+ Page 1 + --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ####### ######## ######## ########### ### ### ## ### ## # ### # Interpersonal Computing and ### ### ## ### ## ### Technology: ### ### ## ### ### An Electronic Journal for ### ######## ### ### the 21st Century ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ## ### ISSN: 1064-4326 ### ### ### ## ### October, 1994 ####### ### ######## ### Volume 2, Number 4, pp.1-10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published by the Center for Teaching and Technology, Academic Computer Center, Georgetown University, Washington, DC 20057 Additional support provided by the Center for Academic Computing, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 This article is archived as CONTENTS IPCTV2N4 on LISTSERV@GUVM (LISTSERV@GUVM.GEORGETOWN.EDU) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Letter from the Publisher 2. Retrieval Instructions for Articles 3. Table of Contents and Abstracts 4. Editorial Board 5. Copyright Statement --------------------------------------------------------------------------- + Page 2 + 1. Letter from the Publisher IPCT Journal Readers, First of all, we again thank the nearly 400 persons (394 to be exact), who responded to the IPCT Journal Readers' Survey earlier this year. I would like to summarize some of the findings here. While nothing too surprising emerged, it is necessary to document non-surprises, too! At some point later this year, a more extensive paper will be written regarding the data from the survey, but for now, here is a summary report with some broad conclusions. Journal readers consider themselves quite expert in both computer expertise and email expertise. Less than 3 percent in each of these categories claimed to be "beginners," while nearly 80 percent stated that they were "advanced intermediate" or "experts" in both categories. + Page 3 + The age of respondents is, on first glance, a little surprising. We thought computer users may be younger than the overall population. The largest number of respondents were in the 40 to 49 years of age category (nearly 45%), with over 60 percent above the age of 40. Less than 10 percent are below the age of 30. On second thought, the age of those persons who read scholarly journals may have more to do with age of IPCT Journal readers than other factors. About 70 percent of respondents were male and 30 percent female. Over seventy percent stated they are in higher education. It appears that 80 percent of respondents receive their subscription at an email address in North America. This percentage corresponds almost exactly with the percent of overall IPCT Journal subscribers from North America. About 85% of the respondents said they received their copy of the IPCT Journal Table of Contents/Abstracts from either the journal list (IPCT- J@GUVM.GEORGETOWN.EDU), or the related discussion list (IPCT- L@GUVM.GEORGETOWN.EDU), with another 10% receiving it from other lists on the net. Fifteen percent of respondents stated that the only electronic journal they subscribed to is IPCT Journal, while nearly 50% said they subbed to 3 or more electronic journals in addition to IPCT Journal. For about 25 percent of the respondents, this was the first issue of IPCT Journal they received. Only 10% of respondents said they would request all articles for that issue of the journal, with twice that saying they thought they would request none of the articles. The criteria used for determining which articles to request was predominantly "interested in the topic (57%), "this will help my work generally" (21%), and "I am researching this myself" (12 percent). Five percent of the respondents found IPCT Journal articles of "better" quality compared with scholarly refereed print journal articles. Another nearly 50% said the quality is the "same" as scholarly print journal articles they have read. Only 10% claimed IPCT Journal articles were of "somewhat less" or "much less quality" than print journals. (Thirty-eight percent chose to say they had no basis to make this comparison.) Perhaps the most surprising result, and most satisfying, was that 15 percent of the persons responding to the question of whether they had ever cited an IPCT Journal article in their own work said they indeed had. (Many others wrote in that while they hadn't, they planned to.) Additionally, over fifty percent responded positively to the question of whether they had ever sent an IPCT Journal article to a colleague. + Page 4 + Finally, over seventy percent of the persons responding to the question of whether ASCII is adequate state that it was. The respondents to this survey stated mostly (58%) that they read IPCT Journal articles both on screen or printed it out, depending upon many factors. About one quarter read the articles on screen without printing them. We hope this gives you some overall idea of the IPCT Journal readers' reactions to the Journal. We will conduct another survey next year, using the information from this first one to guide the design of those in the future. The data gathered will be used not only for research into electronic publishing, but also, it is hoped, to improve the product you see now and in the future! We would appreciate any citations to articles discussing the results of readership surveys of scholarly journals, and are particularly interested in locating a reference regarding how often, on an average, a scholarly article is read (especially in the social sciences). We must admit we are finding this literature