8. Infonet Trivia

• The term "information highway" was used 9,332 times by large U.S. newspapers and magazines during the first six months of this year, up from 767 in the first half of 1993, Information Week says. "Information highway" was used 5,731 times, up from 664." (Source: The Globe and Mail, Aug 3, 1994, page B1)

• From the October 1994 issue of Macworld magazine, here are the top ten types of online events that people want from the "infobahn", in order of interest (there were actually about 15 more items listed):
  1. Voting in elections
  2. Searching reference books
  3. Participating in distance learning
  4. Obtaining local school information
  5. Searching library card catalogs
  6. Participating in opinion polls
  7. Obtaining tax/credit data
  8. Participating in electronic town hall meetings
  9. Accessing government information
  10. Watching video-on-demand

  In the words of Charles Piller, the author of the Macworld article, "These are poignant findings in a nation where anaemic voting totals are the norm and many citizens typically view civic affairs with the same enthusiasm they reserve for a trip to the dentist."

  (Source: Toby Braun, Director of Creative Technologies, Eisaman, Johns & Laws Advertising, Chicago, Illinois, utobia@mcs.com, utoia@aol.com, CIS:70674,2634)

• The Learning Store

  ... the Learning Store is in full operation. It is a fully computerized individualized classroom that provides unlimited free machine time to students of all ages for remedial or enrichment work in subjects such as reading skills, spelling, basic arithmetic skills, Logo geometry, writing skills, algebra, and the like. The Learning Store is open seven days a week, from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and plans are being made for several neighbourhood branches. The advertisement they send out to potential students is appealing:

  You set the speed at which you learn!
  You really master your subject!
  You pick the time you want to come in.
  You learn on a fast track - no diversions, no delays.
  Your success is assured!
  

  (Source: Raths, L.E. et al (1986) Teaching for Thinking, Teachers College Press, Columbia U. pp. ix-xx)

Return to GLOSAS News Contents for this issue.

URL: http://library.fortlewis.edu/~instruct/glosas/trivia43.htm

December 1994

GLOSAS NEWS was orinally posted to the WWW at URL: http://library.fortlewis.edu/~instruct/glosas/cont.htm by Tina Evans Greenwood, Library Instruction Coordinator, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado 81301, e-mail: greenwood_t@fortlewis.edu, and last updated May 7, 1999. By her permission the whole Website has been archived here at the University of Tennessee server directory of GLOSAS Chair Dr. Takeshi Utsumi from July 10, 2000 by Steve McCarty in Japan.