A survey of 67 women parolees in the greater Boston area suggests that factors of parole, characteristics of the parolee, and elements of the offense combine to discriminate between women who use social services and women who do not. Recommends correctional policies based on the link between social services and a reduction in continued…

Reports on two stages of an investigation into the perceived quality of online databases. Presents data from 989 questionnaires from 600 database users in 12 European and Scandinavian countries and results of a test of the SERVQUAL methodology for identifying user expectations about database services. Lists statements used in the SERVQUAL survey.…

Examines the empirical results from an evaluation of interactive software designed to support health-promotion planning. Findings from a case study of two main users of the technology and the program director suggest that users' viewpoints should be exploited in a meaningful manner to explain how and why users make use of technology. Contains 55…

Finds that (1) animated banner ads (display advertisements hyperlinked to an advertiser's Web site) result in quicker response and better recall (from college students) than non-animated banner ads; (2) larger banner ads lead to better comprehension and more clicks than small banner ads; and (3) user mode (information seeking or Web surfing) did…

Studied use of the Internet by college students by determining sites selected on 6 of 70 computers in a college computer laboratory. The overwhelming use of the Internet in this open lab conformed to university acceptable-use policy, with almost no use of the computers to contact pornographic sites. (SLD)

Discusses the need for statistics for librarians to measure the performance, use, and value of electronic scholarly journals to make the best purchasing decisions for their institutions. Reports on two reporting mechanisms, one of which uses the library's log files, and describes other current projects to determine usage measures. (LRW)

Proposes the Hypermedia Interaction Cycle (HIC) as an iterative, self-regulatory, 3-phase model (preparation, exploration, and consolidation) capturing the dynamics of hypermedia interaction from a user's (browsing) perspective. Studies how undergraduate journalism students interact with the Web while browsing for news-story ideas. (SR)

Examines the challenge and future of language, typography, and technology in various juxtapositions. Compares book and screen, typographic history and future. Discusses need for language reform and user studies, and examines technology's impact on human communication. Uses an "abecedary" order to make unexpected connections and provide…

A study of Internet usage by large, small, and midsized businesses suggests that midsized businesses may be at a competitive disadvantage. Found that small businesses were more likely than midsized or large firms to have home pages and to reveal computer/technology programs as potential Internet services needed to improve current operations. (PEN)

USENET newsgroup topics are created, and they evolve, mutate, and become extinct in ways fundamentally different from spoken dialog. These differences can be explained partially by the asynchronous nature of electronic communication, as well as by other factors unique to such wide-scale multi-user media. (Author)

Aging patterns are examined in "formal" use or impact of all scientific journals processed for the "Science Citation Index" during 1981 to 1995. A new classification system of journals in terms of their aging characteristics is introduced. It is shown that the cited half-life, printed in the "Journal Citation…

Presents a historical study of early mainframe computing that demonstrates ways in which computer documentation genres grew out of other document types. Suggests early forms of documentation were borrowed from existing genres, and that official and unofficial documentation existed concurrently, despite efforts to consolidate these divergent texts,…

Using the financial industry as a context, this study addresses the issue of the classification of electronic bookmarks in a multi-user system by investigating the factors that influence how individuals develop categories for bookmarks and how they choose to classify bookmarks within those organizational categories. Sample participant…

Inadequate school facility planning carries fiscal, human, and academic costs. Building a responsive school requires that future inhabitants participate in the planning process. The accommodation of various building-use patterns, teaching methods, and learning styles reflects how satisfactorily a school building performs for its users. New…

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that subjects introduced to a first programming language develop a representation of basic programming concepts that help them integrate new declarative knowledge from a second programming language. The effect on reading was greater for pages that were conceptually close across texts and for subjects who had…