USER TRAINING, DOCUMENTATION, AND SUPPORT Adequate user support through training, documentation, and troubleshooting is an essential requirement. Like most organizations in this country, Congress is a beneficiary of the dramatic improvements in the sophistication and in the ease of use computer technology that have occurred in the last five years. However, as this technology has become more widely used and as it is applied to larger number of critical business operations, maintaining ease of use has become more challenging.
The Library recommends that the design and support of the legislative information system follow these principles:
- Design the system so that required training time can be kept to an absolute minimum.
- Provide multiple ways for users to obtain the required training, including training classes, online help, printed documentation, self teaching programs, and audio and video instruction programs.
- Through the Working Group, coordinate the work needed to provide user support, based upon the current programs and expertise of each of the organizations within the Legislative Branch. For example, the House Information Resources, the Senate Computer Center, GPO, and the Library each provide training programs for their congressional clients. It might prove most cost-effective to divide and coordinate responsibility for introductory and advanced courses and for documentation among these organizations.
Table of Contents