Provides a history of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union and its information services and research functions. Examines the research department and the influence of technology, shifting from collecting information to using information from the Internet and online databases that has made access easier. Analyzes information services with…

Reviews research on data mining (DM) and knowledge discovery (KD). Discusses popular conceptions of information growth, the knowledge acquisition process, major elements of the DM process, and evaluation methods. Research on DM and KD is divided into two categories: analysis of numerical databases and analysis of non-numerical or textual…

Discusses data sources and data collection activities at the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. Describes a project to develop a computerized database, retrieval, and dissemination system on minority populations using 1980 census data. Suggests that the 1980 census provides important information for identifying minority and civil rights…

Reviews the origin, current state of development, and subject coverage of the secondary access services available to American social scientists, including bibliographic services for the various academic disciplines and a large variety of specialized services for subdisciplines and interdisciplinary fields. A 10-item reference list accompanies the…

Discusses technological developments in information distribution and management in relation to concepts of ownership. A historical overview of the concept of copyright is presented; licensing elements for databases are examined; and implications for gateway systems are explored, including ownership, identification of users, and allowable uses of…

The international character of online bibliographic databases is assessed by addressing three major aspects: literature production, article selection, and database use, as well as a number of side issues such as distribution and language. Requests for information were sent to producers and suppliers, most of whom responded, with no attempt being…

Described are the uses a computer is being put to by an elementary school in Illinois. (LS)

Federal money supports many agencies intended to provide information to educators, but because the services are not coordinated, few people use them. A brief summary is provided of some of the educational information resources, along with the titles of some handbooks. (Author/MLF)

Major categories of national higher education data are outlined and descriptions and sources are provided for over 50 databases. Categories include institutional descriptors, enrollments/completions, student demography, student longitudinal data, financial aid, institutional financial support, tuition/fees, faculty/staff salaries and benefits,…

Changes affecting the delivery of information over the next 10 years are going to be more numerous, farther reaching, and more rapid than those experienced in the last 10 years. Technological, legislative, economic, and sociological factors are all playing vital roles in shaping the environment within which database information services operate.…

Despite investment in new research tools and techniques, the product development success rate has not improved within the last 25 years. One way to increase the success rate is to have the right information at each stage of the process. Today, a relatively new method of gathering information--online access to electronic files called…

This paper, a commentary on W.W. Gage's article "Uncommonly Taught Languages" (AL 002 524), attempts to stress other aspects than those treated by Gage and points out the practical and technical needs of those interested in the field. The author views the goal of the study of uncommonly taught languages at the understanding of other peoples and…

This report considers universities as information systems because their effective operation is based on the storage, processing, and communication of various types of information. Three basic types of information systems (administrator-, teacher-, and researcher-oriented) are discussed in an attempt to understand each system's operation from the…

A data base designed for scientists, engineers, and others in need of factual information developed under the Long Range Research Project at Indiana University is described. (3 references) (SJ)

Suggests standards designed to guide potential database users through a systematic evaluation process to choose database appropriate for particular application. Comparison standards are provided for database content (scope, completeness, source coverage, selection/evaluation, redundancy, references); database systems (documentation, accessibility,…