Online users leave traces that others can find and use. Provides an overview of where and how users leave traces and what users can do to protect their privacy. Discusses Internet accounts; special files ("signature,""plan,""project,""file,""finger,""whois," and "vacation");…

Describes recent improvements in graphical user interfaces (GUIs) offered by online services. Highlights include design considerations, including computer engineering capabilities and users' abilities; fundamental GUI design principles; user empowerment; visual communication and interaction; and an evaluation of online search interfaces. (LRW)

Public libraries should be the place people go to seek community information, but inconsistent format and quality of delivery has created a void other providers of online information are filling. Examines online community information and discusses the results of an informal survey of 103 public libraries and their community information resources.…

Presents a computer-based information system developed to support information understanding based on knowledge structures in hypermedia contexts. Examines the development and implementation of an understanding support system (USS), providing computational support for representation and access of knowledge structures. Discusses adding link-based…

Describes a major digital imaging project just completed at the Ewell Sale Steward Library of the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia, PA). Discusses options that were considered for Web delivery of images and text, and reasons for choosing Innovative Interfaces, Inc.'s image management function. Describes the data entry process and reviews…

Provides an applications-oriented view of algorithmic historiography and how it relates to understanding scientific paradigms. Discusses HistCite[TM], a program that allows scholars to identify significant works on a given topic; paradigm shifts; a genealogic approach; citation analyses; correcting variations in citations; and bibliographic…

Describes how online "institutional repositories" could hold all of a scholar's output, potentially challenging the role of journals. (EV)

Describes the development and use of online kiosks in contexts where users are away from fixed technologies. Uses a case study of a United Kingdom airport terminal to illustrate different types of kiosk applications; makes comparisons with mobile phone technologies; and considers their role in self-managed, self-service delivery of information and…

Presents an account of the diffusion of online learning at the University of Guam, beginning with the introduction of the Internet at the University and the kinds of opportunities and promises such a medium provides. Recommends a shared vision through collaborative efforts with the need for faculty training and readiness. Discusses the critical…

Examines various ways of dividing the labor of an information search between the person and the system. Different configurations of two dimensions--degree of system involvement in searching and types of search activity carried out by the person or system--are discussed. Recommendations for further research and development are offered. (49…

Describes the information systems strategy and network development of the Benetton clothing business. Applications in the areas of manufacturing, scheduling, centralized distribution, and centralized cash flow are discussed; the GEIS managed network service is described; and internal and external electronic data interchange (EDI) is explained.…

Discusses the distinctive differences between the English and Chinese languages from the system designer's point of view and explores the potential problems for Chinese information retrieval systems, focusing on character entry and retrieval. The advantages and disadvantages of current approaches are discussed, and a regular expression search…

Identifies existing categories of end users of online information retrieval systems, discusses problems that have been encountered by information providers and customers, and suggests strategies for capturing new end-user markets. Issues discussed include user cordial interfaces, CD-ROM products, ethics involved in information provision, and…

The first of two papers discusses natural language searching as a user performance enhancement tool, focusing on artificial intelligence applications for information retrieval and problems with natural language processing. The second presents a conceptual framework for further development and future design of front ends to online bibliographic…

Information technology may help physicians to manage information more effectively through more accessible clinical indexes, databases of diagnostic test characteristics, computerized audits of clinical activities, on-line access to medical literature, etc. Medical informatics, a new discipline dedicated to the solution of information problems in…