Designing the instructional interface is a challenging endeavor requiring knowledge and skills in instructional and visual design, psychology, human-factors, ergonomic research, computer science, and editorial design. This paper describes the instructional interface, the challenges of its development, and an instructional systems approach to its…

Examines the effects of database assistance on clinical problem solving across three cohorts of medical students and two database interfaces. Discusses the relationship between personal domain knowledge and problem solving, personal domain knowledge and database searching, and comparisons of different interface styles in information retrieval…

Discusses cognitive load theory and describes a study that investigated how undergraduates learned the basic commands of a CAD (computer-assisted design) software package using manuals with different formats of presentation of instructions. Results show that graphical interface, using a manual that juxtaposes text and screen images, was most…

To support performance for an international audience of computer users, designers need to examine key elements of performance in relation to the design of systems. Discussion focuses on planning ahead for an international audience and preparing a design that keeps the performer, the process, and the information connected, resulting in optimal…

Baroma (Balance of Rotating Machinery), the Web-based educational engineering interactive software for teaching/learning combines didactical and software ergonomical approaches. The software in tutorial form simulates a problem using Visual Interactive Simulation in graphic display, and animation is brought about through graphical user interface…

"MedLine Search Assistant" is a new interface for MEDLINE searching that improves both search precision and recall by helping the user convert a free text search to a controlled vocabulary-based search in a visual environment. Features of the interface are described, followed by details of the conceptual design and the physical design of…

Describes a Web site that introduces novice Web users to principles of design and navigation of instructional Web sites. Discusses the process involved in designing the site, lessons learned while developing it, and recommendations for further research. Includes a list of research-based guidelines derived from the literature in the areas of screen…

Explains MOOsburg, a community-oriented MOO that models the geography of the town of Blacksburg, Virginia and is designed to be used by local residents. Highlights include the software architecture; client-server communication; spatial database; user interface; interaction; map-based navigation; application development; and future plans. (LRW)

AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway--the world's first major FRBR implementation--was developed as a co-operative service involving eight universities and the National Library of Australia in 2000-2001. This paper traces the reasons for adopting the FRBR information model, implementation experiences, and user responses to the service. The paper…

Since its humble beginning, Digital Past, a centralized local history digitization initiative at the North Suburban Library System (NSLS), a multitype consortium in Wheeling, Illinois, has now grown into a large centralized collaboration that consists of 32 libraries and a museum as its primary contributors. With Digital Past, there are various…

Although technological innovations have the capability to significantly change how scientific investigations are done and greatly enhance the teaching and learning of science, its use is no more effective than any other resource or innovation when researched-based effective teaching practices are not followed. This paper reviews established…

This article documents a lifecycle approach to employing user-centered design, covering both qualitative and quantitative data gathering methods in support of using this approach for product design, usability testing, and market research. The author provides specific case studies of usability studies, focus groups, interviews, ethnographic…

In April 2005, the University of Maryland Libraries launched "ArchivesUM" (www.lib.umd.edu/archivesum), an online database of finding aids for manuscript and archival collections using Encoded Archival Description (EAD). "ArchivesUM," however, is only the publicly available end-product of a much larger project-an integrated…

3D interactive virtual reality museum exhibits should be easy to use, entertaining, and informative. If the interface is intuitive, it will allow the user more time to learn the educational content of the exhibit. This research deals with interface issues concerning activating audio descriptions of images in such exhibits while the user is…

A considerable amount of experiences in teaching object-oriented concepts using the Java language have been reported to date, some of which describe language pitfalls and concrete learning difficulties. In this paper, a number of additional issues that have been experienced as difficult for students to master, along with approaches intended to…