Describes a comparative study of the "help" facilities of 16 interactive information retrieval systems. Guidelines for the design of a "help" facility are presented and then used to evaluate the quality and friendliness of each system. Suggestions for the improvement of online "help" facilities are discussed. (31…

Part of the Communications Design Center's (CDC) on-going research on communication and document design, this report emphasizes the importance of a multi-level computer help system that goes beyond simple command descriptions to include assistance with goals and strategies within the application domain--in this case, automated authoring. The help…

Briefly describes available expert system shells and identifies evaluation criteria relevant to the use of a shell by libraries. Areas discussed include ease of use by system developers and end users, detachability of finished systems, and costs. A glossary is provided. (10 references) (CLB)

Developed from presentations given at a 3-day invitational meeting of 31 leading online catalog designers from both public and private sectors in North America, these papers provide information about online catalogs--their present form, their use, and the questions that need to be considered in their future refinement. All of the papers in this…

Presents guidelines for creating a plan for a knowledge system that integrates training, documentation, and support activities for computer-using personnel in a business setting. Benefits of the system are described, including increased user productivity. (LRW)