University Times

The Internet has changed the way the world thinks, learns and solves problems, according to James Williams, chair of Pitt's Department of Information Science.

Alluding to a recent Life article, Williams told the audience at the Founders Day Symposium that the cornerstone of the old paradigm of education was the classroom lecture, but that in the new paradigm the emphasis will be on individual exploration.

"And what that requires is network access to information," he said.

To help provide that access, Williams, Stuart McLean and other members of the School of Library and Information Science have been collaborating on a number of projects involving the educational and research applications of Internet communication.

One of those projects is Promenade, a collection of digitized botanical prints that were scanned, indexed and placed in a custom-designed image database accessible through World Wide Web.

"This provides an informational retrieval service for anyone who is interested in botanical prints, pests, plants and plant diseases," said Williams.

Promenade is built upon about 1,600 images and text dating back to the 18th century. It contains information of use to people interested in horticulture, landscaping, agriculture, botany, entomology, art, gardening, interior design, image indexing, image retrieval and writing styles of the 18th century.

Other projects developed by the School of Library and Information Science include Cascade, CALE and the Three Rivers FreeNet.

Cascade uses the Internet as a conduit for documentation collaboration through a World Wide Web-based utility that enables on-line commenting and conferencing.

"It's a software tool that permits multiple users located anywhere on the Internet to work together on a large and complex structured document or separate documents," Williams said. According to Williams, Cascade provides an environment within which users can write a document and have other Internet users make comments on it.

CALE was developed so that the medical school could offer a problem-based learning course called Intergated Case Studies and Medical Decision Making.

One of the problems with the course was that too many medical students were trying to use case records at the same time and there were not always enough records to go around. CALE solved that problem by making the records immediately available electronically.

CALE includes everything from written reports to X-rays to MRI scans to full color pathology slides to electrocardiograms. The software also provides advice, offers criticism and asks questions to help guide students through to a final diagnosis.

In addition, according to Williams, it captures the actions of the working group involved in the problem so that those actions can be used to help future students.

CALE has now been moved to the Internet where doctors throughout the world can make use of Pitt's medical expertise.

The Three Rivers FreeNet is a project designed to give Internet access to all libraries and nonprofit organizations in Allegheny County.

"Its major goal is to provide access to the Internet to all citizens regardless of economic class," Williams said. "If you can get to a library in Allegheny County, you can get access to the Internet and its wealth of information. The concept is that information provides knowledge and knowledge is real and lasting power."

–Mike Sajna