🚀 go-pugleaf

Those of you who, like me, are having loads of fun "exploring" different
CD-ROM products might be interested in the following.  Some standards
would be very helpful...      - Jim

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Jim Cassell                                    CASSELL@UNCVM1.OIT.UNC.EDU
Institute for Research in Social Science       CASSELL@UNCVM1.BITNET
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill       Phone:  919-962-0782
Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3355                    Fax:    919-962-4777
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----------------------------Original message----------------------------
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
This came to my attention at the SIGCAT meeting in San Francisco.  A
friend (who wishes to remain anonymous) downloaded the guidelines and
forwarded them to me.
-Andrea Sevetson
 UC Berkeley

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                    CD-ROM CONSISTENT INTERFACE GUIDELINES

P R E S S   R E L E A S E
March 1992


[The following summarizes a U.S. Government report called CD-ROM
Consistent Interface Guidelines, August 1991, prepared by the CD-ROM
Consistent INterface Committee (CD-CINC), a working group of SIGCAT
(Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications & Technology).  A copy
of the full report is available from Mike Rubinfeld, National
Institute of Standards & Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, 301/975-3064,
Internet: miker@mml.ncsl.nist.gov]


HOW DID THE CD-ROM CONSISTENT INTERFACE GUIDELINES DEVELOP?

Jerry McFaul, chairman of a 5,000 member CD-ROM organization called
SIGCAT (Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications & Technology),
frequently heard concerns expressed about the difficulty of
introducing new CD-ROM interfaces into a library setting.

McFaul turned to SIGLIT, SIGCAT's subgroup that deals with managing
and using CD-ROMs in libraries.  Susan David, chair of SIGLIT, and
Fred Durr, a CD-ROM publisher, organized a working SIGCAT committee
called CD-CINC (CD-ROM Consistent Interface Committee) in April 1990.
The committee was open to anyone interested.  A press release
announcing the formation of the committee was widely distributed.
About 20 librarians, publishers, engineers, and others participated,
and by August 1991, the final report was complete.

PURPOSE OF THE GUIDELINES

Initially, CD-CINC explored the idea of designing the best interface
possible, even to recommending what keystrokes should be used to
initiate an action.  It became apparent that this would be a
fruitless task because the committee did not want to limit its
recommendations to command-driven interfaces, or to a single
operating system environment.  Neither did it want to restrict
innovation or limit development of creative interface activities.

Instead, CD-CINC concentrated on guidelines to make CD-ROM interfaces
more intuitive.  To do this, thirteen basic functions necessary for
every CD-ROM product were identified, named, and defined.  CD-ROM
product developers are urged to be consistent and to pay attention to
good design principles as they have become accepted as a result of
human-computer interaction research.  Guidelines for development of
CD-ROM installation procedures and a bibliography of background
material are included.

If every CD-ROM product included the thirteen basic functions
recommended by these Guidelines, users of CD-ROMs would begin to find
it easier to learn new ones.  Users would come to expect certain
actions to be available.  Similarly, if you know how to drive a car,
you can drive any car after you spend a few minutes exploring the
dashboard.  You know what the basic functions are, like moving into
reverse, using windshield wipers, and increasing headlight beams.
All you must do is identify how this particular product activates
these functions.  In this way, driving a car, or using a CD-ROM,
begins to become intuitive.

THE BASIC FUNCTIONS, SUMMARIZED

TOP LEVEL FUNCTIONS:
  Help          Shows explanatory information or menus leading to
                more help. Help information can be context sensitive
                or a list choices, including tutorials.

  Browse Index  Shows terms in indexes, which can range from field
                specific to full text and controlled terms.

  Search        Looks for information that satisfies a search
                statement.

  Display       Shows information on the screen.

  Print         Directs output to a hardcopy device.

  Download      Directs output to electronic media.

  Restart       Go back to the beginning, but not out, of the
                application.

  Change        Change disc within same database; change database on
                same disc; change to another database on another disc
                without   reloading search software.

  Quit          Ends the application.

OPERATIONAL FUNCTIONS:
  Execute       Alerts the application to begin processing.

  Break         Interrupts an activity in progress.

  Escape        Backs up one step at a time.

NAVIGATION FUNCTIONS:
  Navigation    Movement within a database or search set.  Basic
                movements are:  up or down the display line by line;
                up or down one screen or window; to next or previous
                item or record; to next or previous hit (occurrence
                of search term or match); to a specified location;
                horizontally across the display.

THE NEXT STEPS

The SIGCAT Guidelines were widely distributed, and have been
receiving positive feedback.  Developers of CD-ROM say they have
found the Guidelines helpful in designing interfaces.  SIGCAT
submitted the Guidelines to NISO (the National Information Standards
Organization), which plans to incorporate the CD-CINC ideas into
their technical plan for optical development.  National Institute of
Standards & Technology (NIST) is considering these Guidelines for
formal, federal purposes.  Other CD-ROM-producing organizations, such
as U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, have made use of the SIGCAT
Guidelines as they develop plans for conversion to optical media.

Other efforts to achieve ease-of-use of CD-ROMs are underway.  In the
meantime, at least a minimum measure of consistency can be achieved
if CD-ROM producers and publishers pay attention to the CD-ROM
Consistent Interface Guidelines.