Previous work indicates that semantic categorization decisions for nonexemplars (e.g., deciding that TURBAN is not an animal name) are faster for high-frequency words than low-frequency words. However, there is evidence that this result might depend on category size. When narrow categories are used (e.g., Months, Numbers), there is no frequency…

"Information commitments" include both a set of evaluative standards that Web users utilize to assess the accuracy and usefulness of information in Web-based learning environments (implicit component), and the information searching strategies that Web users use on the Internet (explicit component). An "Information Commitment…

Based on a survey of 158 educational leaders situated in public schools, the level of educational leadership, whether a school superintendent or a principal in a secondary, middle-school, or elementary school, was not a significant factor in operational online strategies utilized or benchmarks relied upon for determining the credibility of…

Seventh grade students entering South East Junior High in Iowa City come from eight elementary feeder schools, as well as from schools around the world. Their information literacy skills and knowledge of reference sources vary, but since all seventh graders and new eighth graders are required to take one trimester of Visual Studies, all entering…

In this article, the authors share their experiences as librarians, and offer their perspectives on issues critical to the new academic librarian. When the authors sat down to sort through ideas for this article, it became apparent that while their backgrounds, coursework, and experiences differed considerably, their passions and concerns are more…

This article explores the influence of prior knowledge on the setting of goals and use of content in museum website visits. Goal setting is a crucial process in organizing the activities of surfers in open environments, such as museum websites, where surfers faced ill-defined tasks. To this end, 12 graduate students were asked to surf through two…

We propose a computer-assisted cancellation test system (CACTS) to understand the visual attention performance and visual search strategies in school children. The main aim of this paper is to present our design and development of the CACTS and demonstrate some ways in which computer techniques can allow the educator not only to obtain more…

This article attempts to do two things: first, to present some postmodern reflections on the current state of research into the relationship between information technology and learning, and second, to relate those reflections to the concept of representation, in ways that, it is hoped, offer some useful and positive models for extending our…

Previous research has shown that young children have difficulty searching for a hidden object whose location depends on the position of a partly visible physical barrier. Across four experiments, we tested whether children's search errors are affected by two variables that influence adults' object-directed attention: object boundaries and…

Over the past dozen years, the switch from paper to electronic sources of information has been all encompassing. How can technology support the efforts of scholars to find and evaluate information? General-purpose search engines use an obscure mix of advanced algorithms to index, search, match, and rank results. Metasearch software extends the…

Knowledge of empirical research has become important for everyone involved in education and special education. Policy, practice, and informed reporting rely on locating and understanding unfiltered, original source material. Although access to vast amounts of research has been greatly facilitated by online databases, such as ERIC and PsychInfo,…

Introduction: This study reports the application of Ellis's behavioural model to the information seeking behaviour of Jewish studies scholars. Method: A qualitative study in which twenty-five scholars from four universities in Israel were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide in which participants were encouraged to talk about…

Eighteen scholarly papers and eighteen abstracts comprise the content of the 8th "Brick and Click Libraries Symposium," held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship. Many of the…

The Interchange newsletter is prepared semiannually by the staff of Access ERIC in order to communicate matters of interest to users of the ERIC database and of other ERIC products and services. The newsletter disseminates a broad spectrum of information pertaining to ERIC, including: price changes, microfiche products, ERIC Clearinghouse news,…

This text is intended as a guide for searching ERIC using the SilverPlatter CD-ROM database. The text describes the content and function of the ERIC database and demonstrates fundamental search techniques by following an example of a successful ERIC computer search. The search begins with the choice of a topic, the formulation of a search…