Discussion of changes in the banking industry focuses on an analysis of 12 Internet banking operations in the United Kingdom. Topics include delivery strategies; customer demand and requirements; and an evaluation of banking Web sites that considers speed, content and design, navigation, interactivity, and security. (LRW)

Reviews published findings from empirical studies of hypermedia learning and cognitive styles and classifies them into five themes: nonlinear learning, learner control, navigation in hyperspace, matching and mismatching, and learning effectiveness. Presents a learning model and discusses implications for the design of hypermedia learning systems.…

Reports on two pilot studies conducted in the United Kingdom, one at a university library and one at a public library, that investigated the use of electronic books. Both studies raised concerns regarding the usability of the products and conclude that improvements are needed in terms of portability, readability, and navigability. (LRW)

In the early 1990s, numerous academic libraries adopted the web as a communication tool with users. The literature on academic library websites includes research on both design and navigation. Early studies typically focused on design characteristics, since websites initially merely provided information on the services and collections available in…

This guide was created to accompany workshops on learning to use electronic networks. It is less than a complete introduction to networks, but is a good tool for those learning to use them. An introduction defines networks, discusses the most important of them, and provides other useful concepts. Understanding and using electronic mail are…

Discusses navigation in instructional hypertext programs and describes two preliminary studies that investigated concrete versus abstract representations for backward navigation. Topics include representation and hypermedia sign systems; and consistency in the forms designers use for navigation buttons. (LRW)

Discusses the use of document outlines to reduce navigation problems in hypertext. Measures of syntactic and lexical balance in an outline are proposed, and the degree to which these balances occur in a sample of documents is shown. Based on balance in an outline, a method for semiautomatically generating an outline is applied to a textbook. (45…

Presents a texture-based image-retrieval system for browsing large-scale aerial photographs. System components include texture-feature extraction, image segmentation and grouping, learning-similarity measure, and a texture-thesaurus model for fast search and indexing. Testing has demonstrated the system's effectiveness in searching and selecting…

Discusses user interaction with museum application interfaces and emphasizes the importance of adaptable and adaptive interfaces to meet differing user needs. Considers levels of support that can be given to different users during navigation of museum hypermedia information, using examples from the Web site for the Marble Museum (Italy).…

This study investigates the relationships between undergraduate hypermedia users' information processing styles and navigational patterns. Discusses use of the Human Information Processing Survey, learning styles and information processing styles, and brain hemisphericity. Results show a significant relationship between information processing…

Explains the development of a classification system for different types of icons to determine which icons proved difficult for elementary school students to read. Considers pictorial, textual, and combination icons from two CD-ROM programs, and concludes that assumptions about pictorial navigation icons and benefits of pop-up labels are probably…

Describes a study of undergraduates that examined the effects of the cognitive load associated with using hypertext linking capabilities in instructional materials. Highlights include cognitive flexibility theory; hypertext navigation; results of criterion measures and regression analysis; and cognitive load theory. (Contains 56 references.) (LRW)

Describes confluent presentation strategy (CPS) (i.e., a philosophy for developing student-centered, user/computer interfaces) and discusses its use to minimize student disorientation when using interactive computer-based training programs. Instructional design for computer interfaces and navigation are discussed, and an example of a CD-ROM that…

This paper presents a case study on how benchmarking was used to determine how one organization's Web site compared to Web sites of related schools and professional organizations. Highlights include application of metrics, the Web site evaluation form, functional/navigational issues, content and style, and top site generalizations. (Author/LRW)

This is a descriptive study that analyzes learners' use of comprehension aids such as objectives, a glossary and links between pages in a hypermedia tutorial. Students read a short hypermedia tutorial on the topic of E. coli. Relationships between the use of the comprehension aids and individual characteristics such as metacognitive awareness and…