Participants were gathered from the library at the London Business School (LBS). Potential users were recruited as they approached the LBS library online catalogue terminals, and asked a question to determine suitability. Suitable candidates (those who where intending to perform a topic search of the catalogue) were then invited to take part in the evaluation exercise.
Those who accepted were introduced to the ENQUIRE system and asked to ``think aloud'' (see next section) whilst using it. After conducting a search, they were questioned about what they had done and what they felt about the system. Both the interviews and the think-aloud sessions were recorded on audio tape for later analysis.
The eleven participants consisted of staff and students from the School, together with students from other colleges who were studying in the library. A pre-test questionnaire (Appendix F) was used to gather information on computer familiarity and frequency of use of the LBS online catalogue. Users evaluated the ENQUIRE system individually for periods of approximately 20 to 30 minutes --- each session involved searching for catalogue records in a subject area of their own choosing. They were then debriefed and further evaluation was elicited in a post-test interview.