Surveys 25 people who use databases at work to discover the ways in which social and organizational factors affect users' tasks and their acquisition of knowledge and skills. Finds that learning to use databases for complex tasks in work entails more than simply learning concepts and procedures for executing program functions. (PRA)

Analyzes postings from a database users' help bulletin board. Finds that technical instructions should concentrate on likely errors that users may commit and how they can overcome and learn from them; provide may procedural options at once; give minimal conceptual and much procedural information; and integrate troubleshooting with task procedures.…