The increased availability of digital images is accompanied by a need for solutions to the problems inherent in indexing them for retrieval. Problems in image description and access are discussed, with a perspective on traditional and new solutions. Recent developments in intellectual access to images are surveyed and contrasted with…

Discusses how to avoid costly mistakes when buying facility-management software. Provides answers to questions buyers should ask before committing funds to a particular program. Selected facility-management software companies and product profiles are highlighted. (GR)

Examines intelligent software agents, presents nine design principles aimed specifically at the technology perspective (to personalize task performance and general principles), and discusses what librarians can do that software agents (agents defined as activity-aware software programs) cannot do. Describes an information ecology that integrates…

Explores economic aspects of a resource discovery network (RDN) in the United Kingdom consisting of a center and eight sub-based hubs using Ithink Analyst, a modeling software package. Results suggest that with a combination of sponsorship and subscription income a RDN could succeed without grant funding within 10 years of its launch. (Author/LRW)

Examines the practical details of setting up live online reference services in libraries. Topics include choosing software; differences between licensed and hosted applications; models used to implement virtual reference services; how libraries are using these services in day to day operations; and marketing strategies. (Author/LRW)

Includes four articles that address issues concerning content management (CM) of organizations or Web sites. Highlights include systems for managing content; computer software-based systems; the role of information architects; CM and publishing; and evaluation criteria for CM implementation via vendors, including pricing and support. (LRW)

Presents the current status and new perspectives on the Structured Learning Theory (SLT), with special consideration given to how SLT has been influenced by recent research in software engineering. Topics include theoretical constructs; content domains; structural analysis; cognition; assessing behavior potential; and teaching and learning issues,…

Disputes claims in recent report by US-based Alliance for Children that the use of computers by children threatens their creative and intellectual development. Describes two case studies of the creative uses of computers in United Kingdom elementary school classrooms. (Contains 17 references.) (PKP)

The concepts of intellectual freedom as expressed in these two quotations are as relevant to information in electronic formats as they are in print. As a proponent of intellectual freedom, the author of this article advocated and received administrative support for unfiltered Internet access in the Mankato Area (Minnesota) Public Schools from 1994…

This paper proposes a set of methods and a framework for evaluating, modeling, and predicting group interactions in computer-mediated communication. The method of sequential analysis is described along with specific software tools and techniques to facilitate the analysis of message-response sequences. In addition, the Dialogic Theory and its…

In this article, the authors cite four reasons why parents and schools should reconsider the use of Internet filters. First, and most simply, filters don't work as advertised. One of the most controversial and contentious issues surrounding the use of new information and communication technologies, especially in schools and libraries, is whether…

To appreciate the true impact of scientifically based research on education, it may be useful first to understand the meaning of the various terms that the law employs as part of its definition of SBR (Scientifcally Based Research). The This article presents an explication from a Software & Information Industry Association publication titled…

We should be grateful that Terry Reese had to work his way through college. As a work-study student, taught to do cartographic cataloging in the University, of Oregon's map library, he discovered the mental challenges libraries offered. Later he became Oregon State University (OSU)'s cataloger for networked resources and digital unit production…

What child hasn't chatted with friends through a computer? But chatting with a computer? Some Danish scientists have literally put a face on their latest software program, bringing to virtual life storyteller Hans Christian Andersen, who engages users in actual conversations. The digitized Andersen resides at the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in…

Many teachers look for a creative and engaging way to bring physical science topics of force and motion to life for their students. In this project, fourth-grade students weren't "forced" to investigate physical science topics--they were thrilled to! With the help of various technology tools--digital cameras, the Internet, computers, and…