Provides preliminary results of a longitudinal, qualitative research study of document use by academic agricultural economists in actual situations. Topics include users' changing information needs, use patterns, decision making regarding relevant items, and criteria and decision rules used to read or cite documents across stages of research.…

This study assessed the impact of a course on information resources for engineers at the University of Michigan. Questionnaires were sent to 60 students who had taken the class and 60 who had not. Results indicated that students who had taken the course identified more resources, rated college and public libraries higher, and spent more time…

Identifies issues on the use of computer networks in K-12, business, and university environments, and reviews elements that play a major role in shaping wide-area networking use in elementary and secondary education. Discussion includes the technical and logistical elements, issues related to user attitudes and characteristics, and social and…

A survey of the users of an online computer-mediated matchmaking service showed that their communication patterns and objectives varied by their sex, shyness level, and appearance. Intrinsic aspects of this system helped some users overcome relationship-initiation barriers rooted in sex role, shyness, and appearance inhibitions. (Author)

Assesses the ease of use and usefulness of network journals through a review of content, format, and policies of seven scholarly journals published primarily on the Internet. Discusses problems, advantages over print journals, and requirements for future scholarly network journals based on current technology, industry trends, and interviews with…

Reports the results of the U.S. portion of a 1989 survey of elementary and secondary schools conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) that focused on school and teacher practices in using microcomputers. Highlights include hardware, instructional uses, goals for computer use, and software…

Describes a study that examined the extent and perception of the use of telecourses at U.S. research universities. Research on telecourse utilization in higher education and on innovation is reviewed; and results are reported indicating that use tends to be related to specific institutional factors such as institutional size and ownership. (86…

This review of the literature on full-text databases provides information on search strategy, performance measurement, and the benefits and limitations of full text compared to bibliographic database searching. Various use studies and uses of full-text databases are also listed. (21 references) (LAE)

Describes an ACRL (American College and Research Libraries) project that utilized the electronic conferencing facility of BITNET to provide a system of mentoring for academic librarians conducting research. Results of an electronic mail survey of participants that examined experience levels, attitudes, problems, and communication patterns are…

Discussion of computer-mediated communication (CMC) describes the SIPP (Survey of Income and Program Participation) ACCESS project, which provides access to statistical data through electronic networks; summarizes research on use of CMC by scientists; profiles communication by social scientists in the SIPP ACCESS network; and offers policy…

Reports on a survey of California State University system faculty to examine the extent to which they utilized computers professionally and to determine their computing resource needs. Responses from 237 faculty members were analyzed for differences in gender, existing computing skills, integration of computing into instruction, use of…

Discussion of the growth of the Internet focuses on the rate of growth based on three measurements of changes in reachable Internet services: (1) the rate at which sites initiate network connectivity; (2) the rate at which sites become directly connected; and (3) the rate at which sites distance themselves, usually for security reasons. (Contains…

Investigates the socioeconomic and gender equality aspects of the public's use of PEN (Public Electronic Network), a computer-based interactive communication system provided free to residents of Santa Monica (California). Topics discussed include public terminals; use by homeless people and by women; and participation in political communication…

Describes the typical eighth-grade geometry curriculum (with regard to teacher emphasis on content, time allocations, instructional methodologies, the use of manipulatives, and compared to current research models) of typical (n=109) and enriched (n=23) mathematics classrooms in the United States based on data from the IEA Second International…

Questionnaires were used to survey computer usage by (n=840) secondary students at home and by (n=22) teachers in their classes in Great Britain. There was little educational use of computers at home by students, and 55% of the teachers strongly opposed assigning homework for completion on a computer. (MKR)