Outlines the issues and concerns of providing spatial data that have been encountered by the Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) at the University of Connecticut's library. Highlights include collecting and archiving, cataloging and indexing, networking, distribution, user education, geographic information systems, and a glossary of key…

Describes World Wide Web sites and hypertextbooks for interactive learning related to the following academic subjects: calculus, chemistry, medicine, astronomy, engineering, and literature. Provides examples of large Internet sites that act as clearinghouses for information on hypertextbooks. (AEF)

Discusses the 1995 OCLC/NCSA Metadata Workshop that met to define a standard set of data elements for describing network-accessible information resources. These document data elements had to be simple enough for authors and publishers to use, to facilitate discovery and retrieval, and to be useful as a basis for descriptive cataloging. (JKP)

The University of California at Santa Cruz has completed a successful test of a wireless computer network that would enable students and professors to get on line from anywhere on campus. The network, linked by radio waves, could save millions of dollars in campus wiring costs and would better meet student and faculty information needs. (MSE)

Discusses the integration of CD-ROMs with online service producers. Highlights include publishing; LucasFilm's Habitat project; programs through Prodigy, CompuServe, America Online, and Philips Media; hybrid links to Internet sites; multiplayer games; virtual chat with avatars; and problems, including CD-ROM's slowness, download time, storage…

Examines the role of electronic academic journals in scholarly communities. Discusses ways in which the journals support and alter the development of scholarly communities including enhanced communication, cost effectiveness, dissemination speed, preprint distribution, and collaborative texts. Describes experiences with one electronic journal…

Discussion of reference services for children and child-related questions focuses on examples encountered at the San Francisco Bay Area regional reference center. Highlights include sharing resources, online searching, telephone inquiries, using adult reference sources, the use of specialized collections, and using the Internet. (LRW)

Examines the use of videoconferencing and video broadcasts for distance learning and presents examples: the Georgia Statewide Academic and Medical System, California State University System, Kansas City Education Network, Impact North Carolina, the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, National Technological University, GALAXY Classroom, and…

Argues that excommunication has become a characteristic of the technological human experience. Discusses this new excommunication in three forms: deprivation by excess, by economics, and by choice. (SR)

Describes an experiment in network collaboration using the Geometer's Sketchpad to allow students in a computer laboratory to view one another's work. (MKR)

Explains how a teacher went about using hypermedia as a basis for inspiring student writing and research, first in the area of personality profiles and later in the area of different cultures. Defines hypermedia and reviews some of the rewards and problems. Argues that hypermedia can provide a format to encourage students to develop a literacy of…

Among Coast Salish and other Washington tribes, federal War on Poverty programs produced important unintended consequences, providing income that enabled family networks to distribute moral and financial support and providing training opportunities for new leaders now instrumental in attracting funding for mental health programs. Contains 42…

Exchange of obscene materials on college computer networks is raising free-speech issues and concern about public response. Standards of conduct for computer use by faculty, administrators, and students are under consideration on a number of campuses. Legality of the materials and appropriate use of institutional resources are also issues. (MSE)

Discusses the need for lifelong learning in our future society and considers the growing importance of telecommunications learning centers. The role of evaluation is discussed; the diversity of needs and value systems is examined; and the failure of the Learn Alaska network resulting from the lack of appropriate needs assessment is described. (two…

Discusses benefits of an Integrated Learning System (ILS) and addresses concerns that need to be considered during the selection process. Highlights include the evaluation process; initial and ongoing costs; installation in either a lab setting or distributed placement in the classrooms; scheduling; and daily management. (LRW)