Discussion of postmodernism and bibliographic instruction in academic libraries is based on a prospectus for an experimental information course at Evergreen State College (Washington). Highlights include structural bibliographic instruction, including a taxonomic model; discourse analysis and bibliographic instruction; composition and…

Examines the intrinsic value of browsing a library collection, either in the stacks or on an online catalog. The value and cost of classification and shelf-listing is discussed, based on data compiled during studies conducted at Cornell University that timed catalogers while they performed the shelf-listing component of cataloging. (Author/LRW)

Reports on a study of the frequency of occurrence of moving image versions, the types of differences that can occur in intellectual and artistic content from one version to another, and the visible indicators, such as mention in reference sources, appearance, and length of production associated with these differences. A list of films in sample is…

Studied influence of intelligence, metacognitive attributions, and knowledge base coherence in the regulation of the category-sorting strategy in first and second graders. Knowledge base was a powerful predictor of strategic-looking behavior; metacognitive attribution was most influential in low knowledge base conditions; and intelligence had…

Presents results of experiments conducted on four versions of the Science Library Catalog (SLC), a Dewey decimal-based hierarchical browsing system implemented in HyperCard without a keyboard. The SLC approach helps children overcome problems with typing, spelling, vocabulary, and Boolean logic. (70 references) (AEF)

Gathered essays from 53 elderly nursing home residents about the strongest meaning in their lives. Most reported family relationships as central, followed by pleasure, and then health. Analysis showed significant differences between residents' and younger adults' types of meaning. Residents did not reveal an absence of meaning in their lives. (RJM)

A review of introductory college level and high school biology texts reveals that concepts and theories behind classification are usually poorly discussed. Suggests ways in which card games can be used to teach differences between the phenetic and phylogenetic approaches. (LZ)

Attempted empirical validation of the fixated-regressed typology used in child sexual abuse literature. Analysis of 136 consecutive cases of convicted child molesters over a 2-year period revealed that the victim's and offender's family relatedness and the offender's prior non-sex-criminal record significantly predicted an offender's degree of…

Examines the major producers of U.S. federal government scientific technical information, principal data categories, and the role of the National Archives in documenting scientific data. Discusses appraisal, accessioning, and preservation of scientific data by the National Archives and Records Administration. (Author/AEF)

Examines context as a factor in personal information management systems to suggest how it may influence classification decisions and ultimately retrieval. A study of seven managers is described that explored the factors that influence the way individuals manage electronic documents, and results are compared with an earlier study of physical…

This study examined the effectiveness of matching 82 secondary students (learning disabled, remedial, and nondisabled) to differential levels of study guides. The study evaluated two treatment conditions (multilevel study guides containing different levels of referential cues, and single-level study guides without referential cues), used in…

Reflects on researchers' conceptions about psychological growth over the last century. Discusses five themes relevant to developmental research: (1) the selection of phenomena for study; (2) the use of continuous dimensions or categories to describe children's characteristics; (3) continuity versus discontinuity in development; (4) the influence…

Family functioning of 411 incarcerated male juvenile delinquents (aged 12-16 years) was studied using the Family Environmental Scale. A typology of family social environments was developed using cluster analysis. Delinquents with the most serious behavioral difficulties come from family environments with few strengths and openly expressed conflict…

The Index of Personality Characteristics (IPC) and the Social Reasoning subtest of the British Ability Scales were administered to 36 students with behavior disorders (BD) and 37 nonexceptional students in grades 3-7. Results indicated that the IPC composite score in combination with the Social Reasoning subtest accurately predicted BD…

Schematic knowledge was assessed by asking 195 ninth and tenth graders to classify area-of-rectangle problems in terms of whether the text provided insufficient, sufficient, or irrelevant information for solution. The hierarchical ordering of templates for the area of a rectangle is demonstrated, and implications for mathematics instruction are…