The User Community
The background of the community of users ranges from first-year students to researchers on the outer fringes of science, technology, etc. They may be inter- ested in finding such things as the specific heat of carbon steel or the latest theory about semiconductor surfaces. They may use the console occasionally, as in the case of most students, or use the console daily, as in the case of many librarians. It is safe to say that the majority of users will not be computer "buffs" and that they will be demanding of the system. The users will want to be able to operate the system with a minimum amount of re-learning at each session, that is to say, they will want to maintain a useful level of competence as regards the system and have tutoring on specific features of the system operation as needed in a session. Furthermore, the console should not be tiring to use. This affects not only the manner of displaying the data but the layout and organization of the console manual inputs as well.