A number of academic, public, regional, and state libraries use WorldCat Local (WCL) as a resource location tool that enables users to search, find, and gain access to a range of print and electronic resources. This article describes a study undertaken to assess a Research I university's implementation of WCL. The study sought to understand the…

The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the involvement showed by 190 students who participated in an introduction to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) project, in public schools from Spain. By means of an Internet browsing test, access and information selection processes were afforded. The purpose of the study was to…

Senior citizens are comparatively vulnerable in accessing learning opportunities offered on the Internet due to usability problems in current web design. In an effort to build a senior-friendly learning web as a part of the Life-long Learning Network in Shanghai, usability studies of two websites currently available to Shanghai senior citizens…

The incorporation of various textual resources into scientific inquiry is important for establishing background knowledge. Many of these resources are now presented in hypertext or hypermedia environments, which require students to comprehend and actively integrate information from multiple sources. Further, numerous practices employed by readers…

Like many other states, California is facing a daunting budget deficit, reportedly about $19 billion. Delayed budgets have held up the disbursement of money, affecting school programs in districts as well as at the California School for the Blind (CSB). The current financial constraints have had an impact on CSB's programs. Its department of seven…

In late October 1967, the USS Scorpion was lost at sea, somewhere between the Azores and Norfolk Virginia. Dr. Craven of the U.S. Navy's Special Projects Division is credited with using Bayesian Search Theory to locate the submarine. Bayesian Search Theory is a straightforward and interesting application of Bayes' theorem which involves searching…

Satellite navigation is widely used for personal navigation and more and more in precise and safety-critical applications. Thus, the subject is suited for attracting the interest of young people in science and engineering. The practical applications allow catching the students' attention for the theoretical background. Educational material on the…

The virtual Department of English at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, also known as the Tree of Knowledge, is a project premised upon using ecology and organic forms to promote language learning in Second Life (SL). Inspired by Salmon's (2010) Tree of Learning concept this study examines how an interactive ecological environment--in this…

PubMed® is an on-line literature database hosted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Containing over 21 million citations for biomedical literature--both abstracts and full text--in the areas of the life sciences, behavioral studies, chemistry, and bioengineering, PubMed® represents an important tool for researchers. PubMed® searches return…

Our institutions of record are facing a new digital knowledge management challenge: stakeholder communities are now expecting customized Web interfaces to institutional knowledge repositories, online environments where community members can contribute content and see themselves represented, as well as access archived resources. Digital curation…

As a concept, the next-generation catalog (NGC) is not new to librarians, who have been wishing for better OPAC interfaces for their integrated library systems (ILSs). The NGC has been the focus of discussion for more than 5 years now, from the 2006 report of the implementation of Endeca at North Carolina State University, to Marshall Breeding's…

Routing is the process of selecting appropriate paths and ordering waypoints in a network. It plays an important part in logistics and supply chain management as choosing the optimal route can minimise distribution costs. Routing optimisation, however, is a difficult problem to solve and computer software is often used to determine the best route.…

In this article, the author describes a bike trip which marks the culmination of a unit reviewing map-reading capabilities. In seventh grade, students develop various map skills, including cardinal and intermediate directions, how to measure distance on a map using a scale of miles, how to interpret the legend of a map, and how to locate places…

In order to improve the learning process for students with different pre-knowledge, personal characteristics and preferred learning styles, a certain degree of adaptability must be introduced to online courses. In learning environments that support such kind of functionalities students can explicitly choose different paths through course contents…

Informal education in museums is structured through movement in space. This article summarizes a range of research that examines the role of spatial layout in shaping the ways in which visitors explore, engage, and understand museums and museum exhibitions. It is demonstrated that behavior patterns are systematically linked to spatial…