Holds that database producers and online system vendors have failed to maintain sufficient quality control over their products, and that online searchers should voice their complaints about file documentation errors, indexing inconsistencies, and incorrect data entries. (FM)

Discusses PICS (Platform for Internet Content Selection), the Centre for Information Quality Management (CIQM), and metadata. Highlights include filtering networked information; the quality of information; and standardizing search engines. (LRW)

Benchmarks online retailing transactions against critical factors that impact online retailing. Findings suggest several areas that e-retailers should target for improvement, including the speed of home page loading, ability to translate into multiple languages, capabilities of search engines, security policies display, payment options, minimum…

Discusses organizations' use of quality improvement teams in total quality management and how they can benefit from training team personnel in how to select projects with a low risk of stalling. Describes an efficient written assessment test of project selection ability designed for those who conduct evaluations of training sessions. (Author/LRW)

Suggests that the quality in higher education (HE) debate is narrowly focused on adapting industrial quality systems. Asserts that quality management's (QM) practice in HE is deteriorating into managerialism because of lack of shared vision and match between QM techniques and educational processes. Proposes a new approach with QM as the broad…

Describes how concern about the quality of microfilm being purchased by the Library of Congress Photoduplication Service led to a project to bring together the various standards covering microfilm for permanent records, and to the publication in 1964 of Specifications for Library of Congress Microfilming. (two references) (CLB)

Argues that, although middle, junior, and senior high school educators should be proud that they are leading the way for their counterparts in higher education, they must also recognize that they cannot slacken their own efforts for quality and accountability. (RS)

Examined work of the nurse's aides (NAs) through observation and in-depth interviews with 30 NAs. Found efforts of NAs were clearly focused on getting work done well enough to stay out of trouble and decisions with implications for quality of care were often driven by whether NAs would be reprimanded by supervisors or ostracized by peers.…

Discusses how technical communicators can measure performance, productivity, and quality goals. Discusses developing a daily management system of measures for technical communication, notes other possible measures, and discusses criteria and prediction. (SR)

Federal Express uses Service Quality Indicators to measure customer satisfaction and innovative training methods such as an interactive video network, pay-for-performance/pay-for-knowledge, and a Leadership Evaluation and Awareness Process. (SK)

Compared effects of ombudsman programs on quality of nursing home care on random sample of 134 Medicare/Medicaid-certified long-term care facilities in Missouri. Found that presence of ombudsman program was most important factor associated with quality for intermediate-care facilities, and was significantly associated with quality for skilled…

Discusses the topic of reading typographical errors as an example of archival work. Suggests that reading typos is a practice within textual scholarship which is a rather venerable if now somewhat overshadowed tradition of humanistic research and pedagogy. Begins with two examples of typo reading and then presents some general claims about editing…

Provides a working definition of communication quality that focuses on its technical, functional (use), and aesthetic components. Posits a discrepancy-based approach to assessing quality. Develops (based on that analysis) testable, theoretical propositions that predict relationships among communication quality, effectiveness, and efficiency. (SR)

The functions of the institutional review board (IRB) at Duke University (North Carolina) are reviewed in the context of the recent four-day shutdown by federal regulators of all clinical trials at the institution. Observation of the process revealed a paperwork-driven process in which many projects, some of them highly specialized, must be…

A customized program on concrete technology for the construction industry in Hong Kong is based on the ISO 9000 quality management system. More than 269 students have been trained; 48.7% of enrollment comes from concrete suppliers. (SK)