This article reports on an empirical study on novices' learning and retention with the Web-based interface to the Web of Science. The aim was to evaluate the performance of novice searchers in initially learning to use the search interface and in later use. Their performance in both sessions was measured in terms of time taken to perform tasks,…

Corporations employ data mining to analyze operations, find trends in recorded information, and look for new opportunities. Libraries are no different. Librarians manage large stores of data--about collections and usage, for example--and they also want to analyze this data to serve their users better. Analysts use data mining to query a data…

Objective: "Classic" articles remain an important resource in teaching psychiatry. But, such materials are often buried in a faculty member's filing cabinet, effectively lost in today's world of instant access. We attempt to recover these materials through a marriage of traditional reading lists and contemporary technology. Method: The authors…

More than 100 colleges and universities have arranged to give people using the Google Scholar search engine on their campuses more-direct access to library materials. Google Scholar is a free tool that searches scholarly materials on the Web and in academic databases. The new arrangements essentially let Google know which online databases the…

This report examines a Massachusetts pilot program for quarterly benchmark exams in middle-school mathematics, finding that program schools do not show greater gains in student achievement after a year. But that finding might reflect limited data rather than ineffective benchmark assessments. Benchmark assessments are used in many districts…

Background: The marked degree of heterogeneity in persons with developmental dyslexia has motivated the investigation of possible subtypes. Attempts have proceeded both from theoretical models of reading and the application of unsupervised learning (clustering) methods. Previous cluster analyses of data obtained from persons with reading…

Knowing how campus-based students engage in key online and general learning practices can play a central role in managing and developing university education. Knowledge in this area is limited, however, despite recent advances in student engagement research, and widespread adoption of online learning systems. This paper responds to the need to…

This study empirically explores the comparability of traditional survey-based retention research methodology with an alternative approach that relies on data commonly available in institutional student databases. Drawing on Tinto's [Tinto, V. (1993). "Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition" (2nd Ed.), The University…

An innovative concept of an electronic learning system has been established in an attempt to achieve a technology that provides engineering students with an instructive and affordable framework for learning engineering-related courses. This system utilizes an existing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) package, Active Server Pages programming,…

Faculty publication databases or author bibliographies offer libraries an opportunity to provide services to users. Initially, these databases remained initiatives of special libraries in the health-sciences fields. Librarians used the publication information derived from these databases to compile lists for annual reports. However, the advent of…

Academic failure among first-year university students has long fuelled a large number of debates. Many educational psychologists have tried to understand and then explain it. Many statisticians have tried to foresee it. Our research aims to classify, as early in the academic year as possible, students into three groups: the "low-risk"…

The present paper provides a task analysis for creating a computerized data system using a Pocket PC and Microsoft Visual Basic. With Visual Basic software and any handheld device running the Windows MOBLE operating system, this task analysis will allow behavior analysts to program and customize their own functional analysis data-collection…

In the past, the communication and paperwork structure between K-12 magnet/choice programs and the district-wide program administration was not efficient. In particular, the student application, selection, and notification processes were time-consuming, and did not enable school-based personnel to communicate effectively with district…

This course curriculum is intended for community college instructors and administrators to use in implementing an intermediate information processing course. A student's course syllabus provides this information: credit hours, catalog description, prerequisites, required texts, instructional process, objectives, student evaluation, and class…

Published for over a decade, this directory continues to be a successful, sought-after resource, providing valuable information to professionals, families, and individuals in the learning disabilities community. Supported by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, this 2011 edition brings together the most up-to-date information on LD…