Ranganathan and “User-Friendliness”
D. J. Foskett · Libri · 1992
User-Friendliness consists of providing library and information systems that make sense to users, make them comfortable and confident that they understand the system and know how to use it. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science place the user as the focus of library and information service (LIS) and emphasize the need to understand the user. This relates to the way in which users actually perceive and learn about reality and build their knowledge to cope with it. Facet analysis, especially the analyticosynthetic approach to it, helps the information specialist to understand and interpret the subject of user's inquiry which contributes to user-friendliness. For such interpretation, the conscious application of concept analysis and synthesis constitutes a powerful aid to understanding, a prerequite for the successful incorporation of new technologies into LIS. Concept analysis is required at the input stage (subject analysis of the document) and at the output stage (by analysing user's information need). Facet analysis reflects a natural way of thinking and can be introduced into computerized systems without difficulty