The last three decades have shown a marked development in new technologies for storing and retrieving information: microform in the 1960s; online database in the 1970s, and CD-ROM in the 1980s. While microform lacks volatility and multiple access points, preservation programs find it to be ideal storage media: it has a longer life expectancy than…

This paper, the third in a series exploring future options for public policy in the communications and information arenas, argues that the communications spectrum--e.g., public mobile service, private radio, and domestic satellites--is a valuable but limited resource that should benefit all Americans. After a background discussion, it is…

This digest focuses on the teaching of foreign languages through distance learning, which refers to instruction via satellite or other long-distance telecommunication technology. The following questions are addressed: (1) What is distance learning? (2) Why is distance learning used? (3) How can distance learning provide the interaction necessary…

Detailed product information on peripherals for the blind computer user is provided and applications, availability, reliability, price, and selection considerations are described. Chapters address the following topics and product categories: (1) scanners (optical character readers, Kurzweil Reading Machine); (2) a buyer's guide to modems; (3)…

Results of an evaluation of the Washington Higher Education Telecommunication System (WHETS) are summarized. The system links Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman and the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle with the off-campus sites in Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver. The system also expands the microwave link between WSU and the…

The goals of this dissertation are to provide an empirical examination of the impact of competing technologies on cable television firms and to document existing pricing behavior in the cable and pay programming industry. The introduction provides a brief overview of the cable television industry, including the impact of cable on federal policy…

Two articles provide: (1) instructions for gaining telecommunications access to CHILDES, a child language database; and (2) the conventions guiding transcript coding in the database. The first article provides access instructions for telecommunications systems, the commands a user would need to know, and brief notes on searching and other aspects…

This hearing addressed three major issues: How should copyright law respond to technological change? Should copyright law accommodate changes initiated outside the law, or attempt to delay change by preserving existing rights? and How should the legal dividing lines be drawn between the sometimes competing demands of consumer and proprietor?…

Three papers consider various aspects of the AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) court-ordered divestiture. The first paper, "InterLATA Toll Alternatives for the Bell Regional Holding Companies" (Elizabeth A. La Blanc, Ann M. Wolf, and Richard M. Wolf), examines six options available to the RHCs (regional holding…

Designed to minimize information overload in telecommunications systems, the formal model developed in this paper predicts the usefulness of a message based on the available message features, and may be used to rank messages by expected importance or economic worth. The assumptions of binary and two Poisson independent probabilistic distributions…

Designed to facilitate the dissemination of information and sharing of experiences among countries in Asia and the Pacific, this annual publication includes special reports, reviews of recent publications and studies, and notes on Asian documents and sources of documents concerned with recent trends in educational development, reforms and renewal,…

This booklet describes online searching using Materials Information, a metallurgy and metals science information service of the Institute of Metals in London and ASM International in Cleveland, Ohio, which is available through the major online vendors. Described in detail are online searching, online databases, costs, online hosts or vendors,…

This paper looks at nine states--California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Nebraska, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington--in an effort to find common themes in the processes and outcomes of post-divestiture state telecommunications policies. The possible consequences of current state policies are then discussed, and it is suggested that…

The second of two volumes, this report provides a brief description of a 1987 conference on distance education together with 21 papers that were presented in the informational sessions. The papers included in this volume are: (1) "Evaluation of Student Outcomes in Distance Education" (Charles Feasley); (2) "Principles of Effective Video…

The paper reports on the development of videotex services appropriate for the communication needs of hearing-impaired and speech-impaired persons in France. The videotex service, called TELETEL, serves 3.8 million business and home users with approximately 8,500 services through the public telephone network and packet switching network. TELETEL…