Expressions involving optimal sign vectors are derived so as to yield two new applications. First, coefficient alpha for the sign-weighted composite is maximized in analogy to Lord's scale-independent solution with differential weights. Second, optimal sign vectors are used to define two groups of objects that are maximally distinct. (Author/CTM)

Speculates on possible avenues for research in the area of bibliographic control, considers questions in the field that need answering, and posits that future research needs to be supported by basic theoretical inquiry. Forty-eight references are cited. (FM)

Outlines the basic tasks and skills of teaching under three major headings: planning, teaching, and pupil progress reporting. Presents brief definitions of each skill. (Author/SJL)

Holds that traditional library classification systems are inadequate to handle psychological literature, and advocates the establishment of new theoretical approaches to bibliographic organization. (FM)

Attempts to refine the Kelley causal attribution model by developing a classification scheme to describe the various types of causal attributions, and by demonstrating the importance of comparison-object consensus as well as the usual factors of target-object consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. (Author/SS)

Offers a definition of generic criticism for discriminating among different approaches to the classificatory study of public rhetoric. Focusses on one approach to generic criticism which centers on the situational nature of rhetoric, providing a method for that approach; and identifies the three operations for the study of rhetorical genre. (JMF)

Describes LASH (project for a list of Australian subject headings) through its development and demise. (RAO)

Discussion of Wayne Wiegand's criticism of library and information science focuses on the ideas of Pierre Bourdieu to help form a new set of frameworks. Topics include social institutions and symbolic power; cultural production and librarianship; and classification as symbolic power. (LRW)

A k-dimensional multivariate normal distribution is made discrete by partitioning the k-dimensional Euclidean space with rectangular grids. The probability integrals over the partitioned cubes forms a k-dimensional contingency table with ordered categories. A loglinear model with main effects plus two-way interactions provides an approximation for…

This project looks at the body of literature related to visual communication and the categories that emerge from the writings to develop a taxonomy of topics and some sense of the location of the most important, or at least the most frequently written about, areas of study. (Author/LRW)

Ethnographic research should not be limited by categorization and typology. Disciplined self-reflection can enrich such studies through systemic examination that can lead to new insights. (SK)

Provides a critical analysis of the development and deployment of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), focusing on discourse surrounding creation of the system's "information" category. Suggests that it functions to position information as a major sector of the economy and to organize data about information as a…

Suggests eight guidelines to aid the analyst in optimizing the manner in which rating scale categories cooperate to improve the usefulness of the resultant measures. Presents these guidelines in the context of Rasch analysis, but notes that they reflect aspects of rating scale functioning that impact all methods of analysis. (SLD)

Infants 7 to 8.5 months of age successfully differentiated 2 spectral structures in the context of variations in fundamental frequency, intensity, and duration. Subjects' performance with nonarbitrary categories could not be attributed to memorization of the familiarized set. (RH)

Notes that the many forms of suicidal phenomena (contemplated, attempted, and completed suicide) present significant problems to researchers and practitioners. Reviews theoretical and empirical efforts to define types of suicidal individuals and attempts to integrate them by means of higher-order categories of variables: (1) descriptive; (2)…