An information system can be viewed as a symbiotic relation between the users of the system and the system's hardware, software, and data resources. Ideally, performance evaluation of these systems should be based on the achievement of user based criteria while concurrently minimizing resource costs. Current evaluation technologies concentrate on…

This report documents the theory, structure, and implementation of a performance processor (written in FORTRAN IV) that can accept performance demonstration data representing various levels of operator's skill and, under user control, analyze data to provide candidate performance measures and validation test results. The processor accepts two…

NLS-SCHOLAR is a prototype system that uses artificial intelligence techniques to teach computer-naive people how to use a powerful and complex editor. It represents a new kind of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system that integrates systematic teaching with actual practice, i.e., one which can keep the user under tutorial supervision while…

Over the past several years there has been considerable speculation concerning the role, direction, and characteristics of information processing systems in the future. The gap between the technological state of the art in computer-based information processing and today's applied practices in management information systems further clouds the…

An outline is presented for a digital computer simulation model for an information network for the State of California. The methodology of simulation is discussed initially. The problems presented by the very large size of the system, in terms of materials, users, communication connections are depicted, and solutions are suggested which permit…

Designed as a reference guide for those seeking information about systems equipment and supplies, this directory is a compilation of a selection of literature, bulletins, catalogs, manuals, and specification sheets about systems equipment and related supplies. The directory is arranged alphabetically by products. Each listing has an identifying…

Three outstanding features of the Rapidly Extensible Language (REL) System are discussed. REL itself is an integrated software system designed to facilitate conversational interaction with the computer, especially by those working with dynamic, highly interrelated data. The system's main parts are: 1) the operating system, which manages the…

Feasibility study findings indicate that a potential reduction in drudgery for the scholar may be obtained through a combination of heretofore divergent solutions to the increasingly critical problem of how researchers will interface with computers for an efficient and effective review of the literature. Presently existing computer software…

The technical feasibility of a continental information network for astronomy has been demonstrated in the course of a two-month experiment conducted jointly by Dearborn Observatory of Northwestern University and the Stanford University Computation Center. The experiment simulated a scientific information network based on a high-level retrieval…

In January 1970, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory undertook the exploratory development of an automated training system to meet the urgent need for more cost-effective technical training in the services. The report discusses how the concepts and supporting technology currently under development at Lincoln Laboratory…

A collection of articles from "Scientific American" magazine has been put together at this time because the current period in computer science is one of consolidation rather than innovation. A few years ago, computer science was moving so swiftly that even the professional journals were more archival than informative; but today it is…

The main objectives of Project BALLOTS (Bibliographic Automation of Large Library Operations Using a Time-Sharing System) are to control rising technical processing costs and, at the same time, to provide improved levels of service. This report on BALLOTS Phase II is concerned with the development and implementation of the production library…

This paper is the second step in the preparation of forecasts of occupational and industrial information which will meet the needs of the Information System for Vocational Decisions (ISVD). The author discusses the computation routines which need to be developed, tested and operationalized toward the goal of combining occupational and industrial…

This report summarizes a research program in modeling human communication ability. The methodology involved selecting a single, naturally occurring dialogue, instructing a human observer to extract certain aspects relative to its comprehension, and then using these aspects to guide the construction and verification of the model. The model assumes…

This report is part of ongoing research engaged in transforming knowledge of how human communication works into improvements in man-machine communication of existing and planned computer systems. The methodology includes having a trained "Observer" annotate transcripts of human communication in a prescribed manner. One of the issues,…