Hypermedia Online Publishing: the Transformation of the Scholarly Journal

8.5.4 Products

The main product of Project Educate has been a series of Web-based self-paced user education courses called Into Info. These provide training in the selection and use of information tools and resources in particular subject areas (chemistry, physics, electrical and electronic engineering, and energy to date). All the Into Info modules are based on a multi-level hierarchical structure with rich internal and external hyperlinking. The first level of the hierarchy offers:

• Pathfinders, or routes to follow in different situations;
• Information Sources - direct points of access for experienced users;
• Course in Information Searching - with goals and objectives, texts, demonstrations, exercises and self-assessment questions - particularly useful for self-study and distance learning;
• Texts - available in HTML for downloading;
• Introduction to the Internet with links to books and courses about the Internet;
• IT+++ which provides access to news and general information;
• A-Z Index to the main items.

An example Pathfinders map is shown in figure 8-2.

As well as providing users with skills in using the information resources, the Into Info modules act like an annotated bibliography of the highest-quality resources in each discipline area. In this way, users of the modules learn simultaneously how to access resources and which are the best to access.

These courses are both used within the member universities and site-licensed to other universities for use in their own user-education programs.

Last modified: Monday, 11-Dec-2017 14:40:30 AEDT

© Andrew Treloar, 2001. * http://andrew.treloar.net/ * andrew.treloar@gmail.com