Proposes a "Model of Querying" for users of office filing facilities and discusses its motivation, aspects, attributes, and advantages. A review of current information systems and attempts to combine information retrieval, artificial intelligence, and database management techniques leads to conclusion that no resultant system is adequate…

Discusses the design and development of the user-computer interface in terms of the personal computer user's psychological needs and physical, perceptual, and conceptual contact with the system. Principles for the development of a user-system dialog that meets the requirements of transparency and visibility are suggested. Twenty-six references are…

Evaluates and compares two recently proposed automatic methods for relevance feedback of Boolean queries (Dillon method, which uses probabilistic approach as basis, and disjunctive normal form method). Conclusions are drawn concerning the use of effective feedback methods in a Boolean query environment. Nineteen references are included. (EJS)

An application specific style guide was produced for a large web-based multimedia and hyper-media learning project. It was introduced to 15 different sets of developers at Universities in disparate locations to promote consistency and good HCI practice for the whole project. This paper discusses the reactions to the use and practicality of the…

Virtual reality (VR) is a new computational paradigm that redefines the interface between human and computer. VR may result in a significant improvement over traditional instruction because it is not only a multimedia interactive tool but also a learning environment extremely close to reality. Few empirical studies have been done on the use of VR…

Increasingly, digital libraries are being defined as collection pointers to World Wide Web-based resources rather than collections that hold the resources themselves. Maintaining these collections is challenging due to distributed document ownership and high fluidity. Typically a collection's maintainer has to assess the relevance of changes with…

Discussion of interaction in computer-based tutorials (CBT) focuses on a study that compared the performance of adult learners from training with three CBTs that varied the level of interactivity. The degrees of learner control, system control, and domain control are discussed, and the Lotus spreadsheet tutorials used are described. (24…

This continuation of an earlier article discusses online vendors' responses to users' concerns as well as the future of online services. Maxwell Online, Dialog, Mead Data, Data-Star, and Dow Jones News/Retrieval address user needs, search strategies, databases, document retrieval and display, user interface, and cost and economic issues. (LRW)

This study investigated the usefulness of end user systems to library and information science students. Seventeen volunteers were offered free searching on BRS/After Dark and DIALOG's Knowledge Index. The search itself, postsearch questionnaire, and completed research papers were analyzed for databases used, cost and time online, and precision.…

Describes a study that investigated the effects of cognitive style (field dependent and field independent) and online database search experience (novice and experienced) on undergraduate World Wide Web search performance. Considers user factors to predict search efficiency and discusses implications for Web interface design and user training…

This study examined ways in which two independent variables, peer collaboration and the use of a specific tool (the TAPS interface), work together and individually to shape students' problem-solving processes. More specifically, the researchers were interested in determining how collaboration and TAPS use cause metacognitive processes to differ…

Computer-based interactive video (CBIV), a hypermedia system that uses the power of the computer to support student interaction with various audio and visual media, can pose such problems for students as the potential for learner disorientation and cognitive overload. Intended to explore the applicability of Wittrock's generative learning…

Research directed toward a better understanding of the computer user/computer machine relationship has increased in recent years. To identify what factors may predict success in computer programming, 286 college students from three computer classes (160 from introductory programming; 60 from Cobol programming; and 66 from senior level programming)…

A study of the behavior of children working on mathematics drill and practice on one of four Israeli computer-assisted instruction (CAI) systems--Mashov, Semel, Tapuach 1 and 3, or Toam 2--was carried out via observations in a sample of 21 computer rooms throughout Israel, and in a computer room operated by research staff. These observations…

This publication contains an encapsulated report on a 1973 pilot project on computer aided bus routing and scheduling involving 22 diversified school districts of New Jersey. Called Transportation Information Planning Service (TRIPS), the project sought to develop and subject to initial test a man-machine system that would offer optimum latitude…