Selected are three pioneers who invented the history of technology: Abbott P. Usher, Lewis Mumford, and Sigfried Giedion. Their careers, publications, and contributions to the history of technology are described. (YP)

Presents a historical overview of correspondence education. Notes that a great influx of immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries increased the demand for distributed learning (among a primarily urban population), and that a similar trend is observable at the end of the 20th century. Briefly compares effects of online technology with…

Traces the evolution of the theoretical foundations of the field of educational technology through the literature published between 1970 and the present. Thirty-three references are listed. (LLS)

Describes the concept of the Memex, an imaginary information retrieval machine proposed by Vannevar Bush in 1945. The technological background of the Memex and of other visions of that period are examined with special reference to Emanuel Goldberg, inventor of a microfilm selector using a photoelectric cell. Bush's work is reassessed in this…

Discusses the history of the field of instructional design and technology in the United States. Includes a definition, major features, rational for using instructional design and technology as the label for the field, history of instructional media from 1900 to the present, effects media have had on instructional practices, and the effect…

Presents a historical perspective of videodisc technology and technical examination of Optical Disc Corporation's (ODC) LaserVision system, an audio/video communication system which stores composite signals on videodisc. Also discussed are premastering, mastering, and replication steps in videodisc production; videodisc player design and…

Programmable equipment innovations, precursors of today's technology, are examined, including the development of the binary code and feedback control systems, such as temperature sensing devices, interchangeable parts, punched cards carrying instructions, continuous flow oil refining process, assembly lines for mass production, and the…

This paper presents an overview of information technology development. The first section sets the scene, comparing the first WAN (Wide Area Network) and Intel processor to current technology. The birth of the microcomputer is described in the second section, including historical background on semiconductors, microprocessors, and the microcomputer.…

Explores ways of writing the history of information infrastructures. Describes the historical development of the information infrastructure of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a universal medical classification system. Discusses changing medical information needs and the ICD's advancements in information technology and…

The recent history of instructional theory is inextricably linked to a progression of technological developments, social changes, and influential theoreticians. (Author)

Describes the activities of national documentation organizations during World War II that laid the basis for the nation's postwar scientific information infrastructure. The activities discussed include the acquisition and dissemination of strategic scientific and technical information, and the development of microfilm as an information medium. (19…

Presents a history of information science and examines research problems that confront information science historians. Concludes that information science researchers need to draw on a range of related historical studies such as the history of science and technology, printing and publishing, and information institutions such as libraries, archives,…

This paper examines the tradition of research within the field of educational technology and cites problems endemic to the dominant research methods. It is suggested that a reexamination of the history of the field has intrinsic merit and is necessary at this time; furthermore, historical analysis may assist in the development of new research…

Presents a history of Project INTREX, a mid-1960s project sponsored by the Council on Library Resources and hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The project's goal was to lay the foundation for research libraries of the 1970s and beyond. Findings show that INTREX failed because of inadequate funding and slow technological…

Examines the development of electronic books and traditional libraries in relation to the history of books and publishing. An ongoing project is described that is developing two forms of electronic books: hyper-books (built from paper books) and visual-books (built from electronic texts). (22 references) (EAM)