Argues that, although middle, junior, and senior high school educators should be proud that they are leading the way for their counterparts in higher education, they must also recognize that they cannot slacken their own efforts for quality and accountability. (RS)

Examined work of the nurse's aides (NAs) through observation and in-depth interviews with 30 NAs. Found efforts of NAs were clearly focused on getting work done well enough to stay out of trouble and decisions with implications for quality of care were often driven by whether NAs would be reprimanded by supervisors or ostracized by peers.…

Discusses how technical communicators can measure performance, productivity, and quality goals. Discusses developing a daily management system of measures for technical communication, notes other possible measures, and discusses criteria and prediction. (SR)

Federal Express uses Service Quality Indicators to measure customer satisfaction and innovative training methods such as an interactive video network, pay-for-performance/pay-for-knowledge, and a Leadership Evaluation and Awareness Process. (SK)

Compared effects of ombudsman programs on quality of nursing home care on random sample of 134 Medicare/Medicaid-certified long-term care facilities in Missouri. Found that presence of ombudsman program was most important factor associated with quality for intermediate-care facilities, and was significantly associated with quality for skilled…

Discusses the topic of reading typographical errors as an example of archival work. Suggests that reading typos is a practice within textual scholarship which is a rather venerable if now somewhat overshadowed tradition of humanistic research and pedagogy. Begins with two examples of typo reading and then presents some general claims about editing…

Provides a working definition of communication quality that focuses on its technical, functional (use), and aesthetic components. Posits a discrepancy-based approach to assessing quality. Develops (based on that analysis) testable, theoretical propositions that predict relationships among communication quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. (SR)

The functions of the institutional review board (IRB) at Duke University (North Carolina) are reviewed in the context of the recent four-day shutdown by federal regulators of all clinical trials at the institution. Observation of the process revealed a paperwork-driven process in which many projects, some of them highly specialized, must be…

A customized program on concrete technology for the construction industry in Hong Kong is based on the ISO 9000 quality management system. More than 269 students have been trained; 48.7% of enrollment comes from concrete suppliers. (SK)

Analysis of the impact of subsidies on child care fees in Missouri found that child care markets are competitive. Growth in subsidies form 1991-93 increased fees but also improved quality. (SK)

Anecdotal evidence about Web site effectiveness can be colorful but is not useful in structuring and managing a site. This article examines elements of Web quality (identifying customers, articulating purpose, providing relevant content, creating coherent structure, crafting housestyle, providing relevant action points, delivering promises) and…

Discusses the quality of cataloging in bibliographic control based on experiences at the Library of Congress. Highlights include the down side of quality and quality review, copy cataloging, CONSER (Cooperative Online Serials), NCCP (National Coordinated Cataloging Program) and PCC (Program for Cooperative Cataloging), minimal-level cataloging,…

Explains the Open Directory Project (ODP), an attempt to catalog the World Wide Web by creating a human-compiled Web directory. Discusses the history of the project; open source models; the use of volunteer editors; quality control; problems and complaints; and use of ODP data by commercial services such as Google. (LRW)

Discusses the legacy of Toronto Canada's North York Board of Education's commitment to design quality, embodied in a series of schools from the 1990s. Several school designs, photographs, and floor plans are included, illustrating the Board's desire to combine durability and user satisfaction by embracing architectural quality. (GR)

This document discusses the importance of data-quality and presents three simple steps that can help lay the framework for an over all data-quality strategy. The first step is to ask some rather simple questions, such as: (1) How much data does the organization have, how fast is it creating new data, and how many redundant copies are there?; and…