Presents adaptations and tests undertaken to allow an information retrieval system to forecast the likelihood of avalanches on a particular day; the forecasting process uses historical data of the weather and avalanche conditions for a large number of days. Describes a method for adapting these data into a form usable by a text-based IR system and…

Describes the University of California at Berkeley's participation in the TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) interactive track experiments. Highlights include results of searches on two systems, Cheshire II and ZPRISE; system design goals and implementation; precision and recall results; search questions by topic and system; and results of…

An intranet is a system which has "domesticated" the technologies of the Internet for specific organizational settings and goals. Although the adaptability of Hypertext Markup Language to intranets is sometimes limited, implementing various protocols and technologies enable organizations to share files among heterogeneous computers,…

An interactive multimedia tutorial system that focuses on the "why" aspect of user interface design is described. The system contains a design exercise, three experts for guidance, and a user group that comments on the usability of the design. Testing results indicate that learners consider more possible solutions to design issues. (Author/AEF)

This article was written to help school-business administrators keep track of school-district funds and make the right investment decisions. It provides a directory, which contains detailed information on financial-services firms, the regions they serve, and their areas of expertise. (LMI)

The .edu domain was originally intended for use by all educational levels. Since 1993, however, .edu names have been technically reserved for four-year institutions of higher education, leaving .us, .org or .net domains for two-year colleges. Nevertheless, 20% of 400 .edu names currently held by community colleges have been awarded since 1993.…

Focuses on ArtsNetMN--an art curriculum site developed by four Minnesota museums. Discusses design features on the ArtsNetMN site; collaboration as a key to ArtsNetMN's success as an online Learning Museum; the change from use of a listserv to a software product called Web Board; feedback from teachers; and implications for the classroom.…

Describes Project LIS (library information systems), a student-originated and student-developed metasite of URLs that points to information about integrated online library systems (IOLS) vendors, electronic journal titles and specific e-journal articles addressing IOLS topics of interest, and general information sources that might be accessed by…

Presents a model of some of the typical important layers in the design of information systems, and shows how those layers interact in operation. Suggests that these layers are in the way of a cascade of each layer affecting the next. Presents a model of this cascade of interactions in information systems. Provides examples from networked…

The MARIE project explores knowledge-based information retrieval of captioned images of the kind found in picture libraries and on the Internet. MARIE's five-part approach exploits the idea that images are easier to understand with context, especially descriptive text near them, but it also does image analysis. Experiments show MARIE prototypes…

Focuses on self-service, seamless, Web-based libraries--electronic libraries created by information professionals, Meta sites for the 21st Century where users with average Internet skills can find quality Web sites. Discusses content, design, effective implementation, and final evaluation. (AEF)

Defines the contextual classification model, comparing it to the traditional metadata models from which it evolved. Using the MetaData Object Manager (M.O.M) as an example, discusses the use of Contextual Classification in developing this system, and the organizational, performance and reliability advantages of using an external (to the data…

Introduces a Web authoring and publishing system, DAPHNE (Distributed Authoring and Publishing in a Hypertext and Networked Environment). Addresses DAPHNE's system architecture and design principles, key features, new developments--especially those regarding integration of a workflow for management of multilingual Web sites, and the possibility of…

Presents a framework for modeling the content of information objects such as documents and video programs based on observation of how users interact with those objects in the course of information seeking and use. Identifies four categories of potentially observable user behaviors: examination, retention, reference, and annotation. (AEF)

We apply the object oriented software engineering (OOSE) design methodology for software objects (SOs) to learning objects (LOs). OOSE extends and refines design principles for authoring dynamic reusable LOs. Our learning object class (LOC) is a template from which individualised LOs can be dynamically created for, or by, students. The properties…