While there may be positive benefits to computerized reading programs and awards, there may be greater negative consequences to their use. Studies suggest that use of the widely known Accelerated Reader Program alone cannot create better lifelong learners. Educators need to examine practices that have worked well in the past and work hard to…

Contends that developing computer displays of dynamic motion offers a means to help students understand complex chemistry concepts. Describes how to set up a computer animation team, gives an example of the animation of chemical processes in a standard hydrogen electrode, illustrates how to teach with animations, recommends hardware and software…

Explores problems in information sharing; discusses the concept of metadata; illustrates its use on the World Wide Web, as well as other related approaches; and presents an approach to information sharing that uses a semantic modeling language (referent model language) as the basis for expressing semantics of information and designing metadata…

Examines mobile agent coordination and presents TuCSoN, a coordination model for Internet applications based on mobile information agents that uses a tuple centre, a tuple space enhanced with the capability of programming its behavior in response to communication events. Discusses the effectiveness of the TuCSoN model in the contexts of Internet…

Explores the management of CD-ROM service in Malaysian academic libraries and marketing strategies used to popularize it. Findings revealed that these libraries use a variety of marketing and promotional channels, some of which need improvement; the libraries need to strengthen their end-user education programs to suit users with different levels…

Reviews speech-interactive learning activities in selected commercial products: activities for vocabulary development, conversational practice, and pronunciation. Suggests the effectiveness of speech-interactive computer-assisted language learning is determined less by capabilities of the speech recognizer than by (a) design of language-learning…

Describes an experiment in which presentation size and text length is varied in a HyperCard application. Students performed a fact-retrieval task from a reference handbook. No interaction is found between these two independent variables. Performance is significantly better for the longer texts, but no significant difference is found for the two…

Examines the effective use of computers in an undergraduate classroom based on the needs and desires of multiple-interest groups: students, instructors, support staff, administrators, software developers, publishers, and faculty colleagues. Suggests that the successful integration of technology will meet the needs of each group. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the value of having a good library media-center newsletter that ensures consistent positive visibility and suggests topics to consider, including requesting teacher input on collection development, explaining computer software, book talks, copyright issues, current Web sites, biographies of new teachers, and media-center projects. (LRW)

Discussion of free speech on the Internet focuses on three basic options open to schools trying to resolve the dilemma of protecting children while preserving intellectual freedom: commercial censorware, blocking, and filtering. Concludes that adult supervision is still the most effective means of regulating access to the Internet. (LRW)

Discusses the processes involved in migrating a library's automation system. Highlights include getting information from vendor demonstrations, setting up an evaluation database to analyze RFPs (requests for proposals), making a spreadsheet that compares costs of packages, making recommendations once the data are analyzed, and implementation…

Describes collection-development strategies for use in the identification, evaluation, and selection of numeric-data resources. Addresses three primary issues: the delineation of collecting scope and organizational role; the identification of potentially relevant data resources; and the evaluation of those resources in accordance with objective,…

Describes the University of Washington Digital Libraries Initiative that provides the context for effective collaboration among faculty, engineers, students, and librarians for the creation, use, and investigation of electronic information services, resources, and systems developed from a users' perspective. Also explains an image-archiving…

Provides a background to technology and authentic teaching of culture in foreign language instruction. Introduces each of the five articles in a special issue on technology and teaching where the authors focus on the importance of using different media and technology to facilitate culture learning. (AEF)

Findings from a study investigating students' reactions to a hypermedia program used to analyze real-life interactions indicated that pragmatic awareness can be developed in virtual culture contact situations. Similar interactive software in combination with ethnographic activities may be more effective in culture teaching and learning.…