Reviews research showing that there is a level of quality below which children's development is compromised. Uses analogies of options available to consumers when buying cars to designate features of quality child care. Argues that high-quality care should be available to all children. (AMC)

Disconfirmation models of online service measurement seek to define service quality as the difference between user expectations of the service to be received and perceptions of the service actually received. Two such models-inferred and direct disconfirmation-for measuring quality of the online experience are compared (WebQUAL, SERVQUAL). Findings…

Discusses educational technology in light of the recommendations by the Expert Panel on Educational Technology. Topics include overcoming basic cultural features of elementary and secondary education that will work against designing effective educational technology programs; and improving learning from the learner's perspective, rather than doing…

Suggests there is a crisis in educational leadership, especially as it affects information technology. Highlights include educational leaders as managers; the commercialization of education; management strategies on campus; students as customers; quality control, online distance education, and the business model; and the future of online distance…

Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York, initiated a hospital-funded applied-research program linking patient care and academic interests of clinicians with hospital management to improve patient outcomes while lowering costs. The program is projected to produce substantial cost savings while improving patient care quality. (GLR)

Use-oriented approaches to evaluation have been challenged by contentions that the responsiveness of such evaluations undermines their technical quality. This discussion analyzes purported conflicts between these evaluation criteria of utility and accuracy by examining underlying assumptions related to evaluation's purpose and politics. (TJH)

A discussion of the National Institutes of Health grants peer review system suggests that, while the system is the most effective for assuring support for high-quality medical and nursing research, serious erosion in confidence in the system has occurred and must be resolved within the biomedical research community. (MSE)

The article suggests that computer expert systems that do not require exotic languages and machines will soon be applied in human services to help decision making in the areas of eligibility determination, casework quality control, written service plans for clients or students, job placement, service acquisition, and policy interpretation.…

It is argued that while the American Dental Association promotes quality of care, there is little evidence of significant implementation of quality assurance by the organized dental community and long-standing resistance to the quality assurance movement among individual dentists. Some potential remedies are discussed. (MSE)

A variety of issues in the debate over assurance of quality of dental care are discussed, including the methods and implementation of quality assessment and the mechanisms of quality assurance among individual dentists. (MSE)

Discusses the role of computer keyboard operators in typesetting complex mathematical expressions used in instructional materials, examines the role of software in producing good quality output, and describes Expressionist, software for Macintosh hardware that can be used with desktop publishing and word processing software to enter mathematical…

Describes and compares the process used for accreditation of postsecondary programs of education for librarianship, and the existing programs and justification for certification of individual librarians. An argument for the advantages of institutional accreditation over individual certification is presented. (13 references) (CLB)

Describes the development of CONSER, a cooperative effort by libraries to create, maintain, and distribute quality bibliographic and cataloging information that conforms to national standards for serial cataloging. Issues involved in each phase of the project are discussed. (16 references) (CLB)

Validated aptitude tests used to help make personnel decisions about military recruits against hands-on tests of job performance in radio repairers and automotive mechanics. Data were filled with errors, reducing accuracy of validity coefficients. Discusses how validity coefficients can be made more accurate by exercising quality control during…

Discussion of digital imaging technology focuses on its potential use for preservation of library materials. Topics addressed include converting microfilm to digital; the high cost of conversion from paper or microfilm; quality; indexing; database management issues; incompatibility among imaging systems; longevity; cooperative pilot projects; and…