Personal computers on campus.

Colleges and universities are becoming test beds for the much-heralded "information society" as they incorporate a new series of information technologies. These include on-line databases, magnetic and optical data storage, digital telecommunications, computer networks, and, most visibly and dramatically, personal computers. The transition is presenting administrators and faculty with major challenges, however. This article discusses some of the issues involved, including access to computers and to computer networking, managing the transition, and the educational uses of personal computers. A final section discusses efforts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, and Camegie-Mellon University to shape a new-generation personal computer, the so-called "scholar's workstation."