Highlights of this overview of virtual reality include optics; interface devices; virtual worlds; potential applications, including medicine and archaeology; problems, including costs; current research and development; future possibilities; and a listing of vendors and suppliers of virtual reality products. (Contains 11 references.) (LRW)

Describes the components, collaborators, and services of INFOTERRA, an environmental information exchange network designed to facilitate the exchange of information among countries and to promote knowledge with countries of the international environmental situation. (MDH)

College and university investments in information technology should focus on content, curriculum, and communication, not productivity. In addition, expectations about how technology can benefit higher education should be realistic; there is much to be learned about the appropriate use of technological innovation. (MSE)

Although the challenges faced by librarians and medical informaticians are sometimes different, the evolution of information technology and new forms of biomedical communication suggest an increasing convergence between the two disciplines. Both groups serve as information deliverers and curators, apply information technology to knowledge…

Discusses the interdependence of telecommunications and information sciences in Brazil. Highlights include new technologies and telecommunications: satellites, fiber optic cables, data communication networks, information superhighways, and cooperative projects; and information services development. (AEF)

A text production model is considered as an instrument for researching the writing strategies of abstractors. Within this framework, abstracting is a subtype of the writer's activities, which are described in terms of text actions. A computer system can be constructed that evaluates and/or supports human text production. (Author/AEF)

Analyzes Singapore's information technology master plan in relation to its earlier national computer policy plans. Topics include global activities, economic development, implementation and use of information technology and services, and partnerships with industry and the public sector. (Author/LRW)

Describes a national project to unite businesses and community colleges in the production of CD-ROM instructional materials for 22 workplace competencies in 16 modules. Indicates that the program is currently in the "proof of concept" phase, in which 5 community colleges are creating technology-based teaching modules for 9 competencies and…

Describes a study conducted at an English secondary school that used a computer attitude questionnaire to examine gender differences in the attitudes of students and teachers toward information technology. Computer attitude subscales are described, and a list of items in each subscale of the questionnaire is appended. (LRW)

Describes a project developed at Loughborough University (United Kingdom) to evaluate the application of flexible learning techniques to an information technology-based database concepts course. Results of course evaluation questionnaires are discussed, as well as test scores, which indicate no strong differences when compared with conventionally…

An examination of the management techniques that underlie the information technology (IT) industry reveals a common strategy of dividing organizational functions into tasks in a "top-down" fashion. The research and development approach is recommended for design-in-action development and an open-ended IT strategy to facilitate an…

Discusses issues of information technology as they relate to the future of developmental education. Characterizes the potential applications for laptop-based technologies, telecommunications, and hypermedia. Suggests that educators will need to teach developmental students how to use the technology as an extension of their minds. (MAB)

The University of Calgary (Canada) medical school admissions process has been streamlined with the Student Admission to Medicine computer program, largely paperless, that creates a database from student applications. The database then converts grades to the university's standards and assists with administrative details, statistical analyses, and…

The University of California at Santa Cruz has completed a successful test of a wireless computer network that would enable students and professors to get on line from anywhere on campus. The network, linked by radio waves, could save millions of dollars in campus wiring costs and would better meet student and faculty information needs. (MSE)

Argues that excommunication has become a characteristic of the technological human experience. Discusses this new excommunication in three forms: deprivation by excess, by economics, and by choice. (SR)