Includes "Ready for the Techno World?" (Dykman); "Getting Computers to Think" (Ross); "Industrial Technology Class Welcomes the World" (Suba); "Distance Learning Combats Nursing Shortage in Texas" (Rojas, Anderson); and "Fantasy as an Educational Tool." (JOW)

Discusses the need for proposing and implementing an information technology standards policy for the federal government. Topics addressed include the National Information Infrastructure (NII); voluntary standards among federal agencies; private sector organizations; coordinating the use of standards; enforcing compliance; policy goals; a framework…

Discusses academic and public libraries that expand the range and type of their services via fee-based information services and private information businesses that charge fees. Questions of billing the total cost to the patron versus part of the cost are considered; and the impact of such fees on library cooperation and networks is described. (six…

Interviews with four teachers, one parent, one assistant, and two ancillary helpers found that classroom teams possess little structure with minimal role definition. Participants erect defenses against the lack of definition and use a process termed "fraternity" to get along with one another and camouflage uncertainties and tensions. (SK)

Describes the development of the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL). Membership parameters are described; voting representation and governance is discussed; the organizational structure is explained; funding is examined; and factors contributing to the success of NAAL are considered, including a mix of short- and long-term goals and…

Describes ALEPH, the research library network in Israel, and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of its decentralized structure. Highlights include comparisons between RLIN and ALEPH; centralized versus decentralized networks; the format of ALEPH; authority control in ALEPH; and non-Roman scripts in both networks. (16 references) (LRW)

Describes a cooperative collection development program implemented by the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries (NAAL) to strengthen resources available for graduate education and research. Topics discussed include funding collection development, the formula for the equitable distribution of funds, research support, and other related activities.…

Describes dialogue exchanges arising from an Eastern Michigan University telecommunications project in which teachers enrolled in a university graduate course and fifth graders dialogued about literature. Outlines the benefits of electronic dialogues to both teachers and students. (MG)

Perception of a decline in the effectiveness of the college faculty senate, resulting from a number of trends, has aroused new interest in the function of the senate and willingness of elected faculty leaders to confer with each other through conferences in multicampus institutions, regional consortia, and statewide consortia. (MSE)

Discusses changes in the publishing industry resulting from digital electronic networks and optical storage technologies, and explains attributes of information products as types of value for both print and electronic contexts. Electronic products necessary for a shift from paper to electronic formats are identified, and legal issues are…

A network of African-American students begun at Howard University (District of Columbia) combines community service with political activism. Students working in a variety of areas urge other young African Americans to become active about local and state policies concerning utilities costs, children, and schools and to empower teenagers for…

Hofstra University (New York) contracted with a vendor to provide a student information kiosk system on a campus computer network that would improve and enhance delivery of student services. Installed in under two months, the system has quickly addressed some persistent challenges, including easy access to information and security. (MSE)

Interviews with 75 leaders in 5 rural Missouri communities identified "sense of fit" and community evaluation as dimensions of leaders' community attachment that were related to each other but were associated differently with leader characteristics such as education. Leaders' local attachments appeared to inhibit linkages to outside…

Description of community online systems focuses on a Freenet in Illinois called P.A.T.H. (Public Access to Heartland). Highlights include patron use; discussion groups and bulletin boards; electronic mail; reference questions; Freenet's place in public libraries; and sample reference questions answered by Freenet information providers. (five…

A physics teacher at rural Cedar Falls High School (Iowa) describes how teacher telecommunication networks provided ongoing support following summer teacher workshops, his inability to get fellow teachers engaged in telecommunication, and the benefits of a telecommunication network to rural teachers. (SV)