Discusses potential problems that may arise with state school finance formulas based on the weighted pupil concept when special education students are weighted heavily for state aid purposes and local school districts are free to classify students as "special." (JG)

A template for pictorial image description to be used by novice image searchers in recording their descriptions of images was tested; image attribute classes derived in previous research were used to model the template. Results indicated that users may need training and/or more guidance to correctly assign descriptors to higher-level classes.…

Describes the use of three alternative methods for ranking films for information retrieval (IR). A large film-person incidence matrix is generated using the principle cast, directors, producers and screenwriters for each film. These attributes are used to measure film-film distances by creating a distance matrix. Distance, product distance, and…

Investigates the impact of the omission of scholarly communication journals from Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) on citation-based appraisals of communication literature. Argues that accurate citation analysis will not be possible until SSCI and AHCI include omitted journals; and that an…

Discusses ranking techniques for document retrieval and proposes an evaluation, or filtering, technique that reduces costs and memory usage by early recognition of which documents are likely to be highly ranked. Highlights include index design, ranked query evaluation, reducing the number of accumulators, inverted file structures, and experimental…

Describes the "National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States" (NIDS-US), a microfiche resource of finding aids for manuscript collections and archives. Discusses its companion, NIDS-UK (United Kingdom), the NIDS CD-ROM index, and the development of ArchivesUSA, a CD-ROM which will combine NIDS, the National Union Catalog…

Relates how one teacher used a C-ROM encyclopedia, a concordancer, and a word processor to make concordances suitable for lower-level language learners. These concordances helped overcome the unfamiliarity of 80-character KWIC lines and the difficulties of obscure vocabulary, and were useful in the teaching of grammar and lexis. (Author/VWL)

Reviews literature on cost-of-living adjustments. Analyzes advantages and disadvantages of three alternative strategies for updating the Texas Cost-of-Education Index used in its school finance formula: A comparable-wage index, a cost-of-services index, and a cost-of-outcomes index. (Contains 38 references.) (PKP)

Demonstrates the use of concordances to prepare classroom vocabulary materials that are both authentic and relevant, assuming the databases used are pertinent to students, and shows how concordance-based exercises can enhance student competence in both semantic and syntactic elements of language. (nine references) (Author/CB)

Describes a study that examined the use of a hypertext system by patrons of three museums. The results discussed include user preference for embedded menus over traditional indexes and user criteria for article selection. The discussion also covers appropriate approaches to analyzing usage data. (eight references) (CLB)

Describes the CD-ROM version of the "Congressional Masterfile," a comprehensive index of congressional committee reports and prints, hearings, and documents from 1789 to the present. The description of this product includes hardware and software considerations, user aids, and search options. The Masterfile CD-ROM is compared to print…

Presents ideas for activities to help teach students in grades three-eight about art indexes and encyclopedias. Reference sources are given to help students focus on artists; artistic works by title; artistic periods; artistic media, styles, and themes; art associated with selected subjects; and artists in specified geographic areas. (LRW)

Compares two full featured database management systems for bibliographic information in terms of programs and documentation; record creation and editing; online database citations; search procedures; access to references in external text files; sorting and printing functions; style sheets; indexes; and file operations. (four references) (CLB)

Describes a study that compared retrieval obtained by searching hardcopy and online indexes. Measures of comparison were recall and precision, user preferences, and the amount of effort required to complete the search. The findings indicate that neither method offers an overall advantage and suggest that both search modes should be maintained. (12…

In cases of trauma, medical indexes are used by paramedics to report the condition of the patient to the hospital. Presents a scenario in which students act as paramedics at the scene of an earthquake and use the index called capillary refill to report the severity of the trauma and predict probable survival. (MDH)