Connie Van Fleet

Wired But Not Connected: Accessibility of Academic Library Home Pages

Summary The main library Web pages representing Yahoo!s list of the “100 Most Wired Colleges” were analyzed for accessibility to people with disabilities. Forty of the pages were judged accessible using Bobby, the online automated service developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology. Frequencies of accessibility errors, recommendations, questions, tips, and browser compatibility errors are provided. The study found no relationship between accessibility of the library home pages and indicators of institutional resources, as represented by Yahoo! ranking (computer resources), Association of Research Libraries composite ranking (extent of library resources), and Carnegie Classification (range and extent of academic and research resources). Guidelines for accessible Web pages and an Adaptive PC Computer Workstation are included.

Describing technological paradigm transitions: a methodological exploration

Much attention has been paid to the concept of the scientific or technological paradigm and, in particular, to the impact of change from one paradigm base to another. Discussion of paradigmatic shifts has been greatly hampered by the lack of appropriate tools for examining paradigms and their evolution. The sessio taurino technique presents an effective nonqualitative approach to describing changes in technological paradigms.