to be elusive. Regards, Zane L. Berge, Publisher BERGE@GUVAX.ACC.GEORGETOWN.EDU --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Retrieval Instructions for Articles GOPHER IPCT Journal, including all back issues, is available via gopher from GUVM.CCF.GEORGETOWN.EDU (or 141.161.71.1). Point your gopher to this location (port 70) and select from the top menu, "LISTSERV maintained Files and Notelogs/." Alternatively, coming in via Gopher menus, from "Other Gopher Sites" or "International Gopher Networks," follow the menus down: North America/USA/Washington D.C./Georgetown University/ Information Systems/Listserv maintained Files and Notelogs. (Note: The IPCT-L Discussion List Notelogs can be found here, too.) LISTSERV Articles are stored as files at LISTSERV@GUVM.BITnet. To retrieve a file interactively, send the GET command appearing both before and after the article abstract to LISTSERV@GUVM. To retrieve the article as a e-mail message add F=MAIL to your interactive message, or send an e-mail note in the following format: To:listserv@guvm.georgetown.edu ---------------------- GET IPCTV2N4 + Page 5 + The GET command GET IPCTV2N4 PACKAGE will retrieve the entire issue. [WARNING: This will send all 4 files with a total of over 3200 lines.] The listserv's Internet address is LISTSERV@GUVM.GEORGETOWN.EDU Back issues of the journal are stored at LISTSERV@GUVM. To obtain a list of all available files, send the following message to LISTSERV@GUVM: INDEX IPCT-J. The name of each issue's table of contents file begins with the word "CONTENTS". FTP IPCT-J articles can be retrieved by FTP (File Transfer Protocol. FTP to GUVM.CCF.GEORGETOWN.EDU or 141.161.71.1, logon IPCT-J, password is GUEST. All IPCT-J files are currently archived in ASCII format only. If you experience difficulties with these instructions, please consult your local site administrator for specific instructions that may apply to your system. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Contents COMPARISON OF THE ATTITUDES OF LEARNERS TAKING AUDIOGRAPHIC TELECONFERENCING COURSES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NORTHERN ONTARIO Rory McGreal, Executive Director, New Brunswick Distance Education Network To retrieve this article GET MCGREAL IPCTV2N4 ABSTRACT The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the effects of remoteness on the attitude levels of secondary school students taking different audiographic teleconferencing courses in high schools in Northern Ontario, Canada. Students who are taking classes on site with a teacher are compared with students taking the courses at remote locations. It was deductively hypothesized that there would be no significant difference in the attitudes of students in the remote groups when compared with the non-remote groups. Using a post-test only design (n= 62), the two groups were compared using a t test for independent samples (alpha = .05). It was found that there was no reason to believe that a significant difference exists between the means of the remote group as compared with the non-remote group (Observed significance level = .255, p=.935). Therefore, the original null hypothesis was upheld. Page numbers: 11-23 To retrieve this article GET MCGREAL IPCTV2N4 + Page 6 + ------------------------- HYPERTEXT LITERACY Sue Barnes To retrieve this article GET BARNES IPCTV2N4 Hypertext can provide students with a new type of interactive learning experience. However, the introduction of hypertext can easily become a barrier to those who are not familiar with the technology. For example, students need to understand the electronic context, learn the visual symbols, and know the mechanics of accessing, reading and writing nonlinear texts. This article is based on a hypertext literacy project that was developed for the Advertising & Communications Department at the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), State University of New York. F.I.T. uses two different instructional methods to teach hypertext literacy. First, students learn to read hypertexts by interacting with online documents created in the HyperCard program. Second, students read about hypertext in a traditionally printed booklet. The booklet explains the hands-on navigational skills required to read a hypertext, describes its visual icons and terminology, and discusses hypertext writing skills. Page numbers: 24-36 To retrieve this article GET BARNES IPCTV2N4 ----------- FROM INVISIBLE COLLEGE TO CYBERSPACE COLLEGE: COMPUTER CONFERENCING AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF INFORMAL SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION NETWORKS. John L. Gresham, Jr., Sterling College, Sterling, KS To retrieve this article GET GRESHAM IPCTV2N4 Invisible colleges are social networks of scholars whose informal communication and collaboration form an important prequel to formal published research. Informal exchange of scholarly information is increasingly communicated over electronic networks on academic computer conferences, leading to a new form of informal scholarly network described as "cyberspace colleges." The emergence of the cyberspace college is described through a history and description of academic computer conferences and surveys of academic computer conference participants. The article concludes with analysis of the impact of this new communications medium on informal academic communication. Page numbers: 37-52 To retrieve this article GET GRESHAM IPCTV2N4 ___________ + Page 7 + LIBRARIES: ONCE AND FUTURE Brian