Citation indexing, which matches linked articles through links with authors rather than through subject keyword matching, is particularly relevant to educational technology, a widely-spread subject with a special user group of varying interests, difficult to cover in one retrieval service, and whose terminology is often ambiguous. By including…

This discussion centers on the role of libraries in providing postsecondary students and other users with instruction in the use of library resources. It reviews the history of library user education, examines the effects of hard economic times on library instruction, and describes User Education Resources (USER), an Australian database containing…

The workshop is intended for individual or group use to understand the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and the Exceptional Child Education Resources (ECER) databases as a way of finding information on special education topics. Information products available from ERIC and The Council for Exceptional Children (which maintains the…

Through joint planning with a number of school districts and the Region X Title I Technical Assistance Center, and with the help of a Title I Refinement grant, Alaska has developed a system of data storage and retrieval using microcomputers that assists small school districts in the evaluation and reporting of their Title I programs. Although this…

This report is a study of how consumer interests would be affected by changes in the copyright laws governing photocopy and computer-based information. It examines the natures of copyright protection and consumer interest and, after a discussion of the information market in general, weighs copyright/consumer interest in the areas of photocopying,…

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…

This self-improvement manual developed for experienced online searchers presents and discusses several alternative search strategies and their appropriate use to achieve the desired outcome. The manual is divided into two parts: (1) an eight step model of the total search process emphasizing how the decision of the information professional affects…

The Ontario Ministry of Education's role in funding educational research, and its procedures for the dissemination of educational research information are described. Two ministry initiatives are discussed in detail: the establishment of the Educational Information System for Ontario (EISO), a computerized search and retrieval service to access…

The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system was used to identify 1,734 documents on program evaluation methodology. Attempts to further characterize these documents by subject were only partially successful because of the lack of sufficient depth of indexing and design constraints of the computer system. Attempts to characterize…

Problems which frustrate and hinder training in data base use for personnel employed in biomedical libraries include the ever increasing number of data bases which continue to be introduced, search techniques that differ from vendor to vendor and data base to data base, and differing formats of data bases and their training manuals. Training…

The results of personal interviews with 18 of the more experienced online searchers in Washington State are presented. A profile of respondents determines the experience of each in searching in years, number of searches per month, vendors used, and most used data bases. This information is used to analyze the answers given to questions about the…

Activities of the final year are reported as they relate to the objectives of the Wisconsin Dissemination Planning (WDP) Project: (1) to develop a plan for coordination among the dissemination functions in the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) through a state-wide steering committee; (2) to complete a needs assessment for dissemination…

This study of the development of international data networks, a phenomena of the 1970's, and policy issues arising from their use is an in depth investigation of 24 private and six public European networks commissioned from Logica Limited and sponsored by the governments of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. The report…

This study of ranking algorithms used in a Boolean environment is based on an evaluation of factors affecting document ranking by information retrieval systems. The algorithms were decomposed into term weighting schemes and similarity measures, representatively selected from those known to exist in information retrieval environments, before being…

The project described was designed to develop and disseminate reports on quality Indiana research and development products on vocational education to appropriate state and national target audiences; to implement a system for acquiring, organizing, storing, retrieving and disseminating research and development documents to meet the identified needs…