The purpose of this document is to identify potentially hazardous substances that may be in use in many school laboratories and to provide an inventory of these substances so that science teachers may take the initiative in providing for the proper storage, handling, use, and if warranted, removal of hazardous materials. The document consists of…

The evaluation and selection of information/data management system software for the Egyptian National Scientific and Technical (STI) Network are described. An overview of the state-of-the-art of database technology elaborates on the differences between information retrieval and database management systems (DBMS). The desirable characteristics of…

This report describes a data management process that provides users with a systematic approach to document identification, and to information storage and retrieval using the AppleWorks database subprogram and a simple organizational scheme. The functions of this scheme are described and include: (1) taking the user from general to specific…

This digest begins with a brief description and review of the development of optical disks. Optical disk formats are then described by capability: Read Only Memory (ROM), Write Once, Read Many (WORM), Interactive (I), and Erasable (E); forms of information (audio, text or data, video or graphics, or a combination); and disk size (most often 12 or…

A central system to organize teacher-made instructional materials for adult basic education/general educational development programs has a number of advantages. These include lower reproduction costs, encouragement of teacher planning in advance, encouragement of creativity and use of teacher synthesizing/writing skills, rapid orientation of…

This manual explains how to use the FAMULUS program package in a computing environment where most text is input through terminals and most files are stored on disks. Developed in the late 1960s by the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station of the United States Forest Service, FAMULUS was conceived as a personal documentation system…

This overview of the status of online databases in the United Kingdom describes online users' attitudes and practices in light of two surveys conducted in the past two years. The Online Information Centre at ASLIB sampled 325 users, and Chadwyck-Healey, Ltd., conducted a face-to-face survey of librarians in a broad cross-section of 76 libraries.…

A framework is developed to evaluate expected search length, an important measure of an information storage and retrieval system's performance, as a function of the size of the information file and its organization in terms of indexing search structure. Previous research pertaining to search length by W.S. Cooper and others is surveyed and…

Comprehensive rules, guidelines, and examples are provided for use by ERIC indexers and lexicographers in developing and maintaining the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors." Instructions are included for adding new Descriptors and modifying existing terminology; procedures for justifying these actions are provided, as well. Definitions and…

This paper describes how two small non-profit libraries successfully computerized their periodical record and routing systems. The steps required in gaining acceptance of the idea, planning, designing, installing, and perfecting each system are included. The Population Council library, whose clerical staff was formerly responsible for manually…

The costs of creating and maintaining permanent files and retrieving keyword title indexes in TRIAL (Technique for Retrieving Information from Abstracts of Literature) are presented. This system, which is used for bibliographic control and file efficiency, is relatively easy to learn and use, and popular with school, academic, business, and…

To help the librarian in negotiating with vendors of automated library services, nine authors have presented methods of dealing with a specific service or situation. Paper topics include computer services, network contracts, innovative service, data processing, automated circulation, a turn-key system, data base sharing, online data base services,…

This self-evaluation form for original paintings/prints and non-original prints storage and care was designed to assist librarians who work with active non-book collections. Developed from an extensive literature search on the storage and care of non-book materials, the form has been field tested for value and usability in 20 institutions…

This self-evaluation form for magnetic tape storage and care was designed to assist librarians who work with active non-book collections. Developed from an extensive literature search on the storage and care of non-book materials, this form has been field tested for value and usability in 20 institutions representing a variety of types of library…