http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Documentation/Databases/Minimalism A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Documentation and Databases and Minimalism in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Documentation/Databases/Minimalism http://tc.eserver.org/30377.html http://tc.eserver.org/30377.html To perform complex tasks, workplace computer users have to know how to control their programs and adapt program capabilities to the needs of their job goals and methods. I inquired into the instructional information that will help users learn such adaptive computing for complex data processing tasks by interviewing twelve experienced database users and analyzing twenty-five exchanges between experts and users on a database helpline network. Findings show that instructions may help users emulate expert approaches to adaptive computing for complex tasks by providing enough substantial technical information to help clarify task problems, goals, methods and analogies and presenting it in the form of rules of thumb, general procedures, and task-to-program explanations.