Perspectives on facilitating the use of quantitative tools in higher education decision-making are offered. Suggestions are directed to those in the institution who will be working with decision-makers, with a focus on how such individuals can assist the decision-maker in the development and use of computer-based tools. The instigators of computer…

Issues and strategies for developing a campus data communications system are discussed. It is suggested that individual microcomputer (MC) workstations will occasionally have a need for (1) access, via a data communications network, to a more powerful processor; (2) specialized software; (3) sophisticated output devices; (4) central data sets; or…

The evolution of computer hardware for college computing has mirrored the industry's growth. When computers were introduced into the educational environment, they had limited capacity and served one user at a time. Then came large mainframes with many terminals sharing the resource. Next, the use of computers in office automation emerged. As…

This digest begins with a brief description and review of the development of optical disks. Optical disk formats are then described by capability: Read Only Memory (ROM), Write Once, Read Many (WORM), Interactive (I), and Erasable (E); forms of information (audio, text or data, video or graphics, or a combination); and disk size (most often 12 or…

This guide has been prepared for use by the undergraduate or graduate student in engineering geology. Because of the broad scope of the field, the major disciplines of soil mechanics, rock mechanics, and foundations are primarily emphasized. This document is a survey of information sources in engineering geology and is intended to identify those…

Mechanical engineering has become highly interdisciplinary. It would not be possible to single out particular reference sources that are uniquely applicable to mechanical engineering. For the purpose of this guide, mechanical engineering deals with the generation, transmission and utilization of heat and mechanical power and with the production of…

Augmentation systems are composed of things that will add to what the human is genetically endowed with in order to extend the net capabilities that a human or human organization can apply to the problems or goals of human society. A broad brush categorization of the components of an augmentation system includes three distinct though interacting…

The Language Information Network and Clearinghouse System (LINCS) Project of the Center for Applied Linguistics was designed to be a formal, adaptive network of individuals and organizations whose objective is to facilitate the transfer of scientific information within the language science community. It is intended to improve on formal channels of…

This evaluation of the leadership and decision making of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the General Services Administration (GSA) in managing the federal government's telecommunications determined that both agencies need to engage in sufficient planning and analysis to determine which telecommunications systems should be centrally…

This report provides an analysis of the Subcommittee on Science, Research and Technology's hearings on H.R. 3137 (the Information Science and Technology Act of 1981), focusing on major issues discussed and various alternatives for action proposed by witnesses at the hearings. The primary purposes of the act are to provide a forum for considering…

This evaluation of information security programs in the executive agencies of the U.S. federal government was requested by the Subcommittee on Government Information and Individual Rights, a part of the Congressional Committee on Government Operations. The report focuses on automated systems for personal, proprietary, and other sensitive…

Curriculum administration and evaluation require specific information on such curriculum components as content, time, teaching methodology, materials, evaluation, and scheduling. Without such information, planning, coordination, resources allocation, and other decision-making activities are severely handicapped. Furthermore, evaluation of the…

This manual explains how to use the FAMULUS program package in a computing environment where most text is input through terminals and most files are stored on disks. Developed in the late 1960s by the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station of the United States Forest Service, FAMULUS was conceived as a personal documentation system…

This document provides a broad description of the different documentation and information activities developed by the Education Sector of Unesco, including those undertaken at headquarters, regional offices, and other units of the sector, with the exception of the International Bureau of Education (IBE). A recent decision to reorganize the largely…

Intended for use by the Computerized Documentation System (CDS), the Unesco version of ISIS (Integrated Set of Information Systems)--originally developed by the International Labour Organization--was developed in 1975 and named CDS/ISIS. This system has a comprehensive collection of programs for input, management, and output, running in batch or…