Compares two authoring tools that were developed to enable users without programing experience to create and modify software. HyperCard, designed for Macintosh microcomputers, and ToolBook, for microcomputers that run on MS-DOS, are compared in the areas of programing languages, graphics and printing capabilities, user interface, system…

Describes study that was carried out at the University of Calgary to determine how elementary school children conceive of computer-related tasks and how this information might be used to generate animated icons for educational software. Child-computer interaction is discussed, and differences in responses between three age groups are examined. (10…

Instructional applications for NeXT computers were developed by nine faculty members from the biology, mathematics and computer science, fine arts, chemistry, physics and astronomy, and geology departments as part of a grant awarded to the California State University at Los Angeles. These notes provide a schedule of events and reports from a 2-day…

Discussion of graphing software for educational purposes focuses on a study in which three versions of an original computer graphing program were used by inner-city high school students to solve scientific data analysis problems. Variations in degrees of flexibility and feedback in the software are explored. (Contains 37 references.) (LRW)

Describes the architecture of the prototype of an image management system that has been used to develop an application concerning images of frescoes in the Sistina Chapel in the Vatican. Hardware and software design are described, the use of local area networks (LANs) is discussed, and data organization is explained. (15 references) (LRW)

Discussion of graphical user interfaces for online public access catalogs (OPACs) covers the history of OPACs; OPAC front-end design, including examples from Indiana University and the University of Illinois; and planning and implementation of a user interface. (10 references) (EA)

Describes experiments in Arabic information retrieval using 29 queries against a base of 355 bibliographic records. Using roots and stems as index terms worked better than words, and the root performed as well as or better than the stem at low recall levels and definitely better at high recall levels. (Contains 30 references.) (KRN)