This report presents findings from a study of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) user services, describes changes to current user services that can help ERIC become more competitive, and discusses strategies and options for evaluating ERIC user services. Data show ERIC information professionals have done much to identify users'…

The paper begins with an introduction defining the term "information literacy" and goes on to analyze the need for information literacy education in China. It also presents a detailed description with examples of how China's public libraries are cultivating citizens' information literacy. The experiences prove that the public library is…

Compares and evaluates the databases covering the literature of sports and recreation. Discusses information scatter in the discipline, exhaustivity of coverage within particular databases, and search strategies, vocabulary control, and database overlap. Included are nine data tables and four appendices illustrating search results. (JL)

Describes four types of decisions concerning admissions policies for allied health programs: (1) refining applicant evaluation criteria; (2) identifying information sources whose data can be quantified; (3) transforming these data into measurable form; and (4) conducting evaluation of admission criteria. (Author/CT)

Compares the uses of mass media and informal social networks in opinion formation among women from three varying population density groups. Results indicate that the degree of urbanity and education mediate choice of information source. (JMF)

Includes six articles that focus on practical uses of technologies developed from digital library research in the areas of education and scholarship reflecting the international impact of digital library research initiatives. Includes the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) (Brazil); the National Science Foundation (NSF) (US); the Joint…

This article describes 21 parents' evaluation of a Web site intended to provide practical information about recommended practices such as activity-based or embedded instruction to families whose young children have disabilities or are at developmental risk. The parent group found the Web site, SPIES for Parents, to be helpful, useful, and…

Explores the role of scenarios (or use-oriented design representations) in the Afya project (which aims to improve health information and services for Black women) as a participatory action research (PAR) tool for studying information seeking and use across the "digital divide." (AEF)

Forty special education teachers rated usefulness and preferences concerning software evaluation information. Highest usefulness ratings were given to information on hardware compatibility, appropriateness for students, and software operation and use. The most preferred information source was software tryout, followed by software…

College trustees can enhance their supervision of endowment funds by forming networks with their counterparts from similar institutions, developing quick and inexpensive ways to share information that, while not confidential, might be difficult and expensive to find and interpret through other means. Generally, institutions' endowments are not…

Discusses corporate sponsorships as a new source of library funding. Highlights include maintaining the library mission, visible endorsement of organizations, use of written guidelines and contracts, and the traditional library role as a "bankable strength." A sidebar describes the Fund for America's Libraries, a source of information on…

Discusses methodological issues arising from the evaluation of the impact of IT-assisted information systems on information-seeking and research in academia. Learning and use of information technology by academics was observed over time by using diaries, interviews, discussion, and observation. Results indicate that academic research is a complex…

Provides an overview of U.S. nonprofit fee-based information services with emphasis on Purdue University's Technical Information Service. Discusses how these services can benefit profit-making brokers by supplying them documents on a nonprofit basis and by referring clients to brokers for specialized information projects. (Author/AEF)

It is proposed that numerous national surveys of faculty since the late 1960s provide institutional researchers and others with rich sources of descriptive data to help address the shifting national issues and institutional concerns related to faculty resources. An annotated list of 12 major faculty surveys is appended. (MSE)

XML is a newly released subset of SGML that is intended to extend the benefits of that standard to the World Wide Web. Differences between SGML and XML are outlined, potential benefits are discussed, and answers are provided for some frequently asked questions regarding XML. (AEF)