The relevance of research: The relevance of the problem studied is caused by the acceleration of transition of the Russian economy on an innovative way of development, which depends on the vector of innovative sphere of services and, to a large extent, information and communication services, as well as it is caused by the poor drafting of…

The virtual Department of English at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, also known as the Tree of Knowledge, is a project premised upon using ecology and organic forms to promote language learning in Second Life (SL). Inspired by Salmon's (2010) Tree of Learning concept this study examines how an interactive ecological environment--in this…

Discusses the design and organization of the Automated Information Centre, a centralized automated scientific and technical information service established within the main organ of Bulgaria's National System for Scientific and Technical Information, with UNESCO and United Nations Development Program assistance. Problems and perspectives for…

A new system is needed to monitor socioeconomic statistical data for the United Kingdom (UK). The current state of UK socioeconomic statistics, an assessment of methods used to communicate available information, and the resource requirements of a successful monitoring service are discussed. (AM)

In Sweden, most "pensioners" over 65 are healthy and living by themselves, and they can come to the library and take part in programs, borrow books, use the computers, read newspapers and magazines. For those elderly persons who are ill or handicapped and homebound, the library can send books and arrange other services. In Sweden there…

Experiences gained by the Documentation Center of the German Foundation for International Development have been used to develop this manual on the establishment of information and documentation centers. Guidelines are set forth for the orientation phase of the operation, beginning with a market analysis and consultation with experts in the field.…

This document reports on a study tour of Canadian schools conducted by the Sri Lanka Ministry of Education. The purposes of the tour were to: develop an awareness of the scope of modern school library programming; investigate the aspects of implementation of a modern school library program including staffing, facilities, educational programming,…

This paper describes the CEDAR Project, which is designed to encourage and facilitate the development and effective use of educational computing within Imperial College, the University of London, and elsewhere. The project supports teaching staff by providing an information service and demonstration facilities, by developing and implementing…

Reports on an initiative by the Toronto Public Library to create the "Virtual Reference Library" (VRL). Describes the first service to be offered, a Dewey application called "Science Net." Discusses the VRL and its precursor, objectives, basis for its funding, technical aspects, progress to date and future direction. (AEF)

Government and private agencies in Alberta, Canada, have voluntarily joined to establish the Alberta Disability Database, to bring statistical order out of the numerical chaos of disability data. This paper discusses the program's financing, confidentiality, definitions, access, archiving, consultation, and coordination. (JDD)

Participants in the meeting summarized in this report advised and made recommendations on appropriate activities and programs conducive to the development of cooperative networks and the exchange of information and experience in science and technology in the Asia Pacific Region. Invited in their personal capacity as experts, the 14 participants…

The purpose of this study was to determine norms against which the characteristics of community library services could be tested. The five oldest community libraries in the Pinetown (South Africa) public library system were examined. Results showed that certain public library systems, like Pinetown, have made significant progress toward becoming…

This series of seminars and meetings was designed to build on the success of the Pilot Project 2000 carried out in collaboration with NORDINFO (Nordic Council for Scientific Information) and the University of Latvia. It was structured to provide four dimensions: visits to schools and District Resource Centers to provide background material to the…

This two-part article outlines the provisions and limitations of the positivist and phenomenologist views of information science and describes the United Kingdom (UK) Education Management Information Exchange (EMIE), a 4-year experimental project aimed at developing and testing a range of information services for education officers and advisors in…

Describes European initiatives concerned with development of networked learner support (NLS) in higher education, including the NetLinkS, IMPEL2 (Impact on People on Electronic Libraries), TAPin (Training and Awareness Programme in Networks), T3 (Telematics for Teacher Training), and EDUCATE projects. Discusses themes relating to professional…