Discusses multimedia design and the shift in models from computer-assisted instruction and audiovisual learning to multimedia environments and computer-based learning environments. Topics addressed include multimedia generations and architectures; changing trends in software development; object-oriented design; and the design of media systems.…

Describes a study that examined the effectiveness of implied boolean searches using personal author surnames plus first and/or last title words to retrieve an entry from a simulated online public access catalog (OPAC). Implications for the design of OPACs are discussed, and further research is suggested. (LRW)

Describes "DesignStation 2000," a software and hardware workbench for laptop computers for the design of learning systems that includes capabilities for needs analysis; client presentation and proposal generation; rapid prototyping of interactive media projects; collaboration and project tracking; assessment of results; and adding to a…

Examines the relationship between computer-user interface (character-based or graphical) and the quality of documents written by college students. Finds that, after six weeks of business communication instruction, IBM users excelled on the criteria of mechanics and format, but that after five more weeks the two groups demonstrated no significant…

Discusses the development of phraseological machine translation based on the theory that in natural languages, phraseological units cannot always be reduced to words. Describes the phraseological translation process of computer software and machine dictionary systems that translate Russian into English and English into Russian. (JMV)

Discusses movie on demand (MOD) servers, which are computer systems that store movies in compressed digital form for broadcast cable television systems. Highlights include network bandwidths, a disk-based storage architecture for a MOD server, implementing VCR (video cassette recorder) functions to movie viewing, and buffers. (LRW)

Discusses the design of management information systems for secondary schools and presents a fundamental approach to systems design that was used for the development of SCHOLIS, a computer-assisted school information system for Dutch secondary schools. The importance of information system development methodologies is stressed. (LRW)

Discusses the need for online help for end-users based on experiences with an online public access catalog (OPAC) at the University of Cape Town libraries. The concept of end users is examined, the role of search intermediaries in information systems is explained, and online help and systems design is discussed. (LRW)

Provides an overview of Circuit II, an interactive system that provides users with a graphical representation of an electronic circuit within which questions may be posed and manipulated, and discusses how mouse selections have analogous roles to certain natural language features, such as anaphora, deixis, and ellipsis. (13 references) (EA)

Presents a theoretical framework for navigation in information retrieval systems and describes a prototype retrieval system that was developed to investigate navigation. The use of a visual interface in a spatial representation scheme is described, and results of a user-based evaluation of the system are reported. User questionnaires are appended.…

Suggests a process for evaluating and planning integrated optical jukebox storage systems. Considerations regarding architecture and system performance are summarized, and a modeling program for tailoring system response to specific applications is presented. Five robotics algorithms are examined to illustrate different hardware configurations.…

Discussion of the use of local and wide area networks on college campuses highlights the design and implementation of a wide area network within the division of student affairs at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Practical applications are described, and cost and benefit factors are discussed. (17 references) (LRW)

Describes the design of a classification scheme for reusable software and the implementation of an information retrieval system for reusable software using the SMART system. Highlights include a review of other systems for reusable software; system design; reorganization of software documentation; and system testing, including recall and…

Examines the relationship between users' expertise, task complexity of information system use, and artificial intelligence to provide the basis for a conceptual framework for considering the role that artificial intelligence might play in information systems. Cognitive and conceptual models are discussed, and cost effectiveness is considered. (27…

A hypertext-based thesaurus is proposed as a navigational aid to the subject domain of a bibliographic database. Implementation of a hypertext version of the "Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors" with database linking strategies is discussed. (44 references) (EA)