Outlines the stages in the decision-making process for libraries acquiring optical data disk systems, including the establishment of a project manager or task force, feasibility studies, creating a planning document, hardware and software evaluation, devising processes and policies, and analyzing contracts. (CLB)

Advocates school and district administrator solicitation of teacher participation in decision making to combat teacher burnout and teacher shortages. (JC)

The Education Commission of the States' annual meeting was characterized by divergent opinions on almost any issue, but there appeared to be less consensus and more impatience on issues relating to higher education than on those concerning public schools. (MSE)

Examines the internationalism of the network marketplace through case studies of the London Stock Exchange and I. P. Sharp Associates, a Canadian computer service bureau. Discussion focuses on the importance of transnational computer networks to the production of information services and marketplace expansion, and global information policy issues.…

A study examined whether a patterned sequence of institutional responses to fiscal stress existed by analyzing the magnitude, sequence, and substance of decisions made by a variety of institution types. The results and their implications for planning are discussed. (MSE)

Data custodians are described as "owners" of the data and administrative computing staff the data processors. New hardware and software have put the processing tools into the hands of anyone who can afford them. The term "end-user computing" refers to the processing of data in the administrative units. (MLW)

Four commission reports on higher education are discussed. Each report is labeled by its particular thrust: classical, liberal arts, progressive, and liberal reform. The studies reflect the view that resources have been misallocated, arts and humanities remain the best hope for sustaining high cultural standards, and too much specialization…

Reviews the special problems of libraries and librarianship in developing countries, and the problems specific to the Arab speaking countries. Deficiencies in information policy formation, library planning and education, and government support of libraries are discussed; attempts to rectify the situation are described; and needed research is…

Compares the traditional model of a service economy to models based on analyses of actual economic and employment trends, and discusses the role of information technologies in producer and consumer services; current policy issues concerning the information sector; and the need to integrate the concepts of goods and services. (CLB)

Reviews the contributions of the Centre National de Documentation and the Ecole des Sciences de l'Information to the development of library and information services and the education of a professional workforce in Morocco. Their role in the design and implementation of a national information policy is stressed. (Author/LRW)

Recurrent and comprehensive analyses of student academic records can provide useful information for formulating policy decisions in colleges and universities. The Stanford Curriculum Study is described. Four policy issues are discussed to show how the Curriculum Study is being used to improve academic administration.

The development of public policy for the implementation of computer instruction for handicapped students in public schools in British Columbia should focus on: potential for computer use with the handicapped, hardware and software considerations, staff development, and budget and funding allocations. (JDD)

Income has become somewhat more concentrated among upper-income families since 1967 and growth of total income has slowed since 1973. Both trends suggest a widening income gap between metro and nonmetro areas because nonmetro areas have a higher proportion of low-income families and slower income growth. (JHZ)

Although significant research on child development has been undertaken in the Third World, Euro-American paradigmatic limitations have prevented policymakers from applying the knowledge gained to child development programs there. Several suggestions are made for altering the situation. (PS)

Argues, speculatively, that Scotland has an emerging institutional education structure for students of less-than-average ability, aged 14 to 18. Proposes the new structure would do much to undermine the ideal that the comprehensive school is the natural way for a democracy to order the postprimary schooling of a given area. (JHZ)