An important part of teaching students how to use the BLAST tool for searching large sequence databases, is to train the students to think critically about the quality of the sequence hits found--both in terms of the statistical significance and how informative the individual hits are. This paper describes how generating truly random sequences by…

This study builds on past research on normative publication practices in the communication discipline by exploring rates of contribution to the discipline's literature as represented in the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship's ComAbstracts database. The ComAbstracts database, spanning 90 years and more than 46,000 publications,…

The Association for the Advancement of Health Education (AAHE) and Academic Programs for Health Science, George Mason University (Virginia), have collaborated in upgrading AAHE's Health Resources Information System. The process involved updating the health resources information on file. This information, which represents addresses and telephone…

This report describes and illustrates the Northwest Regional Laboratory's (NWREL) Database and School Profiling project. Uses and implications for future data assembly and database design activities are explained. Analysis of the database has impacted evaluation and policymaking activities regarding at-risk youth, rural education, early childhood…

Discusses various categories of software that can be applied to the development of in-house databases on microcomputers, and describes the use of a general purpose package with a procedural language to design a small indexing system called Revelation. The description covers data storage and maintenance, database design, file searching, and system…

Discusses the development of multiobject databases called large data constructs (LDC), which may contain images and recorded or synthesized voice as well as text. Virtual reality and cyberspace are discussed, selectivity and database content are examined, database management systems are described, and retrieval options are reviewed. (three…

The new "International Handbook of Universities" is now 2-volumes and includes single-user access to World Higher Education Database Online. This "Twenty-second Edition" is the most comprehensive guide to university-level education worldwide, providing detailed information on higher education institutions that offer at least a post-graduate degree…

People who grow up speaking Spanish in Texas often learn a colloquial variety of Spanish at home or in their communities and have limited abilities to move between different registers in different social contexts. As heritage language (HL) learners' understanding of the value of different language varieties plays an important role in the…

The Internet has made it possible for students to access a vast amount of high-quality references when writing papers. Yet research has shown that the use of reference databases is poor and the quality of student papers is consequently often below expectation. The objective of this article is twofold. First, it aims to describe the problems…

Librarianship has experienced a few growing pains over the past several years as its relationship with technology matures into a productive partnership. Being overzealous to adopt new technology can sometimes lead to more setbacks than advances in the profession. However, a recent wave of research has been discussing the benefits of integrating…

This article reports on findings pertaining to scholarship in education policy drawn from a wider study on all education research in South Africa from 1995 to 2006. This study, which defined education research as broadly pertaining to teaching and/or learning, obtained extensive data from a wide range of sources, including universities, public…

The technical complexities and sheer size of international large-scale assessment (LSA) databases often cause hesitation on the part of the applied researcher interested in analyzing them. Further, inappropriate choice or application of statistical methods is a common problem in applied research using these databases. This article serves as a…

At the Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Colombia, we used their new computer facilities to introduce chemistry graduate students to biochemical database mining and quantum chemistry calculations using freeware. These hands-on workshops allowed the students a strong introduction to easily accessible software and how to use this software to begin…

This article discusses the processes that occurred when the Library, Controller's Office, and Information Technology Department agreed to create an interface between the Library's Innovative Interfaces patron database and campus administrative software, Banner, using file transfer protocol, in an effort to streamline the Library's accounts…

A large, nationally representative database of American elementary school students was used to quantitatively assess the complex ways in which race intersects with social class, affecting parenting strategies that in turn produce various educational outcomes among children. The determinants and consequences of parental practices associated with…