Abstract

Authorization for use of all or parts of this thesis and/or algorithms herein described must be obtained by contacting the author. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am deeply thankful to Dr. Penniman, my major advisor, for the support and encouragement that made this study possible. I thank my committee members, Dr. Berry and Dr. Fisher, for the advice and time given me. Without your help and encouragement, these pages would not have been written and my thoughts would never find a way to progress beyond inception. I am exceedingly grateful to Tom Garritano, Mur Muchane, and John Gerber of the UT Office of Academic and Research Services for allowing me to use the computing resources and for believing in me and supporting my professional aspirations. I am grateful to Alan Wallace, UTK reference librarian, for taking time to clarify some of the perceptions about the on-line users that serve as the basis for the experiments in this study. Without his help, I would have had no confidence and courage to run and interpret results of the experiments. I am grateful to many people: my wife

Citations