This article reports results of a case study of text-based online and CD-ROM databases that identified design characteristics that are important to high school students' use for higher-level learning as well as for information access and retrieval. Implications for the design of databases are suggested. (Contains 62 references.) (LRW)

Suggests ways in which the Internet can supplement traditional methods of professional development for librarians. Examples include electronic journals, discussion groups, electronic courses, electronic conferences, e-mail, networking, and coauthoring via the Internet. Services listed include Internet directories, education gophers, bibliographic…

Examines how informetric characteristics of information retrieval (IR) system databases can be used to help system designers decide what type of file structures would provide the best performance. The development of appropriate models describing database contents is highlighted in this first part of a two-part study. (30 references) (LRW)

Learning Objects Metadata (LOM) aims at describing educational resources in order to allow better reusability and retrieval. In this article we show how additional inference rules allows us to derive additional metadata from existing ones. Additionally, using these rules as integrity constraints helps us to define the constraints on LOM elements,…

To help track whether students are being prepared for further education and work, many states are trying to connect their data systems from preschool through postsecondary education. But a national forum on the topic held June 13, 2006 suggests there's a long way to go. In preparation for the meeting, Peter Ewell, the vice president of the…

This article traces the sources of the estimates of the number of American Sign Language users in the United States. A variety of claims can be found in the literature and on the Internet, some of which have been shown to be unfounded but continue to be cited. In our search for the sources of the various (mis)understandings, we have found that all…

Measures of school performance based on pupil attainment are becoming more sophisticated, with DfES piloting "contextualized value-added" measures. However, most such measures are based on simple sums of residuals about "expected" values, but it is clear from national data that distributions of performance are not symmetrical…

The Achievements of Deaf Pupils in Scotland (ADPS) project has been tracking the educational attainment of deaf pupils in Scotland's schools since 2000. At the time of writing, the database contains records for 1,752 deaf pupils (2000--2005). Here 4-year aggregate educational attainment data are reported for a subset of 152 school-aged deaf pupils…

Background: Information on the numbers of adult persons (aged 20 years and over) with intellectual disability (ID) is rarely collated at a national level. This is an impediment to service planning especially for a changing population. Methods: A database of all persons in receipt of ID services has been operating in the Republic of Ireland since…

There are described methods used to minimize data files dimension. There are defined indicators for measuring size of files and databases. The storage optimization process is based on selecting from a multitude of data storage models the one that satisfies the propose problem objective, maximization or minimization of the optimum criterion that is…

If librarians want to improve their visibility and value in the increasingly crowded digital information spaces, where users expect good results without expending much time or effort, they must learn to repurpose data to create added value. Since librarians already possess valuable data sources, like circulation statistics, reference transactions,…

Evaluation is an unavoidable feature in any teaching or learning scenario. The evaluation strategy of students differs widely throughout the world. Further, most of the institutes do not use any objective technique to assess the teaching performance of a teacher. The present paper defines performance metrics both for student and teacher evaluation…

Supporting the information needs of researchers adequately is a major challenge for university libraries. This paper outlines results of a survey of 23 researchers conducted by Deakin University Library into their information needs and perceptions of the library's role and performance. The survey challenged established ideas about researchers'…

The purpose of this chapter is to examine possible uses for facilities data as they relate to three academic issues: classroom management, personnel management, and research activity. The number of institutions actively using space information to improve decision making is unknown. Most articles available in professional publications such as…

Five papers from the sessions of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions 1992 conference on classification, indexing, and cataloging are presented. Three papers deal with knowledge classification as it relates to database design, as it is practiced in India, and in a worldwide context. The remaining two papers focus…