Documentation of computer network use at five colleges and universities is being used to promote more widespread adoption of the technology. The reports cite improved communication among students, faculty, and administrators, and credit international networks with enhancing higher education around the world. (MSE)

Examines the relationship between a society's communication technology and Marshall McLuhan's concerns for human cognition, and between the technology and the ways that humans organize their societies. It is suggested that appropriate development of global electronic networks could have a positive effect on individual and organizational abilities…

Includes "Ready for the Techno World?" (Dykman); "Getting Computers to Think" (Ross); "Industrial Technology Class Welcomes the World" (Suba); "Distance Learning Combats Nursing Shortage in Texas" (Rojas, Anderson); and "Fantasy as an Educational Tool." (JOW)

Discusses the need for proposing and implementing an information technology standards policy for the federal government. Topics addressed include the National Information Infrastructure (NII); voluntary standards among federal agencies; private sector organizations; coordinating the use of standards; enforcing compliance; policy goals; a framework…

Describes dialogue exchanges arising from an Eastern Michigan University telecommunications project in which teachers enrolled in a university graduate course and fifth graders dialogued about literature. Outlines the benefits of electronic dialogues to both teachers and students. (MG)

Discusses changes in the publishing industry resulting from digital electronic networks and optical storage technologies, and explains attributes of information products as types of value for both print and electronic contexts. Electronic products necessary for a shift from paper to electronic formats are identified, and legal issues are…

Describes the use and applications of the communications program Telenet for remote log-in, a basic interactive resource sharing service that enables users to connect to any machine on the Internet and conduct a session. The Virtual Terminal--the central component of Telenet--is also described, as well as problems with terminals, services…

Description of community online systems focuses on a Freenet in Illinois called P.A.T.H. (Public Access to Heartland). Highlights include patron use; discussion groups and bulletin boards; electronic mail; reference questions; Freenet's place in public libraries; and sample reference questions answered by Freenet information providers. (five…

Examines why so many people have trouble understanding and accessing online systems, using the ERIC Silver Platter CD-ROM as an example. All online systems require users to know the proper procedures (protocols) to access information; these differ from product to product and change constantly. Users should know a particular database's scope and…

Describes the Edison Project, a plan to integrate technology into schools and school systems that will support communication, collaboration, research, text and multimedia authoring and publishing, resource access and management, assessment, and administration and management services. Computer networks that link schools and external sources are…

The first part of the annual automation marketplace survey examines minicomputer systems in libraries. Highlights include vendor consolidation and acquisitions; system interconnection; networked databases; products related to the Americans with Disabilities Act; multimedia; vendor installations worldwide; academic versus public library…

Describes support delivered by Harvard University's Beginning Teacher Computer Network which helps beginning teachers in disparate geographic locations. Data from mail surveys, computer message counts, and follow-up interviews indicate the network was most effective in providing moral support and least effective in providing technical support of…

Provides an overview of CD-ROM networking technology in libraries. Six systems currently in operation are evaluated; operational experiences in libraries are discussed, including the need for user education; networking between CD-ROM networks and integrated library systems is described; and future possibilities are suggested. (14 references) (LRW)

Describes the Canadian Database Promotion Initiative (CDPI), which was created to develop projects that link telecommunications with information technologies for a variety of business and educational organizations. Topics discussed include computer-mediated communications; networks for businesses, research organizations, and universities; and the…

The role of the central university computing center in the age of personal computers includes custodian of the administrative database, provider/coordinator of network services, provider of expertise on end-user computing, provider of large scale computation, coordinator of computing in the institution, and a scholarly workstation. (DB)