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)

A management information systems (MIS) curriculum was developed through review of existing programs and feedback from 24 MIS practitioners. Key aspects of the role of the information systems professional were identified: knowledge of integrated business processes, programming skills, and technical skills in niche areas. (Contains 17 references.)…

Zipf's law states that if words in a text are arranged in decreasing order of occurrence, then the product of the rank of a word and the number of times it occurs is a constant of that text. Examination of the probabilities of occurrence of multi-word phrases in information retrieval in relation to the probabilities of occurrence of single words…

Describes the information technology curriculum in the post-compulsory years of secondary school in Victoria (Australia). Highlights include the Victorian Certificate of Education; student demographics; descriptions of the curriculum units, including information processing and management and information systems; and professional support for…

Reports on a quantitative categorical analysis of metadata elements in the Dublin Core, VRA (Visual Resource Association) Core, REACH (Record Export for Art and Cultural Heritage), and EAD (Encoded Archival Description) metadata schemas, all of which can be used for organizing and describing images. Introduces a new schema comparison methodology…

Describes an experiment in automatic categorization, which is based on the vector model, widely used in information retrieval. Shows how the construction of the class patterns was carried out. Discusses the evaluation measures adopted and results obtained in the automatic categorization of a collection of documents in Spanish. Describes the manual…

Provides a conceptualization of a communication and information system's infrastructure in order to help campus leaders plan more effectively. Discusses its elements, creating access to information, infrastructure maturity, infrastructure assessment, and technology planning for higher education. (EV)

Discusses how the communication and information systems (CIS) infrastructure model is changing and explores the implications for higher education practices and purposes in this context of frequently disruptive but newly empowering technologies. (EV)

Aspects of Data Fusion (DF) for information retrieval are explored. Based on a geometrical model of DF, it is shown that in the ideal case, performance of DF for a pair of information retrieval schemes may be approximated by a quadratic polynomial. Compares counter-intuitive cases of DF with cases that behave according to the geometric model. (AEF)

A classification and taxonomy are used to analyze responses from systems analysts in real-world situations. Systems analysts were given a questionnaire in attempt to: (1) determine whether requirements descriptor terms are created and used in real world situations so that they might classify domain processes and objects; (2) if terms are used, try…

This study consists of two experiments. Pitch, volume, and tempo in auditory-haptic geographic information systems were compared in terms of effectiveness for multimodal interface; volume was determined to be better. Auditory display with volume and haptic display with vibration were compared and the results showed that, in more complex geographic…

Explores how the 6-D framework can form the core of a comprehensive systemic strategy and help provide a supporting structure for more robust design and development while allowing organizations to support whatever methods and models best suit their purpose. 6-D stands for the phases of Web design and development: Discovery, Definition, Design,…

Notes that cellular is the inevitable future architecture for the personal communication service system. Discusses the current cellular support based on Mobile Internet Protocol version 6 (Ipv6) and points out the shortfalls of using Mobile IP. Highlights protocols especially for mobile management schemes which can optimize a high-speed mobile…

Purpose: We identify environmental and organizational predictors that best discriminate between formal continuous quality improvement (CQI) adopters and nonadopters in nursing homes (NHs) and create a diagnostic profile for facility administrators and policy makers to promote CQI. Design and Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey of…

Future Geographic Information Systems (GIS) librarians face a number of challenges that other Library and Information Studies (LIS) graduates may not when preparing for a career in academic librarianship. This article discusses these challenges and offers suggestions to help entry-level GIS librarians begin successful and rewarding careers.