This first edition of the New Media Consortium's (NMC) annual "Horizon Report" details findings of the Horizon Project, a research-oriented effort that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression within higher education. Drawing on an ongoing series of interviews…

Describes PACE (Public Access Catalogue Extension), an alternative interface designed to enhance online catalogs by simulating images of books and library shelves to help users browse through the catalog. Results of a test in a college library against a text-based online public access catalog, including student attitudes, are described.…

This study develops and tests an instrument useful for evaluating the quality of academic library Web sites. Discusses criteria for print materials and human-computer interfaces; user-based perspectives; the use of factor analysis; a survey of library experts; testing reliability through analysis of variance; and regression models. (Contains 53…

Described is a project involving the introduction of microcomputers into the laboratory portion of a college general physics course for data collection and analysis. The results of an evaluation of this program are presented. (CW)

Describes how the development of a women's studies component for the Gateway to Information (a front-end interface to Ohio State University's online library catalog and other reference sources) minimized the special challenges facing students conducting research on women and changes the focus of bibliographic instruction. (Author/LRW)

Uses a moderately priced digital multimeter that has output and software compatible with personal computers to make a portable, computer-based data-acquisition system. The system can measure voltage, current, frequency, capacitance, transistor hFE, and temperature. Describes field measures of velocity, acceleration, and temperature as function of…

Examines extent to which assessment of text comprehension involves knowledge of the properties of human cognition and the context of assessment. Shows that assessments of the quality of the answers varied based on the perceived human or artificial source of the answers. Provides copies of experimental questionnaires in the appendices. (DSK)

Presents the results of several years of designing and implementing a Web-based multimedia distance learning system at Nova Southeastern University. Includes the methodology used, design issues for the software and hardware environment, user interfaces, functional aspects of the system including controls used by both teacher and learner, the…

The development of potentially powerful computer-based tools within rich learning environments is hampered by the constraints of delivery systems (specifically low-resolution, low-real estate displays). In designing a World Wide Web-based tool for manipulating time-based information, the authors have encountered a lack of guidelines or empirical…

Each semester at Miami University (Ohio) the secretaries struggle to update the Campus Directory database in order to print the campus telephone and office/class hours directory. It is a time-consuming process and the directory is usually late and out-of-date by the time it is printed. The university's Computer Services Manager has created a Web…

Introduces a photogate arrangement using a photo-reflective sensor for air track experiments. Reports that the sensitivity to sunlight can be eliminated and a mechanically more convenient package produced. Shows the mounting, circuit, and usage of the photogate. (YP)

Viikki is one of the four campuses of the University of Helsinki. The Viikki Virtual Infocenter will be located on the Viikki Campus in Helsinki. It will be a modern learning environment that offers library and information services, study rooms and learning facilities, computer and network services, and administrative campus services to students…

The aim of the DEDICATE (Distance Education Information Courses with Access through Networks) project, funded through the European Union, is to develop distance education courses in training for information literacy. The DEDICATE courses are based on the use of the Internet and World Wide Web; communication between participants and tutors and…

Questionnaires, observation, and taped interviews of 36 graduate students were used to compare and evaluate the use of a continuous zooming graphical interface and a typical jump-based hypertext interface, with a focus on minimizing user disorientation when reading documents. Learning time, performance and user satisfaction were evaluated. (AEF)

Describes the results of a survey conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago that compared faculty use of, preferences for, and satisfaction with two software interfaces for the locally loaded ERIC database. Use of other local online databases was also examined. (Author/LRW)