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New information technologies will destroy copyright as we currently know it. Once it is simple to send articles in image form anywhere on the Internet to one or many colleagues, people will begin doing it. No amount of litigation or intimidation will stop the practice, since it facilitates the use of information in a productive way. In addition, much that is now published by publishers will be published by authors on the various networks that will be available to them. Publishers must begin now to plan for a complete restructuring of the information economy.

Good system documentation is the backbone to the success of any automated system, for only through complete and thorough documentation can the user fully understand and utilize a system's capability. This symposium focuses on printed documentation and the many related applications that affect the daily lives of computer users. Printed documentation takes different forms, including user and reference manuals, tutorials, reference cards, and “cheat sheets.” The various forms are produced by both system vendors and system users, the latter frequently adapting and modifying vendor‐prepared documentation to reflect local practice and meet specialized training needs.

“Desktop research” encompasses the various tools that a scholar requires in the course of his or her work. The “scholar's workstation” of the future will involve several software packages from a number of developers to accomplish the tasks required in doing research and creating publications. To function effectively, the programs must be able to interact with each other and communicate data. A common user interface will ease the learning of each new addition to the software repertoire. A model workstation is discussed that allows searching of bibliographic databases or library catalogs, the assembly of bibliographies, the ordering and acquisition of documents, as well as the preparation of manuscripts.

Word processing, one of the derivative benefits of the computer revolution, will have a profound impact on scholarship. To support scholarship, libraries should adopt productivity aids: public access word processors, citation formatting software and public terminal‐to‐portable microcomputer interface capability.

Reports on papers presented at "Humanizing Information Technology", the Annual Conference of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, held in California in October 2003.

Notes that a recent survey found many scholars who believe, incorrectly, that history is not random enough, large enough, or controlled enough for science. Reiterates why science is not dependent on randomization, size, or control, but does require comparison. Posits that the most powerful feature of scientific validation is the comparative measurement of argument (CMA). Specifically illustrates how and why comparison inexpensively elevates any history into an excellent vehicle for relevant, credible, scientific scholarship. Concludes that the best method of CMA is not always obvious, but researchers should always try CMA because they will find that any use of it will produce some recognizable value and provide discipline to unmanageable data sources such as history.

This paper seeks to focus on the design and testing of a web‐based online board game for teaching undergraduate students information literacy skills and concepts.

Project team members with expertise in game play, creative writing, programming, library research, graphic design and information seeking developed a web‐based board game in which students used digital library resources to answer substantive questions on a scholarly topic. The project team hosted game play in a class of 75 undergraduate students. The instructor offered an extra‐credit incentive to boost participation resulting in 49 students on 13 teams playing the game. Post‐game focus group interviews revealed problematic features and redesign priorities.

A total of six teams were successful meeting the criteria for the instructor's grade incentive achieving a 53.1 percent accuracy rate on their answers to substantive questions about the black death; 35.7 percent was the accuracy rate for the seven unsuccessful teams. Discussed in detail are needed improvements to problematic game features such as offline tasks, feedback, challenge functionality, and the game's black death theme.

Information literacy games test what players already know. Because this project's successful teams answered substantive questions about the black death at accuracy rates 20 points higher than the estimated probability of guessing, students did the research during game play which demonstrates that games have merit for teaching students information literacy skills and concepts.

May's National Online Meeting in New York included sessions on the future for newspapers in the age of electronic delivery, the possible death knell for copyright as we know it, and the way ahead for Microsoft's internal information network. Charles Rowlands reports.

Have you ever wished your IBM‐compatible PC ran faster? Not everyone can afford a new AT, but for a few dollars and an hour's effort, you can increase the speed of your PC from five to ten percent. The secret of this increase is the new NEC V20 chip.

IBM now has a strong share of the microcomputer market and many programs are available for the IBM PC, PC XT and compatible microcomputers. Of all the programs (both general and library applications combined) indexed in the MSR, volume II (Nolan 1983) there were 280 configured for the Apple microcomputers followed by 194 that can be run on IBM equipment or operating systems.