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)

Reprints five articles originally published between 1933 and 1983 showing that the library field was ready to use technology: "People and Machines: Changing Relationships?" (S. Michael Malinconico); "Guilds or Technocracy?" (Margery C. Quigley); "The Librarian and the Machine" (Jesse H. Shera); "From the…

Identifies scholars and practitioners who are key contributors to the field of performance improvement and are members of the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Describes the concept of human performance technology, and discusses the late Dr. Thomas F. Gilbert's concept of performance and his help with founding ISPI and…

A theoretical foundation for a proposed discipline of development information science is discussed. Topics covered include an overview of theories in all disciplines, perceptions of information science theory in the Western world, domains and models in development information science, related disciplines, and the relevance of information…

Examines over 70 years of efforts to bring media/new technologies into the classroom. Discusses common threads in the hopes and plans for educational radio, instructional television, and computer-assisted instruction. Looks at obstacles to implementation of these initiatives. Concludes that present-day efforts to integrate new technology into K-12…

Raises fundamental questions about the scope of information science and information retrieval, and illustrates how it has evolved over the last 60 years. The work of European documentalists is described, the terminology of multimedia is examined, and image handling is discussed as a method of focusing on representations other than text. (12…

Considers how four historical events have influenced the world for information professionals and the view these events offer of the future: (1) invention of the Gutenberg printing press; (2) invention of the transistor; (3) success of the railroad; and (4) a statement by John Cotton Dana, first president of the Special Libraries Association. (9…

States that, beginning in the 1850s, authors of American and British scientific/technical publications began to integrate photographs into their texts, with these images often functioning as claims for truth. Presents a technological, cultural, and rhetorical history of published photographs based upon 23 images selected from a review of 40…

Predictions about the future of education are made against a backdrop of the history of the university and the historical effects of technology on higher education and education in general. The role of the university professor will shift from content area expert to that of instructional developer, instructional troubleshooter, and instructional…

A founder trustee of OCLC recounts the steps toward automation of library catalogs encountered during his career, from the use of punched cards in a circulation system to the implementation of online union catalogs. (CLB)

Discusses the film industry's conversion to color cinematography in the period between the 1920s and 1960s. Cites economic considerations, technological modifications, and aesthetic preferences by audiences as factors in this development. (JMF)

Traces the development of printing and other technologies of communication. Discusses their impact on society. (JMF)

Offers personal reflections of a professor's long career in technical writing. Looks primarily at technical writing in the university, where most technical writers are now trained and where most theory originates. Recognizes that many improvements in the field have happened because the use of computers makes revision and production of copy easier.…

This case study of how the museum community is trying to select standards for data interchange between museum systems reviews the work of the Museum Computer Network's committee on the Computer Interchange of Museum Information (CIMI) and reflects on the issues confronting CIMI as it tries to exploit information technology standards as a strategy.…

Describes an explosion in Port Chicago (California) that a journalist later ascribed to a nuclear weapon, explains how his conclusions can be refuted, discusses the sociology of publishing such spectacular claims, and suggests how historians might better assist journalists in evaluating such claims. (40 references) (LRW)