Words of Wisdom

Reference librarians at any library that offers any kind of computer access to the general public are constantly bombarded with the need to help out people who are completely clueless about computers. Phil Agre, of the UCLA Dept. of Information Studies, offers some useful reminders about how to help such people.

"Whenever they start to blame themselves, respond by blaming the computer...."

Why, that's almost as cynical and useful as blaming everything on the great god Policy! But, speaking pragmatically, it is good advice, especially considering the befuddling and nonintuitive way that most user interfaces are organized.