Reports on an interview with the new chair of NCLIS (National Commission on Library and Information Science), Jeanne Hurley Simon. Topics discussed include politicalization; relations with the American Library Association (ALA); White House Conferences on Libraries and Information Services; school libraries; advising the President and Congress;…

Discusses responses from an informal survey of what managers want in entry-level instructional technologists. Presents examples of basic expectation for graduates in terms of communications; organizations; technology; planning; and speedy performance. Discusses emerging priorities related to education and training as big business; flexible…

Reevaluates the "Success" search strategy (Chaim, 1994) based on the principle of planning the search according to four successive phases. Evaluation was conducted by in-depth interviews with professional information searchers. Panelists were asked to critically analyze the strategy's rationale, evaluate the basic components, and reflect on…

This Perspectives issue of the "Journal of the American Society for Information Science" brings together a collection of papers that explore the behavioral and organizational aspects of the changing communication system of science. Authors address such issues as the adoption of computer-mediated communication by scientists, the changing…

Analyzes the emerging community informatics evaluation literature to develop an understanding of the indicators used to gauge project impacts in community networks and community technology centers. The study finds that community networks and community technology center assessments fall into five key areas: strong democracy; social capital;…

Presents a socio-cognitive perspective in relation to information science and information retrieval. Topics include differences between traditional cognitive views and socio-cognitive views; a comparison of behaviorism, cognitivism, psychoanalysis, and neuroscience as approaches in psychology; information needs; relevance criteria; and…

Presents an alternative perspective regarding the future of information and library education. Characterizes contemporary society as postmodern, says library education has become preoccupied with information management and its associated technologies, and suggests that the curriculum needs to be based on principles of critical distance, social…

Articulates key elements in the "invisible substrate" of information science. Emphasizes information science's role as a meta-science--conducting research and developing theory around documentary products of other disciplines and activities. Suggests that mental activities of information science center around "representation" and "organization" of…

Explores the implications of articulating the bridges that are built, usually implicitly, between metatheory and method, and between these and their ultimate interests, the doing of research; the purpose is to articulate the uses of methodology. Suggests that there is lacking a vocabulary for talking about methodology which attends to the…

Examines how ongoing content management needs and tasks affect organizations that maintain Web-based information systems (Web IS). Investigates how organizational context shapes content management practice and configuration of the underlying Web IS technology. Presents a model of the socio-technical context of Web IS content management. (AEF)

Reviews and discusses critically the development during the last decade of the cognitive approach to information retrieval research and theory. The focus is analytic and empirical research on the complex nature of information need formation and situation, their inherent association with the concept of relevance, and the development of cognitive…

Explores the application of hermeneutics to the analysis of discourse. A set of examples of discursive practice in library and information science (LIS) is examined for ideological intent. The aim is to demonstrate that some discourse is ideological in nature and purpose, and to point out implications of such discursive practice for knowledge…

This paper explores library evaluation in Australia and proposes a return to research fundamentals in which evaluators are asked to consider the centrality of philosophical issues and the role of different research methods. A critique of current evaluation examples demonstrates a system-centred, quantitative, input/output focus which fails to…

Purpose - The study examines the level of satisfaction amongst Lebanese university graduates on their training/education in light of their current occupational level. Design/methodology/approach - Focus groups were interviewed to understand factors that helped graduates in their occupation. These factors were turned into a Likert-scale…

We have developed an introductory bioinformatics exercise for sophomore biology and biochemistry students that reinforces the understanding of the structure of a gene and the principles and events involved in its expression. In addition, the activity illustrates the severe effect mutations in a gene sequence can have on the protein product.…