This paper presents a cognitive account of both the advantages and disadvantages of direct manipulation interfaces, i.e., the use of icons to manipulate and interact directly with data rather than writing programs or calling on a set of statistical subroutines. Two underlying phenomena that give rise to the sensation of directness are identified.…

This discussion of the design of computerized psychological assessment or testing instruments stresses the importance of the well-designed computer-user interface. The principles underlying the three main functional elements of computer-user dialogue--data entry, data display, and sequential control--are discussed, and basic guidelines derived…

This report outlines specifications for the online transaction monitoring and questionnaire administration features of the University of California's (UC) Prototype On-Line Catalog, known as MELVYL. The development and testing of these features by the UC Division of Library Automation (DLA) is also described. This document is the final report…

A study was conducted in September 1981 of factors which influence the process of communication between clients and staff at six high-capacity computer facilities in the Sacramento, California, metropolitan area. These included two large government organizations, a medium-sized corporation, two bibliographic database settings, and a computer…

This investigation of the use of database management systems (DBMS) in a research environment used the Rand Corporation as a case study. After a general introduction in section 1, eight sections present the major components of the study. Section 2 contains an overview of DBMS terminology and concepts, followed in section 3 by a general dsecription…