Profiles an assistant superintendent of a school district in Alexandria (Virginia) and presents his methods of monitoring student progress with achievement test scores and microcomputers. (RW)

Discusses the problems plaguing ISORID, particularly the unresolved stresses that hinder the effective contribution to the world community that this interactive system for information scientists was envisioned to make. (FM)

Suggests the outlines of a theory of how sociocultural and grammatical knowledge are integrated in the construction of personal names and how such knowledge can be retrieved from surface linguistic forms. Draws on anthropological and linguistic procedures to analyse the Yoruba personal naming system and the sociolinguistic principles that underly…

A theory of policy intervention in social problems is needed to enhance our understanding of the processes of change when investigated by social engineers. The development of such a theory could encourage the integration of basic and applied research. (Author/RLV)

Describes the urban statistical abstract published by the reference department of St. Louis University's library since 1971. Significant by-products of this venture are noted, including the development of bibliographic control of local documents and the identification of sources for local information. (Author/JD)

A structure is described for use by practicing counselors and trainees to help them systematically conduct initial interviews including all significant data gathering and process component variables. A checklist is suggested as a practical way in which practitioners may sequentially address key points. (Author)

In designing an institutional advancement survey, it is thought that the researcher must have a clear conception of the survey's purpose. The relationship of research to theory, the nature of the survey, data collection, and analysis and interpretation are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Introduces this special volume whose purpose it is to encourage the further development of qualitative study as a way of increasing the diversity of the field, thus increasing the sources of insight and discovery. (Author/IRT)

Addresses the issues and problems in analysis of qualitative data through a review of experiences in a four-year project that relied centrally on such data. Asserts that the attractive aspects of qualitative research are real and that the nuisances can be reduced by thoughtful methodological inquiry. (Author/IRT)

Describes a systematic approach for determining how much energy teachers will use in record keeping tasks associated with individualized instruction systems. Evaluates the information benefits that are important enough to warrant investment of teacher record keeping time. (Author/RK)

Licensure and certification decisions are usually based on a chain of inference from results of a practice analysis to test specifications, the test, examinee performance, and a pass-fail decision. This article focuses on the design of practice analyses and translation of practice analyses results into test specifications. (SLD)

Outlines recent organizational and programmatic changes within the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, including a data feedback system of institutional indicators; a persistence/completion methodologies dictionary; state information data initiatives; briefing papers; and the maintenance and enhancement of ANSWERS, a Web-based tool that…

Reports on a study funded by the National Archives and Records Administration to collect information on federal employees' views and perceptions on 20 information collection topics pertaining to records creation, maintenance, use, and disposition. Discusses situational factors and the development of records management policies and guidelines.…

Explores factors in the history of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) that have contributed to the positive response of the digital library and information community toward version 2 of the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. Factors include focus on a defined problem statement, an operational model in which strong leadership is balanced with…

The MetaScholar Initiative is a collaborative endeavor to explore the feasibility and utility of scholarly portal services developed in conjunction with Open Archives Initiative metadata harvesting technologies. This article describes two projects that the MetaScholar Initiative comprises, as well as accomplishments and findings to date. (AEF)