This monograph develops a broad system of evaluation and classification of communication technologies from a public interest perspective. To do so involves applying concepts from the publishing world of print media to what can now be understood as an expanding system of electronic publishing. The paper also examines how the publishing elements in each system contribute to the communication needs of working adults and more specific applications to worker education and job-related training. In this context, the paper examines the primary existing communication systems; next it examines the new world of personal communication technologies; and then it looks at the kind of distribution technologies that link these systems and instruments together. Finally, the report distills a series of social policy issues that are common within this many-faceted tele-communications world. (KC)