Analysis of 300 information technology job postings in two Internet databases identified the following skill categories: programming languages (Java, C/C++, and Visual Basic were most frequent); website development (57% sought SQL and HTML skills); databases (nearly 50% required Oracle); networks (only Windows NT or wide-area/local-area networks);…

Describes school financial election campaign strategy using a random survey of registered voters, concentric targeting of likely "yes" voters, and an integrated database. (PKP)

Used survey data (response rate of 75% for sample of 1,200), administrative data, and a database of the use of emergency assistance provided by community-based organizations to examine the economic status of former welfare recipients in Missouri and their use of government supports and community-based emergency assistance. (SLD)

Describes MARS (Museum Archive Retrieval System), a research tool which enables organizations to exchange digital images and documents by means of a common thesaurus structure, and merge the descriptive data and metadata of their collections. Highlights include theoretical basis; searching the MARS database; and examples in European museums.…

Discusses the value of statistics in public library administration and recent efforts by the federal government and the Public Library Association (PLA) to gather public library statistics. PLA's Public Library Data Service (PLDS) Statistical Report '88 and planned online availability are described. An inset shows data on salaries for beginning…

Reviews requirements for a data archive system and describes storage media alternatives that are currently available. Topics discussed include data storage; data distribution; hierarchical storage architecture, including inline storage, online storage, nearline storage, and offline storage; magnetic disks; optical disks; conventional magnetic…

ORIGINS (Oklahoma Resources Integration General Information Network System) is electronic database used for strategic planning by community leaders, educators, businesses, and government agencies. Survey of 540 online users (150 responses) and focus group data indicated 78% overall level of satisfaction, 82.5% satisfaction with data quality, 95%…

Information technology poses a threat to confidentiality of medical records. The number of parties claiming a need to know is increasing, but unrestricted access can lead to improper disclosure. Making health records semipublic may affect when and how people choose to obtain medical services. (SK)

Identifies pathways to electronic resources on distance education, including the databases of the International Centre for Distance Learning, ERIC, and OCLC First Search; course offerings; gopher sites; and news, organizations, and discussion groups. (SK)

Examines the Commission of the European Communities' draft directive on database copyright. Components of the directive are discussed, including a definition of a database, databases protected as literary works under copyright law, piracy protection, fair use, and licensing requirements; and problems with the directive are described. (four…

Provides critical analysis of Edwards (1992) presentation of a set of examples from the Child Language Data Exchange System as prototypes of bad transcription practice. The analysis argues that Edward's approach causes the development of an overly rigid set of principles that could stop progress in the analysis of spontaneous language samples.…

Discusses the electronic publishing activities of Meckler Publishing on the Internet, including a publications catalog, an electronic journal, and tables of contents databases. Broader issues of commercial network publishing are also addressed, including changes in the research process, changes in publishing, bibliographic control,…

Surveys 25 people who use databases at work to discover the ways in which social and organizational factors affect users' tasks and their acquisition of knowledge and skills. Finds that learning to use databases for complex tasks in work entails more than simply learning concepts and procedures for executing program functions. (PRA)

Describes the development of a thesaurus for indexing the databases of Engineering Information, Inc., that improved the former precoordinate indexing vocabulary with postcoordinate descriptors and an appropriate set of thesaurus relationships. Problems of incompatibility with old indexing are addressed, and the use of an outside consultant versus…

Analyzes postings from a database users' help bulletin board. Finds that technical instructions should concentrate on likely errors that users may commit and how they can overcome and learn from them; provide may procedural options at once; give minimal conceptual and much procedural information; and integrate troubleshooting with task procedures.…