Examines the importance of relevance criteria in end-user evaluation of valuable or high relevant information as users move through six stages of information seeking proposed by Kuhlthau (1994) and as they selected, obtained, and read information sources. Respondents were enrolled in graduate studies at the University of North Texas and Texas…

Presents a new technique for information access based on a combination of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and conceptual structures as modeled in relational concept analysis. Describes a graphical interface that allows access of spatial, hierarchical, and linear data in a common manner; discusses its features and limits. (Author/AEF)

Suggests that current conditions are nearly ideal for the effective meta-assessment of online reference services (ORS), in part because expected patterns and modes of service have not yet been established for emerging and evolving online environments, and in part because the distance between theory and practice regarding reference service in…

Highlights Web sites school library media specialists can use to help children deal with crisis and loss. Sources include: government; authorities in the field; media access and support; professional associations; and centers/other support groups. Includes suggestions provided on Web sites of the American Psychological Association, the National…

Explores some of the reasons for spotlighting Spanish language and Hispanic Internet sites on libraries' public access computers and recommends some sites for use by librarians working with Latino youth. (Author)

Describes the Web-based technologies employed by the Grainger Engineering Library Information Center at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in implementing access to local information resources. Discusses Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) technologies and the associated local database structure and format, as well as the general…

Describes the conceptual foundations for the Gateway to Educational Materials (GEM) metadata framework including adoption of the Dublin Core Element Set as its base referent, and extension of that set to meet the needs of the domain. Discusses selection and structuring of the units of description. Examines metadata generation, the association of…

Introduces a prototype system for devising and using a metadata vocabulary for data retrieval, based on a project at the United States Department of Agriculture. A unified information-access system called REEIS (Research, Education, Economics, Extension Information System) is being designed to provide a knowledge base of programs, projects, and…

Describes how to design "Journey in a Box" that is literally a box containing a themed set of photographs, selected artifacts, literature, informational texts, travel-journal entries, and maps that combine to tell a first-hand story of time, place, and culture. Provides a framework and an example illustrating the attributes of the…

Analyzes certain features of work tasks and relates these features to types of information people are looking for and using in their tasks, patterning of search strategies for obtaining information and relevance assessments in choosing retrieved documents. The major claim is that these information activities are systematically connected to task…

Michigan residents (n=950) rated the following topics of most interest: school violence, child abuse, drug abuse, and affordable health care. Their preferences for information sources, in priority order, were as follows: public schools, Internet, television, Michigan State University extension, and print materials. (SK)

Describes different Internet resource sites for instructional design and human performance technology maintained by various groups including: professional organizations, United States government agencies, educational institutions, publishers and booksellers, and miscellaneous groups. (AEF)

Suggests that a faceted thesaurus should be used as the basis for organizing a small-scale institutional Web site. Contends that a faceted approach to knowledge organization can make the process of organization less random and more manageable. Reports on an informal survey of three Web sites, underscoring the problems of organization that can…

When the ISI(R) (Institute for Scientific Information (R)) decided to incorporate scholarly, research-oriented Web sites as an expansion of the "Current Contents Connect" (TM) database, the organization faces significant issues relating to establishment of evaluative criteria and the capture of appropriate metadata. This discussion…

This study examines the research behavior and information-seeking habits of 23 interdisciplinary professors at the University of Western Ontario. Highlights include use of library and other information sources; rankings of information sources; and problems, including time management and inadequate library collections. (Author/LRW)