A change in focus of much of the work of the Society for General Systems Research for greater impact, relevance, and productivity is suggested. Tentative unit concepts for 23 areas of study or disciplines are explored. A unit concept is defined as the central, pivotal concept around which virtually all other basic concepts in a field revolve. The…

Using computers to author and edit text is now feasible and economical, and this paper describes two elements of a computer-based publishing system which aids authors by automatically generating certain types of training material, and in writing easily understood text. The routines are operating on the Training and Evaluation group's minicomputer…

This monograph discusses the concept of an effective sports accident data system, various systems in existence at the state and national levels, and basic considerations for the development of such data systems in sports. The document is divided into six chapters providing a framework for investigating the "state of the art" of accident…

This paper focuses on an approach to instructional development that consists of three basic stages interrelated by feedback. The first stage, system definition and management, is an exhaustive effort to define the problem, study the existing instructional context, and determine staff support and management controls. Stage two, design analysis and…

Chemical Abstracts Service developed and expanded a computer-based Chemical Registry System and operated it on a large-scale pilot basis. Some 1,744,319 registry transactions were made, resulting in the addition of 988,806 unique substances to the Registry Files. Continual effort has been made to improve computer capabilities and procedures, add…

A program is presented for a National Information System for Physics based on a computerized AIP (American Institute of Physics) Information Service which is designed to augment the element of selectivity of the present information system for user interests. It is proposed that the system be developed in discrete stages, each adding to the…

The Ideal Design of Effective and Logical Systems (IDEALS) project is a program based on the concept of a five-part methodology for designing educational systems. The objectives of the IDEALS concept are to train educational decision makers to use and train others to use IDEALS, and to produce materials and procedures which will permit others to…

This document, the first of a series, details some of the elements in Brigham Young University's Instructional Research and Development Program which reflect the belief that a training program for specialists in instructional development must contain a different emphasis than a research training program. The topics considered include 1) curriculum…

A program structure based on recently developed techniques for operating system simulation has the required flexibility for use as a speech synthesis algorithm research framework. This program makes synthesis possible with less rigid time and frequency-component structure than simpler schemes. It also meets real-time operation and memory-size…

Three models for the design of information systems are presented: microanalytic, macroanalytic, and esoteric. Systems which illustrate these models are discussed, and design principles extracted from the literature are listed. (Author/KP)

Provides a brief introduction to the basics of artificial intelligence and expert systems and explains terms in general use. (CLB)

This paper is an attempt to review some of the important technical factors which must be critically evaluated if a successful system for computer-assisted instruction is to be selected, assembled and brought into smooth operation.'' (Editor)

The authors advocate a systematic procedure involving the identification of: fixed parameters, variable options for each variable parameter, factors affecting a choice among available options, factors affected by a choice among available options, and the optimum sequence in which decisions should be made during the design process. (Author/MF)

The main conclusions are: the human factor appears to be the main variable in all components of an information retrieval system; length of indexes affects performance considerably more than indexing languages; question analysis and search strategies affect performance to a great extent - as much, if not more than indexing. (Author/MF)

In the development of library systems, the movement today is toward the so-called "total or integrated system. Although it may not be feasible in most cases to design and install a total system in a single operation, it is shown how a series of application programs can become the incremental development of such a system. (Author/JB)