The topic of the 1997 Conference, "Competition, Innovation, and Investment in Telecommunications," reflects one of the important areas for concern in the telecommunications community. Representatives of telecommunications carriers, cable industries, consumer, academic, and regulatory bodies at the federal, state, and local levels, worked together…

This two-section report presents a review of European research on the use of videotelephone technology by people with mental retardation. The first section examines relevant research concerning those with speech and language disabilities in general. Considered are visual communication including augmentative and alternative communication systems,…

This guide is aimed at those who wish to teach with interactive television, defined as a two-way interactive audio and video channel for use by local schools. The text is designed to help instructors understand how to use the medium for distance education. The document examines how television works in both the audio and video components, and hints…

This report describes a collaborative project of Ohio State University and the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Over the course of 12 months, students and faculty from the two universities offered a merged graduate course on telecommunications policy in the European Community and the United States. They reciprocated three week visits and…

The purpose of this congressional hearing was to determine how libraries fit into the emerging national information infrastructure (NII). Testimony and prepared statements include those from Howard F. McGinn, Director, Emporia Public Library, Emporia, Kansas; James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.,…

This paper discusses a number of problems associated with distance education methods used in adult education and training fields, including limited opportunities for dialogue and group interaction among students and between students and tutors; the expense of updating and modifying mass-produced print and audiovisual materials; and the relative…

The Intergovernmental Records Project (IRP) was established by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to facilitate the exchange of information about federal records. This report focuses on six categories of intergovernmental records targeted by the IRP for description in the Research Libraries Information Network (RLIN) national…

The teaching and technology associated with the distance delivery of education are relatively new and rapidly changing. Effective teaching and learning methods are still being developed. The following suggestions are based primarily on patterns and experiences in instructional telecommunication within the University of Alaska System: (1) students…

On July 1, 1991, the ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries) Research Committee launched a pilot project to mentor academic librarians in their conduct of research. Since the mentors and protegees were potentially from all over the United States, the decision was made to mentor using the electronic conferencing capability of BITNET…

This manual from the PC Working Group of Rutgers University Libraries is designed to help computer users to use electronic mail through computer networks effectively. There are two sections: MAIL commands, and VAX commands. The MAIL commands section includes step by step instructions for addressing, sending files, reading files, replying,…

Arguing that serious students of telecommunications policy must consider the impact that government deregulation will have on virtually every aspect of communications policymaking, this paper examines two goals that deregulators have deemed essential: convincing regulators that the marketplace is synonomous with public interest, and demonstrating…

This report identifies factors that have an influence on the successful institutionalization and transfer of innovative uses of telecommunications. It examines which factors promote or deter the institutionalization of demonstration projects in the public service field, as well as alternative strategies for institutionalization and innovation…

With fiber optic networks that can deliver library materials directly to the user from computerized data banks, is there any need for the library function? For the short term, public libraries will survive. The answer for the medium and long-term is much less certain. Libraries will survive if librarians see themselves as active providers of…

Different views on the future of research libraries are presented in this collection of papers from persons affiliated with the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. Joseph Z. Nitecki (library director) discusses the effect of social change on library missions, operations, and procedures. Warren F. Ilchman (vice president for research and…

The article describes how the use of a two-way conference telephone enables industrial experts outside the local community to conduct lectures or discussions in the classroom. The telelecture programs offered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are emphasized. (Author/MS)