Philip J. Smith and Virginia Tiefel
Effective problem solving in a complex society requires educated citizens who possess the ability to identify, acquire, and evaluate available information on a particular topic…
Abstract
Effective problem solving in a complex society requires educated citizens who possess the ability to identify, acquire, and evaluate available information on a particular topic, question, or problem. With the vast increase in the quantity of information available today, however, many people experience great difficulty with such information‐seeking activities. This difficulty is often exacerbated by the need to use cumbersome computer systems to gain access to much of this information.
Holley R. Lange, George Philip, Bradley C. Watson, John Kountz, Samuel T. Waters and George Doddington
A real potential exists for library use of voice technologies: as aids to the disabled or illiterate library user, as front‐ends for general library help systems, in online…
Abstract
A real potential exists for library use of voice technologies: as aids to the disabled or illiterate library user, as front‐ends for general library help systems, in online systems for commands or control words, and in many of the hands‐busy‐eyes‐busy activities that are common in libraries. Initially, these applications would be small, limited processes that would not require the more fluent human‐machine communication that we might hope for in the future. Voice technologies will depend on and benefit from new computer systems, advances in artificial intelligence and expert systems to facilitate their use and enable them to better circumvent present input and output problems. These voice systems will gradually assume more importance, improving access to information and complementing existing systems, but they will not likely revolutionize or dominate human‐machine communications or library services in the near future.
The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a…
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to present an overview of the history and development of transaction log analysis (TLA) in library and information science research. Organizing a literature review of the first twenty‐five years of TLA poses some challenges and requires some decisions. The primary organizing principle could be a strict chronology of the published research, the research questions addressed, the automated information retrieval (IR) systems that generated the data, the results gained, or even the researchers themselves. The group of active transaction log analyzers remains fairly small in number, and researchers who use transaction logs tend to use this method more than once, so tracing the development and refinement of individuals' uses of the methodology could provide insight into the progress of the method as a whole. For example, if we examine how researchers like W. David Penniman, John Tolle, Christine Borgman, Ray Larson, and Micheline Hancock‐Beaulieu have modified their own understandings and applications of the method over time, we may get an accurate sense of the development of all applications.
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related…
Abstract
The following is an annotated list of materials dealing with information literacy including instruction in the use of information resources, research, and computer skills related to retrieving, using, and evaluating information. This review, the nineteenth to be published in Reference Services Review, includes items in English published in 1992. A few are not annotated because the compiler could not obtain copies of them for this review.
Richard Entlich, Lorrin Garson, Michael Lesk, Lorraine Normore, Jan Olsen and Stuart Weibel
The Chemistry Online Retrieval Experiment (CORE), a five‐year R&D project, was one of the earliest attempts to make a substantial volume of the text and graphics from previously…
Abstract
The Chemistry Online Retrieval Experiment (CORE), a five‐year R&D project, was one of the earliest attempts to make a substantial volume of the text and graphics from previously published scholarly journals available to end‐users in electronic form, across a computer network. Since CORE dealt with material that had already gone through traditional print publication, its emphasis was on the process (and limitations) of conversion, the optimization of presentation, and use of the converted contents for readers. This article focuses on the user response to the system.
Voice as the communications device for computer—human interaction is not a new concept, having been a favorite of the SF writers for many years. It is the most immediate and…
Abstract
Voice as the communications device for computer—human interaction is not a new concept, having been a favorite of the SF writers for many years. It is the most immediate and natural means of communication, and is in use today as voice response or voice recognition systems for human—computer interfaces in business, industry and medicine. This article examines the potential for their use within the library environment, as an additional tool for computer input or output.
David F. Cheshire, Tony Joseph, Sue Lacey Bryant, Edwin Fleming and Allan Bunch
Even though many libraries now have sales counters where postcards (usually reproductions of old views) and some local histories (usually published by the library itself — like…
Abstract
Even though many libraries now have sales counters where postcards (usually reproductions of old views) and some local histories (usually published by the library itself — like Northamptonshire Libraries' new, profusely illustrated and documented Waterways of Northamptonshire) are on sale, few if any have proper shops dispensing a full range of printed material on local topics (do send details if they exist).