The text of an extended series of computer-mediated conversations makes up the body of this document. Discussion centers around the uses of computer networks as a new communication medium. Contributions were made by participants, who typed their informal comments into computer terminals, located at several places in the country. Because of the…

A study was made of management practices in different computer networks. The five networks were chosen as typical of different approaches to network implementation and management: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) Network, MERIT Network, Triangle Universities Computation Center (TUCC), Oregon State Regional Network, and Tymnet (a…

Results of a study of regional computer networks are presented. The aim of the report is to reveal the impact of college computer networks on users and providers and thereby to assist policy makers with decisions concerning computing. Questionnaires, site visits, and conferences were used to gather information. The first five chapters offer a…

Research investigated: 1) the quality of literature disseminated through an educational information channel, 2) its acceptance level, and 3) its effects upon decision-making. Some 102 research documents were selected from the 1971 entries in Research in Education (RIE), the abstracting and microfiche dissemination service for unpublished…

Taking the broad range of human communications as a background, this book elaborates upon communication theory and mass media methods to delineate facets of organizational communication. Of major concern are topics in information and systems theory, the types of barriers to communication in organizations, communications both up and down the chain…

There is a need for ethical guidance in the communications professions sharpened by the advancement of knowledge and technological capability. For communication to be all-encompassing in space as well as instantaneous in time is a mixed blessing reaffirming the need for balance between "secrecy" in arriving at decisions and the public's need and…

The introduction to this addendum (the Action Plan is LI 004 521) discusses the present use by libraries of information-handling technology and identifies some of the trends taking place in performing essential library services. While some limited inroads have been made in automating certain public library functions, the bulk of services is still…

Described in this report are the results of a survey of 27 libraries which had in operation 40 mechanized systems for acquisition, cataloging and circulation control. The libraries were selected on the basis of advanced performance in the state of the art of library automation. The overall trends show libraries increasing their use of on-line…

Canada has an especially difficult information problem since an enormous proportion of the publications required by Canadian researchers are produced in foreign countries. The attempt to solve this problem by a numerological or Farmington Plan approach is wrong both in theory and practice. This method emphasizes size and discounts selectivity.…

A series of post-McLuhan perceptions reiterates that new media have made possible new ways of experiencing the world. For the young in "Media-America" who have grown up with television, completed products like books are less important than ongoing process. The best means for recording this ongoing process is videotape camera. The introduction of a…

The context of this study includes: (1) the Government's arrangements to facilitate the flow of scientific and technical information, (2) the vast but amorphous "usership" of information in government, industry, the universities, and the public, and (3) the rapidly advancing technology of information. The purpose was to examine and…

An investigation was made of the Nashville Union Catalog to explore the possibility of its expansion into a regional catalog and making it the nucleus of a bibliographic center serving the state of Tennessee. The primary objectives were investigation of: the catalog and its format possibilities; the structural organization, and required funding,…

The program planning phase to improve service programs includes the recommendations that the Trustees of the James Jerome Hill Reference Library: (1) commit the physical facilities and administrative organization to serve as headquarters for the cooperative program of academic libraries, specifically the Cooperating Libraries in Consortium, Inc.…

A major concern of the South Central Research Library Council in establishing an interlibrary loan network was the development of a Coordinated Delivery system (CODE). Several means of delivery were considered--the U.S. mails, commercial trucking (Greyhound, United Parcel Service), and use of the public library system's delivery services. A…

In view of the vital role which scientific and technical information has come to play in the development of nations, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) was authorized to undertake and to complete jointly with the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) a feasibility study…