Using Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" as a case study, demonstrates the evocative power of fiction to promote interracial understanding. Creative art, by appealing to the imagination, can evoke feelings and insights that make human relationships vivid and personal. (BJV)

Using a newspaper article database, this study analyzed the effects of ellipsis and anaphor resolution on proximity searching in a full-text database; 154 keyword pairs in different categories were created. Findings indicate that some resolution method might be developed only for proper name phrases to support keyword-based full-text information…

Describes a study of factors accounting for low levels of student participation in academic assistance programs, based on case studies of eight university students on academic probation who had rejected offers of academic assistance, using structured interviews and the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory and the Mooney Problem Checklist. Includes…

Reviews literature on environmental information since 1986, with special emphasis on machine-readable sources as reported in the published literature. Highlights include a new model for studying environmental issues; environmental communication studies, including user studies; and environmental information sources, including pollution media and…

Identifies four motivations adolescents report for viewing graphic horror films: gore watching, thrill watching, independent watching, and problem watching. Argues that viewing motivations are predictors of responses to graphic horror. Finds that viewing motivations were related to viewers' cognitive and affective responses and a tendency to…

Reports on an exploratory study which used tracking records and evaluation questionnaires to examine the ways students use a hypermedia system. Findings in the following areas are discussed: enjoyment, ease of use, perception of system control, actual search strategies, perceived purposive search strategies, and effectiveness of search strategies.…

Presents a spreadsheet used to record online searches at the University of Kentucky's decentralized library. The spreadsheet is described by fields, and its advantages and disadvantages as a tool for accounting and for gathering information about database usage are discussed. Seven figures showing sample spreadsheets and usage patterns are…

Discusses land use patterns in fifteenth-century Europe and in the Americas and the mutual influence (initiated by Columbus's arrival in the Americas) that led to land use change. Presents a historical perspective and categorization of contemporary global land use changes for the purpose of highlighting associations between past and present global…

Data on adoption of 43 user-developed computing applications in 3 large corporations were analyzed to develop an empirically grounded model of the adoption process for intellectual technologies. A five-stage model consisting of Resource Acquisition, Application Development, Adoption/Renewal, Routinization/Enhancement, and External Adoption was…

Describes a study of the design and operation of 13 community college writing centers, which assist students with planning, drafting, and revising essays and research projects, often with word-processing and computer support. Reviews staffing patterns, facilities, services, clientele, hours of operation, budget, evaluations, and plans for…

Reviews existing studies of use of formal care by families of Alzheimer's sufferers with special attention to findings relevant to access, particularly perceptions of appropriateness and acceptability or consistency with other needs and values. Applied conceptual model represented by these findings to narrative that serves as proxy for real case.…

Notes that health maintenance organizations (HMOs) provide large volume of health care services to older Americans. Contends that HMOs must reexamine general practice of equating utilization of services with health care need and collect better population-based information, including measures of health status. Discusses data elements widely…

Discussion of expert systems focuses on a national survey that gathered information concerning the attention and investment given to expert systems by managers and computer professionals in a variety of fields. Highlights include uses of expert systems, types of computers and software used, and expert systems shells and development costs. (18…

Comparison of counseling center use by black college and university students on predominantly black and nonblack campuses found that proportionately more black students received counseling than did nonblack students. Difference between these findings and those of earlier studies may indicate change in help-seeking behavior of black students.…

Examined data from Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program. Found that participants increased their use of substitute child care and of licensed day-care homes/centers, after beginning job readiness activities. Child care was found to be highly variable in terms of convenience and program quality. Problems with child care increased…