The authors report on the planning, execution, and future of Northwestern University's Introduction to Electronic Resources/Humanities Computing Training Day, a mandatory one-day set of classes for first-year doctoral students in humanities disciplines. The project is a collaborative effort among the Office of the Dean of the Weinberg College of…

What would it take for libraries to provide their patrons with the same kind of success in finding information using their resources as they achieve with Google, and as quickly? This author asserts that the answer is not that complicated: be more like Google, and then move beyond Google. With the technology available right now, this is not an…

Techniques for building a world-wide information infrastructure by reverse engineering existing databases to link them in a hierarchical system of subject clusters to create an integrated database are explored. The controlled vocabulary of the Library of Congress Subject Headings is used to ensure consistency and group similar items. Each database…

This workbook on library skills for psychological research covers: (1) how to look up books by title or author, including an introduction to STARS (the Stony Brook Automated Retrieval System); (2) how to find books by subject using STARS and how to consult the Library of Congress List of Subject Headings; (3) the kinds of informational questions…

Results of a formative evaluation of a decision aid for students of taxonomic domains such as statistics or biology are reported. The tool, XPT-EASE, is designed to allow a student to search a taxonomy by traversing its branches in an arbitrary order, presumably the order simplest for the student, rather than by starting from the root node and…

Bringing social studies textbooks to life has been a growing concern of educators. The use of general interest books, or trade books, can be a helpful means of supplementing the traditional textbook. This document is a study designed to identify trade books to supplement the main themes, goals, and topics of Communities and Resources, Silver…

This study investigated the benefits of online research methods over manual methods for novice researchers. It was hypothesized that novice researchers who conduct online searches submit better research projects than those who use manual methods. Undergraduate students in two classes of a journalism course on "Law and Mass…

In an effort to promote computer literacy among advertising students, an assignment was devised that required the use of online database search techniques to find secondary research materials. The search program, chosen for economical reasons, was "Classroom Instruction Program" offered by Dialog Information Services. Available for a…

Intended to provide journalism students with an introduction to electronic information retrieval, this guide outlines a few of the 500 online services available to them on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. The concept of the quality versus the quantity of citations retrieved is introduced and emphasized throughout. Services available at…

The Magazine and Journal Instructional Kit, Part 1 (MAJAK/1) is a HyperCard introduction to: (1) periodical indexes; (2) procedures for using the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), Serials List to locate specific articles; and (3) the arrangement of periodicals in the seven libraries of the UMCP Libraries System. Designed, developed,…

This guide is designed to acquaint students of the University of Missouri-Columbia with the facilities and resources of the Ellis Library, and is intended for students enrolled in Library Science 105: Library Skills. The guide is organized into sections dealing with search strategies and types of library materials. It opens with an orientation to…

This paper explores the fault-tree analysis approach to isolating failure modes within a system. Fault tree investigates potentially undesirable events and then looks for failures in sequence that would lead to their occurring. Relationships among these events are symbolized by AND or OR logic gates, AND used when single events must coexist to…

Traditionally, library instruction has been based on the sources in the library and not on the process of seeking information. A new approach to library skills may be needed to enable students to become effective information users. This study investigated the information search process of 140 high school seniors in six high schools. Subjects were…

This updated manual is intended to provide users with complete descriptions of the databases available for database searches, as well as full details of procedures for submitting search requests to the New York State Library. Two major changes in services scheduled to begin on January 1, 1985, are noted in a brief introduction. Sections cover…

Designed to assist educators in teaching information skills in a systematic way by integrating them into the kindergarten through grade 12 curriculum, this guide is intended to be shared by teachers and library media specialists. A reflection of recent study of the information searching and application process, the guide is not bound to any…