A study examined the use of e-mail between the students in an introductory public relations class and their instructor. E-mail use was parallel to the use of face-to-face communication, with students reporting that they used office time and e-mail primarily to ask questions about quizzes, tests, and assignments. Older students and students further…

The Communication Technology and Policy section of the proceedings contains the following 6 selected papers: "Interactivity as a Cognitive Process" (Mark Tremayne and Sharon Dunwoody); "Breaking Up News--An Investment in the Future? Correlations among Hypertext Comfort, User Satisfaction and Perceived Credibility" (Stephanie…

This report presents the results of a survey of Digital Library Federation members that examined the kinds of assessments they were conducting, what they did with the results, and what worked well or not so well. The first section of the report is an introduction that describes the report structure and summarizes challenges in assessment. The…

This study examines the perceptions of middle school teachers at the Miami Shores/Barry University Charter School (Florida) toward using computers in a classroom environment for teaching. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the school and the teachers involved in the study. A constructivist approach was used to understand the…

This paper reports on a study that investigated the relationships between technology-use and teaching ability in the practice of elementary teachers. Case study data from exemplary technology integrators, representing various levels of teaching and technology-use ability, led to the formulation of five assertions about ways these teachers taught…

There is a communications gap between library users and the cataloger. Library of Congress classification may not seem logical to the user not indoctrinated into Library-Think.'' The author urges reference workers to be aware of and try to bridge the gap. (DH)

Reports the findings of a survey on the use of computer simulation in industry. Discusses the current uses of simulation, user reaction, various programing languages used in simulation, and important trends in computer modeling. (Author/JJD)

Summarizes the results of an evaluative study on the use of computer-assisted instruction at the Open University in Great Britain. Student responses on questionnaires identified computer-related problems such as physical access, equipment malfunction, and program quality. Makes recommendations for the effective use of computer-assisted instruction…

Major goals of study of online systems as reference tools--DIALOG, OCLC, Research Libraries Information Network--in a university library were to evaluate effectiveness of each system as supplement to printed reference tools and public catalog; determine costs; and investigate effectiveness of brief training sessions for reference desk staff.…

An assessment of the demographic, health status, and health care use characteristics of the patients at hospital- and community-based health care centers at one family practice residency location is used to examine the effects these differences may have on resident training. It was found that neither site is clearly preferable for training. (MSE)

Discusses the collection by library managers of demand and use data from their own libraries on a regular basis as a means of answering management questions pertaining to the "cost" of information, staff productivity, and levels of service. Examples of statistical records and recommendations for collecting data are presented. (Author/JL)

This study investigated factors influencing use of evaluative information for decision making by administrators and school boards. The factors investigated included: (1) the quality of the decision to be made; (2) the amount of personal conflict involved; (3) the context of the program, and (4) whether participants were board members or…

Review of selected studies on use of social science information indicates that social scientists tend to use private sources and informal networks rather than libraries; value of citation studies as guides to library collection building is disputed; and machine access to social science databases is increasing. Eighty references are cited. (EJS)

The primary categories of H. S. Bhola's CLER Model (configurations, linkages, environments, resources) were used to organize and annotate textual information presented to 24 specialists in education and in other professions who were involved with diffusion and adoption of knowledge. The specialists considered the Bhola method more effective than…

Derived a representative national nursing home admissions cohort with 1977 survey data. Found that high proportions of admissions have short lengths of stay and are discharged within the same calendar year. (Author/RC)