It is 2am. A professor wakes up with a new direction for her research; she must immediately learn about bioethics. In a dorm a student is finally ready to begin a paper on Cuba. Where do they turn? The library web site presents them with a bewildering array of resources and no librarian on hand to serve as intermediary. How can librarians facilitate research in their absence? What interfaces can be designed to educate users in their search? What metadata is needed to enable accurate retrieval? What is the librarian’s role in the increasingly indirectly-mediated information-seeking environment? Can the reference interview be effectively translated into a search interface? This paper describes a step towards resolving these issues by creating an on-line tool to assist users in selecting the database(s) most germane to their research needs.

In this thesis I have examined the benefits of working with a help of self-recording. I wanted to experiment self-monitoring with different working methods to improve my practicing skills as well my performing skills as I prepared for my examination concert. This process consisted of a lot of recording, listening and practicing and repeating this cycle numerous times. I wanted to implement different practice methods and reflect on different aspects of playing the viola. This thesis is written from a violist point of view. The main focus of this work is audio recording as a tool in self-monitoring practice. I have been using two main methods in reviewing the audio material gathered from practice sessions:  1) time between recording and reviewing the material and 2) recording, analyzing and practicing in line with the recordings within a practice session. I wanted to take self-recording process into more regular use because I see it as an essential part of the self-teaching process. A music student has to go through a lot of practicing hours and most of these are spent alone in a practice room. Some of this time is wasted and misused in learning unwanted habits. I wanted to learn to practice in the most deliberate way and use my practice hours as effectively as possible by structuring my practice in self-teaching phases and putting the emphasis on self-monitoring. / <p>CONCERT REPERTOAR</p><p><strong>C. Stamitz</strong>: Viola Concerto in D Major, Op. 1*</p><p>Allegro</p><p><strong>I. Stravinsky</strong>: Elegie</p><p><strong>R. Schumann</strong>: Märchenbilder, Op. 113**</p><p><em>I. Nicht Schnell</em></p><p><em>II. Lebhaft</em></p><p><em>III. Rasch</em></p><p><em>IV. Langsam, mit melancholischen Ausdrück</em></p><p><strong>B. Bartok</strong>: Concerto for Viola and Orchester, Sz. 120, BB 128*</p><p>I. Moderato</p><p>Pianist:</p><p>*= Erik Lanninger</p><p>**= Eeva Tapanen</p><p></p>

The aim of this thesis is to explore the possibilities of involvement of information and communication technologies in teachers' training. It defines the terms teacher, director, education, mapping interest and availability of teachers of information and communication technologies, but also presents various options that can contribute to teachers' education. It clearly explains how the subsequently used data had been collected. The information obtained from the questionnaires and unstructured interviews were processed and analyzed. Obtained results are further used and compared with the statements. The conclusion summarizes the results and on their basis recommendations are elaborated in the annex, which is intended for the school management, taking into account the different sizes of school. KEY WORDS: Teacher, self teaching, knowledge, abilities, ICT

La connaissance orthographique des mots est indispensable au développement d’une lecture experte et rapide et d’une écriture correcte. L’acquisition de ces connaissances orthographiques lexicales est un processus complexe, encore mal compris. Cette acquisition se ferait en grande partie de façon implicite au cours de la lecture. Elle dépendrait alors de la qualité du décodage, d’autres facteurs restant à préciser. Des données théoriques et certains premiers résultats empiriques ont suggéré que le traitement visuel simultané de toutes les lettres du mot est un facteur important pour l’acquisition de son orthographe spécifique. Dans ce travail de thèse, cette hypothèse est testée d’une part par des études de régression, d’autre part par des études expérimentales. Les analyses de régression étudient le lien entre l’empan visuo-attentionnel (EVA), estimant les capacités maximales de traitement visuel simultané, et les connaissances orthographiques lexicales. Les résultats montrent une relation significative entre l’EVA et les connaissances orthographiques lexicales lorsque celles-ci sont évaluées par une épreuve de production écrite ou par un test d’auto-apprentissage. Cette relation est spécifique aux connaissances lexicales puisqu’elle ne se généralise pas à l’orthographe grammaticale. Elle existe indépendamment des capacités de mémoire de travail visuo-spatiale et de lecture. Les études expérimentales, tant chez l’enfant que chez l’adulte, explorent toutes le rôle du traitement visuel simultané sur l’acquisition des connaissances orthographiques en situation d’auto-apprentissage. Cette exploration est conduite en contrastant, pendant une lecture de mots nouveaux, une condition expérimentale où le traitement visuel simultané est possible avec une autre condition où ce type de traitement est impossible. Les résultats mettent en évidence un avantage de la condition avec traitement visuel simultané possible, sur la mémorisation de l’orthographe des mots nouveaux. Cet avantage n’est pas dû à des différences de temps de présentation ou de temps de traitement des items entre les deux conditions et confirme donc que, au-delà des capacités de lecture-décodage, les capacités de traitement visuel simultané sont directement impliquées dans l’acquisition des connaissances orthographiques lexicales. / Word orthographic knowledge is necessary to develop expert and fast reading and correct orthographic production. Lexical orthographic acquisition is a complex and largely unknown process. This acquisition is mostly implicit during reading. It would depend on phonological decoding and on other factors not précised yet. Both theoretical and empirical data suggest that the simultaneous visual processing made during word reading could influence lexical orthographic acquisition. This hypothesis is assessed with both regression analyses and experimental studies. Regression analyses examine the relation between visual attention span (VAS), which estimates the maximal simultaneous processing abilities, and the lexical orthographic knowledge. Results show a significant relation between VAS and lexical orthographic knowledge when this knowledge is assessed with a dictation task or with a self-teaching test. This relation is specific because it doesn’t extent to grammatical orthographic knowledge. It exists independently of both visual-spatial working memory and reading skills. Experimental studies, both on children and adults, investigate the role of simultaneous visual processing on lexical orthographic acquisition during self-teaching. This investigation was done with two experimental conditions during the reading of novel words. In the whole word condition, the entire letter-string of a novel word was available at once, while in the partial word condition only sub-lexical parts of the word letter string were available at once. The results show an advantage of the whole word condition on the memorization of novel word orthographic forms. This advantage is not explained by differences of presentation time or of processing time between the two conditions, and confirms that, beyond the phonological decoding skills, simultaneous visual processing abilities of entire words are involved in lexical orthographic acquisition.

The Self-Access Study Center (SASC) at Brigham Young University's English Language Center (ELC) is a self-access lab where students can work independently to improve their language skills. Although some students have discovered how to use the SASC effectively, the majority of them appear to be unaware of the resources available in the center. Their trips to the SASC end up becoming more like a cyber cafe situation, where friends send email and chat online. If the SASC is used merely as a computer lab, then students are not using the resources available to fine-tune their English skills. The current project addresses two points. First, in an effort to provide on-going support for students and teachers, a Web site and database were created to provide users with information regarding materials available in the SASC at Brigham Young University's English Language Center. Second, a SASC orientation for both students and teachers at the ELC was implemented in September of 2004. It took place in the SASC and gave students and teachers a brief explanation about how to use the SASC effectively. ELC students later completed a survey as means of gathering feedback regarding the use of the SASC. The survey data showed that the students felt the website was very helpful and that the orientation had a strong influence on how students used the SASC. Analysis of the data showed that students tended to be more autonomous as a result of the SASC orientation. The results from the 2004 survey, with regards to the materials that students reported using, indicate that students used the SASC more for individual use and group work than to fulfill assignments or requirements from their teachers.