Several issues in college student mobility between Japan and other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are examined, including the role of organized regional mobility in various areas of the world, curriculum development to meet the needs of international students, and the need for more analysis of…

Discusses educational benefits, logistical considerations, and inexpensive techniques for creating and facilitating a student-run multimedia publishing operation in the school media center. Checklists are provided for overall equipment needs and for grouping technologies with related functions into smaller "minicenters." A sample student…

Provides advice to child care center directors on purchasing the center's furniture. Contains a series of questions that directors should ask related to purchasing furniture, based on advice from manufacturers and dealers. Summarizes the key factors needed to consider when purchasing classroom furniture and includes tips on buying from catalogs…

Outlines how Compact Disc-interactive (CD-i)--software that looks like a CD-ROM but operates independently using a television set--can be used in elementary, secondary, and vocational education. Discusses the cost effectiveness of CD-i and compares costs and operational issues with CD-ROM. Describes special features of one CD-i program,…

Includes three articles that debate whether interlibrary loan (ILL) is the best way to get public library patrons what they need. Highlights include return on investment; funding; alternatives to ILL, including purchase on demand and online full-text databases; cost effectiveness; and the advantages of patron-initiated ILL through interconnected…

Discusses library cooperation and academic library consortia and presents a case study of a Canadian consortia that conducted a cost-benefit analysis for purchasing an electronic resource. Reports on member library subscription costs, external economic factors, value of patron time saved, costs and benefits for patrons, and net savings. (LRW)

Describes the expenses associated with the wide-ranging functions of an admissions office and argues that enrollment management staff must be well-trained and flexible in order to accommodate students' changing needs. Gives cost categories and concludes with a discussion of cost containment and quality. (RJM)

Discussion of personal bibliographic systems (PBS) that manage the input, storage, retrieval, and output of bibliographic references focuses on low-cost mainstream bibliographic software for personal use or smaller libraries. Structural flexibility, indexes, printing and downloading, searching, and interface- and management-related issues are…

Evaluates a socio-constructivist hybrid model for training K-12 teachers in Brazil in the use of informatics in education. Highlights include a combination of face-to-face exchanges and a Web-based distance approach; comparisons between this model and traditional models; a cost effectiveness analysis; and recommendations for future research.…

Analysis of data from 51 group homes for people with intellectual disabilities in Wales found variation in staff input was related to residents' challenging behavior, smaller residence size, provider agency, and residents' receipt of attention. Resident activity was related to resident adaptive behavior and receipt of attention but not resource…

Strategic planning at the University of Florida College of Dentistry identified: the needs of the elderly population; the remote location of the dental school relative to the population in the state; the need to expand clinical research; the need to utilize computers; the reliance on state funding; etc. (MLW)

Describes the development of an expert system for online patent searching that uses menu driven software to interpret the user's knowledge level and the general nature of the search problem. The discussion covers the rationale for developing such a system, current system functions, cost effectiveness, user reactions, and plans for future…

Explores the future of library automation from the perspective of online vendors. The discussions cover CD-ROM, online catalog, and gateway technologies, together with such issues as standards, cooperation, and cost effectiveness. The emphasis is on problems that must be conquered if these technologies are to reach their potential. (CLB)

Discusses the social context of job sharing, reported benefits and disadvantages, and general issues that affect the successful implementation of job sharing programs. Issues specifically affecting job sharing in academic libraries are outlined, and methods for dealing with these issues are suggested. (15 references) (CLB)

Discusses microcomputer systems and networks and presents some economic considerations for their use in education. Highlights include the design of computer assisted instruction (CAI); the development of appropriate software; organization of lesson material; authoring systems and languages; and a checklist for designing or installing a CAI system.…