An ethnographic account of the community of academic physicists is based on interviews, and a picture of what physics is like as a discipline is constructed. The features of its epistemology that differentiate it from other disciplines and characteristics (career structure, value-system and preferred modes of communication) are described.…

Describes a study that examined the effect of academic background on users' perceptions of information needs and their expressions of those needs to library or information services. The implications for the role of academic background in the cognitive models of information users and for the provision of information service in interdisciplinary…

Writing and other media such as art and folk tales tell the story of a culture. No less important are scholarly writings about society, knowledge, ethics, and practices. Because continuing education is both an academic subject and a field of practice, practitioners have a responsibility to publish both scholarly and practical works. (SK)

Examines the meaning of subject specificity, a crucial aspect of teaching and assessing critical thinking. Discusses a number of distinctions, including a distinction among domain, epistemological, and conceptual subject specificity. Outlines future research needs. (FMW)

Nearly every discipline in the humanities appears to have been touched by computers is the consensus from a conference on computers and the humanities held in Toronto. Computerized concordances, studies on language evolution, identifying archaeological finds, video images and audio in databases are discussed. (MLW)

Presents an annotated bibliography of books and articles in the field of academic quality ranking research published from 1986 through 1988. Categories of materials covered are ranking and rating in general; private elementary and secondary schools; college guides; ranking by subject areas; regional ranking; international ranking; and ranking…

Offers suggestions for developing a collection policy that promotes the integration of government documents into an academic library's overall collection management objectives. Steps described include selecting appropriate agencies, selecting appropriate levels of collection intensity, assigning intensity levels to agency materials, and adjusting…

Data on foreign student enrollments include the institutions with the largest enrollments (including numbers and proportions of the overall student population), distribution by field of study, countries of origin, and the number of foreign students in each state. (MSE)

The growth of new female doctorates has resulted in an increase in their participation rate and a decrease in their unemployment rate, although the female unemployment rate remains high relative to that of men. Gender-based differences still exist, however, and many new female doctorates hold part-time positions. (Author/MLW)

At Carnegie Mellon University, collaborative strategic planning promotes institutional distinction through the development of focused departments that exploit university strengths and opportunities. Implications of decentralized university organization and the need for centralized leadership are discussed. (MLW)

This paper argues that faculty career studies have neglected important work in life-span human development and narratives of the academic life. It suggests that such studies should use recent contributions from the behavioral sciences, pay attention to scholarly and scientific biography/autobiography, be discipline specific, and use varied methods…

Identifies a set of objects that is genuinely indigenous to management information systems and constructs a simple model based on them. The model's four basic entities, which define the scope of information theory, are data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. (Contains 46 references.) (KRN)

Considers the need for a systematic and critical approach to the academic study of information policy at national and international levels. Reviews the nature of large-scale information policy problems and considers some of the main sources of confusion in the journal literature. Proposes characteristics for the design of information policy…

College students must learn the subject matter and conventions of their majors but must also become part of a larger knowledge community to understand disciplinary processes and conventions from a broader perspective. Educators must take responsibility for helping students accomplish both these goals. (Author/MSE)

Based on reports of 10 disciplinary task forces concerning improvement of college instruction, it is suggested that faculty respond to suggestions for curricular change in ways that reflect their disciplinary perspectives. It is concluded that faculty from varied disciplines need thoughtful leadership to develop support for any common curricular…