NASPE's Teacher Toolbox is an instructional resource site which provides educators with a wide variety of teaching tools that focus on physical activity. This service is provided by NASPE to support instructional activities as well as promote quality programs. New monthly issues support NASPE's mission to enhance knowledge, improve professional…

Professionally, school librarians are faced with an explosion of choices--search engines, online catalogs, media types, subscription databases, and Web tools--all requiring scrutiny, evaluation, and selection. In turn, this support "stuff" forms a basis for making additional choices about how and what they teach and what they assess. Whereas once…

Suggests that it would be a great aid to making technical information usable if technical writers could acquire superpowers on the spot by uttering an acronym formed from the characteristics of USABILITY: User-centered, Sufficient, Accurate, Brief, Instructional, Logical, Informative, Task-oriented, and You, the technical communicator. (RS)

Reexamines the concept of usability and methods for measuring it with regard to hypermedia. Argues that the standard usability tests for text may not apply equally well to hypermedia because of its many differences from paper documents. (SR)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is an ongoing effort to obtain comprehensive and dependable data on national educational achievement. Reports and related assessment materials, such as assessment objectives and items used to measure achievement, have been developed to meet the needs and interests of educators. Several…

Summarizes a 1984 survey of four presidential libraries which identified patterns of behavior within groups of researchers. Data were collected on user's academic, professional, or private affiliation; topics of study; advance preparation; and previous archival research. Findings show users of presidential libraries place high value on personal…

Maher advocates analysis of archival use, outlines methodologies for such analyses, and provides examples of results of two kinds of user studies. Turnbaugh advocates broadening the context of user studies in government archives to include all areas of activity so that the institution is embedded in the processes of government. (EM)

Examines the concepts involved in user studies, information needs, and information seeking behavior to propose a basis and direction for future research in information science. Twenty-eight references are listed. (RAA)

Suggests such traditional measures of an academic library's worth as volumes added, numbers of serials, total staff, and materials expenditures have no significant correlation to the effectiveness of a library's services or user satisfaction; also that future success in effectiveness lies with cost effective management of available resources. (RAA)

Examines the economic effects on information-producing companies of user migration from print to online information services. Three reasons are cited for the transition to online: (1) inflation, (2) new technology, and (3) database enhancement. Cost graphs and responses to questionnaires supplement the discussion. (SW)

Presents viewpoints on several information retrieval user studies, and contains opinions regarding user characteristics; user training; expression of need or query formulation; conduct of a search; use of language; analysis of retrieved information; and satisfaction with outcome. Recommendations for future studies include classification of users;…

Arguing that user studies and performance measures provide two major approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of library services, this occasional paper presents an overview of the literature, examines the goals and approaches in user studies and performance measures, and provides suggestions for increasing the potential benefits of both by…

Describes the use of focus group interviews by the Iowa City Public Library to determine how the libraries' business services were being used and how they could be improved. Analysis of group suggestions highlights lack of knowledge about library services, differing degrees of perceived ease of use and motivation, and time constraints. (22…

Describes a study that used the shelf availability research methodology to identify and quantify the causes of users' failures to identify and locate library materials. The factors resulting in unsuccessful searches are discussed, and recommendations for reducing these factors are made. (26 references) (CLB)

Based on a review of the literature, this discussion addresses such key aspects of the librarian's changing role in the online search process as the reference interview, online search evaluation, user training, and information service management. Future trends are noted, and 43 references are listed. (EJS)