A. Helstien, University of Texas, San Antonio To retrieve this article GET HELSTIEN IPCTV2N4 ABSTRACT In a recent article in The New Yorker, Nicholson Baker laments the demise of the paper card catalog as a "paroxysm of shortsightedness and anti-intellectualism" on the part of over-zealous librarians wrecking destruction "in a class with the burning of the library at Alexandria." Baker's poignant plea on behalf of the venerable catalog fails to acknowledge or even mention the numerous benefits and advantages gained by libraries with online catalogs. In this article, Brian Helstien responds to Baker's piece focusing on issues not discussed by Baker -- authority control, collection preservation, access and costs. Vastly improved authority control is a major benefit of library automation, allowing library staff members to efficiently and effectively create and maintain large bibliographic databases with more ease and accuracy than was possible with paper catalogs. Technology and automation are providing essential methods to fighting the ongoing deterioration of acidic collections, preserving the very scholarly materials indexed in catalogs. Without such technology, libraries (and scholars) can expect to lose large parts of their collections over relatively short periods of time. Rising collection costs facing by libraries is another issue unaddressed by Baker. The use of technology such as online catalogs by libraries is one way libraries are fighting the rising costs of acquiring materials and providing access to these materials; without the technology, libraries and the scholars that use them will acquire fewer materials at a higher costs. Baker's viewpoint evokes nostalgia, but ultimately fails to recognize the real issues faced by libraries of today. Page numbers: 53-67 To retrieve this article GET HELSTIEN IPCTV2N4 -------------------------------------------------------------- + Page 8 + 4. Editorial Board PUBLISHER: Center for Teaching and Technology, Academic Computing Center, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. EDITOR: Gerald M. Phillips, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Speech Communication, Pennsylvania State University EDITORIAL BOARD: Zane L. Berge, Ph.D. Director, Center for Teaching and Technology. Academic Computer Center, Georgetown University Gerald M. Santoro, Ph.D. Center for Academic Computing, Pennsylvania State University MANAGING EDITOR: mauri p. collins, M.A The American Center for the Study of Distance Education, Pennsylvania State University ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Manuel E. Bermudez, Ph.D. University of Florida R. Thomas Berner, M.A. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Morton Cotlar, Ph.D. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HA Gordon Dixon, M.Sc., F.B.C.S. Editor-in-Chief, Literary and Linguistic Computing The Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Filip J.R.C. Dochy, Ph.D. University of Heerlen, The Netherlands William F. Eadie, Ph.D. Speech Communication Association, Annandale, Virginia Jill Ellsworth, Ph.D. Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, TX Bradley Erlwein, Ph.D. System Six, Golden, CO Mark Evangelista, B.S. Georgetown University, Washington, DC Mark G. Gillingham, Ph.D. Washington State University, Vancouver, WA Dennis S. Gouran, Ph.D. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA + Page 9 + Ken Hirsch, Ph.D. California State University, Sacramento, CA Lawrence Johnston, B.A. American Embassy, Nouakchott, Mauretania Vladimir Klonowski, Ph.D., Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, D.Sc. Canada Donald H. Kraft, Ph.D. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA Gary L. Kreps, Ph.D. Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL Scott Kuehn, Ph.D. Clarion University, Clarion, PA Edward A. Mabry, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI Cecelia G. Manrique, Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, WI Robert McKenzie, Ph.D. East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, PA Ann Okerson, MLS Association of Research Libraries, Washington, DC David Raitt, Ph.D. European Space Agency, the Netherlands Katy Silberger, MLS Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY David E. Sims, Ph.D. Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada David L. Schroeder. Ph.D. Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN Gary Lee Stonum, Ph.D. Case Western Reserve University Silvio Stoppoloni, Ph.D. Csorzion per l'Universita a Distanza, Rome, Italy Janet Valade, Ph.D. California State University, Los Angeles, CA Rosalie Wells, Ph.D. Athabasca University. Athabasca, Alberta, Canada John W. Wooten, Ph.D. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN Nancy J. Wyatt, Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University - Delware County Campus, Media, PA ------------------------------------------------------ + Page 10 + 5. Copyright Statement --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interpersonal Computing and Technology: An Electronic Journal for the 21st Century Copyright 1994 Georgetown University. Copyright of individual articles in this publication is retained by the individual authors. Copyright of the compilation as a whole is held by Georgetown University. It is asked that any republication of this article state that the article was first published in IPCT-J. Contributions to IPCT-J can be submitted by electronic mail in APA style to: Gerald Phillips, Editor IPCT-J GMP3@PSUVM.PSU.EDU