Users of optical data disk (CD-ROM) materials at the Main Library workstations of the State University of New York at Albany were surveyed to examine the problems they encountered while conducting their searches, identify factors that interfere with their task performance, determine their needs with regard to improvement in the databases they…

This proceedings represents and documents in part the 16 presentations made at the 34th Annual Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing. World Wide Web URLs that provide insight into each presentation are included. Presentations include: (1) "Hypostatizing Data Collections, Especially Bibliographic: Abstractions, Representations,…

Whether intentionally or not, teachers are excluded from having the full benefit of the new technologies developed and adapted by the search engine developers, while all the current and proposed research and developments are focused mainly on the end users (students/learners, businesses and/the government) and not specifically on teachers who act…

THE TWELFTH IN A SERIES COVERING RESEARCH IN AUTOMATIC STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL, THIS REPORT IS DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS TITLED EVALUATION, CLUSTER SEARCHING, AND USER FEEDBACK METHODS, RESPECTIVELY. THE FIRST PART, EVALUATION, CONTAINS A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF THE RETRIEVAL RESULTS DERIVED FROM SOME SIXTY DIFFERENT TEXT ANALYSIS EXPERIMENTS. IN EACH…

Despite increasing and widespread access to more information, finding published research, studies, and literature in the field of education and psychology has become more complex. This paper demonstrates how to access published literature in various formats, including books, journal articles, conference proceedings, lesson plans, media, Web sites,…

The criminal justice world is brimming with new information, statistics, analyses, and findings available in a variety of formats. This resource book offers guidance on finding and evaluating the myriad criminal justice information sources currently available. It guides the researcher toward a wide variety of information resources, including…

Describes a study that investigated the effects of end-user search experience on searching behavior in the use of an online information retrieval system by monitoring the QUICKLAW searches of University of Toronto law students over a one-year period. Highlights include hypothesis testing, error patterns, search speed, and attitudes. (Author/LRW)

Naturalistic observation and questioning of children grades 1-6 in school library media centers investigated their intentions, purposes, search terms, strategies, successes, and breakdowns in accessing fiction through Online Public Access Catalogs (OPACs). Presents a framework of perspectives (individual, social cultural, task, time and timing) to…

Reports on studies conducted to provide an in-depth picture of online catalog use in three aspects of library research: (1) as part of the reference process; (2) as used by unassisted users; (3) as a step in obtaining documents. The research methodology is offered as a model for surveying other library services or products. (14 references) (KRN)

Examines elementary school students' use of an online public access catalog to investigate the interaction between children, technology, curriculum, instruction, and learning. Highlights include patterns of successes and breakdowns; search strategies; instructional approaches and childrens' interests; structure of interaction; search terms; and…

Much recent research and funding have focused on building Internet-based repositories that contain collections of high-quality learning resources, often called "learning objects." Yet little is known about how non-specialist users, in particular teachers, find, access, and use digital learning resources. To address this gap, this article…

The world of electronic technology is opening up vast new opportunities for learning, gathering, and sharing information. This guide is for teachers and students in grades 4-8 to learn how to use electronic tools to conduct research to find information at school or around the world. The guide includes introductory pages for each topic, student…

Currently available World Wide Web search engines determine a site's qualification as a response to a search request by matching keywords in the request to keywords representing the site. The returned sites are given a score and ranked according to the match on keywords. Many of these retrieved sites can be irrelevant to the user's true…

In 1990 a committee was formed to develop a list of information skills that could be used by New Hampshire library media professionals to help them develop plans for integrating such skills within their schools. Information skills are processes needed to access, evaluate, organize, communicate, and apply information efficiently and effectively.…

The need for establishing an overall plan for preparing the dissertation is established in this handbook, and specific suggestions are offered to doctoral candidates in all fields. Guidelines are presented on: how to choose an advisor and a dissertation committee, predissertation development activities, selection of a topic, preparation of the…