional concept of browsing, including context, behavioral, motivation, cognitive, and resource; and proposes a conceptual framework for browsing, including context,…

Notes an antiscientific bias in writings that proclaim the value of qualitative approaches for studying information problems. Discusses the following methodological concerns: (1) scientific versus nonscientific traditions; (2) distinction between emic and etic perspectives; (3) artificial divide between qualitative and quantitative techniques; (4)…

When library education was institutionalized at universities, it pursued a social scientific path of disciplinary growth; objectivity and neutrality became ideals of library education. A different conception of social science provides the basis for recent challenges to the library and information science profession's traditional perception of…

Discusses information issues from the Caribbean perspective including the benefits of national information infrastructures (NIIs), developmental uses of telecommunication and information science, the need for global telecommunication policies, and collaboration of international governments. Reports on creating NIIs and reviews the need for…

Analyzes student dissertations at the School of Information Studies for Africa (SISA) at Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia) in order to present an overview of the library and information systems and services available in seven eastern and southern African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. (Author/LRW)

Argues that indexing and classification schemes rely on an understanding of "subject" and discusses several different conceptions of subject as epistemological positions. It is further argued that a theory of subject must be based in a theory of knowledge, and a theory based on a realistic/materialistic epistemology is proposed. (39…

Discussion of the introduction of information science and technology into West German public schools focuses on the teacher education needed to support it. The West German education system is explained, the teacher education system is described, computer hardware and software are discussed, and approaches to in-service teacher training are…

Discussion of the value of knowledge about the history of library science in the formation of professional identity focuses on a survey that was designed to provide data about the patterns of research that characterize a group of library historians concerned with biography. Barriers to biographical research are examined. (32 references) (LRW)

Reviews bibliometric research on information science and communication and reports results of a bibliometric study that examined trends over time in the structures of these disciplines and links between them. It is concluded that there are some citation relationships, with slight increases from 1977 to 1987, between the two disciplines. (59…

Discusses the value and use of management case studies in library and information science education and provides an analysis of case studies that have appeared in "Library Journal." Type of library is indicated, including public, academic, and special; and management issues involved are identified. (18 references) (LRW)

Describes discourse analysis as practiced by Michel Foucault and his followers as a research method in library and information science. The method is introduced, some examples of its use are suggested, and several research questions are posed. The method permits analysis of the ways information, its uses, and its users are discursively…