Outlines the structures, technologies, participants, and benefits of the proposed project, "Iowa Distance Education Alliance: Partnerships for Interactive Learning through Telecommunications," which received a U.S. Department of Education Star Schools Program grant in October 1992. Project goals, timetables, and activities are listed.…

How computer-mediated communication through international communications networks and electronic mail can be used in foreign language education was investigated in a multisite ethnographic case study of 134 Finnish secondary school students learning English and foreign participants from British and U.S. schools. Introducing these technological…

This field study represents a departure from structured, or directed, computer-mediated communication as used in its natural environment, the computer lab. Using observations, interviews, and the computer medium itself, the investigators report how high school students interact with computers and create their own agendas for computer usage and…

Describes hardware, software, and peripherals that were installed to network a stand-alone CD-ROM workstation in the library of a small K-12 school with similar computers in the computer laboratory. Experiences with two CD-ROM products--a full-text database of social science articles and an electronic version of World Book Encyclopedia--are…

Summarizes recommendations from the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services which examined directions that technology must take regarding the library/media information fields (emphasizing literacy, productivity, and democracy). The paper makes recommendations about services, access, governance, networking, training,…

Describes an educational computer network, SuperInterface, that could be used for telestudy for university education. Topics discussed include computer-supported collaborative work; computer-based learning; multimedia databases, or electronic books; human-machine interfaces; hardware, software, and groupware; learners; teachers; organizations and…

Describes collaborations supported by the National Science Foundation among industry, higher education, elementary and secondary schools, and other institutions to develop and test applications of computer and communication networks in support of innovations in science and math education. Highlights include descriptions of four pilot testbeds and…

Describes the technical, political, economic, and cultural environments of library automation. A review is then presented of five books covering wide-ranging library automation themes, including practical experiences; planning second-generation library systems; software, systems, and services; new roles for librarians; and the national network…

Describes how to generate automated classroom resources from the Internet. Topics covered include viewing animated satellite weather images using file transfer protocol (FTP); sources of images on the Internet; shareware available for viewing images; software for automating image retrieval; procedures for animating satellite images; and storing…

This article assesses the state of electronic publishing outside the realm of the industrialized West. Topics include global information disparities in number of databases, telecommunications infrastructure, telephone service, and computer networks; recent projects by nongovernmental organizations; and remaining challenges, including costs, lack…

Describes how a public library consortium jettisoned the Request for Proposal (RFP) process and used library staff, with some assistance from consultants, to evaluate new automation systems based on software demonstrations and Requests for Quotations (RFQ). The RFQ and RFP processes are compared. A sidebar article describes the financing plan.…

This is the executive summary of a project conducted by the Federation of American Research Networks and the Consortium for School Networking that considered ways to support and promote school networking and formulated recommendations for the National Science Foundation. Highlights include educational reform, partnerships with industry, and a…

Three overlapping models of new technology diffusion are described in relation to the Internet: (1) individual threshold; (2) critical mass; and (3) strength of weak ties. The prospective role of academic libraries in the electronic development of the scholarly communication system is discussed, and further research is suggested. (55 references)…

Asserts that the Internet will become the academic communication medium for historians in the 1990s. Describes the "file transfer protocol" (FTP) access approach to the Internet and discusses its significant for historical research. Includes instructions for using FTP and a list of history-related FTP sites. (CFR)

A survey to discover what academic libraries were doing in the area of CD-ROM networking found that (1) all responding libraries utilized CD-ROM technology; (2) great diversity existed in the number of databases and workstation owned; (3) different staffing patterns exist between networked and nonnetworked libraries; and (4) 21 institutions had…