Analyzed group discussions associated with 68 high-quality and 29 low-quality decisions made by comparably informed groups using cross-contact comparison. Found vigilance, second-guessing, and accurate information processing associated with high-quality decisions; faulty information processing and improbable fantasy chains with low-quality…

Discusses the history and enforcement of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) along with recent legislative efforts to restrict its use. Examines FOIA guidelines and presents instances in which they have been denied. Urges continued support of the original FOIA legislation. (GEA)

Examines 109 rural community level public sector mental health systems involving 314 administrators. Focuses discussion on whether those who manage/work in rural service delivery systems are interested in/utilize data in their own systems to solve managerial concerns. Includes system, state, and federal level policy recommendations. (NEC)

Three categories of information were hypothesized to be important information for successful execution of procedural assembly tasks: operational, spatial, and contextual information. Performance data for two tasks indicated that subjects using "complete" instructions finished the assemblies in less time and with fewer errors than did…

Sophisticated managers know that reams of data cannot take the place of important information. Planning is necessary to ensure that what is being reported in an organization is necessary and useful and that data are not assembled just because the computer makes it possible. (MLF)

The federal government, credit bureaus, banks, and insurance and telephone companies all maintain files on clients. Once available, the temptation to use information on file is often irresistible. In terms of personal privacy, the most frightening development is the growth of computer-matching programs, where two agencies check each others' files.…

Assuming a correlation between library use and academic achievement, colleges must foster greater library use and must make students and faculty aware of the importance and validity of library instruction in information-handling skills. (DC)

This book, part of a four-book series on using data to improve student learning, concentrates on elementary education. The book shows real analysis focused on the elementary education level. It provides templates on an accompanying CD-ROM for leaders to use in analyzing data in their own learning organizations. The chapters are: (1) Introduction;…

One of the goals of the Strategies and Models for Improved Learning through Effective Data Use (SMILE) project was to develop a data-capacity survey (DCS) to measure a schools capacity to use data. In this study, a DCS was developed and field tested. The DCS, which was field tested at six Milwaukee Public Schools (Wisconsin), was a pen-and-paper…

Guidelines for improving the utilization of information by teacher educators have been developed as an outcome of a study of their use of a variety of information sources. (SA)

The supply subsystem consiste of those aspects of the Management Information System which support the collection, maintenance and reporting of data relating students to vocational programs and of the programs themselves. The subsystem will procedure a matrix for the supply/demand interface which will match anticipated training outputs with…

A statistical model for characterizing the growth patterns of data base utilization and for estimating future utilization levels of demand has been developed for information retrieval organizations. Illustrations of the model applied to a typical information retrieval organization are given and discussed. (5 references) (Author)

This paper is an attempt to help professionals to use technical research literature. Three different methods of using research are identified and the advantages and limitations of each are discussed. Professionals frequently try to apply research directly to practical situations but the most useful method is to apply research indirectly by going…

Annotated list of organizations and periodicals concerned with innovative education. (PG)

The use of an on-line information retrieval system by the scientists themselves is described. MEDUSA was designed to allow physicians to interrogate the MEDLARS data base. A Brief description is given of the system and details of an experiment to test its effectiveness. (8 references) (Author)