To improve services and reduce costs, Babson College (Massachusetts) has begun continuous quality improvement and reengineering, moving rapidly toward a client/server information technology environment and Internet/Intranet-enabled business processes. The evolution of the strategy and its products, underlying technologies, and development process…

A fledgling industry of software developers, academic technologists, and instructors is emerging to help college faculty put courses on line without having to learn World Wide Web page coding. A variety of design services is available. Often, institutions make recommendations for choosing Web-course tools. Software focuses on general course…

The National Science Foundation's Directorate for Education and Human Resources (NSF/EHR) provides leadership for improving the quality of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education, kindergarten through graduate school. This article examines NSF and Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) projects promoting the use of…

Presents seven guidelines for launching a company intranet: (1) don't promise what can't be delivered; (2) be clear about who owns what; (3) be demand-led; (4) invest time in practical demonstrations; (5) avoid jargon; (6) have adequate resources to support colleagues; and (7) make intranet benefits relevant to colleagues. (AEF)

Librarians at the University of Pacific (Stockton, California) designed a replication of an earlier transaction log study. Researchers found it difficult to compare the year-to-year data, primarily due to a continually changing technological environment. Findings did reveal a rise in student use of online periodical databases which subsequently…

This study of state university libraries in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates provides information on library organization and analysis of collections, services, staffing, budgeting, expenditures, automation, and information technology. Suggests further research is needed in collections, services and…

Most mass media research in Japan focuses on the influence of mass communication on society as a whole; these "macro" theories typically employ traditional social science techniques. Reasons for this situation are examined, as well as how media researchers outside of Japan might learn from the Japanese perspectives about the role and…

Educators of information professionals must respond to changes in information technology. This article describes an interactive multimedia learning package entitled "What is Information?" for undergraduate students in professional education for information practice at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. It elaborates on…

Discusses five different shifts that characterize the transitional nature of today's libraries and examines the extent to which college students agree in interpreting the term, "library use." Findings suggest that the notion of the library as a "space" is better agreed upon than the notion of the library as a "store" or "service." (Author/AEF)

Reports on the use of the Internet and World Wide Web as a virtual technology market (VTM) for information and technology transfer. The project focuses on creating awareness of technology demand (problems) and linking it to technology supply (solutions) in the field of particle technology and multiphase processes in the chemical industry. Benefits…

Describes an integrated approach to similarity coefficients that allows multiple index dimensions to be integrated into a single, flexible navigation tool. Categorizes different types of similarity measures by the kinds of index terms they employ and describes the underlying similarity measures. (Author/AEF)

Information technology can enhance clinical teaching in medicine by increasing the amount of relevant information available to learners, promoting rapid integration of information into the teaching encounter, facilitating information processing in small groups, and helping compensate for discontinuities inherent in the current clinical teaching…

Presents a brief background on the information revolution. Discusses universal access and the National Information Infrastructure; the constrained view of Internet providers who oppose centralization, government regulation, limitation of individual rights, and commercialism; technology use in a democratic society; effectiveness of…

Presents a case study of the use of legal research digital libraries (LRDLs) in the California Civil and Criminal Courts. Results suggest that points of access to LRDLs influence usage, that there is a strong interplay between home computer use and LRDL use at work, and that legal professionals prefer one-on-one assistance rather than group…

Describes a multifaceted approach for generating systematic information on scientific and technological institutions in developing countries based on the concept of the research system as a multiorganizational network. Provides an account of how this approach was implemented in a three-country study to shed light on problems in developing…