Describes a microbiology exercise that is designed to expose students to the world wide web. Introduces a molecular biology quiz site and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Provides a list of molecular biology sites on the Internet. (YDS)

Examines the distribution of bibliographic records in online bibliographic databases using 14 different search topics on DIALOG. Discusses the presence of duplicate records and problems with lexical ambiguity, and concludes that the number of databases needed for searches with varying complexities of search strategies is much more topic dependent…

Describes the development of production requirements and technical specifications for a microfilm-to-digital conversion project that digitized early English books printed between 1475-1700. Discusses the Internet interface used for access; MARC records; indexing; partnerships with libraries and universities; scanning; database design; and quality…

Describes a Web-based survey system developed for evaluating distributed learning at the University of Central Florida. Results are incorporated into a participation database table that restricts duplicate and unwanted responses, and compares the pilot test results of this Web-based survey to those of a traditional mailed survey. (Author/LRW)

Describes a chemistry course titled "Writing for Chemists", a junior-level course required of all chemistry and biochemistry majors at California State University (CSU) that covers all of the sections for writing both primary and secondary papers in the chemical sciences as well as the process of literature searching in both computer databases and…

Full-text databases do not allow for the complexity of the interaction of the human eye and brain with printed matter. As a result, both content and context may be lost. The authors propose additional indexing fields that would maintain the content and context of print in electronic formats.

This brief article describes the database, Science Online, from Facts on File. Science is defined broadly in this database to include archeology, computer technology, medicine, inventions, and mathematics, as well as biology, chemistry, earth sciences, and astronomy. Content also is divided into format categories for browsing purposes:…

When budgets are tightened, the school library media specialists and/or the arts programs are often considered expendable. No Child Left Behind legislation means increasing academic time for core subjects, which translates into cutting time for arts education. As money becomes tight, frills are cut (i.e., the arts). Schools don't seem able to fill…

Teaching students the difference between good and bad information has become increasingly more difficult for librarians and other educators. While tools exist to help students to understand how to determine good and bad online information (Web site evaluation forms, techniques to link back to Web site owners, etc.), the reality is that most…

Searching for icons, symbols, or signs is an integral part of tasks involving computer or radar displays, head-up displays in aircraft, or attending to road traffic signs. Icons therefore need to be designed to optimize search times, taking into account the factors likely to slow down visual search. Three factors likely to adversely affect visual…

This study explored the effects of active learning and types of elaboration on procedure acquisition (writing database queries). Training materials emphasized elaborations of conditions for executing actions versus elaborations of the connection between conditions and actions. In the "active" conditions, participants performed structured exercises…

There is an increasing focus on deficiencies in problem solving as a vulnerability factor for suicidal behavior in general and hence a target for treatment in suicide attempters. In view of the uncertainty of evidence for this in adolescents we conducted a systematic review of the international research literature examining the possible…

Economic-crime investigation in Finland is in transition from hierarchically organized, sequential collaboration between authorities toward parallel, interorganizational collaboration. This article describes the tools used and developed for managing the new collaborative economic-crime-investigation process. The challenge is to find…

In this month's column, the author discusses his work on the Library Technology Guides site, additions he has made to the lib-web-cats online directory of libraries, and applications he has created for managing home projects such as family photographs.

The last decade has witnessed increasing interest in email communication. Research in this area has focused on stylistic conventions, the role of email in the communication patterns of a company and the link between emails and corporate culture. Most of the studies so far published have concentrated on simple, one-way emails. However, evidence…