This working paper is the result of a 1-day colloquium on distance learning, and its basic purpose is to give specialists in distance learning a better understanding of the rapid changes occurring in telecommunications technology and policy and their implications for the future of distance learning. The first of four sections of the paper provides…

Designed for students in the School of Information Studies (IST) at Syracuse University (SU) who are interested in telecommunications policies in the United States as seen primarily through government sources, this resource guide could be used by other university students even though it is oriented toward searching the SU library system. The guide…

This report of a study visit to North America describes three different computer-mediated conferencing systems (CMCS) and how they are used. The first system is COSY (COnferencing SYstem), at the University of Guelph, Ontario. The second system is EIES (the Electronic Information and Exchange System), at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The…

This report by Donald Lamberton reviews the Australian telecommunications system, including its funding and efficiency. Growth requirements and the impact of technological change are discussed, and the relevance of the American experience to Australian conditions is assessed. The paper concludes with some remarks on regional issues such as the…

The paper for which an abstract is presented here, "Future Network Architectures" (Anthony Rutowski), discussed innovations in processing/switching and transmission technologies, including the development of new broadband optical transfer modes using label and position multiplexing techniques. It is suggested that future network…

As electronically mediated communication becomes more prevalent, print is regaining the original pictorial qualities which graphemes (written signs) lost when primitive pictographs (or picture writing) and ideographs (simplified graphemes used to communicate ideas as well as to represent objects) evolved into first written, then printed, texts of…

In the comparative hearing, the mechanism traditionally used by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to choose the best applicant for a broadcast license or frequency allocation, the virtues of each candidate are compared using several criteria, such as integration of ownership and management, but weight has never been fixed to the…

This document is designed as a comprehensive resource and guide for computer-using educators who wish to expand the scope and magnitude of their computer power through telecommunications. The major focus is on the microcomputer's ability to communicate with other microcomputers via telephone lines. Emphasis is placed upon information services and…

This paper examines two issues in telecommunications policy in which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has attempted to pursue policies that were distant from the policy desires of their supervising committees in Congress, and in which congressmen made use of various instruments of congressional influence: the FCC's attempt to…

The press of telecommunication technologies and their progeny have undermined the natural monopoly basis for long distance telecommunications and customer premise products, forced open regulatory doors, toppled barriers to market entry, and led to the reshaping of regulatory philosophy as regulators have seen new, wider horizons for the industry.…

This outline of new technological developments and their applications in the library and information world considers innovations in three areas: automation, telecommunications, and the publishing industry. There is mention of the growth of online systems, minicomputers, microcomputers, and word processing; the falling costs of automation; the…

The four papers contained in this document provide: (1) a survey of computer based mail and conference systems; (2) an evaluation of systems for both individually addressed mail and group addressing through conferences and distribution lists; (3) a discussion of various methods of structuring the text data in existing systems; and (4) a…

This document traces the development of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) network regulations from their beginning in 1941 with the "Report on Chain Broadcasting." The eight rules defined by the report were aimed at correcting network abuses and were intended to maintain community broadcasting in the public interest. The document…

In the public eye, three major investigations by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into the dominance of the broadcast networks have appeared as battles between opposing forces with lively conflicts as the FCC combats monopolistic power in the name of public interest. In spite of the past investigations and the resulting regulations,…