Suggests what to look for when evaluating software and its support literature; includes a software evaluation checklist. (Available from: Modern Learning Publishers, Inc., 6517 Liggett, Oakland, CA 94611, $14.) (AEA)

School psychology graduate trainees, special education trainees, school psychology practitioners, and special education practitioners (total N=80) independently rated 16 pieces of diagnostic data on importance in determining special educational placement. Results indicated that classroom observation, assessments of expressive and receptive…

Discusses the utilization of evaluative information in terms of the dimensions of evaluation, pitfalls of evaluation, and facts concerning useful evaluation. (AH)

Presents a list of questions about costs and program needs that an educator should consider before purchasing a microcomputer. (SJL)

The findings of a study of print readers' perceptions of the believability and interest of various advertising formats fail to support increasing either the frequency or specificity of comparative messages. The findings suggest that advertisers should consider the dimensions of intensity and directionality in their message development. (GT)

Academic librarians who need grants to support research should consider how funding agents approach grant proposals: funding agents look for good, well-researched ideas in their areas of interest that are backed up with pragmatic plans of action and sound budgets, and will be carried out by well-qualified people. (Author)

Criteria for determining candidacy for an augmentative communication system include a consideration of cognitive, oral reflex, language, motor, intelligibility, emotional, chronological age, previous therapy, imitative, and environmental factors of the communication disordered individual. (Author/PHR)

Considers the question of compulsory certification for librarians and describes a California proposal which would require certification for librarians desiring positions in state-funded libraries. (FM)

Presents a list of objectives for media programs that can be adapted to specific situations and urges media specialists to make their objectives public and visible. (BD)

Provides an overview of camera options and selection criteria for desktop videoconferencing. Key factors in image quality are discussed, including lighting, resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio; and steps to improve image quality are suggested. (LRW)

Describes how "The Times" and "The Times Higher Education Supplement" use publicly available and verifiable data to publish university league tables as an aid to the application process for young people seeking the most appropriate course programs and institutions. (EV)

Describes and discusses the approach of the Center for Higher Education Development (CHE) ranking of German universities. (EV)

Introduces the concept of relevance as viewed and applied in the context of IR (information retrieval) evaluation by presenting an overview of the multidimensionality and dynamic nature of the concept. Topics include classes and types of relevance; relevance criteria; degrees of relevance; levels of relevance; situational relevance; and…

Developed and validated an instrument designed to measure the perceived measurability and importance of the National Athletic Trainers' Association Athletic Training Educational Competencies. Data from 931 athletic trainers and sport medicine physicians support 6 constructs, each of which demonstrates high reliability. (SLD)